The Dunbar Theatre is a much-loved neighbourhood cinema in Vancouver's leafy Dunbar district — a single-screen picture house that first opened in the 1930s and was famously saved from demolition by the community that adores it. With its old-school marquee and balcony seating, it is a proper piece of local heritage that still shows first-run films.
Inside, the grand old room has been quietly modernised with digital and 3D projection and generously spaced, stretch-out seats, but it keeps the warmth of an independent theatre — right down to its closely guarded secret-recipe popcorn. It is a lovely antidote to the multiplex, and a genuine slice of Vancouver's west side.
Local tip: Check what is showing and just go — half the pleasure is the room itself. There is free street parking nearby, and the surrounding Dunbar Street has plenty of cafes for before or after the film.
Good to know
- Where: 4555 Dunbar St, Vancouver, BC
- City: Vancouver