Looking for a list of the best happy hours in Burnaby? We’ve done all the cheap drinking for you, so your kidneys get a break.
First though, some real talk: in many ways, we feel like the glory days of Burnaby’s best happy hours are a thing of the past. Once upon at time, we had a solid 3-6pm range to work with – plenty of time to run from work and drown in budget bellinis.
These days however, happy hour specials are mainly in the 3-5pm timeframe, which isn’t ideal for those of us with conventional 9-5 gigs.
For those with more flexibility though, there’s a decent selection of affordable happy hour specials all around town.
Here are our top picks for the best Happy Hour deals in Burnaby.
Help us improve this article! Here at Vancouver Tips, we only write about places we’ve personally visited, which is why some of our articles are fairly short. If you have any insider tips or recommendations for us to try out, let us know in the comments so we can expand our content!
Trattoria Burnaby
Happy Hour: Daily from 2 – 5pm & 9pm – Close
One of our favourite Happy Hours in Burnaby is the Happy Hour at Trattoria, where you’ll find some truly epic deals like beer, house wine, highballs & classic cocktails for $5, along with their tasty selection of antipasti, pizza and basic pastas from $10-13.
Service can be a little hit & miss here, especially if you visit on a busy day like Tuesday, which is when they offer their affordable $16 pasta special. Nonetheless, it’s tough to beat $5 Aperol Spritzes!
Our tip? Get the Beef Carpaccio. It’s delightful. And be sure to book ahead on their website!
ZUBU Ramen
Happy Hour: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday from 2-5pm & 9pm – Close | All Day Tuesday
An unexpected contender for the best Happy Hour in Burnaby is ZUBU Ramen, located steps away from Metrotown, where you’ll find a selection of tasty small bites for $4 – $8 along with exceptional drink deals like 9oz glasses of house white & red wine for $7, and 1oz Sake for as little as $5.
Whether it’s spicy tuna tacos for $4 or a Zubu House Salad for $6, the Happy Hour food options are a steal, but there’s equally impressive specials at other times too, like all day on Monday and Thursday, when Japanese Whiskey, Sake & Bottled Wine are all 50% off.
We drank our wine a little too quickly for a photo, but here are the terrifyingly hot gyoza we tried, which were delicious apart from the fact that they were served on a scalding skillet that spat oil at us like a vengeful deep dryer:
Dageraad Brewing
Happy Hour: Monday – Thursday from 4 -6 pm
Tucked away in an industrial complex just outside of Production Way Skytrain Station, Dageraad Brewing is a true Burnaby gem, offering small-batch, Belgian-style beers brewed on-site, with an airy 50 seat tasting room where you can kick back and sample to your heart’s content.
During their “Raad Hour” (that takes place Mon – Thurs from 4 – 6pm), they offer $1 off their 420 mL pours. Sure it’s not the steepest discount out there, but their beers are already fairly affordable, and the service is great.
PS: They even have a beer named after the city itself – the Burnabarian, and it’s (fittingly) quite delicious.
Cactus Club (Locations at Station Square, North Burnaby & Bryne Road)
Happy Hour: 2 – 5 pm & 9:30pm – Close
A classic Happy Hour spot in Burnaby is the Cactus Club at Station Square, where you’ll find a decent Happy Hour menu with cocktails ($6-9), wine ($6-10 for 6oz), and beer ($5-8), alongside a large selection of discounted dishes.
While admittedly, the drinks here aren’t as cheap as nearby Burnaby happy hours, the main draw here is the discount on classic Cactus Club dishes, which you’ll be able to enjoy for a discount of $2 – $8 off the regular price, depending on what you order.
… Still, you’ll be paying upwards of twenty bucks for a dish, which isn’t exactly cheap by Happy Hour standards. We also find their cheap finger food selection fairly lacking (we prefer Earls for that – more on them below!)
Overall we’d say this is the ideal Happy Hour for when you’re craving a full-sized meal at a cheaper price (and don’t mind eating early or late!)… but there are definitely cheaper options.
Earls (Locations at Station Square and Bridge Park)
Happy Hour: Daily 2 – 5pm + Sun – Thurs: 9pm – Close, Fri – Sat: 10pm – Close
Steps away from Cactus Club (in Station Square), you’ll find Earls, CC’s casual fine dining sister/nemesis. We still can’t quite tell what their dynamic is.
But anyways, if it’s a super good value Happy Hour in Burnaby you’re looking for, then Earls is a great bet. They have a nice selection of super cheap bites, including a $5 (mini) Margherita Pizza and $5 fries too.
They also have some of their signature dishes like their Garlic Prawn Spaghettini for $20 or under.
Overall, we prefer this Happy Hour over Cactus Club, especially on a warm day for their Station Square location since they have an actual terrace vs. the weird open wall concept they have going on at CC Station Square.
NOTE: Signature Caesars aren’t a part of the regular Earls Happy Hour menu, but they are on the Brunch Happy Hour on weekends and holidays. And um, not to be dramatic, but we would take a bullet for this Caesar. It comes with a pepperoni stick & pickle and is SO GOOD. No celery stick non-sense here.
We Hope You Enjoyed This Guide to Happy Hours in Burnaby!
Let us know in the comments if we missed any of your faves.