Why it belongs in ORBIS
Basement live-music room in a former hotel bar on Vancouver's Kingsway, reopened in 2007 by Zak Pashak (owner of Calgary's Broken City) after decades as a public house; 350-capacity venue for touring and local bands, DJ nights and dancing.
The building at Kingsway and 12th Avenue in Vancouver's Mount Pleasant neighbourhood operated for decades as the Biltmore Hotel's public house, hosting touring acts including Miles Davis and, according to venue lore, The Beatles, before falling into obscurity. In 2007, Zak Pashak — owner of the Calgary venue Broken City — reopened the basement room as The Biltmore Cabaret, restoring its focus on live music. The 350-capacity room has since become a fixture of Vancouver's touring circuit for local, national and international bands, alongside club nights, DJ sets and dance parties.