Midnight Pints at The Drake Eatery

Free live music every night inside one of Victoria's most gorgeous rooms, in the old Bank of British Columbia, until 1am.

Order The Volcano (it's on fire), book the karaoke room, and accept that tonight is going to be a story.

Seven nights of live Celtic fiddle, the largest Irish whiskey list in Canada, and 1am doors on Bastion Square.

Cash-only, peanut shells on the floor, bras stapled to the ceiling: Victoria's most beloved dive bar open until 2am.

Air Canada Best New Restaurants longlisted Kerala cooking with a patio pointing straight at Victoria Harbour.

A candlelit brick courtyard down a Victoria back alley, doing wood-oven Italian for 35 years and not sorry about it.

A moody Bastion Square wine bar with oysters, blankets in the back courtyard, and wines that reward asking questions.

Tasting flights of award-winning organic cider on a ten-acre Saanich Peninsula orchard above the water, reservations required on weekends.

Victoria's original neighbourhood pub since 1954, with Mount Baker in the window and a fireplace for the days it isn't.

Fort Street's oven-roasted Korean chicken spot where the lighter, juicier alternative to deep-fry has a near-perfect 4.7 to back it up.

A working single-malt distillery and craft brewery under one roof, where a 45-minute tour ends in a tasting flight.

Four escape rooms by Bastion Square, 60 minutes each, with actual hidden compartments and a lot to learn about your date.

A bright, clattering Mexican brunch room inside Market Square, where the benny lands on a potato pancake under pulled pork.

Down Trounce Alley in Victoria, a snug tapas bar where the sherry list is one of the biggest in Canada.