Arbutus Cafe — Restaurant in Duncan

At age 74 I had almost given up on finding the perfect hamburger. Look no further than the Arbutus Cafe where my wife, adult daughter and I enjoyed a delicious lunch: friendly staff, excellent service, relaxed and congenial atmosphere, and excellent food and coffee. The cafe is in the heart of downtown Duncan so plenty of shopping nearby and less than five minutes off the Trans Canada Highway. Now back to the hamburger: I have eaten countless hamburgers since I was a young child and can confidently say that the Arbutus Cafe has this to an art and to a precise science - it gets no better than this. Well worth the short detour into town.We shall now make the Arbutus a regular stop during our trips Up Island. Highly...

Just today I got the chance to try out Arbutus Cafe here in Duncan; an amazing local diner with great prices, top-quality food and an amazing set of friendly staff ready to serve you with a smile on their face!

The owner, Darlene (or Dar) was the sweetest person there. During the crazy heat wave of 35°+ she was quick to make sure our water cups were never empty and always had a cool story to share.

This is not paid advertising; I would genuinely recommend that anyone in the cowichan valley looking for a place to eat out, this is the place to go! Great service, amazing staff, and the best part is that you get to support amazing local businesses like Dar's Arbutus...

So we got there and it wasn't too busy. By the time we were ordering it was very busy. The waitress was nice. I had my kids with me. Ordered meals for all of us. They ended up charging adult meals for the kids (9 and 5). I admit i'd thought it was a fair portion for a kid but it would have been tiny for an adult, particularly for the price. I voiced my frustration at the till and was met with surprise in a rebuttal. They frustrated me so i just paid and left. It occurred to me that simular inattention was why i stopped going years ago. Pity because the food was nice (and the reason it wasn't 1 star...