I've been going to the American for over 3 years. Depending what day you go it's always a different vibe. Week days are relatively relaxed, but it gives you more of a chance to have your go at the football games or pinball machines. The food is exceptional. They have a tonne of incredible local offerings for draft beer and wine. Reasonably priced especially considering being close to fancier wine/cocktail bars like Keefer or Mammi Taylors. Incredible, polite, helpful staff. If there's a game on it's always playing. The DJ's on the weekend are incredible. Honestly cannot compliment the staff enough. I love the American it's always reliable to visit when you aren't sure where to go. And there are specific DJ's that I absolutely have to go dance to. 5.50 Cans, fooseball, and SKEE BALL! Also Ginger Beer on tap, and Old Fashioned and Negroni on tap. Reasonably priced for a great cocktail. Wednesday is karaoke too - maybe best karaoke in Vancouver. read more

Great bar here. Super cool spot, highly recommend checking this place out.

For $5, I received a total of 7 tater tots. 7. It's fried potato. Why am I getting such a small portion for the price paid? The burger was also small in size. Felt about the same size as a BigMac from M'Donalds. The value/quantity vs price is way off here. Additionally, even though their 'American guest' wifi is still being broadcasted, bartender would not give password saying they closed down the coffee shop and are not doing wifi anymore. As someone from out of town with no cell/internet, this was an irritation. Had to watch WWE on their projector with no audio and no subtitles. Also, they advertised BitCoin on their door but the BTC machine was down. read more

We stumbled upon The American after arriving at Pacific Station - looking for a place to kill some time before heading to YVR. Had a really yummy veggie mushroom burger- the husband had the poutine, which he seemed to enjoy. We had a couple of pints of beer- they have a decent selection on tap. Played a game of foosball and was totally slaughtered. In addition, they have 7 pinball machines and a pool table. To top it off- it has a cool industrial vibe with roomy booths, communal tables, two bars, and some cool tunes. Staff was friendly and attentive to boot. Definitely would come back in next time in Vancouver. read more

The American - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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I have been on the Downlow train since the inception. I ate Downlow chicken so often I even went there by myself, a fan for life. Now when I was introduced to their burger I was blown away. I can tell you all reasons why this burger is the best, but true burger lovers will know why after eating this burger why this burger is great from bun to Patty! Then the onion rings are truly one of a kind, the onions are smoked, that already takes it to the next level. The fries are hot and tasty, which is amazing in the industry if you can serve hot fries. Today I only had a chance to try get the brisket. I now realize I have to come earlier because this brisket was so awesome and I'm sure everything else is as well, hence why it was sold out, that's a great sign for my brunch next Sunday. I'm ordering the beef ribs, sausage, brisket & if I'm really hungry the back ribs as well. NO RESTAURANT IN VANCOUVER CAN TOUCH THIS BRISKET RECIPE!! The best bbq I've ever had in my life so far, I don't need to go anywhere else. Other restaurants in this city should learn from Downlow how to make food like this, good luck, lol. read more

Love it! Great burger, great games, friendly bar staff....good times. The tater tots were mediocre, at best, though.

Not going to lie but I'm highly disappointed with this place. First off the service is terrible. Right when I walked in I went up to the bartender and told her it was my first time here as I wasn't too sure if we seat ourselves or wait ... and after staring at her for a good minute she finally acknowledged me and told me in a rude manner to seat myself and basically gave one menu to me even though she saw me walk in with 5 other people. Once we received our food, there were zero plates given and only given once I asked ... which were styrofoam plates. After spending $15 on just a burger and driving all the way from delta to specifically come here, I expected much better service. You could taste more of the bread than the actual burger, and it was absolutely drenched in sauce. Bottom line terrible service and don't let their instagram pictures fool you. read more

Such a cool concept and wonderful drinks! When we came in there was a Simpsons trivia night going on which was very fun to watch from the bar. The drinks were delicious and different, don't remember the name of the one I ordered but it was something delicious with tequila! If I ever find myself in vancouver again I will be sure to stop by. read more

Huge fan of the monarch burger, and anything campangnolo puts out, so was excited to see what the downlow burger was all about. Huge disappointment. Burger was overcooked and just not very exciting. Had 'the American' which is their take on the Big Mac. Side of onion rings was literally dripping in grease and couldn't eat more than two rings. Swing and a miss. read more

I have been to The American twice. I'll preface this with the fact that both times were during COVID. The first time it was the best. 110%. I told my friends that it was my new favorite place. The second time was SUPER disappointing. With flat beer and subpar food, I was having a whole different (not good) experience. Too random for me to return. read more

We came for the burgers & a fun night with friends but drinks were way over priced & the burgers were undercooked. Poutine was cold & dry with hardly any gravy & curds. I would not go back. read more

Checked this place out, sounded great and actually it may still have a chance but it needs a lot of work. Lots of big tables that are inviting to large groups, fairly reasonable tap selection for a bar in East Van where craft taps are a do or die and a great looking space...But the service was brutal!! I think honestly the place has an identity crisis as you would expect there to be table service at a spot like this. It has a reasonable, albeit small, food offering so why no one to get ya started with a drink and a bite? It would seem odd that if you settle in with all 5-10 of your buds, then all 5-10 of you have to go up and order from the bar?? Didn't make much sense... So we approach the bar cautiously to avoid causing any inconvenience to the bartender who's more interested in instagram likes than us, hardly can blame her, and ordered our drinks. It then struck me as weird that the credit/debit machine had a minimum tip suggestion of 20%??!! Dream on...we weren't served drinks at our table or anyone making the rounds to check if we wanted more drinks, shots or snacks, why would 20% ever be considered?? Like i said this place has potential but it needs some work as I don't think they've nailed down their model yet. Nice mural though.... read more

Terrible. Stay away. Burger was under-cooked and staff didn't seem to care when they asked "how is everything" and I told them the burger patty was rare and the wings were soaking in a puddle of grease. $50 for two burgers, one beer and some wings. read more

Don't waste your money on the food. $14 for a veggie mushroom burger, but you ONLY get a veggie burger for that price (no fries or salad or anything else). It tasted alright, but the "burger" is actually just a paste and fell apart in my hands. Seriously disappointing. I'll never eat there again. $7 for a super basic kale salad that my friend got (kale + salad dressing + croutons). Totally not worth it. Go somewhere else if you're hungry, this place is a rip-off. read more

This place was great. Decent prices and their veggie burger was really good. Plus, they have pinball, foosball, and pool. What else can you ask for? read more

Went to the American as they are billed as a place to get a quality burger. Not so :( the cheese on the cheeseburger was a kraft slice of processed cheese. The fried onions were dripping with so much oil that they soaked through the bun. Burger itself was smallish, not that tasty and was over cooked. Fries were meh bordering on crap. Kale Caesar was the best part of the meal. If I was drunk and hungry, if probably think it was the best bar food ever, but I wasn't and it wasn't. read more

Read an article about Hamburger Bliss so I thought we will give this place a try. The meat was good but it is not grilled so it is missing the grill taste. There was not enough sauce in my veg burger so it was dry. The fries were overcooked so they were dark and oily. There is little service, you have to go up to the bar to order and get your own water but when we paid by interact the first tip percentage was 18%. I felt they only deserved 10% as the waitresses were not very friendly and helpful. read more

Awesome burger, real gingerbeer in the mules, skeeball, basketball, and a legit photo booth! What else more could ya want?!

Good fun. 5/5! Sara gives outstanding service. Truly quality. Good drinks. She is funny.

My boyfriend and I wanted to try this place because it's new to our area. We walked in at about 8pm on a Thursday night. The place was dead there were only 3 tables with people in them All the servers and bartenders were standing behind the bar. No one greeted us or noticed us even though the bar is right beside the entrance. So we asked the girl behind the bar if we seat ourselves. She responded "yeah sure I guess". I still wanted to give it a try despite the lack of service. So we went in and picked a booth. 5 minutes go by as we waited for someone to great us, bring us menus or tell us the specials just anything ! Two of the servers that we walked by on our way in were litterally slow dancing and laughing with each other at the front door and the bartenders were just chatting. No one even looked in our direction. We wanted to see how long this would go on but after 10 minutes we just got up and left and no one even acknowledged our presence on the way out. Its as if we were ghosts. Like we didn't even exist! It was The most bizare experience. Sadly will not be going back as we were looking forward to a new place to go out in our neighborhood. read more

Nice atmosphere, and if you like oil, this is the place for you. 15$ and up for just a burger it better be good, but bottom bun including the paper that's holding it is prettying greasy. Okay, fine, I'll eat it, no problem. I ordered wings and I thought it was some type of wet sauce at first that came with it, it's dim inside so I couldn't tell until I put my phone against it. It was sitting on a fingernail deep of oil. I've never seen that before, and I mentioned that to a server collecting our used glasses etc and he just said "well, are they good?". I said , "I don't know but they're just sitting in oil ". He then walked away. Okay fine again, I'll leave it at that, but later another dude came to collect the dishes and he asked how was the food, and I said "the wings were greasy". Then he started talking about this double fry method then I said " it's literally sitting a pool of oil bro". He then said "maybe we didn't drain it enough". He took the plates shrugged his shoulders and left. Could have at least offered to make another batch or something. Like, I'm not mad , it was just weird service. They need better training from the higher ups or some type of way to tip money the kitchen so they're motivated being that it's a kinda self serve thing. read more

After reading rave reviews online and from various papers, was super excited to try it out. Burger was ok, bun was nice and soft and held up well, and nice big slices of bacon and burger patty was good quality. I wouldn't say it is better than other options out there in Vancouver. Major thing is poor service. You walk in and aren't greeted by anybody, bar person and servers are chatting amongst themselves. You have to walk to the bar to make your own order which is fair enough but then they ask for a tip on the machine that starts at 18%? This is followed by complete neglect from any of the servers through the entire meal, had to ask for even water, utensils, and napkin, go figure. There were only 2 tables there, and still had to wait for half an hour for 3 burgers. read more

Monarch burger is the best burger I have tasted. The atmosphere is great for our whole family. My son referred to the burger as "the best thing he has ever ate" and proceeded to eat two! Then we played pool and skeeball it was fantastic read more

if you decide to come to this bar better to have dinner before!! the prices for food are absolutely ridiculous a vegetarian burger $14.50 dls with NO fries !!! and a side of fries $4 dls server was so rude aswel read more