Casa Molina Is Throwing a Proper Spanish Party This Sunday

There’s a particular kind of energy Spanish restaurants do well and Vancouver honestly doesn’t get enough of. Conversations and laughter bouncing between tables. People drifting around with drinks in hand. Someone carving jamón in the corner while a massive paella pan crackles away nearby.

That spirit has always been part of what makes Casa Molina work. This Sunday (May 17th, 2026), the 25 seat restaurant operating out of a red house on a Mount Pleasant side street is marking its second anniversary with a full-day taberna-style celebration that includes live paella cooking, hand-carved jamón, tapas, vermut, and gin and tonics.

The festivities are spread across two ticketed sessions, one in the afternoon and another in the evening, though the mood of the day encourages guests to move through the space freely, enjoying food and drinks at their own pace while watching the paellas being cooked live. That’s the point, really. This is a full-day celebration less focused on schedule and structure and more around what the Spanish have always understood and prioritized: that eating and drinking are an important way of connecting with friends, family, neighbours and strangers. Nobody in a hurry to leave.

If you’ve made it to Spain, you already know exactly what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, here’s the pitch: a room full of people sharing food and conversation for an entire Sunday afternoon, not bound to a specific seat and one conversation, but allowing flow between tastes, points of view, ideas, sense of humour and filling time with enjoying all of it. One of life’s genuinely underrated pleasures, and this city doesn’t offer it nearly often enough.

Tickets are priced at $59.30 and include tapas, paella, jamón, and a welcome drink. And if you miss the seated sessions, the night rolls into a G&T after-hours party from 8:30pm with walk-ins welcome.