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No fun city? Not any longer.

It seems that happy hour has put a big ol’ smiley face on the town once known for being, oh, let’s be politely Canadian and call it “reserved.” Others, however, might call it boring, unfriendly and really, really expensive.

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You wouldn’t think Vancouver was so dull if you were hanging around the new cocktail bar at Hy’s Encore on a Friday at 5 p.m., though. The place is jammed with a mix of young and old, male and female, denim and suits. The DJ’s spinning what he calls “eclectic and borrowed nostalgia.” The waiters are busy ferrying $5 cheese toast and half-price Manhattans out to customers having, yes, fun.

“It’s been nothing but positive,” says Hy’s head bartender Ryan Shimozawa.

That wouldn’t have been the case a couple of years ago. That’s because it was illegal to serve discounted liquor – a.k.a. happy hour – in British Columbia. It was also illegal to carry a glass of wine from a restaurant’s lounge to the dining room, to sample craft beer at a farmer’s market or to order a drink in a restaurant without being forced to order food as well.