Food & Drink in North Vancouver

Taso's Family Restaurant's cadre of chefs and servers has satiated palates with homestyle Italian and Greek cuisine since opening its doors in the late 1960s. Topped with 100 per cent mozzarella cheese and a house tomato sauce, more than 25 pizzas arrive sliced and adorned with delectable ingredients such as capicollo and pineapple. Leather booths flanked by framed paintings bracing the dining-room walls shelter families of patrons scarfing down piles of pasta, Greek dishes, and meats and seafood fresh from the charcoal broiler. The eatery also hosts private parties for up to 50 guests in its back room, where celebrants can feast from preselected menu items, gather round their favourite TV program, or toast at a fireplace that abets the environment by burning breadsticks instead of wood.

As part of a chain of restaurants that's been growing since 1952, Fatburger?s team of skilled grillsmiths tirelessly bustles about kitchens across the continent whipping up platefuls of fresh, cooked-to-order diner fare. Upon receiving each patron?s order, chefs spring into action meticulously preparing feasts from the finest of ingredients including AAA Alberta beef, hand-picked produce, and cholesterol-free oil. Frozen treat specialists plunge scoops into ice cream containers, extracting creamy orbs to be transformed into milkshakes so old fashioned that they only enter the straw after donning a set of pearls. Fostering an authentic atmosphere, each Fatburger location features retro decor and enforces a strict poodle-skirt-only dress code for all diners.

The chefs at Zen Japanese Restaurant serve up Japanese cuisine with West Coast flair. Sushi rolls unite traditional ingredients such as shrimp and tuna with fusion adornments such as honey-dijon sesame sauce and mango chutney. Cooked selections such as new york cut strip steak and tuna paté sizzle in tempura batter or atop a robata grill. One of the first participants in the Vancouver aquarium's Ocean Wise program, Zen also helps customers make ocean-friendly choices by marking sustainably fished seafood dishes with a special logo on its menus. Ocean views both inside the restaurant and on a heated outdoor patio also let them show their love of things marine by waving to wistful mermaids out at sea.

At Basil's Sub, chefs marinate delicately spiced meats over the course of three days and then slow-roast them to succulent perfection before nestling them into fresh-baked ciabatta bread. After marinating in red-wine sauce and roasting for 10 hours, tender lamb dons homemade tapenades such as creamy pesto or roasted eggplant. Beef basks in smoky steam before boarding a barbecue sandwich padded with crunchy coleslaw. Smother lingering hunger pangs with a bag of chips, or blow into a bottle of pop to quench thirst or simulate a steam engine's mating call. Basil's sandwich makers cater large parties as well, packing sandwiches, salads, and soups packed with flavourful sustenance.

At Gen Sushi, chefs roll more than 100 sushi options that populate a menu marked by authentic Japanese reverence to simple ingredients. The interior is a lesson in subtle elegance, with the restaurant's friendly staff seating guests at mahogany tables in a dining room with large, black-panelled front windows and walls pocked with traditional Japanese artwork. With a boatload of sushi offerings, rice bowls, and noodles, the eatery also serves convenient lunch and dinner boxes as well as mammoth party trays ideal for corporate eating contests.

If you stretched a hand to the exposed wood beams that support Narrows Pub’s sloped ceiling, you’d probably feel them vibrate. Twelve high-definition flat-screen TVs and two projection screens broadcast big games. The pub doesn’t allow the flashy, frenetic atmosphere to eclipse the cuisine, though; chefs hand-shape beef patties and load pizzas with upscale flourishes such as goat cheese and chorizo. During weekend brunch, diners savour omelettes as well as the sunlight that streams through Narrows Pub’s walls of windows.