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SO sick of salads of baby greens, goat cheese, dried berries, and nuts. BORED.

Yep: President's Choice (Canada) makes some truly amazing products. I don't even really think of them as a generic store brand, but rather an empire of delicious (and healthy and cheap).

It's in BC too. I remember my Ukranian-Albertan farmgirl Grandma making it for me when I was little.

More votes from me for Vij's, Hapa Izakaya (IS SO GOOD), Salt Tasting Room, and the Irish Heather.

New recommendations: Lolita's (modern Mexican), Kadoya for sushi, Franco-German La Brasserie, gastropub Six Acres, and Caffe Artigiano (branches everywhere downtown) for coffee. Seriously, go to Artigiano for coffee. They do magical things.

The western end of Robson St. has a hot mess of Korean restaurants, Japanese noodle shops, and izakayas, which are usually full of Korean and Japanese people respectively and that's always a good sign! I'd suggest wandering the few blocks checking menus for what appeals to you.

Definitely go to the Granville Island Public Market. You can assemble a lovely picnic of fresh breads, cool cheese, and local vegetables (heirloom tomatoes!). Smoked salmon! (I do recommend the adorable little harbour ferry from downtown, but you can drive in or take the bus. It's not a real island, it's a peninsula.)

Capers is a natural grocery store (now owned by Whole Foods) which has an excellent deli and in-house bakery. There's one downtown on Robson St. if you're just looking for a nice healthy lunch (disclosure: they're my employer, but I was devoted to the food there long before that was the case, so it's not just love-my-job bias talking here.)

If you drink, make sure to check out some of our local microbrews. We have so many amazing beers being made in British Columbia. I recommend trying out Howe Sound Brewing, Dead Frog, Phillips, and (the remarkably cheap for its level of deliciousness) Bowen Island.

I'd say you should avoid the Cactus Club (as well as its myriad cousins: Joey, Moxies, Earls, Milestones). There's far too much "casual fine dining" chain crap going on here. They're all completely okay and that's not good enough when there is so much interesting food available. The only chain that I might suggest that you visit is The Keg, which is a chain of mid-priced classic steakhouses with good quality food and drink. If you're looking for a more high-end steak, try out Gotham or Hy's (for that Mad Men experience)
Oh, and if you're visiting from afar and want to take some of our tasty maple syrup or smoked salmon home, "go native" and buy them at a grocery store. That's what we do! You'll save at least 30% compared to buying them from a touristy gift shop and they will be EXACTLY the same products.

ALSO if it's a nice sunny day and you have a few spare hours, walk the Stanley Park seawall. The views are gorgeous. You can also rent bicycles at loads of places along the north end of Denman Street, near the edge of the park.

VANCOUVER IS AWESOME. Enjoy your trip! I hope it doesn't rain too much when you're here.

(phew. Longest SE comment ever.)

Perfectly ripe Reed avocado spread on toast with a little chunky grey sea salt accompanied by chunks of Rocinante rosemary goat cheese. Simple, but perfect.

I'm happy to wait up to an hour at a very few places that I already know are completely worth it.

One usually has to wait at least half an hour at my most favourite restaurant (Pagliacci's in my home town of Victoria, BC, who don't take reservations. EVER.) They make it worth your while by regularly bringing by little mugs of red wine and once you've tried their bread (hot greasy salty perfect foccacia), you'd happily wait too.

Chat-en-oeuf (obviously the label shows a kitty sitting on an egg) is great and affordable ($13-$15 in Canada). I'm not normally a rosé lady, but theirs is delicious!

when you spend your birthday morning shopping the farmers' market and fishmongers, the afternoon cooking, and the evening eating the many-coursed dinner party with your friends and couldn't imagine anything that could possibly have made the day better.

I'm having a little cinco party at mine tomorrow and among other things I'm making a huge bowl of pico de gallo, to serve with tortilla chips and on our tacos. My version is easy:

loads of tomatoes
some red onion
bunch of cilantro
- chop finely
fresh jalapenos to taste
- chop very very very finely
add the juice of a few limes and salt well
(it tastes better after a night in the fridge)

@jessie - it's pronounced nan-EYE-mo. It's a mid-sized town on Vancouver island, in British Columbia.

I'm so proud that BC has given the world a delicious palm-sized heart attack. It's ours, New York, so back off!

Oh god! When eating out with a certain family member, I always have to tuck at least 20% in cash under a saucer or the bill folder, but secretly and only just as we get up to leave. I do this even for substandard service, as putting up with her garbage for an entire meal deserves fair payment (when do I get my tip?).

She thinks that it's generous to leave $100 for a $96 meal. Her reasoning is "if servers want to make more than minimum wage, they should get different jobs." This, of course, is ignoring the fact that they have that exact job *because* they (rightly) expect to make more than the minimum wage. ALSO: I have explained the way that tipping out the kitchen and bar works (having been a restaurant bartender in the past and survived off that tip-out myself...), but still, that has no effect. I cringe every time. Some people can see no logic.