The Academic Public House

Been here couple of times. I have to say this is one of the places where on wednesday, they have $ 4.50 wings without having to buy a drink. The place can get pretty loud but never crowded (or maybe its just never crowded when I show up). Food is ok. Please don’t expect too much from this place. It is a bar!
When you walk in, you have to seat yourself. Maybe I think they are always short staffed, it does take awhile before they really noticed you.
The place is pretty dark. Probably because they have black tables, black sofa and walls are black. LOL. But they do have lights, very dimmed lights.
Would I come here well really depends. I picked this place because its close to fifth avenue cinema and it just happens every time I am at that theater its a wednesday.

A friend and I went in for dinner the other night before going to a show at the Arts Club. We sat on the patio which was nice and had dinner. The food was good. We both had yam fries and they were delicious. However I had a buffalo wrap and the lettuce inside was already turning brown. I still ate it but come on.
That wasn’t even the worst part. Our server was terrible. She didn’t smile once or even ask how we or the food were doing. Just dropped the menus, took our order and that’s it. It was almost like we were an inconvenience or she really just didn’t wanna be at work that night. I’ve been a server and know how it is but a part of the job is putting on that fake smile. It’s really not that hard.

I’m hovering between the 1 and 2 star mark. I’ve been here twice in the last month cause a friend lives near by.
Our first experience was alright. Came here on Wed for Wings which are half price. Comes out to be about $ 5.5 for a lb. The wings were okay, nothing special and for «wings Wed» it’s not that great of a discount compared to other places. Also had a plate of nachos with pulled pork. This was decent but really, nachoes aren’t that hard to make.
2^nd time I came was on Trivia Tuesday. The trivia itself was 4/​5, as it lasted just the right amount of time (~2hr), great variety of questions and difficulty. (Though the announcer should really figure out how to pronounce some words before he starts).
The food however was horrendous. It’s a bar, I don’t expect too much though I have had some pretty darn good bar food. I also however know that it’s not that hard to make a good burger or sandwich or fries… Yes they managed to screw that up. It wasn’t even that busy of a day but given a bar that regularly hosts events like this, they should be on the ball. All the food came out lukewarm, including the fries. When asked to «heat» it up, they literally put it in the microwave instead of remaking the food. The bread on the sandwiches were soggy, the burger patty tastes packaged, and fries once again were barely warm.
They also had discounted drinks but it doesn’t really count if they knock the size down by half too. The ratio is the same guys= not a discount. Plus the highball was watered down. guess the 1 oz is halved too.
Another disappointing Donnelly Pub experience.
On a positive note, their brownie was really good.

So last night I go to a bar called The Academic Public House (South Granville, Vancouver) with wife and friends and there’s a jukebox. I put 5 bucks in and picked a few songs, the first one was Pantera-​Walk (only Pantera song they had on their selection) and then I picked a few others of different genres that my group would like. As I’m walking back to join my group the song cuts off and switches to trance/​pop. I go up to the bar and ask why did they turn it off?
Bartender: because it puts me in a bad mood, it makes me wanna kill someone. I don’t wanna listen to that. I had to turn it off.
Me: well then why do you even have a functioning jukebox for your customers? Can i just get my 5 bucks back?
Bartender: No, sorry I can’t do that.
Me: What? Get me your manager.
Bartender: I am the manager.
Me: No you’re not, get me your manager.
Bartender motions as if he was leaving and coming right back up and says «Hi I’m the manager».
I go back to my group, mad, and then out comes the bartender and stands next to me and says «see it’s not what you were asking, it’s the way you asked» as he’s patting my back. He then tried to pick up my glass asking if I was done, glass wasn’t even empty. So clearly the guy is out to be a douche and playing the «dude, you gotta calm down, I’m the boss here».
Later on the actual manager stopped by our table after I had to explain to our server about the issue and apologized for the incident and handed me $ 5 bucks back.
I’m not sure which sucks more, dealing with incompetent people who hate their jobs like the bartender guy, who takes out his frustration by being a complete idiot thinking he has power over a dude asking for his $ 5 dollars back or the fact that they turned off Pantera.
BARTENDER WAS A TALL MAN WITH A BEARD.

Went here for pub trivia night, other than that I would never go back. Absolutely terrible service. Server didn’t even look at is when she handed us the 1 menu between 4 of us. She then later asked us for the menu back as they had run out of menus. I wasn’t even sure which server was ours to be honest. I probably won’t be going back here.

Drinks are a bit cheaper than other places in town but they taste watered down and not very good.
One the few occasions I’ve been there the servers have been snappy & rude. I’m a friendly & polite person but they treated me as if I was a nuisance, especially when I asked if I could order food.
They only got two stars as the food is ok. There are definitely nicer places to eat in the area where the servers are nice to their customers.

After I wrote my initial review of this place I was contacted by the Manager Tyler S. and offered a gift certificate (I guess some attempt to lure me back and give it another try).
Three years later and I’m still waiting on that gift certificate :/

It would be great if there were a reliable pub in the neighborhood. This is not it.
Slow, inattentive service is the norm, which is fine for a grubby little hole, really. But, if you are unlucky, as I was today at lunchtime, you’ll get a hung-​over halfwit bartender who’ll drag his sorry butt out of the can every once in a while to bring you cold food to go with your empty glass, falling so far below your reasonably low expectations that you’ll lose your appetite from pure dissatisfaction and irritation. What a terrible waste of time. I will never return and that is a shame, because there are so few options like this around here and the oh-​so ubiquitous McDonnelly Group should be killing it. This is a failure. Do not bother.
By the way, I don’t waste my time griping about minor disappointments. I started a Unilocal account on my phone while waiting to pay my bill after refusing the free beer that the obviously overwhelmed bartender had offered me. I had to wait because other guests were busy complaining about their experience. It was embarrassing for everyone. This is the worst.

Clearly not a place to go when you want to meet friendly staff. I was greeted by a bully/​god complex of a door staff which refused to give his name or let me speak with the manager. Only going with the title of 41 he was the rudest person you can imagine to represent the Donelly Group. As he persisted that I could not go inside to check on my friends he also continued to make this patron feel that the establishment was not good enough for anyone like myself. Upon meeting my friend to get me in he mentioned to Shut and go inside with his hand gestures.
From that point I refused to go in with that service. Upon that giving physical threats is not the most professional way to treat people. Even from half a block away where he should let it go he kept going.
I been to this bar before with great door people but this guy takes the cake on what not to do.

I didn’t think this place was that special when it first opened; just another Donnelly pub that happens to be stumbling distance home. But, nothing special.
Then I discovered Thursday nights and Bourbon and Bingo. The fist time wound up a little bit messy… We played one round (cards are only $ 1 or $ 2), had just finished a responsible two pints, and then I hit Bingo and won a pitcher. Then my competitive side kicked in and I had to play more. We wound up missing the win on the shots, and finally won another pitcher, at which point the nice staff decided I could have a gift certificate instead (because my 100 lb frame could not take another beer).
The last time I went for a late night drink I was rewarded with stolen red reindeer antlers, perfect for Christmas, although handed out as a promo in July…
This might not have a great food menu (not very veggie/​pescetarian friendly), but they have some fun events. I definitely need to go check out trivia night.

This place is bad and it made me sad. I used to live nearby and went in for a late-​night beer once. It was a typical Donnelly experience: waitresses in stupid outfits begging for tips by flirting, roided-​up customers dressed for 2002, black walls, deafening music. I was in here for the time it took me to order & guzzle a pint of bad, dirty-​tasting beer and, during that time, fiery apocalypse seemed like the best the planet could hope for.
Between their flagrantly misogynistic staff policies, ever-​spreading homogenizing tentacles, and this sad, stupid bar, the Donnelly Group made me DESPAIR. While sitting in one of their establishments, the fate of humanity seemed so hopeless to me that global incineration struck me as the only appropriate option. Not a good sign.

If you’ve been to any of the other Donnelly group bars in Vancouver, you’ve pretty much been here. Similar menu, décor, atmosphere etc. I’m not a huge fan of them, but if you like them, you’ll be fine here.
Pros:
Darts!
Pinball!
DJ playing good music (it was a Saturday night)
Classic/​cult/​fun movies playing in the background (I love when bars do this)
Cons:
My experience with the service left much to be desired: I got there at around 8:30 and met a group of friends, but the whole time I was there my table wasn’t approached by a server once. We had to go up to the server station to ask for menus and place our orders. There were a couple of servers circulating, but neither of them seemed to notice us. They seemed to view us as a hassle when we came up to order food and drinks which is never a good sign.
We ordered the beer and burger special, but our server told us it was available on Thursdays only, despite it being printed on all of the menus and advertised on the sidewalk sign. The special is a good deal, but I was not impressed with them flaunting it and then not offering it.
Music, while good, was way to loud. Could not have a conversation with anybody other than the person next to me, and even then I’d have to shout to be heard over the music.

Came here a couple weeks ago with a group of 6 and service was horrible. It started off with finding out about the great special — beer and burger for $ 8. Great, 3 of us ordered it. Every single order came out wrong.
You said you wanted salad with your burger right? No, I wanted fries.
And were you the one that wanted fries? No. Mine was the salad.
You said you wanted no bun right? No… I said no mayo…
I believe 1 of the burgers was also missing cheese but by then we gave up trying anymore «special requests».
The night goes on and I wanted a side of fries to snack on since we had plans to be there for another hour. It took 45 minutes to get it.
One of us had to leave a bit earlier so he asked for his bill. Took 10 minutes to arrive and it had 3 extra beers on it that he didn’t order.
Perhaps they were having an off night.

I’ve been here several times now, and while it leaves much to be desired (as a typical donnelly pub experience will), the atmosphere is good and if you’re just looking for a place to hang out with cheap drinks and relatively cheap (quality-​wise) food, this is the spot for you. trivia on tuesdays is always fun.
be warned:
the music is set at a decibel level for deaf people. tuesday evening, 6:30ish, still had to shout across the table for two.
their food is not locally sourced, there are no vegetarian options of which to speak save a veggie burger that has to be the worst veggie burger i’ve eaten since 1999. 100% cardboard, even after the waitress brought out the guac and everything the kitchen forgot to put on it.
the service is decidedly on the low side of mediocre. sure, these gals don’t need to know the five points of service, but a glass of water with a meal would be nice, a smile sometimes even. it’s not my fault you’re in the service industry, if you don’t like it, get out.
i always go to the academic, think «wow, i forgot how chill this place is!», then end up leaving vowing not to return. short memory and convenient location has had me back, but i’ll try to remember to put up more of a fight in the future.

My girlfriend threw me a birthday party here in October and I had a pretty good time
The food is better than average — most options are bar/​pub food so don’t expect anything too fancy.
We ordered Nachos, (share plate) and these were good, and we also ordered a chicken sandwich/​burger which was also pretty tasty.
There were a few things on the menu that we wanted to try but they had run out of the short ribs, and apparently they were in the process of changing their drink menu so there were a few drinks that they couldn’t make anymore because they didn’t have strawberries.
Around midnight, the DJ comes out and this little bar turns into a pretty busy nightclub. Music was really good — we had a good time and the DJ even took my birthday request which was pretty sweet. I would come back again for a casual night out

We were here recently for a farewell of a colleague and I personally was not impressed with the experience and the food – underwhelming flavours and unattentive staff. My onion rings were $ 7 and overly salty but the chardonnay was pleasant.
We asked for some glasses for water but the waitress delivered a water jug with glasses still stacked on top of one another. Never mind that she didn’t bother to unstack them. I attempted to do it myself and a very slight twist ended up shattering the glasses and I had several glass shards over me. Thankfully they did not end up in the food.
I told the waitress what happened and not only did I not get any sympathy (I wasn’t even going for an apology for the record), she nonchalantly took them away, did not bother to clean up the shards, and did not even bring two extra glasses to replace the broken ones.
What horrible service!

I think I lost my hearing and my voice while I was here. The forgettable music was so loud that I felt like I was shouting to my friend across the table. It was a Friday evening but there weren’t many people inside! We wanted to sit outside but it was full.
Their drink special was a well drink for $ 3, I made it a double, and after two of those, I was done. Have to appreciate cheap, strong drinks!
I was able to use two gift certificates without any hassle. We had a cool waitress. Wish I could say more, but that’s about it.
When you check in on Unilocal,you can unlock a special for your next visit, which is cool.

Drunken Ninjas deserve better.
Decked out with Sapporo swag and my handcrafted ninja headband, I stumbled over here for the after party.
Walking in, you get your standard cut-​sheet Donnelly Group specs. Loud music, full with Yaletown yuppy gypsies and hot servers.
It was cheap draft beer night or something, so we ordered a round. It took eons to get our beer. Despite our server being quite sweet/​hot, the bartender worked at a sleep-​walking pace.
Had a few bites of their brownie (average).
Music kept getting louder as the night went on. Having to scream to keep a conversation going: not cool.
Non-​ninja-​certified.

WOO HOO!!! Saturday night at a Donnelly pub! YEAH!
Wait one hour in line in order to pay $ 10 cover! On West Broadway, the happeningest club venue on the whole lower mainland!
Dance to super-​loud 90s hip-​hop and Michael Jackson’s «Billie Jean» on infinite loop!!! Fight your way through crowds of desperate and aggressive 40-​year-​old men and pathetically falling-​over-​drunk 30-​something women!
Have to go to the bathroom? Too bad! There’s only one urinal and one stall in the guys’ bathroom! And the bar easily holds 250 people!
Despite the fact that the menu says «on tap», pay FIVE DOLLARS for a 350mL bottle of Kronenbourg — which you’ve just been informed was that night’s «special» (no seriously, how much does it cost during the week? $ 100?)!
Sit on the heated, quiet, comfortably enclosed patio — only to get kicked out at 11pm because the patio closes earlier than the bar!!!
Man, I love partying! It’s way better than sitting and talking to my friends!

Came here for their Customer Appreciation Party and the NBA finals. It’s very very loud in here. I understand it’s a pub and it’s supposed to loud, but it’s extra loud in here. I had to yell really loud to talk to my friend.
Good atmosphere, with a small patio. Dark furnishings and dark wood accents.
Had a Cajun chicken cheddar cheese burger and it was surprisingly good. Chicken was juicy and fresh, and I love that it came with skinny fries!
Cocktails were on special for $ 6.30, so I got a pisco punch
pisco capel, lemon juice, pineapple juice, simple syrup, soda. This was a tad bitter, but it got better as the ice melted more.
Service was ok, at times slow.
An alternative to pubs in downtown, food was ok, and specials everyday. They even have Monday night pub trivia night!