Elwoods is One Sociable Little Joint

It's pretty small and cramped, but then that's what makes Elwoods Elwoods.

Credit: The Boozecan

Elwoods on West Broadway

Squeeze on in and belly up to the bar at this West Broadway classic

 

If The Fringe Café were to have a kid brother, Elwoods would probably be it. Conveniently tucked in right across the street, you get the feeling it wants to be The Fringe—it’s just lacking that worn-in, rough-around-the-edges look that give its neighbour that extra bit of character. Hell, maybe they just clean it too well.

 

Elwoods

www.elwoods.ca

3145 West Broadway, Vancouver

But that’s not to say Elwoods isn’t a great little place to imbibe.

 

It’s a bit larger than its big brother neighbour, but still relatively small and cramped (read “cozy”—we just hate that word). But that’s what makes good pubs good, n’est pas? Sadly, a lot of places around town, for whatever reasons, never seem that “social” to us. You’re either confined to a booth you can’t escape from, or you’re seated in a room that’s twice the size of an aircraft hanger and half as inviting. But if you’re elbow-to-elbow with your fellow drinkers, you’re going to start talking one way or another—whether you like it or not. And isn’t that half the fun of boozing with your fellow humans? Fortunately, Elwoods is of the elbow-to-elbow school of thought.

 

As far as hitting the sauce, there isn’t tons on the fancy/innovative cocktails front. It’s more of a pints and pitchers kind of hangout. That said, you can’t knock Elwoods’s Friday $3.99 highballs. And if you ask nicely, Colin the Bartender might show off some of his fancy-ass cocktail makin’ acrobatics, with the flipping and the spinning and the twirling of the shaker. 

 

You also can’t knock the $10 burger-and-beer special everyday. They’ve got a decent selection of brews on tap too:

  • GI Honey Lager & Pale Ale
  • OK Springs Hefeweizen & 1516 Lager
  • Big Rock Traditional Ale & Grasshopper Ale
  • Sleemans Original Draught
  • Rock Creek Cider
  • And for the hipsters out there, $3.99 pints of Old Style Pilsner

 

Nothing out of this world, but better than a row of taps drawing big brewery piss—well, save for the Pilly maybe.

 

They also serve the mind-fucking Snakebite, should thoughts of blacking out or a good ol’ fashioned lose-the-plot gong show seem attractive to you. But, hey, no judgment.

 

So next time you’re looking for a pint along West Broadway or you’re dying for a post-movie beer (the Hollywood Theatre’s within spitting distance), squeeze into Elwoods and belly up to the bar.