Jackson's Resto Butcher — Restaurant in Vancouver

My husband and I were in search of a brined corned beef brisket for our annual family St. Patrick’s Day dinner. We tried to find one at every grocery store and butcher shop on the Vancouver north shore and even a few old favourite butchers in the city with no luck at all. We finally found one in Bellingham of all places and seriously considered driving to the currently forbidden USA to get one! Last minute option before leaving our home on Bowen Island for our 3rd day of attempts, I googled ‘best corned beef brisket’ and Jackson’s Meats & Deli came up. After a quick call we found one that was very nicely set aside for us to pick up. Made the trip over, parked behind the shop in the lane (which is a blessing!) and walked into the most beautiful display of great choices in the meat and deli counter that I’ve seen in years. The young man who served us was very knowledgeable, took the time to hear our woes and told us a bit about the Jackson family history and the neighbourhood. He even told us about a local grocer he used to work for that stocks corned beef daily. But he said, “it won’t be as good this one”! So, we purchased our beautiful 5 1/2 lb. brisket along with a few other things, and decided the restaurant side of the shop looked so charming we stayed for a great lunch served by a darling waitress. On our way out the door, I just had to have a little more from this great shop and bought some delicious deli sliced ham. I got the feeling that the butcher had been given hell (from the nice woman who appeared to be the manager) for telling us about the local competitor. That struck me as an absolute shame because we thought it was so great that he had given us a little awareness of the area, while emphasizing the special history and quality of Jackson meats. We took our brisket beauty home, dropped in on a dear friend here on Bowen to tell our tale, only to find out that they knew Jackson’s well for its quality and reputation and grew up on wonderful meals from purchases made there daily when they were kids…….. and they still go there as often as possible. Our family St. Patty’s Corned Beef Dinner was the best we’ve had in years. Thank you. We will be back and I hope that great young man will be there to serve us in the butcher shop. We did check out the competitor and could see that he was absolutely right that it wouldn’t be better than what he sold us!! Thank you. We shall return. Karin...

Such a horrible experience! I've never seen such an attitude at any café or bar in town. Not even the bare minimum of customer service! When I stepped in, I was greeted by a lady at the front door who was very nice and polite. However, the staff who came afterward to serve us made us very disappointed. I was asked to sit on stools, and I said that they were uncomfortable and that we preferred to sit elsewhere. There was a table for two, and we were three, but the group sitting next to us was at a five-person table despite being only four. I thought it would be normal to borrow a chair from them, and we could politely ask if they needed it or not. However, when I asked one of the male waiters about it, he gave me a very strange and cold look and said we couldn't, because the table was "for five" and someone might join them; he said it very firmly. Was it really so hard to just ask them if they were expecting someone else? Instead, he gave me a very indifferent and dismissive attitude. The whole time we were there, no one joined that group and the chair remained unused. They eventually changed our seats, but it didn’t make up for the unwelcoming vibe at the beginning. Second, I ordered a Philly cheesesteak and asked for it without onions. After a few minutes, the gentleman returned and said they couldn’t make it without onions! And I had to cancel my order. If you can’t accommodate such a simple request during food preparation, maybe it’s time to rethink...

Came here because I came here last year in the summer and enjoyed the poutine & vibes a lot. Remembered the servers being really attentive and nice, and the food really decent as well as good portions for not too expensive from my photos. Came today and the server kind of just looked at us and told us to sit anywhere. She was nice but looked like she really didn’t want to bother serving us or help us. When I asked her for no bacon on my poutine, she came back and told us that bacon was incorporated into the gravy so that couldn’t be changed and I was fine with that. Except when I got my poutine, bacon bits were sprinkled on top —clearly not in the gravy. I sent it back and they remade it for me which was nice, but the poutine itself was just not great. Fries were okay but the gravy was very very grainy. Not as good as New York fries poutine.

My partner got the schnitzel burger/sandwich and he said it wasn’t as good as Wendy’s burgers even. The burger was very dry and the schnitzel was not a proper schnitzel at all —just a fried piece of chicken breast. Tasted like a breaded plain dry grilled chicken breast. Overall the place is okay, but there’s just so many better...