Walking around downtown Vancouver, you will notice that this city has an obsession with name restaurants, that is restaurants using a first or full name. These restaurants are also surprisingly (or maybe unsurprisingly) some of the most popular restaurants with franchises throughout BC and Canada. They’re great spots for a professional after work drinks, just a casual catchup with friends, a family dinner or to bring a date and as such, they can book out quite quickly. You can bet that you will be served with some solid food, drinks that won’t break the bank and receive great service.
Below are our experiences with some of the name restaurants in Vancouver. This list is not exhaustive and we would love to continue to try more of these style restaurants throughout Vancouver.
Earls Kitchen + Bar
One of the most popular name restaurant around Canada is Earls Kitchen Restaurant + Bar Restaurants. With over 71 locations originating in Edmonton and expanding throughout Canada and America, named after the founder Leroy Earl Fuller, Earls has become a quintessential choice for a casual but premium meal. Our first experience at Earls was at it’s Whistler location, which during the winter season can be a popular option for tourists and snow lovers. Since that was the case for us, we only managed to get seating at the bar, however, if you do plan and make a booking, you can get a lovely table or booth. Earls Whistler is decked out with TVs showing sports but with a modern, classy setting.
We ordered the Ahi Tuna Poke Bowl ($27.75) and a Half BBQ Back Ribs ($35.75). The Ahi Tuna Poke Bowl is served with jasmine rice, mango, avocado, cucumber, watermelon radish. Mixed together this was a delicious and refreshing meal. The Half BBQ Back Ribs were served with warm potato salad, bacon, coleslaw, kale oil. The BBQ Back ribs were sweet and salty and fall off the bone, the warm potato salad was a great side to balance with the ribs. We have also tried the BBQ Back Ribs from Earls sold at the supermarkets and it was also quite delicious and a little more affordable than dining in. Overall we really enjoyed our time at Earls and would recommend the two dishes we ordered.
Joey
Another restaurant name you will recognize wondering the streets of downtown Vancouver is Joey. The Joey restaurant group was opened by Jeff Fuller, son to Leroy Earl Fuller who started the Earl’s restaurant. With over 27 locations across Canada and America, Joey first opened trying to find a niche in Italian food. Now, the restaurant offers classic appetizers, burgers, pastas and steaks for a casual but premium experience. We tried the Joey location at the Shipyards and came by just in time for happy hour (2-5 daily, 9-Close Sun-Thurs. 10-Close Fri-Sat). The space opens up to the water and on a sunny day, the outdoor seating is fantastic for views of downtown Vancouver and on the colder days, they have heaters to provide some warmth.
From the happy hour menu, we ordered their Ahi Tuna Tartare (Happy Hour Exclusive Item) ($15), Hand Pressed Burger ($15) with Mushrooms and Cheddar add on ($4.25), and a Grilled Chicken Club ($19). The Ahi Tuna Tartare had a soy ginger base and was served with fresh corn chips which made for a great vessel for the tuna. That said, the Tartare was on the salty side. The Hand Pressed Burger is served with just the meat patty and salad – add on’s are highly recommended so we added on the mushrooms and cheddar. This was served with a side of fries but we opted for the sweet potato fries. The meat patty was disappointing lacking flavour and although it was juicy this caused the bun to disintegrate as well. The mushrooms, cheddar and sauce did a lot of the heavy lifting in the taste of the burger. Aside from that the sweet potato fries were enjoyable but not a stand out. Finally we had the Grilled Chicken Club which had a juicy piece of chicken breast, spicy mayo, aged cheddar and smokey bacon served with a side of fries. Unlike the beef burger, the Chicken club was delicious, it was juicy, balanced and flavourful and the fries a good amount of salty.
All in all Joeys provides a great ambience for dining. Try to visit during happy hour for happy hour, however the food can be a little hit or miss.
Joe Fortes
If you’re in Vancouver, you’re likely see the restaurant and name Joe Fortes throughout. Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House is an iconic restaurant located on Thurlow just off of Robson Street. Named after Joe Fortes, the first life guard of Vancouver, he frequented English Bay beach and taught many kids to swim. Joe Fortes story is told on the back of the menu and is truly a recognized name throughout Vancouver with a legacy that lives on. Stepping into Joe Fortes Seafood and Chop House, you are brought right into an upscale bistro. It can get quite noisy and busy so I would recommend making a booking especially if you have a larger group. We brought some family to dine together so was able to try more dishes than usual.
Among the 5 of us, we ordered the classically prepared Salmon and Halibut Fillet ($40-50), Beef Carpaccio ($27), Crab Cake ($29), Chop House Onion Rings ($17), New York Striploin ($72), Fish and Chips ($29) and the Seafood Trio (Market Price). Starting with the appetizers, the Crab Cake was solid but could have been more flavourful but it was great to see crab meat being used in this dish. The Beef Carpaccio on the other hand was quite tasty – make sure to get a bit of everything onto the herb crostinis.
Onto the mains, the classically prepared dishes are served with market vegetables and Yukon potatoes and the cut of seafood selected can be prepared with a lemon herb butter or a vinaigrette. Both these dishes were very sizable and very filling, we found the salmon was prepared well but the Halibut a bit dry and overdone. If you are someone who likes variety, the Seafood Trio may be a great option for you. Each day the Seafood trio rotates through different selection but on the day we went the trio consisted of the salmon, ahi tuna and jumbo prawns. It was a great sample of all the seafood that Joe Forte’s has to offer and also quite ample in size. The fish and chips was also a big portion with well cooked flaky crispy fish and a lot of chips salted to perfection. Joe Fortes prides itself as being a seafood restaurant but their meat’s is also just as delicious, our order of the New York Striploin (12 oz) was cooked to medium rare and served with Joe’s Steak Sauce, truffle parmesan fries and market vegetables. It was deliciously meaty and charred and we all kept going back for more, the truffle fries was also a great addition to the dish. Last but not least we had a side of the House Onion Rings, a crunchy onion ring all sizable and served as a stack- yum!
Joe Fortes restaurant is on the pricier side, but for seafood lovers this is the place to be! That said, their meats have also gotten us pleasantly surprised. Overall a great place to visit and come out extremely full.
You definitely can’t go to Vancouver without visiting one of these ‘name’ restaurants. They’re iconic and now located throughout the city serving some of your classic lunch and dinner options in a casual yet dressed up environment. They’re all perfect for a catch up with friends, a lunch/dinner after work with work colleagues, date night or birthday celebration. For us, Earl’s and Joe Forte’s seafood stood out from the rest. Are there any restaurants that we’ve missed?