East Side Craft House — Restaurant in Vancouver

Okay. Nothing special. Haven't been here in years, (decades). Last time I was in there, they were called the Elephant Walk Pub, that might give you a better time-line.

Was surprised to see how much smaller it was, now that they had given up, quite a large portion of their restaurant, to the liquor store next door. This makes the restaurant very tiny, and extremely crowded, especially on game nights.

I guess it's a great lil place, for those who live near by, to have their own lil neighbourhood pubish style restaurant, within walking distance.

The beer was good.

The food was okay.

The service was prompt and on top of things, which is rare these days.

But with COVID still all the rage, I just didn't feel safe enough, to be eating inside such an elbow to elbow establishment. I think the servers/hostesses, could've done a better job of organizing the seating. Where we were a group of 4, and there were plenty of single 2 chair tables available, and a few tables for 4 occupied by only 2 people. But that would've only made the place even more crowded.

So we opted to eat outside on their covered, semi-heated front patio. I think they need more heaters out there, and maybe some clear side panels to provide some windscreen, and help minimize the noise level coming from the heavy traffic on the main road out front. The only heat there is, is situated in the middle of the tent cover, with two tower heaters, but those of us who were seated with our backs to the street, or to the building, were quite cold, and felt no heat, nor warmth whatsoever.

So if I was to strictly give them a simple overall pass or fail, I'd have to give them a pass, because they're trying, their very best, you can see from the hard working effort that they put out. So bravo for them, for working as hard as they did.

I probably wouldn't be returning, simply because of pandemic reasons, I'm immune comprised, and therefore I prefer an establishment that has ample seating room, even if they are at max capacity, at least that way the tables aren't crowded in close together, and a place with better heat to patio coverage ratio, would be more ideal for me, and my health concerns.

But all in all, good for EAST SIDE CRAFT HOUSE, for working hard to earn their patrons trust, and loyalty. You can tell it's a place where many locals frequent, and where some people even know your name.

Cheers, ...

From a very Disappointed Customer ( Oct 12, 2018): I made a reservation for tonights Trivia night 3 days ago, I also called to confirm again of which I had a reservation for tonight. My friends and I show up just before the expected time we have been told to come at 630 to be seated. We are proceeded to be told my the serving staff that our reservation was cancelled and crossed out by the manager ( Brandon I think?). The place was packed with no movement in sight for the other tables. We are asked to wait of which, we wait for 30 mins (where the serving staff say, to see what they can do ¨if¨ any of the tables plan on leaving). We showed up even earlier then other larger tables who also had reservations but did not show up at 630 to guarantee there seats. 3 serving staff running around trying to ¨run a bar¨. No acknowledgement of our situation where someone cancelled our reservation ( even though it was not). 8 Friends standing there. I must express how disappointed I feel. I have been a loyal customer who has come to your pub several times. It seems obvious ( at-least my perception) that there is some sort of favouritism that is going on.

Im sure you are thinking that ¨your pub can easily fill these tables and who cares about this customer¨. In that case, I feel sorry for this thought process. As for treating me fairly and equally who even showed up early, this did not...

I popped in around 1:30 pm for a late lunch. Tracy was my server and explained the daily specials. After telling me about the beer special, a sour wheat beer, I asked for a sample and she happily obliged. I then asked her about the crunchy chicken club salad and she recommended having the chicken grilled with cajan spice if I didn't care for the deep fried version, this was the way the salad came. I took her up on her suggestion and had the chicken grilled.

I then asked for a side of some sort of bread and she recommended a toasted chibata but done garlic style. The salad, sour wheat beer and garlic bread all paired beautifully.

The salad arrived and it was exactly as described. It consisted of mixed greens, tomatoes, bacon, carrots, walnuts and some other ingredients I'm most likely forgetting. The beer was the perfect pairing for this salad.

The enitre bill totalled $23.70 which was very reasonable. I left an 18% tip because the service was exemplary and I felt like a guest in somebody's home. I was also presented with a lunch card that entitles me to a free lunch after nine punches. That shouldn't be to hard to fill considering I live near by and the food and service are top notch.

I look forward to my next visit to East Side...