PIER 7 Restaurant + Bar — Restaurant in North Vancouver

Pier 7 use to be a go-to spot for happy hour and waterfront views. Now, it's coasting on scenery alone—and even that no longer justifies a visit. The menu is dull and uninspired, offering nothing memorable. But the real issue is poor hospitality and nonexistent service. The decline in overall quality service has been a persistent issue over the years, as reflected in Google reviews, and requires management's attention.

On my last visit, I asked to sit on the rooftop patio for drinks. The hostess, noticeably disengaged, said it was reserved for a private event. I asked for a table downstairs—also “reserved.” The place was empty, with just a handful of people seated in the lounge and it was only 3pm on a Friday. I was told the bar was the only option available. No welcome, no eye contact—just a menu flippantly tossed by the front desk hostess onto the bar as she walked off without a word. It was a totally baffling and negative interaction, especially given that her role is suppose to make guests feel welcome. I shouldn't have to point out the importance of guest etiquette at a restaurant—it's standard practice and expected at establishments to be hospitable.

Next time I will know better to trust my instincts and leave. The atmosphere was cold and uninviting from the very start. There was no bartender in sight, no servers, and no acknowledgment from any staff member. After sitting there for 15 minutes, I walked out. An older couple who arrived after me were equally put off by the hostess and her dismissive attitude, so they turned around and left right away.

Management should clearly display signage at the entrance when hosting private events to avoid wasting guests' time and energy. More importantly, staff should be trained to treat customers with professionalism and courtesy at all times, especially when they first enter the place. In an extremely competitive industry, indifference at the door is a huge red flag—it tells you everything you need to know about the business and to leave. At minimum, at least have your employees act like they want customers there. If a restaurant starts losing patrons, leading to declining revenues and eventual closures, staff should consider how this could affect their livelihoods—maybe their apathetic attitude toward guests will change once it starts hitting their pocketbooks.

I ended up at Seaside Provisions, where both the hostess and manager greeted me warmly. The service and food were excellent—a stark contrast. Places in the lower Lonsdale area like Catch 122, Fishworks, Nook, and Sempre Uno consistently offer far better dining experiences. The Shipyards District and Lonsdale Quay are still worth a visit—but Pier 7, would definitely not get my recommendation. It simply doesn’t deserve your time or money.

The North Shore neighbourhood has too many other great restaurant choices you can enjoy. The waterfront is a great place to walk around and take in the scenic view of...

Definitely recommend this restaurant especially for the seafood, the ocean view and ambiance but not for service and quality of the food. Definitely NOT for Valentine's Day dinner and not gay friendly. There was an image of a naked woman above each of the urinals, not very classy or respectful but fit for a cheap bar. The wall paper was also peeling off above the urinal. A Covid sign would have more utility. This location is clean and OK for drinks. There are bars, dinning on both levels and the view of Vancouver was amazing. There were a few challenges during this visit and our dinner did not go as smoothly as we hoped although we spent about $130 and did not order the cheaper meals. Last night was packed so make reservations the night before. Wait time was about 45mins to get a table for two as we did not make reservations. The patio on the ground level was cold and people dined with their winter jackets on. This might be good for people who were concerned about air circulation during the pandemic but this is not for everyone. Open spaces in the clear plastic tarp allowed cold sea breeze to enter at 5 degrees Celsius. An ideal patio for Summer. The manager worked his magic and relocated us to the upper level patio where it was comfortable due to overhead heating lamps. My expectations were not met comparing my initial impression, the price on the menu to the service and quality I paid for. Not good value for money on this category. It felt like Bait and Switch. You might want to ask for indoor dinning table with soft seats not basic walmart patio chairs.The surf and turf was ok. Good portion size.The lime margarita on the rocks was good. The quality of the cooking and service could really use some training. Our waiter said if you want soft moist and pink say medium rear because the medium I received was on the medium well side - mostly gray, dry inside and very little pink in the middle for me. No gravy or reduction sauce. I guess the customer is not right at this location. It was replaced with a medium rear succullent steak but it came at the end of the meal when I was almost ready to pay the bill. Usually steak is eaten with something other than a watered down glass of coca cola that took 15mins. Alcohol refills are faster here. I had 4 leaves of arugula. Barely anything to eat it with because I ate the lobster, mashed potatoes and asparagus while waiting an Hour for the remake on the steak. Instead of staying 1 hour, my visit was extended over 2 hours. Lobster was bit on the tough side so I order extra butter. This was not the experience I hoped for. Maybe because of my race or gender or untrained staff when it comes to customer service. The kitchen staff must be able to work in a fast paced environment, think customer first and be more proactive. See...

Oceanfront dining? Or oceanfront lacking?

This restaurant popped up on my screen quite often for now especially when I search restaurants in North Vancouver. And the name reminded me of Pier 39 when I was down in San Francisco, nice place back then.

This place is located along the Lonsdale Quay along with other restaurants and of course the market itself, paid parking is available everywhere. The restaurant itself has 2 levels and a sectioned off patio, good to have choices.

Inside is quite clean and spacious which makes dining comfortable. It wasn’t busy when I visited during the late lunch hours, just me and another table of aunties inside and a couple of tables of families out in the patio.

Here were the food I ordered;

Seafood chowder. It could easily mistaken for just a potato chowder, lack of seafood or ingredients and it was lukewarm?? Mussels with white wine and butter. A couple of them were okay but most of them were the size of dried up raisins. Honestly, not just this place but all restaurants should really stop serving them shivered up mussels, they belong in an old picture frame not on the dinner table. Proper mussels are plump and juicy!!! Pier 7 Signature tower. When this arrived at the table, it confused me for a second cause I didn’t know if I ordered a seafood tower or a grapes platter. It came with a poached chick lobster in halves, a small 1.5lb dungeoness crab more shells then meat, fresh oysters, chilled clams and mussels, candied salmon bites, etc and of course a lot of grapes. This seafood tower was as exciting as a deflated rubber ducky floating around the quay. With the abundance of grapes, now if someone were hand feeding them to me, it would’ve been a whole different story, would definitely score full points. Not really impressive for $150.

Overall, the atmosphere was quite casual and comfortable. Perhaps a little too comfortable as during most of the time, it was hard to wave down our server or anyone in general.

The food also took quite a long time to come out when it wasn’t even busy; between soup and mussels 20min wait, between mussels and seafood tower 45mins wait.

Nevertheless, given where this place is located, the interior layout and atmosphere, it does have a lot of promising potential if certain things are fine tuned and bit.

Unfortunately a 1 star is fair for this experience when...