Commercial Drive - Vancouver - page 245

Neighborhood Top Five
Slurping creamy cappuccinos and watching the world go by at several Italian-run
coffee bars, including perky, new Renzo's .
Spending a summer evening drinking and dining on a patio at Havana .
Diving tongue-first into BC's craft-beer scene with a piquant tasting flight at St
Augustine's .
Hanging with the locals at a late-night cult movie screening at the Rio .
Taking the stage (after a few beers) for poetry slam night at Cafe Deux Soleil .
Explore Commercial Drive
Take SkyTrain's Expo or Millennium line from downtown and when you hop off at
Commercial-Broadway station a few minutes later the Drive will be just around the
corner. Walk north towards the mountains and everything will unfold in a linear fash-
ion: the Drive's main stores, restaurants and bars run on either side of the street for
about 17 blocks until the intersection with Venables. If it's too far to walk, bus number
20 trundles along much of the Drive's main drag so you can jump aboard when you feel
tired. Better still, just take a coffee-shop pit stop and you'll be back on your feet in no
time. If you're exploring both of East Vancouver's two top thoroughfares - Main St and
Commercial - take the 99B-Line express bus along Broadway: it links the two streets
in around 10 minutes.
A lively, colorful strip most of the time, some locals say the Drive is at its best on
sunny summer afternoons. In fact, it's a perfectly relaxing half-day excursion from the
city center. For others, it's languid summer evenings when the Drive thrives. This is the
time when its abundant patios are at their most animated. If you're planning to eat here,
make sure you wander along the strip for a few blocks before you settle on a place that
truly whets your appetite. The same goes for the chatty bars, where you'll meet every-
one from pixie-chick bohemians to chin-stroking poets and old-school dope smokers.