The Bottleneck

Finally — an awesome restaurant in the downtown core! It is cozy with good music. Beautiful — but not trendy or pretentious. The food is fresh and delicious. There were options for wheat free, dairy free and vegetarian — but also yummy meat dishes. Everyone in our group was happy to find a good option for whatever dietary restrictions they had.
Happy hour was pretty sweet too!
We had and awesome server named Shay. She provided lovely service and she understood the menu in-​depth.

Haven’t written a Unilocal review in ages… Haven’t really felt the need. Until now. THIS PLACE HAS THE BEST BURGER IN VANCOUVER. You’re welcome.
The burger is 5 star… Hell the place is pretty nice and cozy too… 7.50 double Caesars with a bacon wrapped scallop + Chorizo + olive… Bean etc… Tax in!
Maybe the place deserves 5 stars… I just reserve that… Ah screw it, just upped from 4 to 5 stars. This place is great.

Oooh, so I REALLY like this place! I can’t for the life of me remember what the cocktail is called, but with ginger beer and some other cool ingredients (very similar to a Moscow Mule I believe.) THAT was delicious!
Great beer selection. Great atmosphere. Place is shaped like a bottleneck, cool. A much more quality place to visit on the Granville Entertainment Strip. They have Trivia nights, too. Absolutely hilarious and fun, the MC’s got a way with the crowd.

I came here on a second visit for Wednesday Trivia night which was a lot of fun. My only disappointment was the smelliness of the meat of the burger I ordered. The truffle fries were delicious but the meat could have been better.

Best, most favorite place. It feels like home, super cozy, cool place with THE most underrated food in the city. Cocktails are amazing and awesome tunage… Different DJ’s for different nights of the week. Always some legendary flick playing in the background. Prices are so reasonable– and the cherry on top? The staff. I wanna squeeze them all.

Chic place that I didn’t know existed. Tucked in a narrow entrance on Granville, this place is actually bigger than it would appear from the outside, giving it a magic wardrobe-​like effect when you enter. Strangely, the bar was quiet on a happy-​hour — maybe it’s because they don’t offer happy hour deals. Cocktail was slick (gin, St. Germain, white wine and cucumber) although a little sweet for my tastes. The pizzas (pesto and margarita) were thin crust but chewy, which was unexpected. Their menu also features crispy chickpeas and smoked chicken wings. Overall I’m curious enough about this place to check out the crowd later at night.

Met some Unilocalers here for an event recently.
It’s right downtown on Granville next door to the Commodore ballroom. It might not stand out — but I would say it’s well worth a visit.
I like the setup of the place and the location. It’s central without being in the dingy part of Granville. They have a cool vibe going at the Bottleneck without the pretension of a Cactus Club or an Earl’s.
I arrived early and was greeted immediately by the barkeep. We were there on a fairly quiet evening for the bar but I found the service to be on the mark. Our waitress came over a few times to take food and drink orders and clear away plates which was appreciated.
I found their non-​alcoholic ginger beer a little too strong for my liking, but their English Garden cocktail (Gin, St. Germain, Sauvignon Blanc, cucumber & lemon) was deliciously refreshing.
We tried a few different nibble plates. My favourite by far was the Pesto Pizza.
I would definitely return for a drink after work sometime.

I came here for a Unilocal event. I’ve actually been here a year ago before a concert at the stadium, therefore, this review is a combination of the two experiences.
The fried chickpeas were awesome and very addicting.
Loved the wood fired pizzas.
Customer service the times that I have been there have been awesome.
The place is tiny, like s bottle neck, therefore, don’t be surprised if it gets busy on show nights, especially at the Commodore.

3.5 stars! A nice joint on the Granville strip. Its drink selection is great and the food was better than your typical bar food. The roasted chick peas are crunchy and yummy. Truffle fries are a go, and olives were fresh. The pizzas we tried were tasty~ one was the pesto chicken with artichokes and the other was a margherita flavour. Chicken wings had hearty portions ~
A good stop that I would suggest before or after a show at nearby symphony, dance and concert venues.

Hole in the wall. I walked by it twice. A classic drinks bar. $ 4 hi-​ball. Bourbon and ginger. I might just have another as I kill time while housecleaning gets around to fixing up my hotel room a few blocks away.

One of the best burgers I have ever had! I can’t really comment on the place at a busy period as I went on a lunchtime when there was no one there but me and my friend but I cant really complain! The girl was polite and quick with our order.

Great spot for beers if you want a place to chat. There are no TVs showing sports, which cuts both ways.

This review is for lunch only. I came for a quick bite and was disappointed to find that they have only a small menu available for lunch hours. If you want something off the dinner menu, you’re out of luck. The soup I had tasted tinned, but the fish & chips was excellent and very tasty. The prices were low as well — $ 10 for the fish and chips.
Service was great, but I was the only one there so it’s hard to say. Décor was excellent, just be careful you don’t miss the tiny entrance.

Love this place! We were searching for a mellow, hip spot that was spinning hip hop after coming from a divey place down the street, featuring a corny cover band and an overwhelming amount of drunkies. So glad we found The Bottleneck and struck up a conversation with the guard and DJ who were so friendly and welcoming outside its doors.
We told the DJ what kind of music we were hoping to hear and being the great person that he is, he spun just that type of music for us and then some! The cocktails were good, but they could’ve used a tad more alcohol. We found that to be a common theme in the city.
Prior to leaving, the DJ came over and asked if we enjoyed the music because he wanted us to have a good time. So nice!
If you’re looking for great non-​EDM music and a relaxing, hip spot on Granville, do not hesitate to come here.

My husband and I ducked in here for a quick drink early in the evening. We found the place busy with mature and friendly clientele and very attentive staff. I had the free run fried chicken on creamed kale and my husband had the beef cheeks on cheesy polenta. Both dishes were amazing! The drinks were good and inexpensive. This will be a great place for us to return, as it is on our commute home, handy to transit and a great respite from the Granville «scene.» We will be back!!!
Oh, and they do have TVs, and they were on an old B&W film that was a fantastic alternative to sportsportsportsportsport!

Returned for another night of Wednesday trivia is February 2015. Good/​tough questions but same complaint as last time — too few questions stretched out over too long. There are two rounds of fifteen questions that are spread evenly over 2 hours (so a total of 30 questions over 120 minutes). Questions are spaced about 2 – 3 minutes apart. This isn’t nearly enough questions for my taste. By comparison, Relish has trivia on Tuesdays and they fit at least 60 questions into the same time or less.
Ask for a bottle of their spicy ginger beer — its good!

Loved this place! Walked by so many times and missed it but glad someone recommended to check it out. Cool space and fun music mixed with delicious food and drinks! Prices are amazing for what the delicious food you are receiving! Make sure to try the Beet fries there sooo good! I’m definitely going back again.

The food was great and the lovely bartender was amazing; however, the absolute lack of any thing resembling lap dances and or back rubs was very disconcerting.
WORST STRIP CLUB EVER!!!

The Bottleneck is a great place to stop in before a show at the Commodore (omg La Roux!) They have $ 5 wine for happy hour, and they had a pretty decent mac & cheese spring roll for the happy hour food special. I wasn’t in love with it, but it was a cool idea.
They had a great, super spicy ginger beer which I devoured, and my friends enjoyed their $ 5 wine, which you can pick from ANY on their wine list — pretty good if you ask me. We had a delicious pepperoni pizza, some mediocre, slightly rubbery (not so) crispy squid, and some tasty truffle fries.
The atmosphere is reasonable and the food menu is small but pretty good. It’s a great place to pop in pre-​concert, but I don’t know that I’d make it a regular hangout.

At last, a burger that can be medium rare! They ground their own meat here thus they don’t need to comply with the Canadian «burn the flavor out of the burger» policy… And being from California, and living directly above this spot, you can imagine how happy this makes me to have found this place!
Awesome service, great food, fantastic ambiance, hands down one of the classiest places in town to relax and have a drink, with great happy hour and food specials.
Must try the wings, some of the best in town!