Restaurants

5 Restaurants Our Editors Loved in 2025

Look for a reservation at these editor-recommended spots

By The Editors /

We visit a lot of restaurants—not just because it’s part of the job, but because we also love to. And it’s easy to love dining out—the culinary prowess across the province is outstanding. Of course the food is excellent, but so is the service, interior design, cocktail and wine lists. Here are five restaurants in B.C. that we loved and highly recommend in 2026.

The Vault, Nanaimo

 

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I found The Vault quite by accident this summer after taking a spin class in the old downtown core of Nanaimo and wandering in to get a coffee. But this bright pink restaurant/cafe is so much more than just a place to grab a latte. The Vault (named because it’s housed in an old bank branch) is a community hub of sorts for the ragtag gang of artisans in the old core of the Vancouver Island city. Sure, you’ll find great pastries and a damn good eggs benny here, but you’ll also be treated to racks of curated vintage clothing on the way to the loo (I scored a vintage Nirvana t-shirt for $25!), walls packed with quirky art, tables with mismatched vintage chairs and homemade planters with overflowing succulents for sale. Upstairs, there are studios and small shops to explore with your latte, and hopefully new vintage duds, in hand.—Darcy Matheson, editor-in-chief, BCBusiness

Bar Tartare, Vancouver

 

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If there’s a place I automatically default to for an evening drink or delicious meals, it has to be Bar Tartare. The vibe is phenomenal, the natural wine picks are A+, the staff are kind and there are always excellent rotating chefs. You never know what you might get, but I promise it will be a treat. Plus, dare I say it, the patio in the summer is the best in the city. —Rebekah Ho, digital marketing manager

Maxine’s Cafe and Bar, Vancouver

My ongoing dream is to be such a regular at a place that they say shout my name, Cheers-style, as I walk in the door. (It took me three years for my manicure spot to get there, and they use the wrong name, but I’m still thrilled by it.) And while I’m not yet “Norm!” at Maxine’s, I’m here nearly every Friday—and have the regular status to prove it. There’s something about the vibe of this place that has me fully entranced with it still—a little hit of Paris in the West End, with excellent cocktails (they always nail an old fashioned, but their seasonal spritz and holiday cocktails are great, too—including their own eggnog). I tend to skew casual when I’m eating here, and thankfully, the burger is one of the best in the city. And for brunch, the classic West End—soft scrambled eggs, crispy potato hash brown, sausage, bacon, salad—is done so well, I can almost not weep at the fact that my GF-self can’t eat the to-die-for Dutch baby with seared foie gras, almond sauce vierge and apricot mostarda. Almost. —Anicka Quin, VP of content

Citrus and Cane, Victoria

 

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Yes, this is a bar, not a restaurant, but if anyone dares to stop me from including Citrus and Cane on this end-of-year list, I’ll just swoop them up the stairs to this retro-cool tiki room and win them over with a couple of rounds of tropical cocktails. Argument over. The midcentury-inspired space is irresistible in and of itself—a thoughtful mix of rattan, wood-panelling, palm-print wallpaper and a dusty-pink honeycomb ceiling offer big Don-Draper-in-Hawaii vibes—but, obviously, the drinks are the reason to pull up a wicker chair under the disco ball. Each tastes like a vacation (the Puerto Rican weekend is the lovechild of a pina colada and an old fashioned), which is appropriate, I suppose: these boozy bevs are best consumed when you don’t have any work awaiting you the next morning.—Stacey McLachlan, editor-in-chief, Vancouver magazine

The Broken Seal, Squamish

 

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I know, I know, I know. As the food editor at Vancouver Magazine, I really should be highlighting the restaurants in Vancouver proper, but it’s hard to narrow my favourites down to a small, select list. There are so many fantastic places to eat in Vancouver, each with its own special qualities: a lovingly curated small plates menu, a killer cocktail program, cozy and thoughtful design… the list goes on. Something that makes a trip out of the city really special for me is finding a perfect place to eat, which is exactly what I found at Squamish’s The Broken Seal. The waterfront restaurant focuses on vegetable and raw-forward dishes (trust me, the tiraditos and the tartares here are to live for), as well as a zero-proof cocktail menu that’ll leave you feeling spoiled and still very much alert when you leave. Plus, the interior design is maximalist and layered, making it feel cozy and splashy all at once. The hospitality here, too, is top tier. All of which is to say, should you find yourself in Squamish in 2026, you’ll want to make a reservation here. —Kristi Alexandra, managing editor, Vancouver magazine, Western Living, BCBusiness

The Editors

The Editors