Restaurants in Vancouver
Vancouver Restaurants
Whether they meet a pauper's budget or charge a king's ransom, Vancouver restaurants worship local produce and fresh-as-can-be Pacific seafood. Sample this fare in simple, unadorned sandwich shops, Asian-inspired bistros or sophisticated, linen-and-crystal dining rooms overlooking the water.
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47 Results
- Modern Chinese
Bao Bei Chinese Brasserie
When Tannis Ling opened her little brasserie in late 2010, she wanted it to be a sentimental homage to the food she grew up eating—and at the same time she wanted to have some fun with it. And so, instead of dan-dan noodles, you might find “Dan-Dan Dance Revolution” noodles. The room…$$Gastown & Chinatown - Steakhouse
Black & Blue
The backlit, glass-doored meat locker has pride of place in the dining room. It’s the first clue that this luxe steakhouse may not be the best place for vegetarians. Sure, there’s some seafood and chicken on the menu, but really, it’s all about beef: prime rib, chateaubriand,…$$$Downtown & Yaletown - Seafood
Blue Water Cafe + Raw Bar
In many ways, this is the quintessential Vancouver restaurant, with some of the city’s greatest talents behind the bar, in the kitchen, and manning the sushi counter. Bar manager Evelyn Chick mixes up masterfully crafted cocktails behind the long bar with its excellent whiskey…$$$Downtown & Yaletown - West Coast
Burdock & Co.
Chef-owner-gardener Andrea Carlson has cooked at some of Vancouver’s top kitchens. Now she’s got her own place, and it’s a beauty. Burdock & Co is a tiny masterpiece of rustic minimalism, with brick walls painted white, reclaimed wood tables, and industrial-looking swivel chairs.…$$Main Street - Casual/Fusion
Cactus Club
Normally, I wouldn’t bother to address chain restaurants, but Cactus Club has two unique things going for it: One of the city’s most illustrious chefs, Rob Feenie, is running the show; and they’ve somehow managed to snag two of the most enviable view locations in the city. (No wonder…$$Downtown & Yaletown - Lebanese/Vegetarian
Café Nuba
The decor isn’t much, just some simple pine benches and tables in a room of cream-painted bricks. But the food is great, and the value even better. It’s one of four locations (the others are in Gastown and the recently opened Kitsilano and Mount Pleasant eateries) serving up mostly…$Downtown & Yaletown - Italian
Campagnolo
The location is a bit dubious—on a dodgy bit of Main Street around the corner from the bus depot—but it’s worth braving this transitional neighborhood to check out this great eatery. Step inside, and it’s a cozy but minimalistic room, with pale brick walls, small tables that look…$$Main Street - Casual/Fusion
Cardero’s Restaurant
Cardero’s is loud and fun, with a great view, a fantastic patio, and lots of room for the kids to run around. It’s located on a wharf overlooking Coal Harbour, in a building that looks like salvaged bits of wood and metal flung together to create modern art. Inside, it’s all comfy…$$The West End - Belgian/Moroccan
Chambar Belgian Restaurant
In 2014, one of Vancouver’s favorite restaurants moved to a new location, causing both great excitement and great trepidation among local fans. Excitement because the new place is bigger and has a patio; trepidation because the old place was, quite simply, perfect. Owners Nico and…$$$Downtown & Yaletown - Modern Italian
Cibo Trattoria/Uva Wine Cocktail Bar
When Cibo opened in 2008, it made all the “best-of” lists. And then it sort of faded away. Meanwhile, its sister restaurant, Uva, never really caught on. Now with a talented new team behind the two restaurants, they are on fire, and are proving to be an irresistible destination for…$$$Downtown & Yaletown - Modern Italian
Cin Cin
With a new chef, Andrew Richardson, in the vast open kitchen, things are cooking once again at this Robson Street institution. Climb the stone steps and you’ll find a romantic slice of Tuscany, with ceramic tile floors, white tablecloths, and beautiful Italianesque art on the sponged…$$$The West End - Seafood/International
Coast
Alberni Street is becoming one of the city’s hot new restaurant rows, and most of the restaurants along here seem to be members of the Glowbal Group, a local chainlet of swish, sophisticated eateries with stylish decor, great food, and an action-packed social scene. (In 2013, owner…$$$Downtown & Yaletown - West Coast
Edible Canada
This is what Granville Island was missing—an eatery that is truly focused on local ingredients. (It’s also connected to a shop selling local foodstuffs, as well as a culinary tourism operation.) The room itself is pretty simple and straightforward; in fact, it's a bit noisy and…$$The West Side - West Coast
Fable Kitchen
The idea for this farm-to-table eatery came to chef Trevor Bird as he was competing on “Top Chef Canada.” He opened it in 2012, taking over the old Fuel/Refuel location on a busy stretch of 4th Avenue. It’s got a rustic look, with chicken-wire cabinets, old kitchen tools on shelves,…$$The West Side - West Coast
Farmer’s Apprentice
You might think from the name that this place would be as obsessed with local ingredients as every other Vancouver eatery seems to be. But no. What chef-owner David Gunawan is obsessed with is really, really good ingredients, wherever they may come from. No one else in the city is…$$The West Side - Fusion
glowbal grill Steaks & Satay
What are you hungry for? Satay with dipping sauce? Spaghetti and meatballs? A nice big steak? A niçoise salad? Or how about a platter that has a bit of everything on it? glowbal, is, of course, another glowbal restaurant, this one in Yaletown, where it began life in 2002 as a…$$Downtown & Yaletown - West Coast
Hawksworth Restaurant
Even though it’s been open a few years now, Hawksworth is still the buzziest—and busiest—restaurant in Vancouver. It’s a flat-out gorgeous space in a prime location on the main floor of the Rosewood Hotel Georgia, right across from the art gallery. It’s worth dropping by just for a…$$$Downtown & Yaletown - Seafood
Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House
This has been a favorite hangout for Vancouver’s business crowd ever since it opened in 1985, and it still has a bit of an ’80s feel to it—brass lamps, dark green furnishings, an ornate oak bar where guys in suits like to gather. It’s always busy on the main floor, and there’s…$$$Downtown & Yaletown - Cantonese
Kirin
Vancouver has some truly exceptional Chinese restaurants, but few of them are downtown, making this a great choice if you want a taste of what Vancouver Chinese food is all about. This is one of four in a high-end chainlet of Cantonese banquet rooms. Unlike many of the big Chinese…$$$Downtown & Yaletown - West Coast
L’Abattoir
The name might seem off-putting until you realize that the restaurant sits on the edge of Gastown’s historic Blood Alley, named for the slaughterhouses that could once be found here. And so you might think that this is a meat-heavy sort of place, but in fact, L’Abattoir serves up…$$$Gastown & Chinatown - Italian
La Pentola della Quercia
After a couple of hits and misses, Yaletown’s Opus Hotel has finally got its restaurant right with this offshoot of Kitsilano’s popular La Quercia (3689 W. 4th Ave.; [tel] 604/676-1007; www.laquercia.ca). It’s a beautiful space slightly below street level with windows that let in…$$$Downtown & Yaletown - Thai
Maenam
Chef-owner Angus An has worked with some of the best Thai chefs in the world, and it shows. That’s why it’s always so busy at this little Kitsilano eatery. The room is fairly small, without any of the kitschy beads-and-elephants decor you see in so many Southeast Asian restaurants.…$$The West Side - Fusion
MARKET by Jean-Georges
In general, Vancouverites aren’t big fans of celebrity chefs from elsewhere coming to town and setting up shop—Daniel Boulud’s restaurant here lasted barely 2 years. But it’s been a different story for the Alsatian Jean-Georges Vongerichten. For one thing, his restaurant in the…$$$Downtown & Yaletown - Vietnamese
Phnom Penh Restaurant
Always busy; always good. This family-run restaurant has been serving up pho (beef noodle soup) and addictive chicken wings for years, and the lineups never seem to get any shorter. Year after year, Phnom Penh scoops up the Best Vietnamese title at the Van Mag Awards, and 2014 was no…$Gastown & Chinatown - Pan-Asian Fusion
PiDGin
PAN-ASIAN FUSION If it had just been a couple of doors down, or even across the street, PiDGin would have avoided all the fuss. But as luck would have it, when it opened in 2013, the restaurant attracted the attention of Vancouver’s well-meaning, but at times misguided gang of…$$$Gastown & Chinatown - West Coast
Pier 7
This is an exciting recent addition to the North Vancouver waterfront, right next to the Lonsdale Quay SeaBus terminal. Nowhere else do you get this amazing view of the city skyline and the busy port. Even better, the whole waterfront area is scheduled for a major makeover that will…$$$The North Shore - Cocktails
Pourhouse
It’s an old building, built in 1910, with a vintage decor, and a vintage spirit to the cocktails. The bar is great—a giant slab of wood from an old barn—and the bartenders can make just about any classic you can think of, as well as some original creations Try: Touch of Evil (mezcal,…$The North Shore - West Coast
Raincity Grill
This, right here, is where the 100 Mile Diet was invented, at a dinner with the authors of the popular book and locavore manifesto. That was in 2005, but Raincity was all about local food even longer than that, dating right back to when it opened in 1992. Amazingly, it’s still as…$$$The West End - Fusion
Secret Location
It’s safe to say there’s nothing else like this in Vancouver. It’s also safe to say Vancouverites don’t know quite what to make of it, which is why it’s often a bit empty, in spite of the extraordinary cuisine. The idea here was to create a concept shopping and dining experience…$$$Gastown & Chinatown - Cocktails
Shameful Tiki Room
Open the anonymous-looking door on Main Street, and step right into a South Pacific adventure, complete with thatch roof, Fijian tapas cloth, puffer fish lamps, island music, even original artwork from the 1950s tiki room in Vancouver’s historic Waldorf Hotel. Try: The Mystery Bowl…$The North Shore - Casual
Sophie’s Cosmic Café
More than 25 years after it first started serving its famous eggs Benedict, back in 1988, this is still Vancouver’s favorite breakfast spot. It’s a colorful old diner, with bright ochre walls, red-and-fuchsia vinyl booths, and lime green chairs out on the patio. And the place is…$The West Side - Cantonese
Sun Sui Wah
Most of Vancouver’s high-end Cantonese restaurants are in Richmond and this is one of the few that’s in the city itself. It’s always busy, so make a reservation, then expect to wait, especially if you’re here for dim sum on a weekend. But it’s worth the wait because this is some fine…$$$Main Street - French
Tableau Bar Bistro
For some reason, this perfect little French bistro in the chic Loden Hotel has remained a bit of a hidden gem. But now, after it won a slew of awards in 2013 and 2014, the word is finally getting out, so reservations are a good idea. The room combines a dark, sleek contemporary…$$The West End - West Coast
The Beach House at Dundarave Pier
The room is sophisticated, all dark leather chairs and rich reddish woods, a nice contemporary update for this century-old teahouse. But the decor isn’t the point: The view is, and the best place to enjoy that is from the heated patio outside. The Beach House gazes out across the…$$$The North Shore - Cocktails
The Blackbird Public House & Oyster Bar
The newest addition to The Donnelly Group’s many bars, pubs, and restaurants has the star power of two of the city’s top bartenders behind its program: Jay Jones and Trevor Kallies. It combines several bars and restaurants in one place, including a scotch bar with 70-plus labels.…$The North Shore - Cocktails
The Diamond
Located on the upper floor of a historic building that was one of only three to escape the great fire of 1886, this joint has history to burn. It used to be a somewhat scandalous nightclub, and before that, a speakeasy during Prohibition, and before that, rumor has it, a brothel.…$The North Shore - West Coast
The Fish House in Stanley Park
The location couldn’t be better: a historic, 85-year-old old clapboard summer house near the southern entrance to Stanley Park, with lovely ocean and garden views. And it’s a perennial favorite, especially with visitors. Truth is, though, the building could probably use a little…$$$The West End - Cocktails
The Keefer Bar
Bar manager Danielle Tatarin is inspired by the ingredients she finds in the Chinese herbalist shops around this chic little nightclub/restaurant/lounge. She makes tinctures and bitters from exotic roots, stems, and seeds to craft apothecary-style cocktails that are surely good for…$The North Shore - Vegetarian
The Naam Restaurant
Step back into the 1960s and Vancouver’s counterculture past. Although a number of gourmet vegetarian restaurants have opened in the last few years, this is the city’s original natural foods eatery. Plus it’s open 24/7, so if you should have a hankering for tofu at 2am, you’re good…$The West Side - West Coast
The Salmon House on the Hill
For more than 35 years, the Salmon House has been serving up its famous alder-grilled salmon from a spectacular view location high up on a hill in the middle of West Vancouver’s ritzy British Properties. This restaurant has some of the best views in all of Greater Vancouver. But…$$$The North Shore - Casual
The Sandbar
This Granville Island hot spot is part of a local chainlet of restaurants with terrific view locations (the others are Cardero’s on Coal Harbour, the Teahouse in Stanley Park, and Seasons in the Park in Queen Elizabeth Park). The food is casual and good, with an international menu…$$The West Side - Casual
The Tomahawk Barbecue
This place is a kick. It’s a little old diner (dating back to 1926) that is jam-packed with First Nations memorabilia that ranges from ticky-tacky tourist tat to exceptional original artworks. It’s all good-humored fun, and your kids will love it. You might be even more excited about…$The North Shore - Japanese
Tojo’s Restaurant
Chef-owner Hidekazu Tojo is a legend. Indeed, you can probably credit him for Vancouver’s passionate love for the cool, clean flavors of sushi. He carries more than 2,000 recipes in his head, and, for good measure, invented both the crab-and-avocado-filled California roll and the…$$$The West Side - Indian
Vij’s
Owner Vikram Vij often seems to be everywhere—judging on TV cooking shows, speaking at symposia, cooking at food festivals—so, clearly, the word is out about Vancouver’s best Indian restaurant. Vij’s isn’t your typical curry-in-a-curry place. The food is exciting and ever-changing,…$$$The West Side - West Coast
West
In the heart of tony South Granville Street near the old-moneyed Shaughnessy neighborhood—that’s where you’ll find this lovely little modern restaurant. It’s a beautiful room, with a temperature-controlled “wall of wine,” a cherry wood bar where one of the city’s best bartenders,…$$$The West Side - West Coast
Wildebeest
Walking by, you might not even notice this dark place on a slightly sketchy street. But step inside and you’ll find warm exposed brick walls, industrial-style light fixtures on pulleys, and long tables perfect for family-style dining. In 2013, Wildebeest won both Best New Restaurant…$$$Gastown & Chinatown - Seafood
Yew Seafood
With chef Ned Bell in charge, the Four Seasons’ always-popular restaurant has shifted its focus to seafood—and changed its name accordingly in 2014—and it couldn’t be a better fit. It’s been a gradual evolution after the huge changes wrought by a massive, multi-million-dollar…$$$Downtown & Yaletown
