From classics to signature selections, Vancouver speakeasy Call Me Back is leaving you a message.

When you wander inside the Lions Pub, a traditional English-style establishment in Vancouver’s Coal Harbour, it’s everything you expect: pints of draught, sports on the telly, nail-studded leather stools and dark woods. But it’s the iconic red phone booth toward the back bar that catches your eye. A closer look reveals it’s not just a prop, but a portal to a speakeasy: Call Me Back lounge.

Through the threshold, this 22-seat lounge, an elegant analogue to the pub, announces itself with a wall decked with chunky rotary-dial phones in retro hues. This past spring, the cocktail-focused bar celebrated one year since the Terminal City Club, which owns and operates Lions Pub, revamped a former florist shop into a speakeasy.

“The guests are able to travel between both spaces and enjoy different experiences,” says Colin Wu, lead bartender. Sometimes they start in the velvet-and-wallpaper confines of Call Me Back for a quiet cocktail and snacks, ranging from smoked olives to prime rib sliders. Then they might head into the pub to catch a game. Or some pub-goers do the reverse, and hit Call Me Back later for a nightcap and something sweet, like the boozy Irish cream tiramisu.

Despite only having room for two staff behind the bar, says Wu, there’s a ton of technique that goes into the cocktail creations, thanks to equipment like a sous-vide immersion circulator and a Spinzall tabletop centrifuge (used to clarify ingredients). Flip open the menu—the design is a riff on the Yellow Pages of yore—and you’ll see classics and signature cocktails, showcasing top-tier creativity. For example, Wu describes the Hiking Gear as “liquid trail mix”—totally on brand for outdoorsy locals. It features peanut butter fat-washed rye, prune syrup, orange and chocolate bitters. Tasting notes, which help guests find what fits their fancy, describe it as “silky, nutty, heartwarming.”

A Hong Kong native, Wu built his bartending skills at the award-winning Old Man bar, where the entire oeuvre is based on a Hemingway novel. He fell in love with developing its experimental menus, a concept he’s been able to co-create at Call Me Back. The bar is on menu Volume 2, and the team tends to retire and recreate its entire signature lineup with each issue. With Volume 3 in the works, that means drinks like the Eau de Cologne, made with makrut lime–infused gin, won’t be around forever. Neither will the Dial Tone. “It’s inspired by a Garibaldi and my personal favourite,” says Wu. “I am a sucker for chai.”

Guests can always order the classics—including some on the menu that are not typically top of mind, such as the Jungle Bird, which originated at the Kuala Lumpur Hilton in 1973. It’s not too sweet but has a tiki vibe, says Wu, making it “a huge hit” at the bar. Another one of his favourites is the rye-based Vieux Carré, invented in the 1930s at the luxe Carousel Bar & Lounge in New Orleans. It fits well with the balance his team is trying to create at Call Me Back: something new but familiar, and something lesser known but not obscure. Like, say, an iconic red phone booth that’s the gateway to a delightful modern twist.

Call Me Back Bar is located at 888 West Cordova Street, Vancouver. tcclub.com/callmeback, @callmebacklounge on Instagram