Photo by Tim Mossholder from Unsplash
Some come and some will go, that’s the way the restaurant world works in a lot of places. Vancouver, especially downtown Vancouver is no different. In my article about Restaurants closing in downtown Vancouver, there are several that had been around for a little bit but closed for whatever reason.
With the closing of some spots, that means, new businesses are going to come in and replace those. In this new and ongoing list, we’ll give you information on those new places in the area. The title might say restaurants, but we’ll keep you posted on those places that are bars, tasting rooms, cafes, and of course restaurants.
If you know of anywhere new that’s on your radar, please let me know and I’ll be sure to add it.
The first new place is the Foxhole Cocktail Den. This new cocktail bar is from the owners of Pacific House. The Pacific House is a great restaurant that has two locations, one in downtown Vancouver, then another in Camas. This bar has some interesting cocktails, some good food items, and a really great atmosphere. When you first walk in you are greeted by cozy booths, some really nice brick walls, and a very industrial green look.
If you are looking for some real fun, get a group together and hit the photo booth. For a small amount, you can get some really fun photos, that can be texted to you instantly.
Tea has really taken off while I’ve lived in the downtown area. Dandelion TeaHouse, plus when IV Tea was around, you had options for great tea. The one thing that was missing in that space was a boba tea place. In comes Short & Sweet to fill a missing spot. Not only do they do boba tea, but you are able to get snacks and tasty bánh mì options.
Willful Wine at The Grant House
Downtown Vancouver, the waterfront, and now Fort Vancouver all have something in common. Finding a spot to get some local wine. The newest entrant is Willful Wine at The Grant House. The Grant House located in the historic Fort Vancouver Park, which used to be the Eatery at Grant House is named after then-Captain Ulysses S. Grant, who we know as President Ulysses S. Grant.
Willful Wine is a female-owned winery from Portland. The name “Willful” is because of the owner Pam Walden, she’s willful and so is Pinot Noir, a grape that can cause a few issues at various harvest points.
Brothers Cascadia Brewing Evergreen Pub
The spot that was in the location of Mav’s Taphouse is now home to Brothers Cascadia Brewing. The official name is Brothers Cascadia Brewing Evergreen Pub, named for the fact that they are located on Evergreen Boulevard in downtown Vancouver.
The brewery itself has a nice selection of beers, which are slowly making their way to the Evergreen location. The food menu has some interesting items, one that jumps out to me is their Scotch Egg, along with various steak sandwiches and different toppings for their burgers.
Bringing their 80s style and eclectic vibe to the downtown area, A Little Vice — Beer Bar opened on July 10, 2023. The main taproom is located in an industrial area in East Vancouver, which has a taco truck right next to the building.
The downtown area doesn’t have a taco truck but does have a great chili parlor next door in Slow Fox. If you aren’t familiar with Slow Fox, they have a great selection of chili’s along with sandwiches, and some excellent cocktails, along with a good beer and wine selection.
The newest entrant to the Vancouver Waterfront is Portland’s Salt & Straw. That gives the waterfront two ice cream places, The Yard being the original ice cream place, which opened several years ago. With Salt & Straw now being open, it fills all the spaces at the waterfront. Salt & Straw is known for their unique flavors like Arbequina Olive Oil, Pear & Blue Cheese, along with dairy-free flavor such as Bananas Foster, and Marionberry Oatmeal Cobbler.
The Salt & Straw should be a very popular location in the spring and summer, just like The Yard has been since it opened a few years ago.
The Main Street uptown area has a lot of interesting bars, food trucks, and taprooms. There is one location where several concepts have come through it over the years. The newest entrant to a building that last housed several iterations of a pho restaurant is 3 Howls Remedy House.
The owners of 3 Howls, whose parent is 3 Howls Distillery are the same people who run a trendy place just a few steps down in the Thirsty Sasquatch & Hungry Sasquatch. At this location, you’ll be able to get coffee in the morning on weekdays, lunch, dinner, and drinks. On the weekend things change up a little bit. You can get brunch, along with everything else. What sets this place apart from everything else in that area? The food options are 100% vegan. For instance, you can get a Philly Cheezesteak, which is mushroom steak “provolone, sauteed onions and peppers, and sweet pickled peppers, or if you come for brunch, they have ‘Chicken + Waffles.
Since this is the first truly vegan place that also has a full bar, it will be interesting to see how it turns out.
This one is a little late being introduced to this list, but how they came onto the scene will explain being late to mentioning them. The owner of Relevant Coffee, Mitch Montgomery saw an opportunity to do something new by opening a taproom, which is still in the works, but that didn’t stop him from opening a small tasting room on the corner of Relevant at 110 E 17th St.
They have some very well-known brewers from the area who are using their years of brewing knowledge to make some very tasty beers. Right now they open Thursday through Sunday with varying times, Thursday 5-9, Friday 3-9, Saturday 12-9, then Sunday, 12-8.
Along with this, they have a rotation of food trucks serving up various things. Recently, Razor Taco, Kali Kantina, and Normita’s Cuisine.
The main taproom was slated to be open at the end of last year, but that is still in the works. When it does open, they will have a full kitchen, according to an article in the Columbian. All in all it will be another entrant into the beer space in the downtown Vancouver area.
If someone were to be honest and say what was really missing in the downtown Vancouver proper area, it would have to be a bakery. Honeycomb Bakery is the place that will attempt to help fill the bakery void for those on the south side of the area. In the location that housed IV Tea, Honeycomb Bakery is a European-style bakery that took a little while to get open, but they offer an excellent selection of baked goods from Canelé to cookies, with so much more in between.
As they have gotten going, they have run into a few issues, mainly everyone wanting to come in and buy everything they have. Which is a good thing in the grand scheme of things. Right now they open Wednesday through Saturday from 8-3. If you do go, make sure it’s early, though as they continue on, they will make some adjustments, but in any case, when it comes to any bakery. It just makes sense to get there early.
When Short and Sweet opened last year, it was the first bubble tea place in the downtown area, almost a year later, SOFTEA is bringing more bubble tea, plus so much more to downtown too. SOFTEA has bubble tea, soft-serve ice cream, fruit teas, and slushes, along with food options.
They are located in a very large spot that housed a former coffee shop, so if you are looking for a nice spot that has some nice color ambiance, then SOFTEA is one to check out.
When I started this ongoing post, I wanted to attempt to expand farther out than just downtown Vancouver, when the owners of Rock Wood Pizza decided to change over to Hellfired Pizza, that allowed me now to highlight a new opening that’s not downtown Vancouver.
As just mentioned Hellfired Pizza is in the same location that was Rock Wood Pizza in the Grand Central plaza that is anchored by Fred Meyer, and is the location of the very popular Cecilia.
This changeover was done without a lot of fanfare, which points to the fact that this was a franchising-type decision. You will see from time to time when a franchise owner doesn’t want to follow certain rules, or terms change, they will change things up and become a whole new business. That is the looks of it for Hellfired Pizza. From the early reviews, it looks to be the same menu as Rock Wood, which is American fare, burgers, and fries, along with of course the namesake of pizza.
These are current locations that have recently opened in the downtown Vancouver area. Just like the closed restaurant list, this will be updated whenever something new opens. If you know of anything new or want to provide some inside information, please let me know.
Just like the other list, I would like to expand this to outside of the downtown area, so I appreciate any help or information you want to share.
Journey, Feast, and Live 
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