The Portside Pub

A Gastown Renovation

The Portside Pub launched on January 28, 2013, in Gastown, Vancouver's historic neighbourhood. It took over the space at 7 Alexander Street that previously housed the old Post Modern venue, which entrepreneur Mark Brand renovated. The building is a historic Gastown structure, and the work preserved original features such as sandblasted walls, exposed brick, and timber.

East Coast Pub Culture

Portside was a project of Mark Brand, also the owner of Save On Meats. Originally from Canada's East Coast, Brand built the pub around the maritime pub culture he found lacking in Vancouver. The opening beer program ran 24 craft beers through 48 taps split across the three levels, overseen by a Cicerone (beer sommelier), alongside a maritime theme and Screech In East Coast traditions.

The Three-Level Room

The pub spans all three floors of the building, with listings citing a maximum capacity of 265 and plenty of standing room. That puts it among the city's handful of true mid-sized rooms, larger than a club and smaller than a theatre.

A Hub for the Local Scene

Brand pitched Portside as "a new hub for the local music scene." It books touring and local acts across a wide range of genres, with past artists listed on Songkick including Stonehocker, rukky., Kasador, and Asterous. Current weekly programming has broadened to Wednesday karaoke and DJ nights such as Thursday's The Wayback Playback (80s, 90s, 2000s), alongside weekend events.