Eancouver's Granville Strip, a study in nightlife diversity, offers the restless downtowner an entertainment range from homespun, pre-gentrification coffee shops to slick new restaurants and a heavy dose of the omnipresent Starbucks monster. Drinking spots are numerous and stay open late. In the centre of all-things-Granville, and occupying almost an entire block, Ceili's is the reigning king of Vancouver's pub scene.

Wrapped tightly in Irish regalia, Ceili’s (taking over the old Skybar location) serves up a combination of traditional Irish and North American cuisine and a variety of spirits and draught beers. Its sheer magnitude (think pub, but the size of a small town) and the permeation of unsolicited camaraderie often surprises first-timers. Offering three levels of pure Irish vibe-age, the monstrous space boasts the city's largest rooftop patio,
complete with fireplaces and heat lamps (sorry greenys). Spacious bathrooms with plenty of cubicles ensure restroom stop expediency and, in turn, keep the ten-spot dropping plentiful and quick.

At Ceili's, local live music fans are in their element. Though heavy on the requisite Celtic tunes, things get shaken up on DJ nights like industry/student Wednesdays, and acoustic evenings like corporate Fridays.

There's something oddly soothing about a trendy place that eschews typical trend totems. The crowd is an amalgam of post-school kids, white-collar types, incognito celbs, and a smattering of VIPs, mishmashing, cavorting, occasionally dry humping, and always pint pounding. It's snake-free fun with charms (lucky and not) and all the potatoes you can eat (not really). – R.B.