Planning for a couple of weeks in East Vancouver, BC
December 9, 2019 12:01 PM Subscribe
I'll be solo in East Vancouver for a couple of weeks in the end of April. I'll be up for training, so I'll be at a site a few blocks west of Commercial Drive from ~9:30-4:30 each day. Where should I stay? Grocery shop for lunch-making? Eat & drink? Spend my one-at-a-time days off?
I'm assuming I'll drive up, so I'll most likely have a car, but I'm flexible about taking the train up instead if a car is a liability. I have been to Vancouver before, so I don't particularly need to revisit Stanley Park. I already know the Anthrolopology Museum is great.
I would like to stay someplace with at least some kitchen capability (but I'm not that keen on AirBnB), and be able to get to/from class conveniently by foot or transit or car. I would like to avoid commute-related hassle. Ideas?
I'll ask other questions later about food (all the foods!) and cocktails and winebars and breweries, but if you have recs in (or convenient to) this part of town, feel free to share.
I'm assuming I'll drive up, so I'll most likely have a car, but I'm flexible about taking the train up instead if a car is a liability. I have been to Vancouver before, so I don't particularly need to revisit Stanley Park. I already know the Anthrolopology Museum is great.
I would like to stay someplace with at least some kitchen capability (but I'm not that keen on AirBnB), and be able to get to/from class conveniently by foot or transit or car. I would like to avoid commute-related hassle. Ideas?
I'll ask other questions later about food (all the foods!) and cocktails and winebars and breweries, but if you have recs in (or convenient to) this part of town, feel free to share.
Best answer: The Commercial Drive neighbourhood is extremely walkable and has just about everything you could need! I live in the area and have nearly no need for a car. I walk or take transit pretty much everywhere.
Getting around:
The #20 bus goes up and down Commercial. You can load up a Compass Card when you arrive and use it to get around on the buses and skytrain. The Next Bus website will show you where each bus is on it's route.
At Commercial & Broadway you'll find Broadway station, with both bus stops and skytrain stations. It's about a 10 minute ride to get downtown on the westbound train.
There's an express #99 bus that goes east/west and is a quick way to get over to the Main Street area, which also has lots of great stuff to explore!
Food:
There's a 24-hour Supervalu grocery store at 1st & Commercial, and numerous green grocers all up and down the street. Santa Barbara market has an amazing deli counter. There are several fantastic bakeries on Commercial. I'm quite partial to Bench Bakehouse.
Commercial Drive has lots and lots and lots of restaurants and cafes. If there's a kind of food you want, you can probably find it here!
When I dine out solo, I prefer to sit at the bar. If you enjoy that too, there are a few restaurants in the 'hood I recommend: Mezcal, Kishimoto (get the smoked salmon oshi!), and Ugly Dumpling.
Activities:
If the weather is nice, as walk around Trout Lake in John Hendry Park is pretty dang nice. There's a dog park/beach at the north end which is excellent for puppo watching, if you're into that kind of thing.
The Rio is a local single-screen movie theatre that also has live performances. If you're in town the first Thursday of the month, you can go there to see Paul Anthony's Talent Time, which is a wild ride of a variety show and extremely East Van.
There's a strong comedy scene in Vancouver. Graham Clark's Laugh Gallery happens at Havana Theatre on Monday nights, Sunday Service happens at the Fox Cabaret (just a quick bus ride from Broadway station to Main Street), and Little Mountain Gallery (just off Main) has shows several nights a week.
posted by burntflowers at 4:01 PM on December 9, 2019
Getting around:
The #20 bus goes up and down Commercial. You can load up a Compass Card when you arrive and use it to get around on the buses and skytrain. The Next Bus website will show you where each bus is on it's route.
At Commercial & Broadway you'll find Broadway station, with both bus stops and skytrain stations. It's about a 10 minute ride to get downtown on the westbound train.
There's an express #99 bus that goes east/west and is a quick way to get over to the Main Street area, which also has lots of great stuff to explore!
Food:
There's a 24-hour Supervalu grocery store at 1st & Commercial, and numerous green grocers all up and down the street. Santa Barbara market has an amazing deli counter. There are several fantastic bakeries on Commercial. I'm quite partial to Bench Bakehouse.
Commercial Drive has lots and lots and lots of restaurants and cafes. If there's a kind of food you want, you can probably find it here!
When I dine out solo, I prefer to sit at the bar. If you enjoy that too, there are a few restaurants in the 'hood I recommend: Mezcal, Kishimoto (get the smoked salmon oshi!), and Ugly Dumpling.
Activities:
If the weather is nice, as walk around Trout Lake in John Hendry Park is pretty dang nice. There's a dog park/beach at the north end which is excellent for puppo watching, if you're into that kind of thing.
The Rio is a local single-screen movie theatre that also has live performances. If you're in town the first Thursday of the month, you can go there to see Paul Anthony's Talent Time, which is a wild ride of a variety show and extremely East Van.
There's a strong comedy scene in Vancouver. Graham Clark's Laugh Gallery happens at Havana Theatre on Monday nights, Sunday Service happens at the Fox Cabaret (just a quick bus ride from Broadway station to Main Street), and Little Mountain Gallery (just off Main) has shows several nights a week.
posted by burntflowers at 4:01 PM on December 9, 2019
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Ordinarily in Vancouver I'd say bring a car, but if you stay near the Drive, it's got everything you'd need in terms of wine bars and lunch-making groceries (Persia Foods, little delis, a health food place, plus one chain grocery at 1st Ave). Plus it's got a Skytrain station if you want to, e.g., go drinking in Gastown. So if you don't need to go out to UBC, don't need to visit Stanley Park, etc., then maybe you can get by without wheels.
There are a bunch of brewpub type places in the formerly more industrial near the north end of the Drive: Parallel 49, Andina, Bomber, Strathcona. Cf. Main St. for the other hub.
posted by Beardman at 12:51 PM on December 9, 2019 [4 favorites]