The Locus

You know it is pretty bad when I join Unilocal to vent to save others by sharing my experience. We had dinner tonight, the waygu steak and the brisket burger. Wasn’t sure if our requests were taken, or kitchen had mis-​communication. Our steak was medium, when asked for medium rare, potatoes were not well done when asked for crispy, and my burger was over cooked and simply was not tasty at all, as my pre excited menu buzz sadly, quickly diminished. I appreciate ‘server’ offering a comp dessert, but not clarifying only one, when we had ordered two desserts, thinking they were trying to make up for the unpleasant entrees. On top of it, the peanut butter mousse was quite horrible, but maybe GF PB cheesecake mousse is suppose to taste like a few days old. I feel so bad, but tried to share constructive criticism vs complaining.
I don’t know what else to say, but I will stop now
I felt so bad and guilty, for lots negatives piling on but couldn’t help but laugh it off as leaving. First and last time definitely. Tried being nice, 2 stars.

Service was slow for not been that busy. And the food wasn’t even Medicore. For a traditions Bennie it was terrible at best. Defo won’t be back here again

The wagyu is dry. Almost medium well. Not medium rare. Pepper corn sauce buried flavour of me. Wagyu stands alone. Anything added should compliment not bury flavour. Veggies were. «Mama». Really. What the hell is the «artist smeare» of potatoes. Space atmosphere was good. Drink on par with other decent establishments. 2.5 for me. My wife 3.0.

I’ve been to Locus a few times now (mostly for brunch and once for drinks/​dessert) and their food is pretty consistent and good.
The atmosphere has a casual and trendy vibe, the service is good, and I’ve never had to wait for a table.
The most memorable brunch dish I’ve ordered there was one of the quiches that is only served on the weekends. It was one of the best quiches I’ve ever had and was nice and creamy and cheesy, but not too rich or overpowering. It was delicious.
I’ve also tried their French Toast which was really tasty. It was so good that I devoured the meal, I later realized that it came with syrup (which I didn’t even need!). I would recommend Locus for brunch.

who charges for coffee refills?
Overall this is an enjoyable place to have a relaxing brunch in a relaxed and stylish atmosphere. Food was very good — I enjoyed the skillet with pulled duck. The offer a nice bread basket as part of the brunch, which is normally unexpected, but par for this place.
My main complaint is the high prices. I don’t mind paying more for a well made meal — and these meals were well made — but the prices are high. $ 16 for a skillet. But the kicker is the extra charges for a run of the mill coffee. Not a fancy espresso drink, just regular coffee. With starts at $ 3.50. And refills are $ 1.25 each. Too bad they didn’t tell me, otherwise, I wouldn’t have ended up with a $ 6 coffee tab.
SO just to bitch a bit more, service is not at the level for a pricey place. Waiter took my order, then immediately turned around and asked me to confirm, since he forgot from the 3 steps it took from my table to the order machine. Instead of spinning a menu in his hands, maybe next time he should carry an order sheet when taking orders.

This review only speaks to my lunch experience. I came here for a post-​holiday brunch with a small group of friends. The Locus was previously recommended by a friend a few months back, but when we showed up on a holiday we discovered out they were closed. I like that the Locus takes reservations, which, which given the popularity of brunch in Vancouver, can sometimes be hard to find. The restaurant is situated right on Main Street. Metered street parking is available if you can find it, but I would recommend looking a block or so behind Main in the residential areas, where its free.
The restaurant wasn’t terribly busy which was slightly surprising, but then again this was during the week after Christmas so I can’t say for sure whether the holidays were a factor. I love me some eggs benny, so I ordered the crab and prawn cake, which came with tomato and spinach. This is a great option if you’re looking for a lower carb option, as the plate did not come with the traditional English muffin, but literally just on top of a small bed of spinach and tomato. I think ultimately in the end I would have prefered an absorbent, bread-​y vessel to soak up my hollandaise sauce, but it was still a good meal. I thought the brunch/​lunch menu had a very good range of food items, ranging from your traditional breakfast items (eggs, sausage, ham) to sandwiches, bennies, burgers, waffles, and tex-​mex dishes. I prefer savory brunch menu items as opposed to the sweeter variety of pancakes and waffles, so this was a plus for me. Service was relaxed and friendly. Overall it was an enjoyable meal and I would come back.

Friendly helpful manager/​owner?! Went there for brunch and was quite spacious. Quite pricey food and they charge for coffee refills which was never told to us. The bread and butter served as a table basket free of charge was delicious. I would go back mostly because of the service.

Okay so we sort of went here lol sort of. We got in around 11pm, there was a limited menu since we were so late. My friends and I decided to check something else out since the main dishes weren’t offered that late. Note to self: next time, go at a normal hour!

Lovely little bar with low lighting and great ambience — a place that’s a treat to walk into on a cold and wet Vancouver day.
The Happy Hour is fantastic with $ 4 draft and half price on all appies. Pretty much all of the appies are great, especially at half price, but if I had to choose one it’s got to be the Maple Scallops & Bacon.
The staff are also incredibly friendly and helpful. When I was last there (waiting for my significant other to finish work) I was one of only about five people. The manager, bar man, and server all came to chat with me at different points and were all just genuinely great to talk to.

Locus has a cozy, casual and trendy vibe with interesting décor and nice ambience. It specializes in fusion food, but the overpriced food was not that great nor the wine. Everyone here on Unilocal seems to rave about the brunch or lunch, but we came for dinner for a friend’s birthday dinner and were very disappointed. At least the cocktails were yummy. I wouldn’t come here to eat, but more to chill and drink.
The one really gooood dish was the Szechuan Seafood Penne. Everything else was not good or just average. Not worth the prices.

Atmosphere/​ambiance:
I reserved a table for six people on Sunday. Surprisingly the restaurant was not too busy, so it wasn’t too noisy or packed with people. It was quite comfortable sitting with friends, chatting, and eating together.
Service:
Our waitress was good that she would ask what we would like to drink right after we sat down, but it took a long time to bring the drinks to our table. One of the waiters (or manager) there was quite friendly, smiling a lot and chatting with us. However, he informed us that one of the chefs called in sick and there was only one chef cooking that night, so he asked if we were fine with the slow service. That meant we would have to wait longer for the food. We had already settled down at this restaurant, so of course we would have to say yes that we would be fine waiting. It really took long enough for the food. Appetizers came out first and we got some bread before dinner, but it was really a long wait.
Food:
The presentation of each dish looked great. I would have thought and expected that the quality should be good although the portion was small. However, the quality was barely okay. I am sure many western restaurants out there can cook better than what I got here. I was kind of disappointed paying a high price but not getting a good quality of food.
Note: their menu doesn’t have a lot of varieties although you can see pasta, seafood, duck, pork, chicken, beef and etc. The menu seems to be normal, but the restaurant needs to adjust their menu or be more creative on their dishes if it wants to stay competitive in the market in Greater Vancouver. Their wine list is not great.
I would recommend to have brunch at this restaurant. Their brunch tasted better than dinner.

Since my first review was in 2011, I wanted to update in case anyone ignored it as being outdated. This place still rocks. We’ve come here for brunch several times now, and it’s always awesome. The guy who served us the first time (see previous review) I’ve come to learn is the owner, and he’s always there, always smiling, and always checking in to see how everything was. I honestly think if every restaurant were like this I’d eat out every day, they just ‘get’ it.
I’ve never had a bad breakfast here, though be prepared to wait since everyone else also knows how delicious this place is. Sometimes the food takes a little longer to come out because they’re so busy, but they always bring extra bread (they serve you a cinnamon one and a savoury/​regular one when you arrive) so that you don’t go hungry.
Superduper thumbs up.

So I haven’t been here in ages. Like when they still had melted red candles everywhere.
So I decided to come in for brunch/​lunch since I was close by and we were looking to eat.
The food was fabulous! I had the French stuffed toast. The look of isn’t great lol but man was it tasty! I appreciated how they brought out a bread basket. It had some sweet and regular savory bread slices, with a lovely cinnamon butter and another savory butter. My soy latte was spot on.
My friend ordered a sandwich and soup and she also really enjoyed her food.
The customer service was absolutely great. Our waitress was super nice! She was very attentive, friendly and on the ball. Our food came out in a timely manner.
I still like the new ambiance and think I would come back to have a drink at the bar too in the evening sometime. Try it out guys. It’s another great place on Main!

Stepped in here for lunch with some business partners and enjoyed it very much. I went for the honey Mead to drink. It was okay. I probably should have went with the Saison but there’s always next time. My entrée however, was fabulous. It seems to have a bit of an Asian fusion theme and so the penne pasta that came with chicken and unbelievably spiced chorizo had creamy Schezuan sauce to accompany. I’ve never had anything quite like this and I LOVED it. I definitely recommend this unique pairing of flavors to anyone perusing the menu. My friend’s veggie burger came with fresh potatoes and looked quite good as well.

What a great little place. The ambience was inviting and relaxing, music selection excellent, staff friendly and professional! The menu is dynamic with some unique flares to classic dishes. I ordered a shredded bbq duck sandwich with melted brie — seriously delicious. The house greens were dressed perfectly and the roasted potatoes/​carrots were cooked to perfection!
The bread basket was nice, particularly the sweet cinnamon bread. The spicy butter is not spicy, rather smoky but still yummy.
If I lived in the area, it would be a regular spot for me. Enjoy!

Misses the mark.
Wild boar poutine was really good, heavy, but lacked interesting flavor. Potatoes were overdone and crusty.
Special was venison shank, looking picture perfect as it came to the table. While it was meaty and falling off the bone, it was surprisingly lacking in flavor, and dry. It really needed something tangy or vibrant or spicy to get the dish going. The roasted vegetables were, sadly, burnt. The wild berry compote should have been adding that zing I was looking for, but was surprisingly bland and uninteresting. Likewise, the sauce should have pulled it all together in a tasty red wine reduction but instead was a bland heavy gravy.
Sadly, had lots of potential, but just like the lackluster repetitive ballad rock playing in the background, somehow missed the mark.

Rick managed to drag me to Main street for brunch this past weekend and I’m really glad he did. He’s loved the locus since he started working in the neighbourhood and I guess had a mad craving for it on Sunday morning. We got here around 12:30 and it wasn’t too busy. It’s a neat little space (like most places on Main). The space is pretty cozy, there’s seating on this little stage section to the left where you get a good view of the street while you brunch. We were lucky to get seated there because it wasn’t too busy when we arrived.
I had the Mainstreet Breakfast and went with the spicy lamb sausage. I just recently started trying lamb here and there so with Rick’s encouragement I decided to go for it. Surprisingly it wasn’t what I was expecting in a good way. Lamb is pretty strong but the sausage was actually pretty good. The bread that they serve you while you’re waiting for your food is SO good! They make it all in house and you can tell. It came with a couple spreads — I think whipped butter and a jalapeño one but I didn’t even need it. The bread was moist and flavourful — nothing worse than starting your meal with hard dry bread. Great service, lots of smiles, and good food. I’m glad I got up for this brunch haha

I have been going here since it first opened many many years ago.
It’s been a a couple years since my last visit for some odd reason.
We dropped by for brunch the other day and had a great meal and an awesome smoothy.
Will try not to make it so long before our next visit.

Wild boar bennies and poutine anyone? Yes, I came here just for the wild boar lol. Not alot of places have it, so I was stoked when I found out Locus does!
I wasn’t disappointed! Brunch was fabulous, my wild boar benny was yummy, and it also came with a side of hash and fruit!
And the best part? Complimentary bread basket! Their cinnamon bread & butter was amazing, lemme tell ya. I ate the whole thing hehe, and I didn’t even feel guilty about it!
Service was awesome too! The guy (which I think is the manager) was really nice and funny!

Oh how I adore you brunch! But sometimes it can be so elusive because so many other people love you! Hooray for Locus though — since they are one of the few places to take reservations!
On a snowy Saturday afternoon, me and my girlfriends entered a warm, cozy, trendy cabin like oasis for brunch. Lots of delicious options to choose from: waffles to a wide range of eggs benny to omelets to french toast and much more! They always have a huge selections of drinks: fair-​trade coffees to teas to hot chocolate to libations to make your brunch a tipsy good time! Love how the Caesar came in a mason jar!
While waiting for our food, seated in a comfy booth, we had a basket of bread. I devoured the cinnamon bread with some maple butter — SO GOOD! Soft and chewy — carb heaven! The chipotle butter was interesting, in a yummy spicy way.
I decided on the Pulled Wild Boar Benny. The wild boar was soft and tender and had a lovely flavour like its cousin pulled pork. The pork was rich in flavour but with the perfectly poached egg and crispy, chewy english muffin, and hollandaise sauce it was a magical combination. To tie it all together, the roasted potatoes were cripsy on the outside and soft on the inside. A side of fruit was a good refreshing way to end the meal.
I tried a bite from each of my girlfriends’ meals… Blueberry waffles = delicious! French toast = delicious! Crab and shrimp benny = delicious!
Overall, wonderful service (waters always topped up) and laid-​back atmosphere that allowed us to catch up and enjoy our meal and not feel rushed. I will be back for *boar* ;) haha