Richmond has never been a nightlife city, and pretending otherwise would be no use to anyone. What it does have is a solid set of neighbourhood pubs: the Steveston waterfront rooms that fill after a summer evening on the boardwalk, the sports bars near Ironwood and the Riverport complex, and the hotel lounges around Bridgeport and Sea Island that stay open for late arrivals off YVR flights.
Add the karaoke rooms and late-night lounges of the No. 3 Road corridor, which run on a different clock entirely. Vancouver is fifteen minutes over the bridge and takes most of the club trade, so the listings here lean toward places you can actually hold a conversation in.
A whisky lounge inside Club Versante with a large by-the-glass list and izakaya-style plates off a robata grill. There is a glassed-in vault dining room, live entertainment several nights a week, and two small private rooms. Dressier than a pub.
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Upstairs on the Bayview pier with big windows over Fisherman's Wharf, Catch serves West Coast seafood alongside steaks, burgers and pasta. Locals come for the sunset patio, the halibut and black cod, and a kitchen that runs late on weekend nights.
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A restaurant and bar on Minoru Boulevard serving Pacific Northwest cooking from breakfast through dinner, with cocktails, BC wine and local beer. Live music on Thursdays and free parking. Handy to Richmond Centre, Minoru Park and the hospital.
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A Cambie Road beer bar and grill carrying the long-standing Vancouver name, with a wide international bottle list alongside the taps. Burgers, wings and pub plates, screens for the game, and easy parking. Convenient to the Bridgeport hotels.
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A Westminster Highway bar and grill named after a regular who has eaten there daily for over thirty-five years. Big local wine, craft beer and spirits list, screens throughout and a patio. Opens early for takeout and runs through the evening.
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Richmond's long-running sports pub on Blundell Road, with more than thirty screens including three large ones. There are separate pub and dining sides, weekend entertainment, and standard pub food. The default neighbourhood spot for watching a game.
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A waterfront bar and grill beside Milltown Marina with three patios: one facing the North Shore mountains, another looking out at the Fraser and the airport's main runway. Pub food, Sunday prime rib and a genuinely rare view.
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The restaurant and lounge at the Radisson on Cambie Road, serving West Coast plates and casual Italian. The lounge side is the useful part: a quiet place for a drink near YVR, with parking and hours running from breakfast to late evening.
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An everyday south Richmond pub on Steveston Highway with its own liquor store attached, closed Mondays. There is a beer club, Taco Tuesday and occasional beer and wine festivals, so regulars treat it as a local rather than a destination.
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A seafood bar and grill on the Steveston boardwalk, with Vicky's Lounge upstairs for drinks and harbour views. Fish and chips and chowder anchor the menu. The patio is packed in summer and it settles into a quiet local pub the rest of the year.
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A taphouse on No. 1 Road at the inland edge of Steveston, open daily from noon until 10pm. Roomier and considerably less touristy than the waterfront bars, which makes it the village option when the boardwalk is packed.
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A taphouse near No. 1 Road and Moncton with a deep BC beer list and a long wine selection. Comfort food, burgers, salads and shareables. Roomier and less touristy than the waterfront spots, which makes it a dependable evening option.
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A 200-seat pub in the old Steveston Hotel with two patios that fill the moment the sun is out. Locals come for pints, pub food and game-day screens a block from the fishing docks, and it gets loud and busy on weekends.
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A pub on Sea Island at the north end of the No. 2 Road bridge, right beside the floatplane dock. The patio looks onto the river where seaplanes take off and land. A long list of BC microbrews and a menu built around burgers and fish.
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A casual bar and brunch room in the Executive Hotel on Alderbridge Way. Oysters, tavern burgers and smoked salmon, plus a well-priced happy hour with mimosas and fried chicken sliders. Airport and hotel traffic keeps the hours long.
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From the blog
Guides and roundups written for Richmond, with the businesses linked inline.
I live four blocks off Moncton Street, so this is the Steveston I actually use: where to park before the Bayview lots fill, how to buy fish straight off the boats at the wharf, the honest answer to the Pajo's versus Dave's question, and why the history here is not decoration.
Richmond does not hand you a view the way downtown Vancouver does. What it gives you is sea-level horizons, fog on the dyke, working boats, and the No. 3 Road corridor after rain. Here are the spots I keep going back to, and when the light is right at each.
The Oval stopped being an Olympic venue a long time ago. What it is now is the biggest rec centre in Richmond BC, with a pine roof worth looking up at. Here is how to get in, where to park, what the skating and court situation is really like, and where to eat after.
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