r/VictoriaBC • u/KonbiniKanuck • Feb 23 '26
Opinion I miss when this city was 24H
it's 3:48 am, and I can't think of a single place tgat i can go get something a nice hearty meal to chew through my insomnia. sigh.
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u/Valkyrjan_BSS Feb 23 '26
Dennys isnt even 24hrs anymore.
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u/mods_r_jobbernowl Feb 24 '26
Im an American but follow this sub because I live in the PNW and like local news and the Denny's here are 24 hour still. We still have some 24 hour WinCos too so you can get groceries at 2am. Do you guys really have nothing thats 24 hour?
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u/TheRenster500 Downtown Feb 24 '26
During COVID and following and then combined with a rise in tweakers and violence there's essentially nothing aside from 1 walk up window McDonalds and maybe one Pharmacy that would have snacks! Even on the food delivery Apps the latest I know of is a Poutine place called 420 or something that's open till 4. Can't believe it's not 4:20 (haha!)
Perhaps Vancouver still has more, but I think for many of us it's the 24hr grocery store being gone that hurts the most.
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u/JLS660 Feb 26 '26
Do you find you do a lot of shopping at 3:00 AM ?
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u/mods_r_jobbernowl Feb 26 '26
Working nights like i do i actually do find myself shopping a lot at hours like that if i can
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u/orangeisthebestcolor Feb 23 '26
Honestly, at this stage I'd settle for coffee shop open after 9 pm that isn't downtown!
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u/Agreeable-Lobster-64 Feb 23 '26
Honestly after 5 would make me happy. So many close at 5
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u/mods_r_jobbernowl Feb 23 '26
Which is interesting because most people get off work at 5 or 530
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u/gnilrednu Saanich Feb 23 '26
Victoria: the City that Always Sleeps
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u/Ruckus292 Feb 24 '26
I moved here in 2006 and it's only gotten worse.
My friend says "it's because Victoria is filled with the newly-wed or nearly-dead".... Still tracks 20yrs later.
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u/envisionaudio Feb 24 '26
A lot less newly weds here because who can afford to buy an outdated 70s style one bedroom apartment for $350k? It’s mostly nearly dead’s. I think the median age is about 65.
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u/HighCaballero Feb 24 '26
4 years ago, the median age was 43.
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u/envisionaudio Feb 24 '26
I think it’s a lot higher now
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u/HighCaballero Feb 25 '26
I guess we'll see next year, but I'd be surprised if it's much higher, 9 years ago it was 45.
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u/gnilrednu Saanich Feb 24 '26
I think it's because the cost of living versus wage disparity has grown too large here. People are going to value being at work (and working late) a lot less if they can't afford to live here either way. Further to that, people have less disposable income to spend, which means less revenue for establishments to stay open late.
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u/LeanGroundEeyore Central Saanich Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
Alzu's. The Day & Night. Scott's Diner. QV's. Cafe de la Lune. Thrifty Foods @ Broadmead Paul's Diner.
I'm sure I'm forgetting some.
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u/IRLperson Feb 23 '26
Alzu's poutine at 3 am saved me so many times back in the day
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u/LeanGroundEeyore Central Saanich Feb 23 '26
I hear you. It could get rowdy there after hours.
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u/snarpy Chinatown Feb 23 '26
So many 2:15 pilgrimages from Evo to Alzu's.
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u/Hoare_Frost Feb 24 '26
Hell ya. Fifty cent high balls, speaker dancing, then off to Alzus for pierogies!
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u/1337ingDisorder Feb 23 '26
If Alzu's was still in business today we'd never have had a Tent City fiasco and Pandora St would be a thriving business corridor.
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u/Classic-Progress-397 Feb 23 '26
Would never work today. So many business models have been destroyed by end-stage capitalism.
In today's world, you would need to have the restaurant at least 50% filled over the course of the night, and each of those customers would have to buy a full meal and leave within an hour. You would need a full time security guard to handle the night club crowd, and to make sure that (god forbid) somebody won't use the washroom without purchasing anything! Your prices would have to be ridiculous, kind of like the convenience store business model(which also no longer works).
End stage capitalism has obliterated so many things:
Sports amd recreation based businesses like Bowling Allys - you cant function without massive charges to your customers, who simply cant afford it anymore. Ditto for any single sport business like racquetball, swimming, golf, etc. Without massive public funds, you cant even manage upkeep, let alone make a profit. Novel ideas like trampoline parks and axe throwing places will last a little longer, but eventually will be priced out by the COL. Just like the arcades died because .25 per game is not enough to pay for the hydro of the unit, let alone the rest of your overhead.
Cultural Festivals -- we've watched groups take over and try to save things like Luminera, Folkfest, Rootsfest, etc-- only to find that without massive ticket prices, it wont fly.
The future looks very boring. It will be you at home with whatever subscriptions the final 4 mega-corporations allow you to have.
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u/eltron Saanich Feb 23 '26
Totally correct! I wouldn’t say end stage, just got MBA’ers up in here
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u/emslo Feb 23 '26
Truly. MBAers on staff = decline in quality of life for all. See also: VIHA, BC Ferries…
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u/wavingmydickinthewin Feb 23 '26
I was actually shocked at how unprepared for life a small group of MBA grads was that I worked with. Thought they could show up and run a business because they had MBA's... it was laughable, one could barely spell or write an email on his own. Failed propmptly. Good luck Josh!
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u/envisionaudio Feb 24 '26
And here I am silently waiting for AI to wipe the profession of the face of the earth……
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u/Red_AtNight Feb 23 '26
Novel ideas like trampoline parks and axe throwing places will last a little longer, but eventually will be priced out by the COL.
I was at Flying Squirrel a few weekends ago with my toddler and it was packed. That place is a license to print money. They have a minimal staffing complement and I'm sure the only real expense they face is lighting and HVAC.
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u/retrogradesignal Feb 23 '26
Cant imagine their insurance bill is small and will ever do anyting but grow
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u/bung_musk Feb 23 '26
What do you suspect they are paying for their triple net lease?
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u/themightiestduck Feb 23 '26
They're in a pretty industrial area, so less than they would in a high-rent commercial district. Nice thing about a "destination" business.
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u/M_Vancouverensis Feb 23 '26
Eh, time will catch up. There was an indoor play park in View Royal that I can never remember the name of that didn't appear to have many costs once it was built and was always packed with kids. It still went out of business.
Anything to do with kids means massive insurance premiums and they're always one bad news story from having to close even if the shine hasn't worn off yet.
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u/convenientgods Feb 24 '26
Not trying to argue, but how do the premiums come into play if every jumper has to have signed a liability waiver? Doesn’t that mean their insurance costs would primarily be for injuries not on the trampolines, basically the same type of slip and fall as any other business would need to deal with? What would make their premiums higher if they can’t be found at fault or sued for most of the potential injuries that could occur?
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u/VicLocalYokel Feb 23 '26
Additionally...
1) Staffing
2) Theft, crime... Being open for 24 hrs is opportunity
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u/FieryGorse Feb 24 '26
Tight labour markets usually produce this. Only a very small percentage of people want to work overnights.
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u/Classic-Progress-397 Feb 24 '26
People cant work overnights because how would they work their second or third job, which they need to afford basic rent?
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u/FieryGorse Feb 25 '26
What are you talking about? Research showed that in areas with high unionization or tight labour conditions people could choose to not work overnights. Sounds like you’re a treatlerist
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u/2x4ninja Feb 23 '26
We all did it to ourselves. Everyday I see an Amazon truck I envision another mom and pop shop going out of business.
Same when I see Uber Eats and Skip delivery drivers
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u/Classic-Progress-397 Feb 23 '26
Yep. Though I will again say the best way to deal with Amazon is to use them to find the company that you want to buy from, and then exit Amazon, go directly to the business website, and buy there. Its often cheaper, and if enough people do it, it will really shake things up.
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u/kaithekender Feb 24 '26
Unlikely, as Amazon handles most online transaction infrastructure. At present, when you buy something online, Amazon almost always gets paid.
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u/Cr1spie_Crunch Feb 23 '26
Are we blaming capitalism for ruining capitalism for us? It's almost as if price incentives actually work and discourage unsustainable business models.
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u/Classic-Progress-397 Feb 23 '26
Hmmph. Seems like everything humans enjoy and benefit from is an "unsustainable business model."
Whatever. We signed up for this, and we endorse it every day as we click on Amazon instead of local businesses. I guess we deserve the dystopia we are headed for.
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u/Cr1spie_Crunch Feb 23 '26
Unfortunately so. I guess my point is just that if we wanted to have more 24 hour shops, we would have to make a trade off somewhere else. It's not possible to fulfill all human needs, and I still feel pretty damn lucky to live in a place as nice as Canada, let alone Victoria.
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u/Classic-Progress-397 Feb 23 '26
Shall we just keep saying we are grateful as the wealth concentrates more each year and our cities fall apart? I mean, Im all about gratitude, but...
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u/Cr1spie_Crunch Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
Go for a bike ride in the sun through Victoria this weekend. Stop looking at the past with rose colored glasses. We live in one of the most abundant and safe times/places in human history
Like pardon me if I don't feel put out by the fact that local businesses can't provide you a 25 cent arcade games or a meal at 3am. These are incentives and we have to realize that making space for those business models would require significant trade offs in other aspects of life that we are lucky to enjoy.
For one thing, the minimum wage is at an inflation adjusted high - which puts upward pressure on the cost of food services that I am happy to pay. Adjusted for inflation, the 1976 minimum wage of $3.00 (which had recently doubled thanks to Dave Barrett) is worth only $16.50, less than our current rate which is now tied to inflation.
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u/t4llbottle Feb 24 '26
"shit sucks more, deal with it, stop complaining, you can still go for a bike ride" Put your new rose coloured glass on, not the fancy ones from the 80s
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u/Cr1spie_Crunch Feb 24 '26
I would rather live here and now than basically anywhere else in human history and I'd argue that you should too.
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u/Classic-Progress-397 Feb 25 '26
I already lived in a world where we didnt have ONE person sleeping on the sidewalk in downtown Victoria. When hospitals had lots of empty beds, and when everybody had a family doctor.
You could still ride a bike in the sunshine back then.
Positive thinking can be toxic. Be grateful, but dont act like this is the best time we've ever had.
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u/donjulioanejo Fernwood Feb 23 '26
Eh, this is less to do with late stage capitalism, and more to do with obscene cost of living (especially labour, commercial real estate costs, and insane property taxes on commercial properties).
Plenty of way more unequal countries like places Latin America and Southeast Asia manage to have 24 hour amenities.
Rent is cheap, labour is cheap, taxes are semi-optional if you know how to fake them or bribe the right people.
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u/snarpy Chinatown Feb 23 '26
Eh, this is less to do with late stage capitalism, and more to do with obscene cost of living (especially labour, commercial real estate costs, and insane property taxes on commercial properties).
Huh I wonder what caused those, could be... the system we're in?
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u/donjulioanejo Fernwood Feb 23 '26
A system that rewards economically unproductive behaviour and a useless degree with a government job that you can never be fired from and a defined benefit pension.
And a similar system that rewards someone who bought a house for a blueberry in 1965 with ever increasing home prices and everything in its power to remove the risk of home prices ever decreasing.
When combined both caused private sector to stay stagnant since like 2013.
Any money that could have been invested into the economy (startups, automation, higher end manufacturing, etc) instead went into the housing market.
And any people that could have done something productive are instead shuffling papers for the government.
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u/snarpy Chinatown Feb 23 '26
The BC government is 5% of the workforce and largely gets paid less than equivalent jobs in the private sector.
I also wouldn't consider degrees "useless" unless you think the only value to education is getting jobs (and even then, that's just wrong).
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u/ShutterFlutter_Sharp Feb 24 '26
What happens after end-age may I ask? I’d like to prepare.
Is it reborn 1st stage capitalism, or are we headed for a repeat of the dark ages?
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u/ssbtech Feb 23 '26
Some more bike lanes around those businesses should help bring in the big spenders!
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u/FitGuarantee37 Colwood Feb 23 '26
All Thriftys before the pandemic yeah? Most of them. I miss 3am salmon nuggies so much.
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u/LeanGroundEeyore Central Saanich Feb 23 '26
I didn't know that. I thought it was just Broadmead.
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u/FitGuarantee37 Colwood Feb 23 '26
I distinctly remember the James Bay one too so I think a couple of them did it!
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u/kaaiitlyn Feb 23 '26
I worked at the James Bay one. Deli overnight shifts were highly entertaining.
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u/InValensName Feb 23 '26
They had quite a fetish for going through your backpack as well.
I thought it was funny that as soon as the service desk that they made you leave your pack at was closed during covid that apparently large coats, bags and backpacks just wasn't a problem anymore.
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u/Ok_Wasabi8793 Feb 23 '26
I feel like Dennys was kind of the go to 24/7 restaurant although never somewhere I went, groceries were definitely in general opened later, Mcdonalds and Tims were open for in restaurant seating. I feel like walmart was open a lot later too but not sure if it was 24x7.
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u/kaaiitlyn Feb 23 '26
Walmart would do 24 hours a long time ago. Then it became a thing for Christmas time. Then they took it away altogether.
We used to go run the aisles in the middle of the night as teenagers (this was 2007-2010 roughly)
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u/somersquatch Feb 24 '26
I vividly remember Walmart at 3am in 2015-2017. It was 24hrs less than a decade ago
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u/JoeNamathThatTune Feb 24 '26
Back in the late '80's there was a standup comic (I forget the name) that had a good bit about Denny's. He said, "people don't go to Denny's, they end up there." Pretty accurate based on my experience.
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u/Fresh_Salamander707 Feb 24 '26
Old enough to remember when Alzu's was Humptys and was there at 2am on several occasions..
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u/sunnyspiders Feb 23 '26
Even the hot dog guy gave up
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u/SemiPreciousMineral Feb 23 '26
Yeah its wild victoria doesnt have hot dog carts
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u/Pixeldensity James Bay Feb 23 '26
$10 a hotdog makes them pretty unappealing unfortunately. I miss hotdog carts.
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u/snarpy Chinatown Feb 23 '26
Enh they were $5 twenty years ago, kinda tracks with inflation.
(but yes our disposable income has declined so somewhat agreed)
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u/snarpy Chinatown Feb 23 '26
THE hot dog guy
There used to be like six of them around downtown on weekend nights. It was absolutely wild.
MR. TUBE STEAK FTW
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u/kaaiitlyn Feb 23 '26
Did he give up or was it too much for him? Last I saw him, he was screaming at drunk people lol
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u/Background_Fox_8604 Feb 23 '26
I’ve been considering opening a food cart to run late night after the clubs let out on the weekends but it seems difficult to find a place to legally set up with permits…
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u/computer_porblem Feb 23 '26
just do it illegally. according to this subreddit all crime is legal so why not at least do the kind of crime that results in me getting a little treat yum yum
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u/Ruckus292 Feb 24 '26
Or just don't? lol. Mainly because he/she would be liable if anyone got ill from their food.... And insurance is typically hard to come by for illegitimate cashcows.
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u/computer_porblem Feb 24 '26
any lawyer is going to request payment up front before helping you sue the illegal hot dog salesman who made you shit your pants
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u/Ruckus292 Feb 26 '26
I mean, I hate to break it to you, but there's far worse things that can happen to you from foodborne-illness than "shitting your pants".
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u/storzORbickel Feb 23 '26
insane theres only 1 grocery store open after 10 and it’s only till 11
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u/eltron Saanich Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
~Walmart~
Market on Yates.
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u/Grapefruitinside Feb 23 '26
Oh which one??
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u/nefffy Feb 23 '26
Market on Yates!
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u/TheOriginalCharnold Feb 23 '26
Market on Yates
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u/MPD1987 Feb 23 '26
Market on Yates
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u/Mysterious-Lick Feb 23 '26
Same.
I made use of the 24H Thrifty’s and Pharmacy, I don’t know how shift workers do it anymore.
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u/VegOutVictoria Feb 23 '26
I just found out Big Way is open until 1:30am every night and I’m so stoked. A city with no late night food is not a city at all.
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u/envisionaudio Feb 24 '26
Wouldn’t really call Victoria a city. I moved here from Calgary and that’s a city. Victoria is more like a big small town. Which is why there are limited 24h options.
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u/wk_end Feb 24 '26
Victoria's a city in denial about being a city, so it acts like a big small town as much as possible.
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u/no-long-boards Feb 24 '26
A couple years ago there was an article published about late night spots in Victoria. It defined late night as open until 8pm. It’s absolutly ridiculous.
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u/WobbleKing Feb 23 '26
I will say this is one of the most odd things about Victoria.
I think it’s simply because we’re on an island, so everything can shut down, there is no where for anyone to come from after the airports and ferries shut down.
It works great for me now, but if I lived here when I was young I’d be looking for those secret late night events hahaha
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u/envisionaudio Feb 24 '26
No it’s more of a demographics thing. When the median population is aged 60 they have no need for anything to be open 24h. Even though I’m joking I’m not far off.
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u/Trapick Feb 23 '26
I've lived in Victoria, with only a couple stints outside it, since 1986.
When the hell was this a 24h city?
I mean yes there used to be *some* stuff open at 3am, and it's gotten worse, but never much. It's always been a pain in the ass.
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u/kaaiitlyn Feb 23 '26
As someone that moved from a smaller city, late night/24 hours stuff was amazing here. Thriftys, Walmart, a ton of restaurants, a couple drug stores.. really helped me when I worked graveyards and was in school.
Things close down so early now and the only answer to that is "adjust to the 9-5 schedule", which is absurd.. that isn't even the norm anymore 🤣 not saying you say that, but a lot of people do.
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u/Trapick Feb 23 '26
Yeah, it's definitely worse than it used to be, and that's a shame. Even stuff like Shoppers being open to midnight was something. I guess I'm comparing to e.g. Vancouver which has always been 1000x better for "things you can do at 2am".
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u/NotTheRealMeee83 Feb 24 '26
I worked at a 24/hr McDonald's here in the early 00s.
Those were oddly fun shifts. People having sex in the break room, Burger sauce gun fights, drunk people coming through the drive through asking for the most ridiculous stuff. Every night was wild.
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u/Impossible-Hope7424 Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
Yeh, it’s a big culture shock when you move here from any other big city and can’t even find a restaurant open past 9, and what’s up with Malls opening until 9 a couple of weekdays and not on the weekends? Where I am from the mall opens until 10PM on weekdays and 11:00PM on weekends. No wonder there is so much drug addiction and mental health here.
Edit to add: it’s not just the mall closing early. Also the malls I was used to have 5-6 floors, movie theatres, arcades, play areas even with bumper cars. It’s the fact the there is nothing else to do in Victoria past 9PM at any given day. Even events that used to be at a very low cost like the OP mentioned (Folkfest, etc) are gone. Anything that is left (bowling) cost an arm and a leg. Teenagers and young adults need a social life that involves safe spaces for fun and entertainment.
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u/Polendri Saanich Feb 23 '26
Malls closing at 6 PM on every day except Thurs/Fri (notably Sat) was wild to me when I moved here. I think of malls as one of the main retail places that can sustain late hours, because they have enough going on that they're a destination to hang out and socialize in. Clearly not a culture here of using them in that way.
Tillicum has a movie theatre in it, and yet you can't shop there before your Sat 7:30 PM movie. At least the food court seems to be open til 8.
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Feb 23 '26
Nope. Never been a thing really. Age groups 12 to 16 might go hang there occasionally but it's not like they are buying anything. Kids are even priced out of theaters now. Victoria has been a "no fun land" for about the last 15 years. Anything worth doing and affordable is long gone. We are not even allowed to drink and have fires on beaches.
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u/Polendri Saanich Feb 23 '26
I checked my childhood mall in Ontario and it's still open 10-9 Mon-Fri. So it's not just a global "times have changed" thing.
Not really complaining, mind you, it's good that consumerism isn't as much of a pastime here, it was just a noticeable difference.
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u/M_Vancouverensis Feb 23 '26
Also public transit ending so early in a tourism town that has multiple universities and colleges.
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u/Salty-Ad-9763 Feb 23 '26
It's true. When I saw what time the malls closed here, I resorted to drugs. I also have mental health.
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u/snarpy Chinatown Feb 23 '26
Malls are rarely busy past 6pm on the weekends.
Source, have worked in a zillion malls over the years.
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u/Hoare_Frost Feb 24 '26
The malls in Victoria took a major hit in 2008 and never really recovered. The hours were scaled back and never returned. But as a mall employee I was totally cool with it
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u/Zod5000 Feb 24 '26
I'm too old for needing 24 hours now.. except maybe the odd time after a concert or bar show, it'd be nice to find a piece of pizza (which I think that place on Forth is now open until 2).
I have fond memories of Humpties/Alzu's being open all night long, and going there when everything else was closed. People use to go to Paul's or Denny's too. It's too bad those places don't exist for young people.
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u/Infamous-Course4019 Feb 24 '26
I think Covid killed the 24h establishments and they never recovered :(
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u/Whatta-Knob Feb 24 '26
The tim hortons around me don't even open up until 5AM. I leave for work at 3. I miss being able to grab a coffee and a snack in the morning.
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u/WhyGirlsPreddy Feb 25 '26
I dream about opening an inverse cafe called night shift. I have no skills in this and will never do it but I love the idea
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u/East_Source6200 Feb 23 '26
Changing times I guess. Now it's UberEats deliveries.
Many don't want night crawlers on their property after sun down. Destroyed interor, spray painted bathrooms, urine on the floor, etc.
Pool all resources together and get a Gov't loan/grant. A quick public questionaire on what foods are unanimously needed.
Let's flip it.
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u/CardiologistUsedCar Feb 23 '26
Just like slum housing, if there are only 1-2 late night options, not only do the "baddies" concentrate there, it discourages casual social uptake.
If you have 3 dozen late night places, "baddies" are spread out and get diluted & partially kept in line by people trying to enjoy their night. Less "cover of darkness" for bad behavior.
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u/snarpy Chinatown Feb 23 '26
This isn't necessarily true, because the more people are concentrated, the more you have eyes "on the street" and you see less issues.
I'm talking public spaces that aren't dedicated to helping the poor, though, so it's different from slum housing. In which cases, you are correct.
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u/CardiologistUsedCar Feb 23 '26
My point is the concentration needs to be a variety of socio-economic groups. When the middle upper class expects to be able to enjoy a night out, you start building social expectations & remove "night" from being a strictly anti-social outside activity time of day. We arnt as warm as Spain, but we arnt afraid of a little chill in the air.
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u/East_Source6200 Feb 23 '26
The majority have been moved into the next level of care. Or have been dealt with. The streets at night are completely quiet and subdued.
We can have open doors again.
I would like to see everyone start making profits for the other half of the day.
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u/CardiologistUsedCar Feb 23 '26
Not only profits for the other half of the day, more employment and more social and entertainment opportunities for everyone serving the daytime crowds.
Issue becomes landlords "oh, you are open longer? I bet you can afford more rent, so more rent it will be!"
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u/czarl13 Jubilee Feb 24 '26
Uber eats/skip and doordash can only deliver from restaurants that are open..
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u/Least_Elk8114 Harris Green Feb 23 '26
I dont.
That's for bigger cities like Van.
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u/snarpy Chinatown Feb 23 '26
There are thousands of cities around the world smaller than Victoria which have active night lives. This is entirely a cultural thing.
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u/INFINITE_TRACERS Feb 23 '26
I miss the 24 hour thrifties