Dover Arms Pub – 961 Denman St

*** (out of *****)

I’ve lived at Nelson & Denman for nearly 3 years now yet I’ve never ventured into the pub that’s right across my back alley, The Dover Arms Pub. The thing is that it attracts an older, keno-playing crowd, tourists love it and it’s not at all a dive, so my enthusiasm for raising a glass there has been minimal. That doesn’t mean however that it doesn’t have its redeeming qualities. The Arms boasts a respectable flatscreen-tv-to-table ratio, the service is friendly and, laugh if you will, the Beatles cover band they bring in on Sundays sounds amazing even from across the lane. It truly is a real neighbourhood pub where everyone appears to know each other’s names and where a tourist could easily make friends within their first pint. Most importantly though, the restrooms are kick-ass.

I don’t know why, perhaps they had some drug money that needed to laundering, but they obviously put a lot of time and money into their restrooms. Then again, having a liquor license on a major street in this town is basically like having a key to the Royal Canadian Mint, so I shouldn’t be so quick to raise suspicion. Seriously though, I’m having a hard time recalling a pub in town where beer is less than $5 and the toilets are this nice. The tiles are the kind of tiles you’d see in the restroom of a really nice house, not those large industrial-looking, commercial-grade tiles that are common in most pubs or restaurants, but the small tiles that actually require skill to place when installing. The sinks are those huge clam-shaped bowls that you’d expect to see in a high end bed and breakfast and certainly not in a neighbourhood pub. Everything from the stall doors to the paint job is done right and made me feel like I was right at home and not in one of the busiest pubs in the west end. It’s not gold-plated fancy, but very homey and comfortable, which to me is what really counts.

Now if only they had a few copies of the economist lying around…

- Rob