Afternoon, brunch, late night— why it seems like every hour is happy hour

It’s happy hour somewhere? These days, it feels a lot more like happy hour is everywhere, especially in Vancouver.
Hard to believe that, just a little over a decade ago, discounted day-drinking was still illegal in British Columbia, the only province in Canada that still maintained seemingly arcane regulations that banned these happiest of times. That changed in the summer of 2014, when B.C.’s liquor laws were revised to loosen up or eliminate a number of restrictions that prohibited things like alcohol sales at farmer’s markets and, of course, bars and restaurants offering time-specific drink specials.
Many lost no time offering deals on cocktails, wine and spirits. The Donnelly Group (now the Freehouse Collective), which immediately started offering $3 beers, wines and highballs from 3 to 6 p.m. as part of its new promotion, Happy Hour Prohibition is Over. Another notable early adopter was Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House, which launched a buck-a-shuck and $5 drinks program that would evolve into a local institution that’s still thriving 10 years later.
Despite the demonstrable enthusiasm in some spots, happy hour wasn’t an overnight success when the laws first changed in 2014. As part of the change, the province also implemented minimum pricing laws (there was a $3 floor), which meant prices actually went up at a few bars. Other bars didn’t want to wade into the “cheap drinks” universe for fear that it might tarnish their image.
A decade later, these concerns no longer exist. Not only is happy hour ubiquitous, it’s stylish.
“When I moved back here a few years ago, it was pretty basic, like people selling a house wine or rail liquor at a cheaper price and that’s it,” says Tabytha Towe, who works at Brix & Mortar in Vancouver’s Yaletown. “Now, it’s really elevated and kind of competitive and a lot of places have a whole separate menu with special cocktails and snacks. If you don’t have a good happy hour, it’s kind of like, ‘What the hell are you doing?’ ”
Modern day-drinking includes everything from washing down buttermilk-fried chicken with a $10-ish cocktail at Nightingale (3 to 5 p.m.) to enjoying free tapas at the bar at Como Taperia with any drink purchase, including the only excellent three-ounce pour of house vermouth for $8. Pinch me. Wait, this is real life? In that case, I’ll have another pintxo and a fresh glass of vermut, please.
Best of all, happiness is no longer on a strict afternoon schedule. Bar Corso on Commercial Drive offers all-day happy hour Negronis on Tuesdays, West Van’s Beach House has a weekend brunch happy hour for early birds (10 to 11 a.m.) and there’s no shortage of late-night happy hours, from Bodega on Main to some Earls outlets, which offer a range of drinks, starting at $5 well highballs, Sunday to Thursday, 9 pm to close.

A national moment
Vancouver has finally found its happy hour groove. It’s hardly alone, though, since happy hour is having a moment across Canada. From fancy cocktail bars that used to pride themselves on a single menu (or no menu at all) to wine bars with half-price bottles, everyone is launching creative promotions and special treats to lure people in on slow days and off-hours.
Why has it suddenly taken off? (Not that we’re complaining!) At the end of the day, the reason happy hour is everywhere has everything to do with the fact that many of Canada’s bars are still reeling from the pandemic. And not only is business slower, the flow is wildly unpredictable.
“When I used to work in the financial district, you were full at 5:15,” says Christina Veira, part-owner of Toronto’s Bar Mordecai. “With remote and hybrid work, that’s not happening there anymore.”
As we all know, the office towers downtown are pretty much empty. In addition, though, anyone who has the flexibility to do so is personalizing their hours, which makes it harder for people in the food and beverage industry to predict “rush” hour, whether it’s in the downtown core or in mixed commercial residential hoods like Little Portugal, which Bar Mordecai calls home.
“I haven’t been able to figure out when people are working in any meaningful way,” says Veira. “I’m like, ‘Are you working remotely?’ ‘When do you stop work?’ ‘When are you going out?’ ‘What does this all look like?’ ”
To deal with this problem, Bar Mordecai was well ahead of the curve when it came to offering what we’re going to call “value-added programming”—charity bingo nights, all-you-can-eat spaghetti nights (with discounted Prosecco) and, of course, an excellent happy hour from 6 to 8 p.m. Every day. Even Fridays and Saturdays when the bar is usually full, with or without drink specials.
“We started doing the happy hour after the Omicron lockdown and I remember it being very popular,” recalls Veira. “I think it was partly because we had deals on cocktails that weren’t on our regular menu. And they were true deals.”
One early menu included Negronis for $9 and a deal on oysters, which helped to buffer them while coming out of what she calls “arguably the fourth lockdown” and into mid-winter, a season that, historically, has low sales. Since it was a success, they’re still running happy hour, as well as all the other special promos. “People are more budget conscious, and rightfully so,” she says. “Because for everyone who saved money because of the lockdown, there’s another person who had the very opposite experience.”

Instagram.com/barmordecai photo
Added benefits
In addition to bringing in people who want to splash out a little and not break the bank, Veira has found happy hour is a great way to train new staff on classic cocktails, test out new cocktails and get feedback from guests. She says it also brings in a wider range of people and makes Mordecai a little more accessible to folks who feel like they can’t afford to go out as much as they used to. Best of all, though, happy hour is a way to manage the traffic flow and impose a little structure in this brave new world of free-floating schedules.
“At the end of the day, late night is almost always busy, but if we can have a busier early night, that helps cover costs and is better for us overall,” she says.
According to conventional restaurant wisdom, the most expensive thing in any bar or restaurant is an empty seat. And full rooms have other dividends, too, because people are drawn to busy places.
“One thing that’s great about our happy hour is that, when people come in for dinner resos, the room already has a vibe,” says Towe about the promo at Brix & Mortar. “You’re not walking into an empty place.”
Happy hour is one of those rare things in life that seems to be a win for everyone. The only real mystery is why it took so long for bar managers and owners to catch on. It’s finally happy hour everywhere and, from the looks of it, this institution isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Find your happy place
Looking for a happy hour? The website ultimatehappyhours.com, created by Victoria-based digital marketer Jordan Caron, is an easily searchable database of happy hours in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia, complete with time, food and drink specials, and everything else you need to know.
How to get happy
by The Alchemist Staff
Whether you work in a bar or are hosting friends at your home, here are the things to keep in mind when planning a happy hour.
• Make it quick. Set a time limit—two to three hours is plenty.
• Make it easy. People want their drinks fast, so this is not the time for anything complicated, especially if you’ve got a full house. Consider pre-batched or on-tap cocktails.
• Make it approachable. Think highballs and classics such as Negronis, Martinis, Manhattans and G&Ts. .
• Make it fun. “Happy,” after all, is in the name.
• If you run the cocktail program at a bar or restaurant, make it lucrative. Happy hour drinks should be relatively low effort and low cost for high return.
One good way to make happy hour your own is by putting a light twist on a popular classic. For instance, you can add a lively lick of heat to a Paloma or Margarita by replacing regular tequila with this chili-infused variation.