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Eating, drinking and nightlife
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When it comes to
food and drink
, Whistler Village and its satellites are loaded with cafes and some ninety restaurants, though none really have an "address" as such. These can come and go at an alarming rate, but one top-rated restaurant of long standing is
Araxi's Restaurant and Antipasto Bar
in Village Square (tel 604/932-4540), which serves up West Coast-style fare and inventive pasta dishes - try the amazing mussels in chilli, vermouth and lemon grass followed by a perfect creme brulee for dessert. Equally fine, the
Rim Rock Cafe & Oyster Bar
in the
Highland Lodge
(tel 604/932-5565) is excellent for seafood. For an utter splurge the
Bearfoot Bistro
on Village Green (tel 604/932-3433) is an ostentatious place with the likes of black and white truffle salad and yellowfin tuna parfait with beluga caviar on the menu. For a less pricey outing try the Italian
Quattro at Pinnacle
on Main Street (tel 604/905-4844), with a menu of Roman and North Italian dishes that includes a lovely rack of lamb with chestnut polenta. In winter and busy summer evenings you'll need to book at all of these. Other more down-to-earth places to try are
Trattoria di Umberto
(tel 604/932-5858) in the
Mountainside Lodge
, beside the
Pan-Pacific Hotel
, for a cosy Italian meal,
Thai One On
(tel 604/932-4822) for spicy Thai in the Upper Village, and
Zeuski's
(tel 604/932-6009), a reasonably priced Greek place in the Town Plaza. For cheap eats, you are pretty much limited to fast-food places like
Pita Pit
and
Subway
located in the Royal Bank building on Whistler Way. If you're looking to recharge in a
cafe
after a day on the mountain, try
Peake's Coffee House,
a block behind Main Street near the Gazebo (with Internet access at 20? a minute), or
Vitality 4U
, a great juice place on Main Street.
Winter or summer Whistler enjoys a lot of nightlife and apres-ski activity, with visitors being bolstered by the large seasonal workforce - Whistler needs over four thousand people just to keep the show on the road - among which a vocal antipodean presence figures large. If you want relative peace and quiet, the key spot is the smartish Mallard Bar (tel 604/938-8000) in the Chateau Whistler hotel. If you're just off Whistler Mountain, the apres-ski haunt is the sports-crazy Longhorn Saloon (tel 604/932-5999) in the Village at the Carleton Lodge , with the lively beer-heavy Merlin's (tel 604/938-7700) in the Blackcomb Daylodge performing the same function for Blackcomb. The Brew House is a microbrewery at the far end of Village North with a nice view of the waterfall. For people-watching, Citta in the Village Square and Tapley's Neighbourhood Pub both have wrapround patios whilst The Amsterdam Cafe is a relaxed hangout in the Village Square. Down in Whistler Creek, Hoz's on Lake Placid Road is the place for liquid refreshment. As evening draws on, make for Buffalo Bill's (tel 604/932-6613) at the Timberline Lodge , a thirty-something bar/club with comedy nights, hypnosis shows, 13 video screens, a huge dance floor and live music.
A younger set, snowboarding hipsters among them, make for
clubs
in both the Village and North Village. These include
Tommy Africa's
, aka
Tommy's
(tel 604/932-6090), who host a very popular 1980s dance night on Mondays;
Savage Beagle Club
(tel 604/938-3337), a small, split-level cocktail bar and danceteria;
Maxx Fish
(tel 604/932-1904), home to hip-hop and house DJs; the massive mainstream dance club/restaurant/live-music venue
Alpen Rock
(tel 604/938-0082); and the lively
Moe Joe's
(tel 604/935-1152), where locals hang out to catch DJs and live music. Located in North Village,
Garkinfels
, aka
Garf's
(tel 604/32-2323), is currently Whistler's funkiest nightclub. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Canada,
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