Upscale restaurants...
Bishop's (long-time go to place for top end dining):
http://www.bishopsonline.com/
West Restaurant + Bar
http://www.westrestaurant.com/
Blue Water Cafe + Raw Bar - maybe the best seafood in Vancouver now.
http://www.bluewatercafe.net/
The Shore Club - surf and turf offerings.
http://www.theshoreclub.ca/
An old time favourite of mine is Bacchus Restaurant & Lounge in the Wedgewood Hotel - regualr meetings after hours in the lounge with clients.
http://www.wedgewood...es_2/dining.php
A lot of people would say Il Giardino for Italian but I would go with Cafe Il Nido set back off Robson and Thurlow.
http://www.cafeilnido.net/
Diva at The Met - some complain about portion sizes but the food is top drawer:
http://www.metropolitan.com/diva/
Just opened - Hawksworth Restaurant in the newly renovated Rosewood Hotel Georgia - David Hawksworth was the executive Chef at West.
http://www.hawkswort...vid-hawksworth/
Cin Cin (maybe some celebs as well - Laura Dern the last time I ate there and I once ran into Kristin Kreuk)
http://www.cincin.net/
Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House (sort of on Robson at Thurlow)
http://www.joefortes.ca/
O'Douls (if you like jazz and West Coast cuisine)
http://www.odoulsrestaurant.com/
Cafe Il Nido (One of my favourites hidden away off Robson)
http://www.cafeilnido.net/home.php
Le Crocodile (I used to take clients there when I was looking to close a big deal the rack of lamb is the best in Vancouver)
http://www.lecrocodi...nt.com/home.cfm
So many top Chinese restaurants - the 2012 Chinese Restaurant Awards have just been given and you cannot go wrong with any of these winners:
http://chineserestaurantawards.com/i...=CriticsChoice
http://chineserestaurantawards.com/i...n=DinersChoice
World class Japanese food - Tojo's
http://www.tojos.com/Home.html
On the North Shore:
The Salmon House
http://www.salmonhouse.com/
The Observatory on the top of Grouse Mountain - free gondola rides with reservations - spectacular views:
http://www.grousemou...the-observatory
A hidden gem in Burnaby - The Pear Tree run by by world class chef Scott Jaeger:
http://peartreerestaurant.net/
It depends what you are looking for -
Try some of the street food carts:
http://communities.canada.com/vancou...food-2011.aspx
http://communities.canada.com/vancou...announced.aspx
Nu which is one of the best Greek restaurants around has two carts - Nu Greek Street (parked at Howe and Dunsmuir as well as Granville at West Georgia) - great Chicken or Lamb Souvlaki with some of the best pita bread wrap ever...$6.50.
Here is the Nu website:
http://www.nurestaurant.com/ BTW a friend was just at the bar in Nu and they have a Happy Hour special weekdays from 5-7 pm where you can order three of the appetizer plates for $9.00. He says it is a great value.
Go Fish at Fisherman's Wharf near Granville Island.
http://www.yelp.ca/biz/go-fish-ocean-emporium-vancouver
The beer in the beer batter for the fish comes from Granville Island Brewery and the fries and cole slaw are great.
Menu:
http://www.bin941.com/modules/gofish/gofishaMenu.pdf
Belgian waffles:
Café Medina, 556 Beatty Street, Vancouver
http://www.medinacafe.com/menus/breakfast/
Patisserie Lebeau, 1728 2nd Ave West, Vancouver
http://www.grababetterwaffle.com/
Also try the Elbow Room Cafe - I have run into more than few Hollywood actors there over the years. This café is known for friendly "customer abuse."
http://www.theelbowroomcafe.com/zgri...site/sitep.jsp
The Red Wagon Cafe at 2296 East Hastings Street on my list of good breakfast places as well lunch and dinner comfort food:
http://www.redwagoncafe.com/menu
Another good diner choice that recently opened - Lucy's Eastside Diner at 2708 Main Street Street and it is open 24 hours a day. Great breakfast, sandwiches and burgers - classic comfort food. Try the meatloaf sandwich.
http://www.lucyseastsidediner.com/
Save-On Meats Diner Menu (also still a butcher shop and a sandwich counter as well:
http://saveonmeats.ca/menu/save-on-meats-menu.pdf
Reviews:
http://communities.canada.com/vancou...er-review.aspx
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/...rticle2107092/
A Phở house (Vietnamese Beef Noodle) would likely be Le Petit Saigon 2783 E. Hastings St. near Renfrew also great Vietnamese sandwiches.
Taiwanese beef noodle is great at Huangs Beef Noodles 6940 Victoria Drive
And a new Chinese restaurant that has been getting great reviews from friends but I have yet to try is Bao Bei Chinese Brasserie at 163 Keefer Street in Chinatown - think "modern old-style Chinese restaurant". It has won a lot of awards in a short time and has been selected by several magazines and reviewers as the Best New Restaurant in Vancouver.
http://www.bao-bei.ca/
A really good Chinese meal on the cheap??? Try T&T supermarkets (across from Rogers Arena) hot food area for lunch - mix and match and also quite good barbecue as well. Take home some cold food from the deli case and try the Vietnamese subs - HINT after 6pm they clear out the cold food and barbecue at reduced prices - great when you do not want to cook. They also have quite good sushi takeout.
Comfort food??
Acme Cafe at 51 West Hastings Street - and really good value. Terrific sandwiches and try the meat loaf.
http://www.acmecafe.ca/
More upscale. Don Francesco's at 860 Burrard has great Italian food. I used to go to Francesco's original restaurant - Francesco Alongi's back in the 1970's and 1980's on Richards Street.
http://www.donfrancesco.ca/
Another really good Italian restaurant that has been around for decades. I would often go for a pre-game meal when the Canucks played at the Pacific Coliseum - Osteria Napoli on Renfrew at 1st Avenue - great Italian food. The veal was always superb. Been a few years since I have been there. Also a romantic date place.
http://www.osterianapoli.com/
Best Steak - Gotham's - Hy's Encore as sentimental favourite In Seattle try Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. The Shore Club has great steak and superb seafood. Less expensive but still top end steak Hamilton Street Grill
http://www.hamiltonstreetgrill.com/
Best Carnivore Outing (non-steak) - Memphis Blues BBQ.
http://www.memphisbluesbbq.com/meals.php?p=bc
Best new style deli - Salt Tasting Room and it is great - incredible charcuterie and cheeses.
http://salttastingroom.com/
Classic Italian - Cioppino's - try the lunch special of rotisserie chicken and the pastas are superb.
http://cioppinos.wordpress.com/
Indian food? No contest... Vij's at 1480 West 11th Avenue and he has a takeout place next door - Vij's Rangoli. Considered some of the best Indian Food in the world.
http://www.vijs.ca/
Something different - Belgian by way of North Africa and arguably one of the best in the City and just blocks away from Rogers Arena. One of my personal favourites - Chambar, 562 Beatty Street.
http://www.chambar.com/
BTW a food blog with really good reviews of Metro Vancouver restaurants is Sherman's Food Adventures - a great place to check out restaurants that you may not have heard of as well as many that are well-known:
http://www.shermansfoodadventures.com/
Great list of places. I marked down a few I haven't been to but now need to try.
You guys are telling him to watch out for Hastings when the guy is likely to have been through Compton and SC.
