A Commercial Drive tapas bar that closed in July opens its new home in Vancouver’s Little Italy on November 6.
Pax Romana, from the Ionian Hospitality Group, is moving into a space behind the group’s Loula’s Taverna.
It gets its own entrance in the alley at the corner of Commercial Drive and Graveley Street.
The original Pax Romana opened at 1670 Commercial Drive in 2023 and closed this past July.
The reason for the move comes down to the kitchen.
“This new location will allow our team to expand the menu and give our culinary team the opportunity to share many more dishes that weren’t technically possible in our former space,” says co-owner Stefano Magagnin.
Most of the old crew is coming with it.
Head chef George Lesner returns, and his menu stays Mediterranean and seasonal, with new dishes alongside favourites from the original.
Those include tangerine olives, patatas bravas topped with truffle Manchego, gambas with Calabrian chili and a Basque cheesecake finished with fried roses.
Small plates start at $10 for the olives, and the rabbit with Iberian farrotto and acorn squash sits at the top of the list.
Bar manager Prateek Balraj returns too, along with his house cocktails.
The Pax Espresso Martini is made with brown butter fat-washed dark rum, and the Pax Negroni swaps gin for aged rum with Campari and cream sherry.
There’s a lot of sherry on his list, including a Rebujito made with fino and Amontillado.
Balraj says the bar itself was one of the best things about the original.
“That feeling of the familiar neighbourhood bar where guests have a sort of kinship with a bartender who can observe the entire room was one of the best features of the original Pax Romana, and one we wanted to preserve in the new space,” he says.
Local artist Adeline Poufong painted a mural for the new room that’s meant to recall the original Pax Romana.
The group has stuck to this stretch of the Drive since opening Sopra Sotto at 1510 Commercial in 2018, followed by Loula’s Taverna in 2021.
It also runs a second Sopra Sotto and Claudio’s Ristorante in Burnaby.
It’s an evening spot, opening at 5 p.m. on the nights it runs, so plan it as dinner or a late drink rather than a lunch stop.
Skip Loula’s front door and head for the alley entrance at Graveley.
Pax Romana’s move joins other recent Vancouver openings like Kith Treats, Armani Caffè and The Moon.
Address
1608 Commercial Drive, Vancouver (alley entrance at Commercial Drive and Graveley Street)
