EXP Restaurant & Bar

So Vancouver has a video game bar.  ...Sort of.  I first heard about this place from friends a few months ago, and being a bit of a nerd, I was quite excited to check it out.  However, when we actually got there, we found that it's really more of a video game themed bar, and ultimately, I'm still not sure what to think of it.

I think the big problem for me was being disappointed by the concept.  Video game bars are a fairly new idea, but (I think) a good one.  Go to the bar with your friends, have some food, drink some drinks, play X-Box, or Playstation, or classic Nintendo, or whatever.  Given that most people in Vancouver live in closets, this makes getting a bunch of people over to play games a lot easier.  However, this isn't what EXP offers.  EXP is, as a friend of mine put it (a sports bar for video games).  There is one truly massive screen on which up to four people can play a game, then there are dozens of other screens showing cut-scenes from famous games, or showing an old Mario level walk-through, something like that.  It was visually gorgeous, but pretty distracting.  (Also, as an aside, am I the only one who thinks Chun-Li's outfit is decidedly impractical for an Interpol agent?)  The rumour mill has it that EXP wanted to offer more gaming, but the province's liquor licensing body only understands "video gaming" in the context of things like video poker.  So even though the games EXP should be offering would be in no way connected to gambling, the province is proving intractable with it's love of the letter of the law.  Though I should point out, this is just what we heard that night, and I haven't been able to corroborate it, so maybe the video game theme was the point.  

Video games, however, are not the usual reason one goes pub crawling.  EXP has a respectable beer list.  I got to try a couple of beers I'd never had before, and that's become rare enough that it improves a bar's standing noticeably in my book.  They also have an impressively creative cocktail list.  Most of the drinks looked a bit too sweet for me, but if you like weird, fruity martini's (and lotsa people do) it might be worth heading down.  The food was quite good.  They've done a good job of embracing nerd culture's love of disgusting, but delicious food.  For example, a poutine burger.  Horrifying in concept, wonderful in execution.  It was definitely a good meal.

So, overall, I'm torn, it's not what I thought it was (or what it should be), but it's a good place to get a drink and a bite, and it's not packed to the gills on a Saturday night, which is rare for Vancouver.  Check it out if you're in the area.

EXP Restaurant & Bar

Update: 23/10/2012: After a little research I have found that it is indeed the city which is holding back the idea of a videogame bar, Georgia Straight.