Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I grew up in Vancouver when I was a teenager and visit the city every year. The Earl's chain is pretty good, as well as the Kirin restaurants, which serve great Cantonese food and dim sum.

Cardero's has a great view of the harbor and is just a fun, dramatic and unpretentious restaurant. Good seafood and steak menu. You should probably reserve.
http://www.vancouverdine.com/carderos/home.html

The best Indian restaurant in North America is in the South Granville area of Vancouver and is worth a detour. It's about 20 minutes from downtown by bus. It's called Vij's, and it's strictly walk-in, which means your complete party has to be in the queue by the time the restaurant opens at 5:30, otherwise you may have to wait an hour or so for a table. If you start lining up at 5, you'll probably get in.
http://www.vijs.ca/

For French food, I like Le Crocodile. They make a great lobster armoricaine. http://www.lecrocodilerestaurant.com/

If you want something kind of different and on the go, Japadog on the corner of Burrard and Smithe outside the Sutton Place Hotel has got pretty good street dogs with a Japanese twist. Line ups are about 15-20 mins though.

I second Vij's. But the sister restaurant next store Rangoli is a great way to get some of that world-renowned indian food without the prices and line ups. Order the portobello mushroom curry....it's crave-worthy!

Which reminds me Crave on Main street is great too. Simple westcoast style food and the pastry chef is great. It's a little taxi ride from your hotel but a good solid meal if you're wanting that.

If it's a nice day and you want some seafood try Go Fish near Granville Island. It's a casual, sit outside place where they serve great quality fish and chips, fish tacos out of a steel hut. A pricier way to experience seafood is C down by false creek. They are all about serving sustainable local fish in a fine dining setting.

If you're looking for an interesting wine, charcuterie and cheese experience, try Salt Tasting Room in Gastown. Down a scary alleyway! It's very cool (sometimes verging on gimmicky since you can pretty mush go to Granville Island's Oyama Sausage Company and get a platter, go to the wine shop and bakery across the way and get some wine and baguette and have a picnic at one of the wonderful waterside parks near there...for about 1/4 the price) It's a trendy wine bar where you can get a flight of wines each perfectly paired with charcuterie, cheese and a condiment. It's a fun thing to do.

If you want to try some sushi, which some say define Vancouver, some good spots about 10-15mins drive from your hotel are Ajisai on 41st, Shiro on Cambie and a splurge at Tojo's. I'd recommend Toshi's at Main and 16th but the line ups are ALWAYS 45 mins.

Raincity Grill at English Bay is famous for farm to table dining but is on the pricier side. I think they have great brunches and much better priced. If you want to have a meal to remember for the rest of your life....go to West and order the chef's tasting menu. It will be a $150/person without wine type of thing but my goodness, an experience!

For some well priced pasta, I actually don't mind Italian Kitchen at Burrard and 4th. It's tasty, the pasta has always been good perfectly and the food seasoned well.

If you are in the mood for a longer trek (30mins away) and will be in North Vancouver you must go to Thomas Haas. He makes the most beautiful chocolates, cakes and pastries. His amandines are the best I've had...I try them everywhere I go. All his stuff is amazing...it's so hard to walk away from the display case with a reasonable amount of things on your plate without looking like you're feeding the french army.

Sorry for the long list but there are so many favorites!!!

Here's a pretty decent list of some of Vancouver's places to eat. The list of from popular vote so some are better than others and some just get a vote for quantity over quality...so beware:)

Have fun in Vancouver!!!!