

After Dark
A no-frills Gastown corner bar where the window seat turns the steam clock tourist circus into your private entertainment until 2am.
The Black Frog has the best free entertainment in Gastown: a window seat looking directly at the steam clock and the visitors working out what, exactly, a steam clock is for. The bar itself is cheerfully unpretentious, cheap-ish cocktails, a proper beer list, weekly live music and comedy nights, and an energy that makes zero attempt to impress you, which is exactly why it works. The window is where a late date reveals its full potential, because the tourist circus outside gives you something to observe, narrate, and disagree about pleasantly while the night extends itself. Fridays and Saturdays it runs to 2am. Grab the corner, order whatever's on special, and spend a while doing absolutely nothing in one of Vancouver's most photographed intersections without being any part of the spectacle yourself.