Restaurants in Vancouver

Pow Pow Wings, a casual sports bar written up in The Columbian and Clark College's The Independent, serves up 13 styles of wings and 10 sauces. A raspberry-chipotle sauce was recommended by The Columbian, whereas the ghost pepper-infused Super Pow was reported to create "an inferno on the palate" by The Independent. Pow Pow Wings also grills burgers that can be doused in any wing sauce or topped with a stack of fried-mozzarella sticks. A full bar supplies beer, soft drinks, and other libations, and pinball machines and foosball distracts patrons from shouting curses in Esperanto at the sportsmen on TV.

Roots owner and chef Brad Root uses seasonal, natural ingredients to prepare tongue-tapping dishes in an upscale dining environment. Split into three courses, the dinner menu harnesses locally harvested farm products to create deceptively simple dishes. Dive into the first course with Dungeness crab and avocado ($11) topped with vermouth vinaigrette, and then spear a baby-spinach salad with egg, bacon, and cider vinaigrette ($6.95). Main courses inducing mouth-clapping include chicken breast ($16.95) with Yukon Gold potato gnocchi and artichokes, a top-sirloin burger ($11.95) with grilled onions and hand-cut fries, and halibut fish and chips ($14.95) with coleslaw. Roots' lunch menu offers tinier tastes of many of the dinner menu's selections, with crispy fried oysters ($10.95) and a local baby-shrimp salad ($11) summoning sustenance from the world-weary waters of the Pacific. At lunch or at dinner, guests can satisfy grape-teeth with a choice from Roots' impressive list of local and California wines, or sip cocktails from the full bar.

Chef Peter Gallin had just constructed a custom grill, and was stoking its first fire with applewood harvested from a nearby orchard, when the idea struck him—the name for his Northwest-centric restaurant: Applewood. Though Chef Gallin's restaurant foregrounds its Northwest heritage, it also incorporates recipes gleaned from a childhood spent living in the Asian Pacific Rim with his anthropologist and sociologist parents, as well as French cuisine, and influences from years spent in New Mexico. He incorporates these varied culinary styles while avoiding traditional dishes, instead mingling flavors such as chipotle, lime, ginger, and orange into new incarnations.

Though he favors elegant food presentation when furnishing platters of roasted duck and northwest fish, Gallin uses only regular, relatable ingredients, which make his dishes approachable for all palates and untraceable by detectives. He brews all of the restaurant's soups in-house, designing up to six unique soups each week. West Coast wines, microbrews, and desserts made in-house complement his international appetizers and main courses. The focus on simplicity extends to the restaurant's decor: framed photographs hang above potted plants on rustic side tables, and long communal tables stand next to floor-to-ceiling windows looking out onto deep pine forest. Behind a hardwood bar, flanked by exposed brick walls, hangs the giant, hammered steel apple that serves as the restaurant's emblem.

The red teppanyaki tables inside Osaka House host pyrotechnic performances from chefs who quickly slice, toss, and set aflame pieces of meat or veggies. Hibachi entrees run the gamut from chicken and filet mignon to swordfish and lobster, and each dish is accompanied by a shrimp appetizer, soup, salad, vegetables, and seasoned rice. Diners can dig into such favorites as egg rolls and California rolls, or simply bowl them across tables into pyramids made of straws.

Thoreau might have lasted longer than two years in the woods if he’d been within walking distance of Lapellah, a restaurant that draws strongly on the deep-woods vibe of the Pacific Northwest, with dark wood furnishings, comfy booths, warm brick walls, and plenty of roaring fire—Lapellah features a wood-oven stove and a flaming grill. The elemental atmosphere of wood and flames is reflected in the name: Lapellah comes from the trading language used by natives of the region and means “roast.” And like any good citizen of the woods, Lapellah endeavors to minimize its footprints in the soil. The restaurant works with area farmers to obtain sustainable, local ingredients and recycles or composts 80% of its waste. This locally owned, do-gooder restaurant also gives back to the community, donating turkey dinners over the holidays.

Executive chef Faith Fiske tops The Atrium Lounge's more than 10 specialty pizzas with both ingredients from classic pepperoni to more unorthodox sunflower seeds. A create-your-own option, nicknamed The Einstein, lets guests craft their own pie from the same 25 sauces, cheeses, meats, and veggies Albert used to write out the theory of relativity on the back of a calzone. Barkeeps complement each slice by mixing signature cocktails from liquors such as Stoli Vanil, blue curacao, and Bombay Sapphire gin. Until 2 a.m. every Monday–Saturday, the lounge keeps the party going with open mic nights, karaoke, live music, and DJs spinning tunes.