Why Choose Fine Art Bartending
Fine Art Bartending is Vancouver’s Best Bartending School
When looking for a bartending school, make sure you do your research! Take the time to check what you are signing up for. All bartending schools are definitely not equal.
- What are the recent reviews of the school and program? ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐’s on Google, recent and excellent reviews!
- Do they update their social media platforms? Instagram, Twitter and Facebook show what is going on in the classes. We know even we can do better with updating our socials… but always check when that last post was.
- How often do they run classes? We have our bartending certificate classes running multiple times a month. We also do additional specialty seminars regularly!
- Where is the bartending school located, and how easy is it to get to? Only a 5 minute walk from Waterfront station. It’s downtown and parking is expensive. Take transit!
- Have you gone and checked out the place? We are open 6 days a week and are glad to show you around the place. Check our class schedule and drop in to see other students in action.
Our Instagram feed shows what the students are doing in the class this past week. We run Day, Night and Weekend classes all the time and new classes start every few weeks. We are located in Downtown Vancouver, and only a couple minutes from Waterfront Skytrain Station. Drop by and we can show you around the place during our teaching hours. Check out the Class Calendar if you’re looking to drop in.
We are an approved program provider for the Wine and Spirits Education Trust and offer classes in Level 1 and Level 2 Spirits. We have been a member of the Hastings Crossing Business Improvement Association and the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association for years as well.
We are Vancouver’s Favourite Bartending School
Why is Fine Art the best bartending school in Vancouver? In addition to having the best bartending course in Vancouver, our students love us! We aim to have the most comprehensive bartending program in the city, and always keep our text book and teaching methods up to date. Graduates of our bartending program can’t say enough great things about what Fine Art Bartending has introduced them to. Where else can you get a leg up on starting a new career in as little as TWO WEEKS! Check out our Google reviews. They are current and from REAL students that have come through our courses!
The Most Widely Recognized Bartender Training Certificate
Founded in 1973, and locations across Canada, Fine Art Bartending is Canada’s most established and widely known bartending school. Over 25,000 graduates have spread the reputation that our Commercial Bartending Certificate is the best training offered in Canada by any bartending school.
Our students have ensured that more managers and owners are familiar with the solid training offered at Fine Art than any other school in Canada. In Vancouver alone, we have seen almost 9,000 bartender trainees walk through our doors over more than 35 years now. The longest running bartending school in Vancouver by far!
A WSET Approved Program Provider
The Wine and Spirits Education Trust has been around for more than 50 years and is the authority in both wine and spirits training. Only select providers are authorized to offer their programs, and we at Fine Art Bartending are one of them. We are the only bartending school in Canada to offer both the WSET Level 1 and Level 2 Awards in Spirits. We have even adapted much of our bartender training textbook to reflect the main points in the WSET spirits program, so you get some essential spirits training as well as cocktail knowledge!
An Extensive Textbook
With the most refined bartending program, especially with all our years of teaching, we know what you need to learn. At Fine Art we don’t just give you loose sheets of paper to lose. The textbook is yours to keep. This text is updated every 6 months with to ensure you learn to make the drinks people are now asking for. Of course, we have to also drop in a few classics surely to make their way back to a happy hour nearby.
Lots of Class Time
Fine Art Bartending offers you the most class time of any bartending school in Vancouver. A Day or Night Class that spans 32 hours! Everything you need to know to get started behind the bar. No additional BS. If you want to learn a little more about wine, we have a class for that too!
The Most Hands-on
Theory is important, but learning to bartend is much like learning a sport, or learning to be a great Barista at Starbucks, or learning how to knit! More than two thirds of your class time in the Commercial Bartending Course will be spent behind the bar. Not every drink is simply built on ice. Each cocktail has a story though, and takes a bit of time to understand.
Different cocktails require different mixing methods, and practice makes perfect. We have you repeat those drinks time and time again so you know what goes in each beverage and how quick that drink should be made. Your first night on the job, your new manager will notice your confidence behind the bar from all the practice time we offer. Not only that, but you will also have the knowledge to create your own fancy cocktail by the end of the classes.
Downtown Vancouver Location
We are located right downtown, 2.5 blocks from the Granville and Waterfront Skytrain Stations. Where better to learn to bartend than in the heart of Vancouver’s bar and restaurant scene? It’s also the perfect spot to pop across the street and observe nearby bartenders on the job. Just find the storefront with the big “Learn to Bartend” decal on the window at 432 West Pender, between Richards and Homer.
The Most Experience
Fine Art Bartending has the most experienced instructors in the city. Bartending can be easy. To be able to teach how to bartend takes many hours of training. Months of teaching students with different aptitudes, from different backgrounds, is how an instructor gets good! It seems anyone can mix drinks, but finding instructors that are knowledgeable and passionate about sharing tips on their craft is what sets any school apart from the others. We love teaching!
Job Search Support
Other schools might talk about having contacts to put you to work, but we know that just isn’t enough. Doing a course and getting a job happens, but coaching is what you want. We do that! With any job, you need to get out there and meet the hiring managers to see if you will have chemistry with the people that work there and the environment. Sending a resume to a Craigslist post anyone can do. We point out exactly how you should be searching for that job. We have managers of restaurants, hotels, and the convention centre contact us looking for bartenders, but ultimately working behind the bar has to be driven by you. At Fine Art Bartending we ensure that by the end of our 32-hour program you will have the confidence to get out there and mix some cocktails!
The Best Bartending School Guarantee – A Free Refresher Class, For Life!
We want you to succeed! Our goal is to make sure at the end of the classes, we are ready to hire you. If you are not 100% confident after completing the program, or just feel you could use more practice time to get comfortable, come on back. You are welcome to repeat some, or all, of our class until you know your stuff.
After 40 years of teaching people how to be bartenders, we know we have a solid program. International partnerships have helped establish us but it’s because of great students that we succeed. Other bartending schools have come and gone over the years, with simpler programs and no long term support. Through recessions, and even COVID-19, we keep on delivering the best bartending program in BC.
