20 Best Restaurants in British Columbia, Canada

This intimate yet bustling Italian villa–style room has long been a Victoria favorite, mainly because of its Mediterranean-influenced atmosphere and cuisine, which is prepared primarily with locally raised ingredients. The menu changes almost daily, but you might find local halibut paired with an anchovy bacon vinaigrette, or even an apricot dessert soup. Most dishes come in full or half sizes, which are ideal for smaller appetites or for those who want to sample the menu more widely. Virtually everything, including the bread, most pastas, charcuterie, and desserts, is made in-house. The 400-label wine list has a top selection of BC choices.

Book ahead to nab one of the 30 or so seats in this cozy bistro, voted one of Canada's 100 Best restaurants, where Chef Alden Ong and his team in the open kitchen craft wildly creative vegetable-forward menus. Here, fresh local ingredients, organic produce, and ethically sourced meats play a starring role. There is a set menu served family style for the table (C$80) and Happy Hour on Friday and Saturday. For cocktails and a lighter meal, head next door to the sister wine bar, Grapes and Soda. Reservations are essential.

With sleek white tables and sparkling chandeliers, Chef David Hawksworth's modish restaurant welcomes locals toasting new clients or celebrating a romantic anniversary. The food (and the crowd) is suave and swanky, too. You might start with hamachi tartare dressed with chili lime vinaigrette, or a simpler heirloom tomato salad with burrata and preserved cherries. Although the menu changes frequently, mains might include wild salmon with lobster agnolotti, or duck breast with turnip and loganberry jus. Everything is superbly presented, including, for dessert, the delicious mushroom ice-cream. Don't knock it until you've tried it.

Start with a picture-perfect backdrop overlooking the vineyards, add a contemporary market-driven menu, top it off with expert service, and the result is one of the Okanagan's finest dining experiences. With its high-beamed ceilings and wood floors, the interior is rustic, but the best seats are on the terrace looking out across the fields. The menu changes every year but you might find dishes like seared tuna with beets or duck breast with parsnip and sweet potato. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner daily from May through mid-October, but keeps more limited hours off-season.

Tucked away inside the Vancouver Art Gallery, the 1931 Gallery Bistro and rooftop (weather-dependent) terrace are quiet retreats from the Downtown bustle. Food is very west coast modern-fusion as in Szechuan prawns with papaya slaw, coconut and carrot soup, and flavorful flatbreads. The poke bowls are excellent as is the selection of eggs Benedict. 

Located adjacent to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, and within a few minutes walk of the city's Rogers Arena and BC Place, what better place for a pre-theater/pre-event meal? Choices are wide and varied, from social hour morsels (crispy cauliflower and parmesan garlic chips) to soups, salads, burgers, Asian-inspired bowls, pasta, and a decent kids' menu. Save room for house-made desserts. Bonus: there's underground parking.

Chef Andrea Carlson previously manned the stoves at locavore destinations Bishop's and Raincity Grill, and she's kept her focus on seasonal local ingredients at her own Michelin-starred storefront bistro. Though she changes the menu regularly, about half of her inventive sharing plates are vegetarian, like the squash cannelloni with chanterelle mushroom cream or the grain "risotto" with potato, miso, and quinoa. Set menu starts at C$89 per guest.

The name doesn't have to do with fairy tales. It's about the farm-to-table movement, which encapsulates the philosophy of this bustling Kitsilano bistro. The idea is creative comfort food. And while the menu looks straightforward, with dishes like wild British Columbian salmon and smoked duck breast, it's full of surprising twists. The Spaghetti and Meat Ball turns out to be tagliatelle topped with a single oversized duck meatball that spills out the sauce when you cut into it, while zucchini "tagliatelle" contains no pasta at all. The moral? Don't judge this always-entertaining book by its cover (and order dessert when the lemon meringue parfait is available).

Chicken is the specialty at this classy bistro where the juicy rotisserie-roasted birds are served with potato salad, coleslaw, and biscuits. Other creative comfort foods include Arctic char with an annatto seed crust and lamb shank with cauliflower ragu. And save room for dessert—they always have something worth ordering. The space is interesting, too. Half the restaurant is in a restored historic structure (with details like mosaic tiles and a tin ceiling), while the other side of the dining room is set in a new condo building.

On the site of Vancouver's first jail, this two-level restaurant with exposed brick walls and classic black-and-white floor tiles has a bold collection of cocktails and an intriguing modern menu. From the restaurant's name—French for "slaughterhouse" (the surrounding neighborhood was once a meatpacking district)—you'd expect a meat-focused menu. And although you'll find veal sweetbreads on toast, seafood shines as well in dishes like the grilled lobster tail or baked Pacific oysters with Burgundy truffle. Before plotting your escape into the night, dally over the mille-feuille or the chia spice-infused rice pudding.

A sunny patio, intimate balconies, and a wall of windows take in sweeping views across the Inner Harbour at this seaside spot in the Delta Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort. Casual mains and shared plates, such as local-brew battered halibut, maple bourbon pork ribs, and spiced-grilled Angus beef striploin, along with simple desserts with a twist (try vanilla cheesecake with pickled cherries) are served all day and into the evening. Creative cocktails, wines by the glass, beer tasters, sunset views, and a lively bar scene make this a great choice for a casual night out.

This charming little bistro in downtown Vernon serves up delicious local fare amid beautiful artwork, feel-good music, and warm colors. The pear and goat cheese salad is just divine.

Hillside Winery's straightforward lunch menu—salads, sandwiches, and pastas—is presented with style. It tends to get busy; so reservations are encouraged. The evening vibe is more intimate, making this a good choice for traditional favorites like wild Pacific halibut or clam risotto. 

A seat at this beautifully landscaped patio is one of the hottest tickets in town, so plan on an early lunch if you hope to get a table. Among the wine-friendly dishes, you might find smoked trout, or a duck burger topped with slaw. Or simply spend the afternoon sharing a charcuterie plate. The tables are outdoors, meaning the restaurant closes in inclement weather. Reservations are accepted for groups of six to 12 people.

If you think that Oak Bay is all British tweeds and shepherd's pies, pull up a stool at the long, polished-wood bar in this thoroughly modern storefront bistro. The imaginative small-plates menu emphasizes fresh, local ingredients and regional purveyors in a long menu of charcuterie selections as well as updated comfort foods like braised short rib and onion tortiere, Parmesan frites, mouthwatering soups such as Dungeness crab bisque, and salads. The beers are mostly locally crafted and the wines—from BC and farther afield—come in 1-, 5-, or 8-ounce pours, making it easy to pair different wines with the various tapas. You might top off your meal with a small something-sweet: macarons or a selection of bite-size chocolate treats.