Metro Vancouver Restaurant News thread

[hollywoodnorth]

looks like Vancouver is getting yet another Breka

this time they are calling it a "Breka Bakery Cafe and Kitchen" @ 8188 Manitoba Street (this will be location #8 of the 24-7 Cafe Chain) https://www.breka.ca

so I imagine they will offer more fare than the other locations and maybe use the larger space as a commissary as well.

[NewfBC]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

looks like Vancouver is getting yet another Breka

this time they are calling it a "Breka Bakery Cafe and Kitchen" @ 8188 Manitoba Street (this will be location #8 of the 24-7 Cafe Chain) https://www.breka.ca

so I imagine they will offer more fare than the other locations and maybe use the larger space as a commissary as well.

I believe Breka bought a space in the new multipurpose industrial building being built there.. they will move their kitchen from Laurel Street and open a Cafe at the same time.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/breka-bakery-new-facility-marine

The project is called Marine Landing
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/8188-manitoba-street-vancouver

Ron.

[s211]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

looks like Vancouver is getting yet another Breka

this time they are calling it a "Breka Bakery Cafe and Kitchen" @ 8188 Manitoba Street (this will be location #8 of the 24-7 Cafe Chain) https://www.breka.ca

so I imagine they will offer more fare than the other locations and maybe use the larger space as a commissary as well.

The buildout for their new location on Hastings or Pender seems to have stalled for months. I'd imagine construction supply issues are a rather large factor.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by Sheba

Jollibee in downtown Vancouver is officially opening this week

A co-worker said the line-up is insane and wraps the block from Granville, along Robson to SportChek.

[MIPS]

Yes!

YES!!

Step aside, Prime Time Chicken. You got competition.

[SpongeG]

people waited hours

• Video Link

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by officedweller

A co-worker said the line-up is insane and wraps the block from Granville, along Robson to SportChek.

...and past SportChek and even past Chipotle on Howe!

[MIPS]

It's made provincial news. CTV and Global did stories on it. Bet you CBC did it too.

[Conrad Yablonski]

I wonder does the Spaghetti have enough sugar or should I bring some of my own?

Curious mind wants to know.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Denscity

...and past SportChek and even past Chipotle on Howe!

Good lord, its just fried chicken.

[djh]

Is this a Vancouver-specific phenomena, where people will wait hours to be the first to do or try something? Yet the next week, the place or thing is empty?

I've seen this so many times. I don't get it. Is it all for the Likes and Subscribes - "I was there on the first day! Yay!"? Because these people never turn in to loyal recurring customers that keep the business afloat.

Remember on this very forum the photos of lineups and the excited talk when the very first "Beard Papa" (I think that was the name) opened in Vancouver? It was literally a few blocks from here, on Robson. How long did that last?

[SpongeG]

Jollibee openings always get long lineups for opening and they use the "Its our Turn" Motto when opening. I've heard the store in Scarborough had two-hour lineups 3 months after opening.

• Video Link

[NewfBC]

Originally Posted by djh

Is this a Vancouver-specific phenomena, where people will wait hours to be the first to do or try something? Yet the next week, the place or thing is empty?

I've seen this so many times. I don't get it. Is it all for the Likes and Subscribes - "I was there on the first day! Yay!"? Because these people never turn in to loyal recurring customers that keep the business afloat.

Remember on this very forum the photos of lineups and the excited talk when the very first "Beard Papa" (I think that was the name) opened in Vancouver? It was literally a few blocks from here, on Robson. How long did that last?

A lot of people don't have a lot happening in their lives.. so lining up for a store opening might be the most exciting thing they will do all year. Then they can make their social media posts - "Look at me, I'm great, I lined up for 4 hours to get Jollibee!"

Ron.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by djh

Remember on this very forum the photos of lineups and the excited talk when the very first "Beard Papa" (I think that was the name) opened in Vancouver? It was literally a few blocks from here, on Robson. How long did that last?

I just looked up Beard Papa's 'cause I remember there used to be one in Metrotown. Their site lists four locations - two in Richmond (google maps shows one of them as closed), Robson and then one just up the street from Royal Oak Station. No idea how any of them are doing.

[officedweller]

The Robson Beard Papas closed last year and was replaced by a tea place.

The Jollibee's line up is just as big today.
If you're healthy and fit, standing in a line talking with friends is probably not much different than going for a walk on the seawall chatting with friends or sitting on a patio chatting with friends or on your phone. You just need to have patience.

I remember lining up for hours to see The Empire Strikes Back at The Vogue or Capitol 6.

[Sheba]

Popular Filipino fast-food chain Jollibee finally opens in Vancouver

People from across the Metro lined up for hours on Saturday for a taste of Jollibee, a hugely popular Filipino fast-food chain that just opened in downtown Vancouver. The Granville Street location opened Friday after a two-year delay due to COVID-19.

At one p.m. on Saturday, the lineup stretched for nearly three blocks, running north on Granville, west across Robson and south down Howe Street.

A family of four at the front of the line said they had been in line since 9:45 a.m. — over three hours — after travelling from New Westminster. They were planning to get fried chicken, spaghetti, and peach mango pie, three of Jollibee’s classic dishes.

Further back in line, four friends from Surrey said it was their second attempt to get into the restaurant. They had arrived at 10:30 a.m. after being told on Friday that the line was too long and they wouldn’t be able to get in. Several people in line said they were coming back after being rejected on opening day.

A Jollibee spokesperson estimated the wait time for the “official” line — which stretched up Granville and down half-a-block of Robson and was managed by Jollibee staff — was about three hours. For those further back in the line that stretched south on Howe for half-a-block, and wasn’t managed by Jollibee staff, she said the wait time could be as long as five or six hours.

She said that based on previous openings at other locations around Canada, lineups could last for months. After a location opened in Scarborough, Ont., she said there were lineups to get in the restaurant for about three months.

There was no worry about running out of food, however. “The kitchen equipment will fail before that happens,” she said.

Jollibee currently has 24 locations across Canada and roughly 1,300 locations worldwide. The Granville Street location is B.C.’s first but there are seven in neighbouring Alberta, three in Manitoba and 12 in Ontario. Saskatchewan has one.

...

[Denscity]

I wonder why they didn't open in BC sooner seeing as we have the second largest Filipino population in the country.

[Klazu]

Yeah, I was surprised to learn them having already opened in places like Calgary and Edmonton. I won't be visiting Downtown any time soon, so hope that they will open another location in the future. Metrotown for example seems to be a hot bed for fried chicken joints.

[MIPS]

It sure beats driving to Tukwila.

[NewfBC]

Originally Posted by Denscity

I wonder why they didn't open in BC sooner seeing as we have the second largest Filipino population in the country.

Seems to me their Vancouver franchisee setup is a mess. Mary Brown's have opened 9 locations in the Lower Mainland since Jollibee announced the location on Granville.

Ron.