The Elbow Room Café

Love Patrick! I was entertained, and enjoyed my food. When he found out I was from Seattle, he «pre» congratulated me on my new president, Donald Trump!!! And then told me not to try to move to Canada, and that they were raising the fences higher at their borders!!! I love it!

Great breakfast spot, but you may have a bit of a wait if you go on the weekend. The wait staff has great banter, so be prepared to be made fun of like it is a comedy show. This is a great way to start your day off with a laugh and a good feed. Be sure to check it out if you haven’t been before!

Love this place which is a must stop for all my friends visiting from out of town. The «abuse» can range from moderate to full-​on depending on the mood of the place that day. The more you go, the more permissive they get –all in good fun and good banter. It is NOT a good environment for kids.
The food is good, they offer gluten-​free toast (you pay for it but I love a place that can accommodate that) you do get your own refills and you don’t leave food in your plate as there are people starving in the World… Otherwise, make that donation to their charity before leaving.
A place I have returned to several times and food and service are consistently good (with bad words!) ;)

Food was mediocre and, though at first it seemed like fun, I really didn’t enjoy being hassled and sworn at after the first couple of times. It got old real fast. As well, I was totally overcharged. The bill was full of chicken scratches and the total was WAY over what I should have paid. Normally I would have asked about the high bill but, after being treated so awfully all during service, I left not wanting to suffer any more abuse. Don’t bother. Terrible place.

Awh, what a fun environment! I have heard of restaurants like this place, but I have never been to one. The service was awful… which made my time at the Elbow Room Café that much more entertaining. I sat back, relaxed and watched as the server sassed customers. «Get up and get it yourself,» the server said to multiple customers requesting coffee refills. He was witty and knew just what to say so it didn’t cross the line… most of the time.
As for the food, the Elbow Room Café is not a place to go when you’re wanting a quality breakfast. I ordered the Lee Grant, and I feel like I could have made a better omelette at home.

I have being here several times and I enjoy the food, it’s usually enough for me for the entire day. I love the Big Ben breakfast and the banana walnut French toast

Great food and the owner, Patrick, is a delight! He went to our table and chatted with us about our home country!
The food is really great as well. The best pancake I had in the city. We ordered a 12″ pancake plus an omelets and a french toast, for three people. We ate a lot!
The place is quiet noisy and crowded but is part of the charm. The coffee is only served on the table on the first cup. For others you have to serve yourself but not quite a problem.
Definitely we will go back there again!

The Elbow room is pretty fun if you are the adventurous type. If you enjoy getting yelled at while eating half decent breakfast, go to the elbow room! Want a coffee refill? Get it yourself! Wrong type of toast? Too bad, eat it anyways!

13 different styles of Eggs Benedict?! Sign me up!
The food here is very good but what sold me was the owner, Patrick! He is an absolute delight and simply a joy to be around! I got some bad news about my family the morning I went to Elbow Room and the sunshine Patrick supplied with the absolute tonic I needed. Love and blessings to you, Mon’Amie!

The food at Elbow Room is pretty mediocre, nothing you can’t make at home you if are able to find the right ingredients. I guess most people go for the owners, they are super upfront and sassy with their comments and would not hesitate to cross the room asking you to «get your ass up and get it yourself if you want water».
On my visit there a couple did stand up and leave cause they did not like that kind of environment but I think everyone else including me quite enjoyed their humor. Although a big vulgar at times its still acceptable.
I would have given this review a lot higher if only the food was at par with their entertaining serving style, but I really did not feel like the food was anything worth paying for if I could get the same ingredients and make it myself at home for much less. I guess the experience is what you pay for.
Also their hash brown tried to kill my mouth.

Somehow someway, my wife and I stumbled into this restaurant with zero context for what it is and what it’s famous for. For those that don’t know, it’s known as an «abusive restaurant» and they do their best to live up to that name. Our server (who I think might have been the owner?) definitely went out of his way to make my wife and I uncomfortable. The amount of crude sexual jokes was a bit much.
But of course we were there to eat breakfast, so I’ll focus on the food for a sec. I ordered a 6″ pancake and received a 12″ (And was also charged for the 12″, hence the low rating). I was only able to eat half of it, because that is what I was hungry for and ordered. It was a waste of food and was accompanied with a crude sex joke. Overall it tasted fine though. My wife ordered the French Toast and it was average at best, huge portion size and it was also fairly cold when served.
My recommendation? Make sure you know what you are getting yourself into before coming. There’s clearly a lot of people who enjoy this style of restaurant, but it definitely wasn’t for us. You are treated rudely, sworn at, given poor service, and treated to many crude sexual jokes. I would have left a higher review if I had not been charged extra for something I didn’t order, or if they hadn’t gone so far to make us uncomfortable.
(And to those who are wondering, I didn’t bring the extra charge to their attention in the restaurant because they intentionally had done it so it wasn’t a mistake, and to be honest I wasn’t looking forward to whatever rude response they would have back if I mentioned it.)

The place is fully decorated with pictures of celebrities from the 80s and 90s. You’ll be seated in tiny chairs and greeted by an upbeat server. Definitely read the rules written in the menu, it’s very amusing and quirky.
I ordered their New Yorker for breakfast and I should have ordered it to share since the portion is huge. The Egg Benedict was done perfectly. Unfortunately, I’m not fond with the sauce that the New Yorker came with. It was tomato-​based sauce that was too heavy for me. The sauce overpowered everything and I could barely taste the egg, which is my favourite part of breakfast.

If you are in Vancouver you definetley have to visit this Diners! It is so special and so different that we were happy that we tried it.
The waitress is such a funny person with a humor i could love about all the day. Of course i did the mistake and chose the big pancake. I only made it to the half of it and then i surrendered.
But this individual atmosphere is really worth it to give it a try.
We highly recommend to visit this place

The Elbow Room is a great neighbourhood café in yaletown. If you are looking (and don’t mind) a different ambiance where you can get great breakfast food and a different serving experience all together this is a place to try.
Breakfast is tasty and simple, waiters/​waitresses are fun, friendly and will give you shit if you don’t read their rules, etc (or will give you shit all together). Some people might not like this, i found it more like i was having breakfast at a friends house.
You will have a laugh.
Pancakes are amazing, great big breakfast so come in hungry. It gets pretty busy during the weekend so be prepared to wait for a little bit.

Me and two friends decided to venture here before spending the day at English Bay. We heard about this place from a member at the Y so thought we would try it out.
The rules are outlined on the front of the menu so you’ll know what to expect. If you don’t go with the flow or have a very uptight sense of humor, this is not the place for you. We ordered our food, the usual eggs, toast, bacon, and fruit. The food was served hot, it was decent. Nothing extraordinary, but it didn’t fail to satisfy me.
After we were done we got our bill and went up to pay. Our server asked if it was together or separate and we said separate. So he went «Oh, you want it separate? Well here’s the price list and a pen, figure it out yourselves!» and walked away. We knew this was part of their shtick, but still tried to figure it out for a minute. Then the owner came over and helped us figure it out.
The best part was when the owner took note of my bandaged hand (I have eczema flare ups sometimes so I need to wrap my hand in gauze) and asked what happened. Before I could answer, our server walked over and said «See, this is what happens when you fist without any lube. Use KY next time.» and walked away. I was so shocked (in the good way!) and my friends and I died of laughter.
This place definitely gets its hype for the «rude» experience. Food is okay. Not bad, but like I said not extraordinary. I like how the restaurant donates to an organization called A Loving Spoonful, which helps those who are hungry and suffering from AIDS. Come here for the experience, you’ll probably get a good laugh and a full stomach.

The Elbow Room provided my first breakfast in Vancouver and they did not disappoint. Even during Pride weekend, my friend and I were seated almost instantly. The «rules» are outlined on a chalkboard above the kitchen, and I had been pre-​warned that the staff was going to be feisty.
At the end of the day, it’s pretty standard breakfast fare. The portions are large and the coffee is decent. Despite my inclination to go all out with the Lumberjack breakfast, I settled on the #5 (two eggs, three English sausages, hash browns, and toast). My friend opted for the same minus the sausages and we split a 6″ buttermilk pancake. Side note: I find that your server asking how you’re enjoying 6″ in your mouth when referencing a pancake is pure gold. If you don’t share my sense of humor you should probably stay away.
It’s a fun experience, the customers are friendly (chatted it up most of the meal with the couple next to us about their travels around BC), and the food is satisfying. I would definitely make a return trip next time I’m up north.

«I’m the only f*ckin b*tch in here and b*tches don’t come cheap»
As soon as we heard the owner/​server/​host say this I knew I had come to the right place for breakfast. I mean he’s right. B*tches don’t come cheap.
We came to The Elbow Room Café because we saw it on Weekend Fix on The Esquire Channel (side note-​if you don’t have The Esquire Channel you need to get it). It looked like a cool place with good food and a quirky owner. That’s exactly what we got. We went during the week so we didn’t have to wait. We were seated immediately and as soon as we heard the owner interact with other customers I knew I would love this place. This guy says whatever the hell he wants and I love it!
I’m not sure how this place only has 3.5 stars unless people are super discerning. In which case you need to relax. This is not where you go when you want some upscale food. This is a diner. A greasy spoon, if you will. Personally, I loved the food here. I ordered an omelette with what seemed like sloppy joe meat on the inside and it came with jalapeño sourdough bread. I didn’t even think of putting jalapenos in sourdough but it’s a brilliant idea. The meat inside my omelette was nicely flavored and the entire dish was just amazing. Like seriously amazing. The sourdough bread wasn’t hot and was so buttery. OMG I’m about to hop a flight back to Vancouver for this!
The restaurant is pretty small and if you’re in a rush and just want to stop in quickly this isn’t your place. The service is a little slow because the owner/​server/​host stops and talks to all of his customers. He’ll ask where you’re from, what brought you to Vancouver, and overall do a little s*it talkin’. I definitely did not mind because everything that this man said was hilarious. Plus, if you don’t finish your meal you have to make a donation to The Lovin’ Spoonful. Of course we didn’t finish our meal because the plates were big but we definitely did not mind making our donation. Of course we have diners like this in SoCal but none with the spunk and personality of The Elbow Room Café.

This place was AWESOME! The food and service was great!
If you’re easily offended do everyone a favor and go somewhere else. This is sort of ‘themed’ restaurant so beware!
The owners were absolutely hilarious! Super engaging and cute. The employees love to talk smack about the owners, cracks me up!

Waaaah.
This spot used to be a great hub… after taking DH there a couple of years ago we went back last month on a trip to see the Canucks smash the Flames.
Unfortunately, the owners weren’t present — must’ve been cruising! They are honestly most of the charm of this place.
We ordered a Benny and whatever I ordered came out lukewarm with half-​melted pre-​shredded cheese.
They renovated in the last while so the spot is a bit more open… so it’s the same looking restaurant it used to be, but honestly it just didn’t feel the same.
There are a tonne of items on the menu and there was a small lineup out the door (as usual). Try it on for yourself. Unfortunately for this ex-​pat, I won’t be back.
I noted that there weren’t any people being made to donate to the loving spoonful for wasting their meals either this time… my fridge STILL rocks a magnet from a fateful day I couldn’t finish my breakfast. Aaaaaah, sweet memories.

I chose to breakfast here for the theme. I love themed places so I wanted to experience it!
I was expecting rude but they are actually very nice with a funny gay sass kind of attitude. Not rude or the standard attitude you would find an American give you on a normal day. This being said, it made me feel at home. Good old fashioned banter with breakfast makes me feel more relaxed as the ice is broken in the atmosphere of an otherwise busy, quaint, and quiet morning establishment with unknown tourists and locals.
The food was breakfast food. Very straight forward. I would love to have seen a scramble option or other things but it really is a no frills place, stress free. So I decided to just a la carte everything which is also a good option here as they list everything available as a side order.
I love the get your own water rule here since I would rather do that at every restaurant and the server never usually gets me water fast enough anyway.
The bill was reasonable and the atmosphere was cozy. The wait for a table was not too bad given that everyone wants to experience dining here. Thanks for my last Canadian meal! Good times!

I came here for the slogan. Sometimes it’s fun to have a welcomed verbal beating. I got something, however, where the f*ck was my abuse you soft b*tches…that is how it is done my friends. Staff reading this please take note *bows at performance.*
I’ve been wanting to come here for a few years now, however, the guy and I walked passed it on the way to coffee, therefore, we came here sooner than planned.
They serve breakfast all day which is a huge plus for me. My breakfast was made to order, however, it came with a side of sarcasm.
I did deliver it ’cause I felt that hey if you can dish it… you can take it. The whole time I was being insulted I couldn’t help but laugh. It’s subtle dinner theatre at it’s best.
I remember going to a Tom Waits show and there was a joke made about the elbow room that he made during his stage banter, «I went to the Elbow room, the waitress got fired ’cause she was too nice.»
The wall is covered with head shots of celebrities have dinned there some of them writing sassy things with their signature. Hugh Jackman’s was funny.

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