The Rec Room in Metro Vancouver

A modern arcade and entertainment-style restaurant, the Rec Room has locations in both Vancouver and Burnaby. They are bars with games.

The places offer games, drinks and entertainment. The Burnaby location is at the Amazing Brentwood Mall. Vancouver’s location is on Granville Street.

On the night of December 31st, 2024, the Rec Room in Burnaby hosts a New Year’s Eve event! The fun begins at 9:00 pm and all guests receive a midnight toast and some party favours with which to ring in the New Year. General admission costs $25 and there are VIP tickets available for $80 which include more game credits and access to a buffet. For more details, click NYE at the Rec Room. The Granville Street location is also open on New Year’s Eve, without a formal event, but with free admission.

To learn about other events happening on December 31st, see our articles about New Year’s Eve in Metro Vancouver and NYE Events for Adults. To learn more about The Rec Room, continue reading.

The Rec Room Arcade, Restaurant and Bar in Metro Vancouver

The Rec Room is part arcade, part restaurant and part bar. There is plenty to enjoy, from videos games to axe throwing, mini golf, pool and more.

Owned by Toronto-based Cineplex (the movie theatre company), The Rec Room is a chain of entertainment restaurants. It’s kind of like a Chuck E. Cheese, sort of, but much classier, for adults and with better food. You must be 19+ to enter. One might also say it’s kind of like a cross between a Chuck E. Cheese (which is an American-based arcade restaurant for little kids) and a Keg Restaurant or Cactus Club. It’s a popular place, especially for younger adults.

Locations and Hours

The Rec Room has around a dozen locations all across Canada. There are two in Metro Vancouver. BC’s original Rec Room is at the Amazing Brentwood Mall in Burnaby. It’s on the upper floor of the mall at 1920 Willingdon Avenue.

As of December, 2024, operating hours for the Burnaby location are as follows:

Monday: 11:30 am to 11:00 pm
Tuesday: 11:30 am to 11:00 pm
Wednesday: 11:30 am to 11:00 pm
Thursday: 11:30 am to 12:00 am
Friday: 11:30 am to 1:30 am
Saturday: 11:00 am to 1:30 am
Sunday: 11:00 am to 11:00 pm

In 2024 a new (and bigger) Rec Room welcomed its first patrons in downtown Vancouver. Advertised as the chain’s new flagship location for BC, it’s located at 855 Granville Street.

The operating hours for the Vancouver location are the following as of December:

Monday: 11:30 am to 12:00 pm
Tuesday: 11:30 am to 12:00 pm
Wednesday: 11:30 am to 12:00 pm
Thursday: 11:30 am to 1:00 am
Friday: 11:30 am to 2:00 am
Saturday: 11:00 am to 12:00 am
Sunday: 11:00 am to 12:00 pm

In order to play games you need to purchase a “game band”. The game band costs a few dollars, and you then load it with credits. As of the last time we checked, credit pricing tiers start at $10 for 40 credits and go up to $100 for 790 credits. You can reload the same game band with more credits as many times as you want.

The cost of the various experiences range from just a couple of credits for a round of a classic arcade game to 80 credits for a game of mini golf.

What to Expect at The Rec Room

The two Rec Room locations are pretty similar to each other, but also noticeably different in some ways. The similarities are that they both have a lot of the same games, and they both offer plenty of food and drink options. They’re also both around 40,000 square feet or more in size. There are lots of games!

You can expect to find some classic arcade stands as well as games like Mario Kart, first-person shooters, air hockey, ping pong and pool at both locations. The main differences in games between the two venues are the marquee offerings.

At Brentwood you can try out archery, a VRX Car Simulator, and a virtual reality game. At Granville there’s a nine-hole mini golf course, axe throwing and augmented reality dart boards. Those games are all more expensive experiences and can only be found at one or the other of the two locations.

Rec Room Granville also has more food and drink options. Both locations have a bar for drinks and quick bites, as well as a sit-down restaurant. The Vancouver spot, however, also has a second bar that features more tropical offerings with cocktails, tacos and donuts. It’s on a separate floor from most of the games which gives it a little more of a relaxed vibe.

For the full menus at both locations, click Rec Room Brentwood and Rec Room Granville.

Special Events at The Rec Room

In addition to all the games there are also some special event nights that happen at The Rec Room. The most notable are the Trivia Nights run by Fandom Trivia. They that take place every week from mid-January until the end of June in 2025.

The trivia nights happen every Tuesday at the Burnaby location and every Thursday at the Vancouver location. They begin at 7:00 pm.

December 31st is also a big night at Rec Room Brentwood in 2024 as they host a New Year’s Eve countdown beginning at 9:00 pm. Everyone who purchases a ticket to the event gets a drink for a midnight toast as well as other party favours to celebrate the beginning of 2025.