Player’s Club

Tucked in behind the main dining room at Joeys Bentall One (across the street from the Bentall Cactus Club, that other casual chain on steroids) sits the Wine Room. The space, designed in-house, is slick but approachable—think Philippe Starck lamps on the back wall and Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing” pumping through the Steinway & Sons sound system. As for the crowd? Canaccord brokers and commercial realtors, mostly, in tailor-made suits (“you gotta go to Angelo Tailors on Commercial”), twiddling on their BlackBerries. “Some of our regulars are here twice a day,” reports manager Nicole MacDonald, a statuesque brunette who greets favourites with a kiss on the cheek. They come for the extensive wines-by-the-glass menu (the showy Enomatic wine machine keeps up to 60 bottles fresh for three weeks) and a room that roars. “Sure honey, I’ll be in the photo,” replies the commercial realtor, pint of Bud Light in hand. “Just get me green M&Ms and a fluffer.” 11 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week. One Bentall Centre, 507 Burrard St., 604-915-5639. Joeysmedgrill.com