The Charlatan Reviews

Great patio with plenty of seating. Decent selection of food and a variety of drinks. Acceptable pieces and service. Worth the visit!

Great atmosphere. Good eats. Outdoor seating is uncomfortable but nice to be outside. Trendy, great staff. Will be back!

They make the best Caesars. The bartenders are friendly, food was delish. 4 stars!

Best bar on the drive. Not too loud or quiet. Drink specials on Canucks games. Proper pints you can't find elsewhere in the correct glassware. Best bar to sit on hands down. Menu is not best on drive but it's a bar first and foremost, and food is decent.

Food was meh, service was a bit slow though it was busy and the waitress was very nice. They tried to cram too many tables into the space, I'd rather they have left at least a little room for people to actually move in there. Anywhere else this would have been rated higher, but on the drive there are better options.

Amazing staff that will take care of you! Best bar on commercial drive.

Jannie is the best server I ve ever had! Attentive, funny and kind.

The Charlatan is a popular neighbourhood resto-pub. The staff are friendly and the food is quite good for a pub. The pulled pork poutine is delicious and huge. Your tastebuds will love it, and you will increase your risk of serious cardiac incident by a bajillion times. They have lots of different, local beers on tap at all times. They put the sound on during canucks games but the tv's are pretty small for watching.

Place has a selection of pints and drinks. Staff is friendly and helpful. Needed an item exchanged from my meal and I was pleasantly surprised with the whole meal.

Check it out.

Really cool place with nice patio and food choices. They might have one of the best chicken burger in Van. Also nice beer choices.

First time in a long time. This place was packed! Not much room left around the upper bar. Even while packed, the servers maintained cool and were gracious and smiling. I didnt eat since it was later in the eve but some of the food I saw looked great in presentation.
The layout is unique! In a food way. I liked it.!

Friendly staff, excellent service, a good selection of food and drinks

Great service. Delicious drinks. Good food. Amazing atmosphere!

Service was great. Really nice staff. Only problem, downtown rents must be creeping into the Drive. High prices for happy hour and regular beer prices. Otherwise would be 5*.

$21.75 for 2 drinks after tax and tip.

Hostess was nice enough but our server seemed like she hated her life.

We much prefer other places on the drive...

Great variety of beer and food. Mercifully open late for the drive and always a good scene inside. A fav.

I was looking for a venue to host a going away party on a busy Saturday night. I wasn't very confident if it was going to work until I called The Charlatan. The manager was incredibly friendly and accommodating.

The food, drinks, and service were all top notch. It was fantastic!

Thank you to the the staff and management at the Charlatan for helping me book a large party of 50+ friends on a busy Saturday night. You guys went over and above for all my friends and it was a great evening.

This is the Drive Staple. Always a good crowd, good beer, decent food for a fair price. Sit on the patio for some prime people watching or sit at the bar for the best service.

Drinks menu was good, service sub-par (understaffed, not the servers fault), and the food was really bad. Their chicken tenders are strips of overcooked chicken breast breaded in unseasoned panko and served with soggy fries. Their house ketchup just tasted like it was just crushed tomatoes from a can with no way to get regular ketchup. All this for $16+ after tax/tip. Go here for drinks, not the food.

Really miss the duck rolls. Please bring them back!

Food is great. Service is great. The restaurant has a lot of seating options.

We went there on a Friday night and were told it would be a 15 min wait for a table which we were fine with. Half an hour later we were offered seats at the bar which we accepted as we were so hungry. Then the girl disappeared and came back and told us no she was mistaken there were no seats there...another half hour later we were told we were next. 15 mins later we give up and go to the pizza place across the road. As we were leaving we heard them tell more than one group coming in the door they were next on the list for a table. It's a nice place but quite deceiving. Can't comment on the food.

Good beer list. Will play your game if you ask. Great food. All around good times

I miss their Moroccan chicken but it's ok they make up for it by having brunch available on the weekends! They make a great caesar and have quite a few beers on tap. Usually not as loud as the other places on the drive, great place for 2 or for a group!

I had a great night here! Amazing servers and bartenders!

Definitely recommend people to go!

Really helpful staff and good drink specials. However I would avoid their fish tacos, they were the saddest bland-est tacos I have ever had.

Kinda busy but I don't blame them they're pretty good just not on a busy night

Good lighting, good music. The service can sometimes be little slow but only due to how busy they are. The servers have always been on point and friendly while also communicating wait times which I think is great. 10/10.

Best establishment on the drive, hands down. Been easily over 100 times and not once had anything but amazing service. The food is unreal. The place is always packed but easy to navigate. I love the Charlatan.

Busy, great happy hour deals, delicious food, and I love the atmosphere and layout. Great date spot, and a good pick for a drink or meal on commercial drive.

3 stars because of raw burger I was served t and the terrible old fashioned I had, not for the atmosphere, layout or the service. Our server was really nice friendly and attentive. The menu variety is ok. The lighting creates a cozy atmosphere and the they have a square bar that you can sit around.

There was a group of 10 of us so I had a chance to see a couple of dishes. My friend and I had the beef burger. I asked the waitress, she said it was really good. I saw a picture posted, and it did look good. That's not what we got. It looked sloppy and mine came out under medium rare which isn't an option. I sent it back and had the vegetarian nachos. They were really good. half order was huge and super layed. 4 people had fries at different times, some looked ok, some looked old and shrivelled. There chicken wings were ok.... The chicken burger looked really good. Some things are reasonably priced, others aren't.
Overall I wouldn't go there specifically for the food but maybe the atmosphere and for drinks. Maybe it was an off night for the food. I've oy been there once.

Great restaurant. The drinks are good here and food is pretty solid pub fare. Nice little patio on the side to enjoy the weather as well. One of the main places I like to go to on the drive.

Beautiful space with a nice atmosphere and good service. It is a little bit noisy when busy. Nice selection of drinks and the dessert I had was outstanding. My only gripe is that most things are quite pricey, for example cocktails, specialty coffees, and desserts seemed very expensive. But if you're willing to pay a bit more to go somewhere good with quality then it's worth it.

Don't order wings to go, they might run out later so they say. I wanted wings to take out at 3 in the afternoon no way! Really, it was dead in there. Went to Storm Crow down the street. Much better... They were happy to get my money, I'll stick with them for now on. Maybe the Charlatan has enough money even tho they shut down for a year , guess they can afford to turn business away. Good luck.

Nice place to have a drink. Staff were friendly and helpful. A bit pricey for me but you get quality for your money.

My friend and I both found hair in our fries...Also the service was marginal...Wouldn't recommend this place.

Good job keeping people safe but having a fun atmosphere at the same time. Lots of seating inside and out.

I really want to like the Charlatan. It s a great space although quite noisy. Expansive beer list which is great. Wine selection is better than many spots on the Drive. Maybe it was an off-night but it took 20 minutes each time I wanted a drink. I ordered the homemade vegetarian ravioli main. I should have taken a picture but it only came with 7 raviolis and nothing else. Raviolis were okay but nothing special for the price. I suggest management hire more staff if it can t service its tables in a timely manner and reconsider the portions on the ravioli main. I had to get pizza afterwards. Hard to recommend this spot considering the other alternatives on the Drive.

Eleven minutes for a greeting/ menu at the bar , lukewarm food, ten minutes for the bill. Cheers

The cauliflower wings were off the hook! Very good place to stop along the drive.

There are some real gems along Commercial Drive that improve the lives of its community.

This is not one of them.

Poor beer selection? Check.
Subpar food offering? Check.
Waiting 30 minutes for food and have it be wrong when I get it? Check.
Really and truly filthy bathrooms? Oh boy is this a checkerino.

The actual location is a nice multi level space with a good side patio - all of which is unfortunately squandered by a lowest-common-denominator offering.

Went to The Charlatan the last two weekends for brunch. It was so good the first time, we came back the following week. The atmosphere is really chill and the waitresses on both occasions were very friendly and charming. I was expecting pretty run of the mill pub food but their menu is really impressive. Lots of unique twists on classic dishes, and great cocktails.

I love this place but the hand sanitizer smells like feet... ngl everyone in my party noticed. We washed our hands in the bathroom after noticing! I went twice, two weeks apart and it smelled like feet both times! I ll probably still go back because the wings are so good

in my opinion the best bar on commercial. Decent actual pints! food is the usual Vancouver bar standard.

Not sure if vancouver, or just this bar, but please stop regulating human behavior. You would think a sexy dude with a sexy chest tattoo would be a little more open minded but no, just another asstight vancouverivite.

Spicey, schmicey.... Lettuce leaves that envelope crispy noodles ...with a Dragon sauce that permeates this unique presentation of delicate chicken tidbits on wooden skewers, making this a truly pleasant dining experience! A Vancouver must!

Extremely loud music on weekday nights that ruins conversation. Poutine fries were on the thin side and crispy. Attentive service despite the crowd. Impossible to read some parts of the menu due to unprofessional book binding. I m sure they will allocate more money to their next prints.

I love this place... Staff are friendly and make you feel at home...they have 18 beers on tap plus 3 rotating beers. The wings on Tuesdays are awesome....

What a bunch of sweethearts! Seriously, the staff here is so lovely, come have a pint.

Very friendly staff. The food (especially the veggie Drive burger) is delicious. The choice of beer is great, and the taps are generally varied. It also has one of the best patios in the area!

I found some very special and interesting things. Recommended

Great little spot on the Drive, downstairs is always fun

They are amazingly accommodating to folks with dogs spending time on the patio. My pooch and I got to soak in some quality rays matched with excellent food.

Best place in town... great food, good for watching the game. Great beer selection. Lots of locals.

Good place for a drink and simple app, but don't do a meal here. Food is not good. Wine list is minimal and selected by 19 year old college student.

I enjoyed coming here with my friends for a casual place to hang out eat and chat. The food is good for the price that you're paying and the staff is friendly and very helpful. I like the flexibility of being able to sit outside on the patio when the weather is nice. On rainy or cold days you can go sit inside and still enjoy your time with your friends.

service is pretty awesome. theres a special everyday of the week. very chill setting with a sports game on all the time. theres a bar in the middle of the place and tables surrounding it. price-wise its in the middle somewhere. i enjoyed my many times having dinner there with my gf!

Was craving good beer and wings, Google reviews brought me here. Friendly and attentive bartender (didn't get his name), wings are 50cents on Tuesday and they are meaty and delicious! Great selection of craft beers. Would definately come back

Great sangria.. Excellent food great vibe.. As always comercial dr never fails to stimulate all the senses

Nice foods but super slow. My burger took around 20 mins and it wasn't busy at all. Anyways, server was super friendly

I was quite surprised by their customer service. The woman that took our order didnt seem to keen on doing it. Her tone of voice was not friendly or welcoming. We had order 3 dishes for brunch . Upon picking up the order I was told they don't have any plastic cutlery because they don't do many take out orders. Which to me is surprising as every restaurant does have it. I had to go down the street to ask another place just for plastic cutlery in which they found that surprising they don't have it.

When we got the food, they had labeled one of the dishes as vegetarian when it actually had meat in it and I am a vegetarian. This is very poor service and poor attention to detail when labeling the food correctly. I ended having a bite and upon tasting it I knew it was meat. That is disgusting. So horrible I couldn't believe an establishment is even open that cant even label food correctly.

Please be cautious when going to this place.

There's a couple of bad reviews on here.....they look they've been copied and pasted though. Never had a problem in the 4 years I've been coming here. If you're a prick then you'll probably have some issues. Otherwise, the food is great and the service just as good. As with most things in life, you get out what you put in.