Pinche Taco Shop Gets a Late Night Vibe Shift
Cantina Social Club
Neighbourhood: Downtown
Address: 367 Seymour St, Vancouver, BC
Nestled amongst a sea of glass towers in the heart of downtown lies a slice of Mexico City’s cantina culture. While you’d typically find the space brimming with suits fuelling up on knockout burritas during the weekday lunch hour, come 6pm Wednesday through Saturday, the tempo at La Taquería’s Pinche Taco Shop shifts. Easy-listening tunes, libations abound, black-and-white films starring Tin Tan in the background… and just like that, Cantina Social Club (re)sets the tone.
The vibe shift is palpable, and the playful spirit is well represented by Cantina Social Club’s mascot, Sergio El Bailador. Sergio is a dancing skeleton: a well known figure throughout Mexico who now finds a home on Cantina Social Club’s glass exterior.
During Tara Davies and Erick Vasquez’s frequent returns to Mexico City, Vasquez’s hometown, the pair religiously tour cantinas, both traditional and new age. Those visits keep their expression of Mexico City’s hospitality and dining culture fresh, while offering plenty of inspiration for Davies’ inventive cocktail menu, which blends classic flavours with a sustainable program that gives kitchen discards a second life.
Cantina Social Club is a nod to some of Vasquez and Davies’ Mexico City favourites, but it’s also a culinary playground for Chef Maria Ponce. Once that 6pm mark rolls around, Maria’s creative instincts are given room to roam. Building upon an expansive career cooking throughout Mexico and Baja California where she developed a passion for farm to table cooking, Chef Ponce is especially dedicated to utilising seasonal ingredients. She draws considerable inspiration from the produce she finds at the farmers’ market each week - when something looks especially captivating, she picks it up and lets the ingredients do the talking.
Cantina Social Club is open now and the Chef’s Favourite team has already done the rounds.
I had the pleasure of joining James Grass and Kelly Trerise at Cantina Social Club for dinner. We sat outside on a golden-hour-bathed patio, beverages in hand, and I was immediately won over by the heirloom tomatoes served with a preserved lemon mayo, endive, and salmorejo alongside toasted sourdough.
James was beaming the whole time, but took on a particular glow once some Australian Wagyu hit the table. Tender beyond words, the beef was paired with house-made aguachile negro and avocado purée, making for a dish that felt both fresh and indulgent.
We topped the meal off with a spectacle of a beverage situation: the House Batanga. Old-school glass Coca-Cola bottles filled with a Mexican Coca-Cola reduction, tequila, Fernet and lime are brought to the table in a bucket, turning what could otherwise be a simple final drink into a full-blown tableside experience. I’ve been recommending that one ever since.
By day, Pinche Taco Shop remains a reliable downtown staple for tacos, burritas, and margaritas to accompany. By night, Cantina Social Club asks you to slow down, settle in, and stay awhile… with a shot of tequila or two. For a few hours each evening, the glass towers outside seem a little further away, and inside, the spirit of Mexico City takes over.
