Yaletown Restaurants | Marinaside

The Vancouver weather is great today. It’s a gorgeous sunny fall day. I just rode my bike along the seawall, circumnavigating False Creek from Kitsilano Beach. Often during November Vancouver receives rain days on end, however this November has offered plenty of sunny days accented with colourful fall leaves and only punctuated by what seems like a rainy day or two per week.

I have stopped at Bojangles Cafe, which is one of my regular stops along this cycle route. Here is my story about Bojangles with notes about the Marinaside, Yaletown area, Urban Fare and Hurricane Grill.

Location – BoJangles Cafe / Restaurant, Yaletown

BoJangles Cafe Restaurant is located in Yaletown along Marinaside Crescent, three restaurants east of the roundabout at the foot of Davie Street facing the Yaletown Marina. It’s also a short walk from the Yaletown Roundhouse Canada Line Station and the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre.

Our Experience at BoJangles

Bojangles Cafe, is a great place to chill out on a nice day. Specially if you are tying it in with a walk or cycle along the seawall or meeting up with a new or old friend. It they don’t show up, it’s not a total loss.

Although not as much to write home about as it was before the Bojangles chain we split up and the individual restaurants were sold to individual owners, the food is still reasonably good. Where it lacks, that atmosphere makes up for it. That said, I do miss the huge date squares they used to serve 🙂

The south-facing street front patio has about 14 round tables surrounded by a rot-iron fence featuring a great view of the marina. Today the pace is teaming with activity as locals stroll the sidewalk and the more active run and cycle by on the seawall.

There is a set of 3 over stuffed brown leather couches in the centre of the restaurant. An upright piano sits in the larger part of the restaurant. I have witnessed customers sit to play the piano a few times while I have been here. All were good. I really like what that adds to an environment. I have also watched a few major sporting events here on the 48” screen. Some of the past few world cups, the Olympics and some of the Stanley Cup hockey games and exchanged opinions and comments with fellow fans.

On a busy day here I can almost guarantee you will hear a number of accents being spoken by patrons. I would say Persian, Spanish, Portuguese, French and of course Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarine) are the other languages I have heard hear the most. Recently there have been a number of Russians and former Yugoslavian families moving into the neighbourhood.

Likes and Dislikes

Bojangles offers free wifi and it usually works. There is, however, a shortage of electrical outlets. As a matter of fact, the only plugs are by the piano and inconveniently located near the bathrooms. Pretty amazing given the size of this place.

One thing they are good at is fresh squeezed orange juice. Their coffee is good too. They close early, around 8pm in the summer and 6pm in the winter. I’m sure on days with nicer weather they are really missing out on plenty of additional revenue.

Tips for Bojangles Restaurant in Yaletown are:
If you’ll be using the FREE WiFi, charge your laptop before you go, or sit near the piano where there are electrical outlets
Freshly squeezed orange juice is great
Take a patio or window seat and watch the people go by

While I am at it, I should tell you about a few other eating establishments in the area.

Urban Fair Grocery Store

Urban Fare is an upper end grocery store with Safeway prices for most but the specialty items. I really like this place. They are part of the Overwaitea Food Group and are located just around the corner from Bojangles Cafe on Davie Street in Yaletown.

My favourite tips for Urban Fare are:
The Cafeteria – well, Cafeteria is selling it short, they serve up meat and side dishes that rival many sit-down restaurants, for about $10. My favourite order is a half rack of pork ribs drenched in BBQ sauce with a side order halved squash and mixed vegetables (halving the sides is acceptable and potions are ample).

Underground Parking – is $4 for the first hour and the store clerk will deduct the cost when from your purchase if you provide the ticket stub. Yes even if you only purchase a $10 meal.

The Sirloin Steak – I have purchased great sirloins for only $5 each. When I tell my BBQ guests the price and where I bought them they are always impressed. Not that you have to tell them, you could let them think you splurged.

Between the walk around the corner from Bojangles to Urban Fare are Hurricane’s Restaurant which offers a loungy pub style environment and restaurant seating with open sliding glass walls to the patio and standard north american fair at reasonable prices for the area and the view. Next door at Provence you can step it up a notch or three on the quality and cost scale. Just around the corner their is a Starbucks if you want a familiar taste and if you like pastry with lots of sugar that has been flown in from a city thousands of miles away.

Yaletown Restaurants | Marinaside
The Vancouver weather is great today. It’s a gorgeous sunny fall day. I just rode my bike along the seawall, circumnavigating False Creek from Kitsilano Beach. Often during November Vancouver receives rain days on end, however this November has…
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