Great Bear Pub

Visited only because it was on my way; the place is dark, old looking and a bit claustrophobic; little craft beer available. But Burnaby hasn’t much to offer yet.

A sports bar and pool hall feel. Lots of gaming and distractions. Service is self serve and selection of beers is limited, but does have local craft. Prices are pretty reasonable. I would have very little reason to come back.

This place has changed leaps and bounds in the last year. It used to be a terrible little dive bar with equally terrible food and beer selection, but whoever is in charge now is turning it around. Excellent for a spot in Burnaby, but pales in comparison to Vancouver’s spots. The beer menu is pretty good. Nice selection. Seems a little overpriced, but perhaps that’s the going rate for bottles (I usually order taps, but their tap selection isn’t that great in my opinion). My biggest criticism of the place is the unfriendly, inattentive waitresses that have zero product knowledge. They really need to implement a training program to get these waitresses up to speed or just fire them all and rehire better ones. I also don’t like the way they wash their glassware. Tonight, I went and waited forever to make my order. When it came she gave me the bottle and walked away. I had to wait for her to come back so I could actually ask for a glass so I could pour it. Then she gave me a glass where you could smell the dishwasher soap residue still on it and disappeared again. It was impossible to flag her down again and I just wanted to drink and go because it was so loud so I gave up and just drank it in the soapy glass. The crowd on Saturday night was very rowdy redneck, very hard to hear anything. The facility is clean. If you live nearby it’s worth checking out, but otherwise just goto Vancouver. And ask for a properly rinsed glass so it doesn’t ruin the beer.