Top Shelf Cocktail & Martini Bar

I love this place. I’m from
Portland, I’m too lazy to cross over to Vancouver too often, but every time I am in Vancouver, I know exactly where to take my friends.
Great drinks, great service, awesome people.
Thank you for being here all these years, top shelf!

The secret weapon at this place is to ask the bartender «Heather» to make you a modified Moscow Mule. «Randy Style» without the sweetener

Stopped in for afternoon drinks and, although fairly empty, the vibe was pleasant. Joey the bartender was super friendly, letting us sample new IPA’s he was bringing in. Went back later that night for more drinks and dancing. Cool vibe.

Bartender was friendly and knows what he’s doing but all other employees, cook (?) were negative, grumpy and I believe the owner was all of those things and sitting at the bar on his phone. He appeared to be uninterested in his establishment and his negative vibe was felt throughout the restaurant. Too bad cause everyone seemed to enjoy themselves until he walked in. Visited 6÷4÷15 at 6pm.

Portland/​Vancouver metro area restaurant reviewer providing Unilocal users fair, thoughtful and unbiased reviews of local dining and drinking establishments.
I have been to this establishment several times for happy hour appetizers and drinks for which they have a nice menu to choose from. This is a really cool place with a nice atmosphere and friendly clientele. The bartenders mix some great cocktails and definitely won’t short you on what you’re looking for, the booze! The food is consistently good and served promptly. Their martini menu and quality is the best in Vancouver.
I you’re in Vancouver looking for a place for drinks and eats, you can’t go wrong at Top Shelf!

Come on people, waited for seven minutes and never got served. I know it was a Friday night but there were three servers and only 15 patrons.
I’ve had better service here before, not sure what the deal was. Took my business elsewhere tonight.

I recently moved to the area and went bar hopping today to find a bar to take friends to next weekend. I popped into this bar afyer swveral other stops and made it my last stop. The bartender was personable and by far the best one I have encountered here thus far. They had a decent mix of apps etc on the menu but I did not end up eating there. The space is small but cute with a nice vibe. When asking the bartender what kind of whisky they had she recommended their newest acquisition… just shy of amazing… all it needed was the proper ice to make this evening complete. The bartender and regular patron totally made up for the ice so I will definitely be returning.

I’ve been to Top Shelf 3 times in the past month, guess I’m liking the place. Good drinks and prices, fair wine selection, tasty «small plates» that are actually quite large and original. Friendly wait staff. I’ve been there mostly during dinner hours, not very crowded at that time. Top Shelf is a very welcome addition to downtown; I am glad they are here.

We took a bridal party here after a wedding last weekend and I believe it was Trey that was the guy behind the bar helping us. He was one of the BEST bartenders I have ever had. You know when you go to a bar and stand there, and wait and wait for service and have to yell to get their attention or flag them down? Well, that’s not Trey at Top Shelf. As soon as he is done assisting one customer, or is even in the middle of mixing a drink – he knows who has just appeared or reappeared somewhere at his bar and he is quick to ask what we need, and always willing to help. He was absolutely great at taking care of my group’s needs and making sure everyone left full and happy. We ordered a few things from the menu from chips and salsa to cheese fondue and chicken wings – everything was great. I will definitely be back to visit the next time I am in Vancouver/​Portland!

Loved Top Shelf and can’t wait to go back! Everything was so yummy and everyone was so friendly. I went at midnight on a Thursday night/​Friday morning as I was turning 21 and there was a surprisingly solid crowd there. The atmosphere was great, the bartender was personable and talented; I can’t wait to go back. Thank you for a lovely kick off to my birthday weekend, Top Shelf!

I’m giving this place 2 stars one for the location/​live music (yes I’m combing 2 categories) and one star for the cucumber melon martini. Magnificent. But theres always a twist. The fish tacos have to go, I don’t know how they’re trying to incorporate nutmeg into a Hispanic dish but it’s not working out. And the garlic cheese bread was slightly less revolting, call me a food snob but when I can whip up the same thing for an eighth if the price at home, yes I will be a little displeased. Food no. Drinks yes.

We came on a Tuesday evening, just before Thanksgiving, to catch up with good, long-​time friends. The location is super convenient staggering distance from the downtown Hilton, so that was surely a plus. The crowd was light for us, which was totally fine with me.
After reading some of the reviews, I teed off with an off-​menu Fireball Lemon Drop. This was a good one to get started and shake off the winter chill, and I would recommend it. Not sure if it’s the kind of drink you’d have more than 1 – 2, but it is a great one to get going as an opener.
But then, I encountered… The Worst. Manhattan. Ever. I asked the waiter for a Maker’s Manhattan, which he acknowledged, but then returned with a horrible concoction that tasted more like an unmixed frozen concentrated orange juice… just the top, diluted layer before you stir it up to even it out. Yeah — it was like orange water, and no clear trace of alcohol. Considering a Manhattan is basically 3 alcoholic ingredients and a cherry, something went radically wrong. It was no Manhattan. More like a Jersey Turnpike. This wouldn’t be an acceptable drink, period.
Service was a little spotty, so I didn’t make a big deal about the Manhattan disaster and just ordered some food and switched to a much, much safer beer. The beer? Yeah — they know how to do that fine. Our crew was generally happy with the food, so no complaints there.
I’ll surely come back again and try again, and hope for a much better Manhattan outcome.

for the location sake of VANCOUVER WA I give this place 4 stars for a weekend experience. They had a VERY good DJ, I was shocked since there was no cover and it’s a small place to be having such good talent. I don’t even hear that talent in clubs anymore.
Drinks were very good and very HUGE selection. Almost too many. Hard to choose for sure. The people it attracts is a huge variety from barely 21 to over 40. Must be the only great place to go since the variety of customers is so grand.
The place gets crowded and I minus a star due to not enough wait staff. takes way too long to get a drink on a weekend.

Good food and drinks, a little crowded on the weekends with all the meatheads and tools. All in all service and atmosphere are great. Even when busy.

Good happy hour! Always a great time here. I love their habanero martini. I usually always get one of those & then something sweeter. I have always had a good drink here. Nice service, even when it gets super busy.

These guys are legitimate mixologists. They have about 20 signature drinks that change somewhat regularly and freely customize, invent, and modify for you.
If you like it spicy, the pineapple habanero Vodkatini is for you. The sausage plate is good and greasy. Order it it with fondue sauce, and skip the bread cubes. just dunk the sausage into the cheese and coat your digestive system to slow the alcohol absorption rate.
Their Cilantro Martini is wonderful. It’s great with gin (if you like gin).
Friday nights you can often meet some characters, and the bartenders are personable and talkative.

No matter when I go, this place is always packed. Granted I do go usually on a Friday or a Saturday and this place is actually quite small. Considering that lots of people come here I’d say there has to be something good about this place, but I never found that.
They are not bad at all. It’s a typical bar, they even have paintings/​pictures of martinis and abstract art which I find super cute and classy. There is no question that I was in a bar when I was at top shelf.
Prices were fair and maybe slightly over average/​cheap.
When it gets packed services is a little hard to get to (like any packed bars) you just gotta shove your way to the front whenever it gets crowded.

This place is weird, and I mean that in a good way (I think). We discovered it while driving through downtown Vancouver at happy hour, looking for someplace I could get a martini. I spotted the glass icon on Top Shelf’s sign as we passed and, being highly intelligent, I sussed that they would in fact have my preferred drink. Now, I’d never been to a bar in Vancouver before, and I had no idea what to expect, but there’s no way I could have predicted a Chuckie doll! The murderous little brat is on display in a case that’s set into one of the exposed brick walls (see pic).
Food at happy hour is basic bar stuff – fish tacos, Caesar salad, etc. The martini menu is light on gin drinks, but I tend to go with the classic anyway. I wish they had just one Oregon gin, though. I opted for Beefeater and the bartender got it right – up, dry, with two olives. It was a generous pour, and it was cheap – $ 7!
Kinda noisy here. There are three TVs on the walls and thank goodness only the one behind the bar was on. I probably wouldn’t have stayed if they’d all been going. A long table of Vancouverites was there yucking it up, and that was loud enough.
My overriding sense is that Top Shelf is an ode to neglected potential. The ladies room is on par with a convenience store just off an interstate highway, so avoid it if possible (my man said the men’s room wasn’t that bad). The service is pretty good, though, and our waiter, who was smartly dressed, had very interesting facial hair.
I know I’m mixing my movies here, considering Chuckie, but the place has a Lynchian air, and that redeems it.

Top Shelf is one of those places you can count on for consistency. The atmosphere on a weekend night is dark with a lot of energy and action. Me and a group of friends came here Thanksgiving night to have a few drinks and hang out and good times were had by all. Nothing crazy special about this place — the beers are priced OK and our designated driver was served free sodas all night long, which I think is great.

Still love this place and just went to visit Friday of last week. For it being a Friday, there was a live band playing covers. Still loud. If you want to have a nice sit down chat with your group, don’t go here on a Friday. No change there. The main thing that has not changed is the AMAZING drinks. A friend ordered a drink that wasn’t on the menu that our waitress created that involved peachie-​o candy. Can’t go wrong with that!
The things that have changed: The gay bar has closed down next door and The Attrium dance club down the street attracts the young ones here.
If you don’t want to get obnoxiously annoyed by the young crowd, go here on a nice weekday night.