The Nanaimo Bar in Nanaimo

Comedy night is great!

First bar I visited in Nanaimo when I first moved. Great vibes and friendly atmosphere 🍻

Great drinks, nice local beer, staff is friendly and they have different events throughout the week. I highly recommend sitting at the bar and joining the regulars.

Great service, the nanaimo bar martini is shockingly good.

Stopped by for a pre dinner drink. Had the best mojitos in Nanaimo. Great space, great drinks, awesome bartender

Lovely bar. Best cocktails served by the best people.

Incredibly rude bartender. She was yelling at her coworkers making the whole atmosphere uncomfortable and shouted at me for "taking my drink too early". Wont be back, wont recommend. Very disappointed in who you let work there.

Friendly staff, cool vibe, good drinks...and even had the Nanaimo Bar Shooter - thanks!

My husband and I had such great service from Megan the other night, we went back again last night. Again, had another great experience with Jason. Pretty relaxed atmosphere and they both have some amazing cocktail suggestions up their sleeves. We’d definitely go back.

Loved the martini very favorable. And the show was awesome

Quaint clean dive bar with good peeps all around. No food, no TVs, just booze and chatter.

Beer was okay, but they have no food.

This place is amazing! Everyone is super nice and friendly and it’s like I’m family every time we walk in. The music, art and atmosphere is homey and comfortable and I love going there!

We had a lovely visit to the bar. Jason the bar tender was an exceptional host. He was telling us about the owner Sonia, who according to him is an awesome person who tends bar on the weekends and everyone in the community loves her. Sorry we missed you Sonia. As we were drinking our beer, we enjoyed the background music which was upbeat. Overall a positive experience, alas we wont be in town when a band is playing which is our misfortune. I think we would have enjoyed our visit even more. Check it out of you are in the vicinity.

Was there last year. Soon as Bartender knew I was from Ontario she became very rude to me. Was supposed to be open mic night. She did not have a clue.When I go back to the Island will not be going there. She did like my Ontario money. And the tip that she did Not thank me for.

Really great space for comedy shows! We loved it here :)

Sonia is the best good drinks open mic was really good and a nice atmosphere even without Sonia there the bar was still fun on a Monday

Fun group of people and Ryan is a Gentlemans gentleman of a bartender, engaged well with the crowd as well as with individual customers one on one and with live entertainment! It made for an enjoyable night out.

A good local place. The bartender was so nice, and really warm and welcoming. One of the locals told is a story about the time that John Travolta came to Nanaimo and was run out of town by locals.

After having played drums in two of the bands, I’m sipping a beer post show quite enjoying myself: door girl asks me to pay cover for the Beatles tribute act if I wanted to stay in the bar. Never seen this type of treatment of musicians in 15 years of touring experience. I believe the owner should be ashamed of herself. She screamed us out of the bar after I questioned this idiotic practice. There should be little tolerance for people who treat musicians poorly because a lot of hard work goes into presenting a set of original music.

This is thee number ONE spot to be.As a local everyon greets you by name and as a vistor everyone makes fast new friends.The service was top notch made me feel so special.The drinks where 5*The owner Sonia was there and she was so welcoming to us.Thank you for the most incredible experince Megan and Ryan.We went here 3 times in 2 days and cannot rave enough about how incredible it was.A must do for islanders and those passsing by.

I miss this place. Best service and most awesome people.

Quaint venue. Excellent service and the manager is an absolute gem.

Great place to have a cocktail after a day at work or otherwise. I had a Nanaimo Bar Martini.. Awesome!

Wow! Incredible Live music! Friendly Staff!! I am so impressed with your service! We will be back soon!

Fantastic service and such a great vibe here! Love this bar!

Great place for live music and a cold beer! Love the staff

Fantastic place to visit. A proper bar with great vibe. No food, but you can order in from anywhere.

Best bar! We were in Nanaimo for the weekend and found this amazing bar and instantly felt welcomed. Amazing service, would definitely go back

The Nanaimo Bar is the BEST bar in town! Theyve got the friendliest and most helpful staff. They always make the best suggestions. Their cocktail knowledge is next to none! The atmosphere is so friendly and welcoming. You will always have a great time at the Nanaimo Bar! If I could give 10 stars, I would

If you are under the age of 30 and dont feel like getting hit on by men above that age, I would run, however if youre looking for free shots from other customers this place is superb. They also offer parallel parking assistance, and if it was based solely off of that, my review would be 5 stars no questions asked.

Good drink selection and friendly staff, feels like a must-visit when in town!

Friendly staff! First time there (sorrygreat cocktail and open mic night!

From Calgary and would have to say it was a great experience exceptional knowledge on drinks and a great atmosphere Sonia the owner and Jacob made you feel at home love the place recommend it and cant wait to go back soon, best atmosphere and great live music venue.Great staff and inviting regulars got to know great people there thanks for the great time and memories.SoniaJacobMeghanRyanCarriPhilEliseTrevor

New-ish in town, finally got a night to go check someplace out. Highly rated, not far, and I havent been to that part of town yet. Go have a pint and check it out.Dont think Ill be going back.

We came here last night and asked if we could sit outside. The waitress said sure and that she would be with us soon. We sat for 15 minutes with no service at all, while she was helping new customers that came in after us. They didnt want our business at all. Disappointing. Ended up going to the Old City Station Pub, which was way cleaner and had much better service.

Great watering hole!!! Aways a fun time. Sonja the owner is awesome and treats everyone fantastic and her regulars get treated like family.

Exquisite. This establishment was kept at perfect room temperature. The relative humidity in the air was so well monitored. The decor was such a tastefully progressive blend of post-modern Turkish impressionism and mid/late 90s Feng Shui. I was very impressed by the live jazz band; their percussionist was clearly classically trained. The bartender did not have a gag reflex, she had a wildly generous throat. The floor was very nice, not sticky at all. Highly recommend.

Excellent covid protocols. Santiser & sign-up sheet by front door. Masks worn by staff when away from the bar. Seating spaced out. Max # per shift enforced. Still a friendly, homey atmosphere. Sonia lights up the whole place 🙂

Not my cup of tea only because im not a huge live music guy. No real negative about the place. Staff was cool. Unique crowd. Fun place to sit at the bar and hang out. Small but funky. Only 3 stars for me as i dont like live music and the 2 performers i did see were not awesome. Bar tender/host/server was super cool

Love the Nanaimo bar. Great atmosphere great staff. Great drink specials and entertainment line up weekly! Sonja and her crew really know how to put on a show. Like a modern day cheers!

Wonderful staff and brilliant live music. Thrilled to see John Gogo both nights Ive gone. Great drink selection and excellent food. Very fun place; will return.

Great local hangout. This is one of the few bars that isnt part of the club scene and isnt a sports bar. You can hangout, enjoy some live music and unwind with some friends. The owner is great and so is the atmosphere. Minutes away from the downtown core and waterfront park.

Love this little bar! Staff is always amazing and every night there is some sort of entertainment! If your looking for a new little place to check out great local talent, go here! I definitely recommend!!!

Sonia is the best bar owner ive ever met!! She was very accommodating. Great live music, awesome crowd has made The Nanaimo Bar my go-too spot when Im in town!

Obviously one of the top places to go for an evening of live music, appropriately priced drinks and great staff/atmosphere.They dont let things get out of hand as some other bars and their goal is to serve everyone appropriately.The owner gets to know people and makes them feel welcome, as do the staff, and if its a "tough night", they hang in there with a smile!Great place and has become a staple for anyone visiting Nanaimo!

The owner is amazing and so kind. Was very personable and friendly to all people from all walks of life. Service was great both times I went. Really fast and great specials. Live music both times too. Great little place!

The Nanaimo Bar is, hands down my favourite bar in Nanaimo! The drinks are always delicious, the tunes awesome, and the service so warm and friendly! I always take friends here and we ALWAYS have an AWESOME time! They have live music, lots of drink specials and an intimate environment. The perfect hangout for those of us that dont do nightclubs. Highly recommend

The place itself was great, played decent music and the crowd was nice. However, the bar tender with big hair who apparently owns the place is terribly rude. At first I thought she was joking when I ordered a Caesar and she replied "Im gonna make it a double since its a high maintenance drink" .. Im sorry are you Canadian? And its tobasco, worchestershire and a salted rim..then at last call I asked for another minute to order but she never even glanced at us again. When I finally got her attention and asked for a screwdriver she told me her last call was done and I said " remember I said I wanted a drink but you didnt come back" to which she replied " an excuse me or hey Id like another drink would have worked". As though over the loud music I would be heard.Anyways I just think she had horrible service standards but she owns the place so not like this is going to make a difference. Just want to say making a screwdriver wouldnt have ruined your life. And if Caesars are too high maintenance for you, let it be known that you can only open bottles of beer and pour highballs.So much for a bar.

How could you not visit a place called The Nanaimo Bar? We went on a rainy Wednesday evening after a group dinner. A short walk from our hotel, we were pleasantly surprised with the lively atmosphere, especially for a midweek evening in April. Loved the "upscale dive bar" decor, and the big comfy booth at the front was perfect for our group. Service was quick and efficient and prices extremely reasonable. They had a small but good tap list and even had live entertainment. Would absolutely recommend checking it out.