Take a trip to an excellent Parisian bistro by way of the city’s beachside Kitsilano neighborhood, where up-and-comer chef Dan McGee and team are whipping up French standards with B.C.’s finest produce. The stunning custom-made bar comes from France, and even the serving staff are mostly French, although with the happy addition of Canadian manners. With buttery croissants in the morning, gooey croque-monsieur at lunch, and juicy entrecôte-frites with a mouthwatering crisp char at dinner, anytime is a good time for Au Comptoir.

It’s late and you have a craving for heaping plates of barbecue and strong whisky cocktails. There’s only one place to go: Buckstop, a tiny, genial bar (in a city known for its frosty reception)  in the lively West End neighborhood. Burger Monday creations (often featuring pork patties, tempura-fried toppings like cheese curds, and copious cheeses and sauces) are switched up weekly, with a limited quantity available starting at 4:30 p.m. Among your choices of barbecue treats, the deep-fried pickles and hush puppies with honey butter are nonnegotiable orders.

Take a 20-minute trip on the Skytrain from downtown to the neighboring city of Richmond, which Eater’s former roving critic, Bill Addison, called “one of the cultural marvels of North America” for having some of the finest Asian food in the world. At this award-winning favorite, the dim sum is handmade by chef-owner May Chau, who focuses on Hong Kong classics: steamed pork and crab dumplings, pan-fried pork buns, and deep-fried wontons — all must-orders.

​​One of Vancouver’s original izakayas, Guu with Garlic sits in the “ramen triangle” on Robson Street, surrounded by three blocks of Asian food spots. Stop by for a set teishoku lunch (go for the superb pork cutlet), served with pickles, miso, and rice, then come back for dinner for izakaya classics such as garlic beef tongue, takoyaki (crispy octopus balls), and una-meshi, barbecued eel with rice served in a hot stone bowl. Whatever you order, wash it down with a Calpico cocktail, fresh junmai sake, or a Sapporo.

Don’t worry: The queues for this West End ramen favorite move fast, and it’s always worth the wait — especially if you’re a noodle fan. Each day this small ramen shop makes 500 4.4-ounce balls of noodles (you can watch the machine from the dining area), which rest for 24 hours before being cooked and slurped up. Hailing from Japan, Marutama favors a silky rich chicken broth over the heavier pork-based tonkotsu. Prepare to be enchanted — and don’t miss out on the egg. It’s consistently the best in the city.

Serving up excellent daily brunch, happy hour, and dinner menus, Maxine’s has been doing a roaring trade with locals since opening in 2021. The sister restaurant to Homer Street and Tableau has already established itself as part of the Westender dining canon, as the weekend queues attest. Crowds come for generously portioned smoked salmon rosti, a gloriously messy smash burger, and the on-point cocktail and wine list. Hang out on the sun-trap patio and watch the world race past on Burrard Street, or settle into a comfy booth and graze your way from day to night.

Sashimiya opened in 2020, tucked away on the bottom of Hornby Street. The ultra-casual, entirely sustainable, grab-and-go sushi and sashimi shop is sushi master chef Taka Omi’s first solo spot after leaving the Fairmont Pacific Rim’s RawBar. Fish can be sliced to order for sashimi from the chillers, and a host of Japanese grocery goodies are on offer too. There are no seats, so take your exquisitely made party trays, platters, and bentos down to the waterfront to enjoy picnic-style, or order for delivery.

Few walk the sustainable walk like chef Welbert Choi and his team, who conjure up menus full of locally farmed, seasonal, and foraged ingredients paired with all-B.C. wine, beer, and cocktails. The kitchen’s energy-efficient gizmos and zero-waste practices are impressive, but so are eco-friendly, locavore treats such as duck breast smoked with foraged grand fir tree needles or the bison board (available in limited quantities from Friday to Sunday) featuring anything from cured bison to braised bison risotto and bison heart tartare. There’s also a killer weekend brunch with house-made preserves and a fantastic take on Nutella.

Old-school white linens; fresh, local, and sustainable Ocean Wise ingredients; and top-notch friendly service go hand in hand with outstanding value at Joe’s. An unpretentious choice for lunch, dinner, or weekend brunch, the restaurant treats guests to fresh-shucked B.C. oysters, piled-high bowls of crispy fried calamari, and buttery, miso-marinated sablefish. Dining on a budget? The daily blue-plate lunch special clocks in at 13 Canadian dollars, and there are great dinner deals too. Join the locals for afternoon and evening happy-hour oysters and sliders on the suntrap rooftop patio.

There are hotel restaurants and there are restaurants in hotels, and Boulevard is definitely the latter. Pedigreed chef Alex Chen and team’s inventive take on West Coast seafood brings diners into some excitingly experimental territory, but never strays far from harmony and balance. It’s a bright, beautiful room to enjoy crowd-pleasing seafood towers or steak frites, while the service, cocktails, and wine list are all on point. All that plus there’s a great daily happy hour from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. with cocktails on tap, oysters, and an incredibly good wagyu beef Korean galbi dog.

Some of the best Italian food in the world can be found in Vancouver (no hyperbole intended). The shelves of Cioppino’s positively groan with honors and awards such as the prestigious Order of the Star of Italy (a knighthood conferred by the Italian president for representing Italian culture abroad), a “three forks” rating from Gambero Rosso, and a place on the 50 Top Italy list. Take the hint and book a table at chef Pino Posteraro’s exceptional restaurant to discover his modernist Pacific Northwest take on Italian cuisine. Dishes include juicy and tender Pacific octopus with Tuscan white beans, delicate gnocchi cacio e pepe, and decadent Atlantic lobster-stuffed linguine all’aragosta. For the full experience, splurge for the chef’s menu and let the wonder of it all wash over you.

Raw from the sushi bar or cooked from the open kitchen, seafood is the star at this Yaletown institution. Widely acknowledged as one of Canada’s leaders in responsible seafood, chef Frank Pabst and team push the culinary envelope a little each February with their Unsung Heroes festival, which celebrates lesser-loved species, encouraging diners to broaden their palates and try more sustainable seafood such as poached periwinkles and red sea urchin trifle. Year-round, the service is superb, the wine list dizzyingly wonderful, and the British Columbian seafood towers a splurge meal you’ll adore.

Tucked away in a courtyard in the Cathedral Building downtown, ex-Top Chef contestant Felix Zhou’s cafe offers up the city’s fluffiest scrambled egg toast sandwiches on pillowy brioche. Try local torched wagyu striped with Kewpie mayo, the pork floss with crispy seaweed, or the butter udon with house-cured salmon and sous-vide egg. Zhou also offers a “traditional” menu of basic breakfast faves including bagels, parfaits, and BLTs, but why be traditional when you can dive into their wildly Instagrammable boxes of egg toast?

It’s been a while since Vancouver had such a pretty place to see and be seen, and since opening in April 2017, Botanist at the Fairmont Pacific Rim has been consistently busy. The Champagne lounge bubbles over with excellent options, and the wine list features a raft of exclusive terroir-driven picks from B.C. and beyond. Definitely stop for cocktails at the Lab — where drinks come with theatrical drifts of dry ice and other high-concept presentations — before diving into the wildly photogenic food of chef Hector Laguna (formerly of Hawksworth), airy dishes with whisper-light but flavor-dense foams, made with locally sourced delights.

Yes, it’s in a hotel, and yes, it’s expensive, but it’s worth commending the Fairmont Pacific Rim’s commitment to serving 100-percent sustainable Ocean Wise seafood at RawBar — especially in a city where endangered bluefin tuna is on the menu at most other high-end Japanese restaurants. Splurge on the nigiri omakase lunch set, or snack on one of the Lobby Lounge rolls stuffed with silky local albacore, sweet Dungeness crab, and aromatic shiso leaf. Pair with creative cocktails from the Lobby Lounge bar team, under the helm of Canadian World Class cocktail competition winner Grant Sceney.

Born in French Guiana and raised in a Chinese family, chef Remi Ho’s business began as a pop-up in 2019 and has blossomed through enthusiastic industry word-of-mouth to a sleekly stylish tiny Asian-French patisserie just a few steps from the bustle of Cambie Street. Make sure you arrive early or order online for pick-up to ensure you secure popular treats, such as the to-die-for, buttery, crispy salted egg yolk financier and the pillow-soft black sesame-stuffed mochi.

You no longer need to head to the ‘burbs of Riley Park to check out what chef Lucais Syme (ex-La Quercia, La Pentola) is doing nowadays. The Italian food guru has expanded on the first Autostrada, located way up on Main, with a downtown location in the space where Syme’s sublime Cinara used to be. This is everyday Italian with well-executed pasta mains, excellent meatballs, and rich, creamy desserts. Cocktail fans will love the four different takes on the Negroni, but everyone will appreciate the friendly service.

After a stint at the Savoy in London, cooking for Mick Jagger, Prince, and a host of other glitzy celebs, Belgian chef Nico Schuermans has created the archetypal casual fine dining restaurant in Vancouver. Chambar offers an elegant room, faultless service, and a no-nonsense menu of French-/Belgian-influenced classics made with Pacific Northwest ingredients, which you’d be more than welcome to enjoy coming straight from yoga class still in your Lululemons.

Drawing inspiration from the bounty of the Pacific Northwest and seamlessly blending that with French techniques and Asian influences, Pidgin’s cuisine unerringly reflects the blurring of the line between East and West in Vancouver. Although perfect for bar snacks — the gochujang chicken wings are the best in the city — and genuinely thrilling for the creative cocktails with ingredients such as toasted rice rum and gunpowder tea gomme, Pidgin’s prix fixe is an exceptional value with eight mini courses of pure inventive delight for 69 Canadian dollars per person. Whisky and sake fans will love the selection, and the wine list offers global gems too.

The sister restaurant to Acorn, which has won awards for its vegetarian and vegan fine dining, Arbor has neatly swooped in to cover another side of the market: vegetable-focused comfort food. Pretty much every item on the menu can be made gluten-free if it isn’t already, and there’s plenty for vegans to feast upon too. Check out the hidden patio garden at the back or drop by for a battered, Southern-fried artichoke sandwich with eggplant “bacon” for take-out. They’re open late every day and have a very cool wine list heavy on small B.C. producers.

Andrea Carlson’s resume reads like a rundown of every restaurant that helped shape Vancouver’s fresh, local, and sustainable style: C, Raincity Grill, Sooke Harbour House, Bishop’s — she’s worked at them all. You’ll find a shining example of British Columbia-based casual fine dining in Burdock & Co’s locavore menu, which pairs perfectly with the tight, natural-leaning wine list. Seasonal favorites come and go, but the ever-present buttermilk fried chicken always is a must-order. The family-style shared menu offers up the best deal and a true seasonal taste of British Columbia.

Industry veterans opened this much-anticipated, neighborhood tapas bar to rave reviews in late 2018, bagging the coveted No. 2 spot on Air Canada enRoute’s Best New Restaurant of the Year list in 2019, along with every local award going. It’s no wonder, given Cómo delivers a truly delicious experience including on-tap vermút and bone-dry fino sherry, free tapas at the bar during happy hour, superb hard cheeses, and crisp patatas bravas. The room is loud and friendly, with efficient cheery service, and as with most tapas spots, it’s walk-in only unless you score a reservation for a larger group. Enjoy a brief trip to Spain at the handsome bar before heading back out to Vancouver.

Part of legendary local chef Angus An’s innovative empire of superb eateries (including Thai standard Maenam), this casual pan-Asian spot takes inspiration from chef An’s travels and childhood. There are five different kinds of noodles (including gluten-free and vegan options), sourced from Tak Fung on nearby Victoria Drive, to mix and match with soups, broths, and curries, plus bright, aromatic salads and small plates. The $5 roti with curry sauce is the best deal in the city, especially if you lick your plate when you’re through.

Take part in a Vancouver tradition and join the queues outside this well-priced Vietnamese-Cambodian spot in Chinatown. The menu is enormous, so save yourself from the agonies of choice and order up the deep-fried crunchy chicken wings (with their amazing dipping sauce), the Instagram-ready platter of thit bò butter beef, and the beef lúc lắc with egg and rice. And yeah, okay, maybe some garlic squid too. 

Acclaimed chef Andrea Carlson (Burdock & Co.) and Gabriella Meyer’s community-based eatery/grocery in Chinatown is one of the best spots in the city to slurp down noodles, including the candied bacon ramen, which is hangover-banishing heaven in a bowl. You can also pick up pantry essentials, such as frozen packs of Carlson’s superb pork and burdock dumplings,  heirloom apple and vanilla bean sauce that makes an ideal ice cream topping, and picnic-ready local cheeses, dips, spreads, and vegan puddings.

Since opening in summer 2017 under the experienced hand of Montreal’s Toqué alum chef J.C. Poirier, St Lawrence has been one of the city’s toughest reservations to score. Step behind the velvet curtain of this small dining room in Japantown and you leave Vancouver and its passion for clean, fresh, lean cuisine behind and dive into a delicious butter-hosed world where old-school French technique meets Québecois cuisine. The music, wine list, and staff are all French, and the short menu groans with decadent treats, like the flaky Paris-Brest stuffed with duck liver and foie gras mousse and the tourtière venison pie, with its golden pastry and rich, meaty filling that comes adorned with a mini Habs hockey flag. Over-order and hang the consequences. Oh, and save room for the salted caramel rice pudding.

The gritty Powell block in Railtown may not seem like the place to find some of the city’s most exciting, globally inspired food, but it has been since 2015 with the arrival of the Mackenzie Room. In a small dining room decked out with hipstery brass chandeliers, distressed walls, and an ever-changing chalkboard menu, chef Sean Reeve and team use ingredients from the Pacific Northwest to reimagine classic dishes and create bold new creations with witty names like “Corn Porn” and “A Tripe Called Quest.” Opt for “I Want It All” to eat your way around the whole menu and definitely check out the off-menu selection of natural wines. 

Innovative chef Dave Gunawan’s CV includes many of Vancouver’s big hitters, such as the now-shuttered West and Wildebeest, and the critically acclaimed ultra-locavore Farmer’s Apprentice. This small cafe in the Fraserhood community seemed a puzzling fit at first, but it’s actually oh-so very Gunawan. Behold Ubuntu Canteen, with its in-house heirloom grain bakery and bread subscription program, the city’s best bone broth, and thoughtfully cheffy sandwiches, such as sake kasu pork with gochujang aioli and white kimchi. Evening service brings herbivore and omnivore tasting menus, allowing the team to flex with an ever-changing menu of superb local ingredients.