Meat & Bread — Restaurant in Vancouver

My go-to lunch destination whenever I'm in or near Gastown. You'll have better luck finding seating if you arrive AFTER 1pm, once most of the local office crowd has taken their lunch break.

Meat and Bread's signature is the Porchetta, and I highly recommend it being the first sandwich you try if it's your first time visiting this establishment. The pork is incredibly flavourful and succulent, along with the crispy crackling makes for a wonderful texture contrast. And while I'm not usually a fan of condiments, it (unsurprisingly) pairs well with their homemade mustard, which you'll automatically get alongside your board.

There's a different feature sandwich, salad, and soup every day, and I've never been disappointed with my choices (if you ever want to know the special/soup/salad ahead of time, check out their website, where the menu is updated daily.). A sandwich on its own is decently filling if you're looking for a light to moderate lunch, but adding a salad or soup to that will definitely fill you up.

Local beer, wine, and Fentiman's and Philip's sodas are offered as beverages if you're wanting to quench your thirst with something other than water. They offer a singular "dessert", a chocolate bar made by Beta5, a local chocolatier.

Despite the lineups, staff are really efficient but still friendly, and you'll often find a greeter at the door to explain the menu to you and make suggestions if it's your first visit. Don't feel intimidated to strike up a conversation with them! I've always had a positive experience patronising this...

What can I say about Meat and Bread that can possibly do it justice? That they have the best sandwich I’ve ever eaten? That to live your life without eating at Meat and Bread would be a tragedy? Meat and Bread has a unique problem in that the Porchetta sandwich is so good, so perfect, and so delicious that when I try a new sandwich on their rotating menu (daily specials) i always wish I got the porchetta. NOT because the specials or other menu items are bad or any less delicious but the porchetta man, I can’t put into words how good it is. So when I decide to try something else on their menu I always end up regretting it a little and thinking “damn this is one of the best sandwiches in the world and one of the best I’ve ever eaten by far BUT... the porchetta IS the best sandwich in the world and it IS the best sandwich I’ve ever eaten.”

anyways, go eat at meat and bread. Go get the porchetta. Unless you can’t or won’t eat pork for religious reasons or something in which case I’d like to thank you, that just means more...

I’ve come here a few times and food has been good, but I do agree with a lot of the other reviewers here that they should be wearing gloves when preparing sandwiches. I always get the kale salad with pulled buffalo chicken. Usually, it’s pretty good but today the chicken was very much, not pulled apart and not very spicy at all and had some gristle parts in it which is a huge turn off.

Lastly, I didn’t realize that they don’t accept cash. I do not support businesses that don’t accept cash. I know I’ve paid cash in the past so I was surprised to see that they weren’t accepting it… however they will accept cash tips in their tip jar !! 🙄 I asked why they don’t take cash and of course it’s blamed on employee theft. Cash is a legal tender, and if you choose not to accept it, then have a much better reason than that. Consequences to your employees who steal is a better option than not accepting cash altogether.

Unfortunately, because of the no cash, I will...