Prestons Restaurant + Lounge

We popped in for the dine-​out Vancouver menu and were blown away by the first courses, the second courses, and then desserts. The cocktails were absolutely excellent.
I don’t think it was necessarily the best meal I’ve had in town, but in terms of price and the lack of pretension around the food, this is one of the best overall experiences and value I’ve experienced in Vancouver.
We can’t wait to go back and are actually quite grateful for the entire staff for a pleasant experience. As new parents, we don’t get out much, let alone to Vancouver, and they all really helped make it a special experience.

A good place for a clean modern look where you can get breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In the Coast Hotel and we had brunch here. We had the Cubano press sandwich which is pulled pork, ham, and Swiss cheese grilled and served with coleslaw and thrice fries and the grilled roast beef sandwich.
Sandwiches was really good, coleslaw was pretty good, and the fries look good but are too difficult to eat. I wish they would give you regular fries and for me that really means the fries aren’t worth it. The sandwiches themselves were stuffed.
I liked the décor and ambiance and wit would be a good place for a business lunch or just a place to grab a drink and some appetizers after work.

The service was below standard, slow and seemed somewhat chaotic. Invited a group of friends for dinner and drinks… sad disappointment.
The appetizers where OK, main course was extremely poor and prices didn’t reflect the previous reviews.
Don’t waste your money.

Not sure why this place gets some average or below reviews maybe I just got lucky. My wife and I had excellent service and I feel it is great value compared to other places in the area. We started with the fried cauliflower which was battered and fried perfectly, balanced with the watermelon and jalapeño honey sauce was just perfect. For entrée my wife got the short rib and I got the butcher block special which was steak with a chimichurri, parsnip purée and wild mushrooms. My steak was cooked perfectly and everything on the plate sang together all for $ 20. Everything tasted so fresh. My wife’s short ribs were so tender and the purée that was underneath was velvety smooth and delicious. We washed this down with a Malbec from Argentina that paired wonderfully with the meat. When I am come back to Vancouver I would definitely dine here again.

The best part about the place is the fantastic service! I swear, we had three different people coming to check on us and take our order. The entire staff’s concern was making sure we are being taken care of.
I ordered a $ 13 cocktail. It was delicious and it sets the price point for the restaurant. Food wise, everything was delicious with gorgeous plating. However, most portions are very tiny. I ordered fried cauliflower and octopus. Being from Calgary, I don’t get to enjoy octopus often so it was a treat. My experience was pleasant one. I would absolutely return to this restaurant — especially for the service.

Came for happy hour on a balmy Saturday afternoon. Only 3 or 4 tables were occupied but with a lone server we had to wait more than a few minutes to be seated. Drinks and dinner menus were provided, but not the happy hour one. I’m about to ask when I noticed there’s one sitting right on the table next to us so I just helped myself. However, that left me with an impression either the server mistook us for tourists who didn’t know about hh, or she preferred us to order from the more expensive regular menus. Of course she could have simply forgotten to give it to us. I’ll let her have the benefit of the doubt.
Tried their mushroom pâté, curried falafel, an octopus appy, some fries with dips, and two drinks. Sounds like a lot eh? But in fact, other than the fries, they’re all «tasting portions» and to me more like finger food size, not to mention none of them stood out. Think you can do better in downtown with $ 40. Try Devil’s Elbow.

Frühstück war ok aber der Service ist eine Katastrophe. Wir hatten ein kleines Missgeschick: ein Ei ging zu Boden. Man würde denken dass das jemand aufräumt, aber nein!
Nächstes Mal ohne uns…

Great atmosphere and great food had the brisket sandwich and squash soup. Very tasty.

excellent place, always open, always friendly and never crowded, I come here once a week and never disapointed! Love them!

Good on ambiance. Bad food quality. Cauliflower fritter was not cooked well, tasted of raw chick pea flour. Pork was ok. We wanted just grilled salmon, the chef could not accommodate customizing charged same price as in menu. Beer was ok. Appetizers came on rock pieces. Our table did not get a candle! Well alas!

Such a shame. The food was quite good but the service at the bar was lacking. The bartender ignored me for 10 minutes after I sat down during a quiet night. He was obviously more interested in speaking with the waitress than taking my order.
I’d also suggest some local beers. The mostly big brewery options didn’t fit the warm lounge atmosphere and quality food.

I think slow service is an understatement at Preston’s. The food is underwhelming and a bit of a disappointment considering the average price. Appies were fast to arrive but I’m fairly certain I could have left the restaurant, walked to any number of restaurants in downtown, eaten a full course meal there, and come back and still not have my food. I’m all for having some downtime between courses for conversation but this was seriously too long of a wait. I’m not sure if it was because it was a group of us or simply that they had yet to slaughter the cow in order to obtain the beef, all I know is I was hungry for way too long and even after my meal I had to go to McDonald’s for a filler burger.

Was very close where we were staying. We ordered a pad-​thai, spaghetti and a lentil cake. Pad-​Thai was good, but the rest was average. We might go again because it is just closer to where we stayed.

Excellent service, great food. Since this was attached to our hotel I went here for breakfast. My omelette was good, the fruit, toast and potatoes really shined. Good coffee and decent prices. Would eat here again.

Stopped by on a whim with my boyfriend after work, and was very pleasantly surprised! Great bartender, super knowledgeable, made a fantastic Old Fashioned.
We tried the Tuna Pizza, delicious twist!
Only gave it 4 stars because it lacked some ambiance, but if you’re looking for a quiet spot for a drink/​food, I would highly recommend.

The atmosphere is quaint, the food is visually appealing and was a great value for my dollar. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a great tasting meal with excellent service.

I had briefly lived in the area for a year but had never set a foot in the door because it appears to be more like a bar than a restaurant to me. I visited the restaurant today and sincerely believe this restaurant deserves more credits.
I am very picky when it comes to breakfast. I rather eat very hearty and heathy, or not at all. I had stayed at the Coastal Coal Harbour hotel the night before and thought I should try this restaurant out, since it was complementary to my hotel stay. I had expected buffet breakfast like many other hotels do.
Boys was I wrong. It is a real west coast style breakfast with four pieces of toast, hash browns, honey ham, scrambled eggs, and different kinds of fruits. Plus, they serve one of the best hot chocolates I have had so far. The staff was very friendly as well. In short, I consider it to be equal of the Locus on Main St and Paul’s on Granville St.
The taste still linger even now I am writing this review. I’d definitely go back if I happen to be in the area. I walked out and realized I got a parking ticket from our great City of Vancouver. Oh well, the breakfast somehow make me feel not so bad about it.

I had the mushroom benedict (really cool vegetarian option, portabello w/​sauteed spinach and tomato over potato cakes) — buuut it all went downhill from there.
I’d liked the portabella to have more textures going on, a bit of a grill mark or browning going but it was undifferentiated. This can be forgiven, but the undifferentiated «potato cake» cannot be. I suppose I was expecting something along the lines of a potato pancake (a latke or something in that vicinity) but what I got was like, well, the insides of a soggy fry writ large, but with none of that fry crisp or grease-​bomb guilty pleasure.
I really liked the concept of the dish. I was completely let down by the execution.
All that, and when a friend asked me why I said to avoid our hotel restaurant all that came out was «I’ve had better hollandaise from a carton.»

On a sunny Wednesday night I decided to hit the joints in my ‘hood and catch up with a friend over wine and dinner.
Upon arrival the server was very friendly and gave me the best table by the window. He also brought me water without me asking for it while I waited for my friend to arrive.
The décor is west coast chic and the fuchsia colour and white lighting in the background gives the place a nice ambience.
I ordered a glass of the Malbec and was delightfully surprised by my choice. It’s hard to find good quality yet reasonably priced wines in Vancouver and think this place has a good selection.
As for food we shared Mussels with Thai curry sauce which was accompanied by greek pita breads for dipping in the sauce. The sauce was more on the sweeter side but still very nicely done. The risottos balls with Marinara sauce were cooked to perfection too but the portion size was a little too small.
Overall I’ll come back again to sample more of the food and soak in a tourist in your own city atmosphere of this joint.

This place has a split personality: the staff, the décor, and the menu scream «this is gonna be good!» while the food itself is hit or miss.
I appreciate that they can veganize their pad thai. When it’s good, it’s really, really good! But when it’s bad, it’s bland, kind of dry, and flavourless. I have been here 3 times and had heard the veganized pad thai could be hit or miss but didn’t quite grasp the meaning of this until today’s lunch. Speaking of flavour, our fries tasted kind of off– like the deep fryer could use a change of oil.
My conclusion? This is still an okay place to cozy up for lunch, and the customer service is lovely enough to make me come back. But I wouldn’t set Prestons aside for any great foodie expectations. The price point is off the mark if the food is only going to live up to it two thirds of the time. The front of house staff are so wonderful– if only the kitchen could get it right, consistently.

After a long hard Monday (not really), most of the Vancouver dining community came out for the celebration of Prestons new menu.
The drinks were good. In addition to their signature cocktail, I had a (very strong) bourbon tea sour. There were some fun drinks on the menu including lemon martinis, a Toblerone chocolate martini, and many more. Somehow, I can’t ever imagine Chuck Norris drinking the drink that bears his name, a roundhouse kick of a martini no less.
The food itself was fairly tasty. The short ribs were delicious. The gyōzas were scrumptious as well. I was a little disappointed, however, with the pulled pork poutine and sliders. The green tea matcha crème brûlées were pretty sweet.
I really enjoyed the presentation with dim sum style containers, take out boxes, etc. It was a fun times in the intimate hotel restaurant and bar. I’d like to try it again.