Browns Socialhouse

The dynamite roll is to die for. The drinks are great, the atmosphere is alittle busy for me but I love the food to much to skip out on this place. The parking is alittle difficult around these parts so if you can try and walk or get a cab. The Thai chicken soup is great, the biltmore pizza is one of my favs and is a very fair price. You honestly can’t go wrong with browns.

The food is not bad. Burgers, sushi and salads are solid.
Bar service is horrible. Drinks are mixed using some inner impulse of the bartender — with little connection to standard mixes. Would make a great game tho «Guess what this is supposed to be?» I give up. Awful drinks. Wine list is small and lousy.
Table Service is uniformly excellent.

I’ve been here several times with my family and would definitely recommend the pizzas there. It’s an especially good deal if you go on Sundays and Mondays because the pizzas only cost $ 10. The pizzas are always cooked with the crust just perfect — not doughy and not too crispy. Each time I’ve been, the staff have been very kind.

Love the food — good quality, plenty of choice for everyone, healthy options too!
Staff are great, have been here so many times and never been disappointed!

Convenience at slightly annoying prices is what you balance in dining here I think.
Can’t argue with their drink deals and I’m a big fan of their mimosas, handy patio in busy area, there’s always a nice buzz (albeit noisy during games inside, understandably) and while I often find it takes a minute or two to get served initially, service is consistent and unproblematic.
Downside would probably be food prices — and as a Caesar lover I have to say they’re one if my least favorite in the city, just never as enjoyable so stick to a Bellini for the cure.
Good brunch, but eat elsewhere for other meals!

Browns Social House: restaurant * bar * socialize. Or, as I like to call them: noun, noun, verb.
After making fun of their ridiculous tag line for years, I finally came in here. It’s pretty much what you expect: a generic, soulless bar/​restaurant chain filled with TV’s showing sports. There are chains like this everywhere in North America and they seem to be inexplicably popular. While I generally try to avoid places like this, I will say that, for what it is, Brown’s does a good job. The food was actually pretty decent, service was quick and friendly, the atmosphere is generic and corporate, but tolerable. They have various mediocre alcoholic beverages and plenty of TVs to distract you from the people you’re with.
Basically, if you’re into this type of place, you’ll probably love it. If you hate this type of place, it’s just tolerable enough that you don’t need to decline the invitation if some friends or coworkers decide to meet up here for some reason. And, frankly, the bars in general in Kits are so depressingly generic that this may be your best bet!

Browns used to be our go-​to Sunday/​Monday night spot for pizza and bellinis. Unfortunately that’s no longer the case.
Parking is typically difficult in this neck of the woods. On either side of west fourth you’ll find pay parking, and I wouldn’t recommend parking across the street in the Safeway lot just in case you get towed. If you venture a few blocks away on either side you should be able to find a two hour spot in the residential area.
Service at this particular Browns is hit or miss, most recently more misses. On our most recent visit a few nights ago, we waited almost fifteen minutes for someone to come over and serve us, and only after I had made eye contact — stink eye to be precise. This in a restaurant that was not even half full. The food came quickly after ordering, but once again when we made it plainly obvious we wanted to pay and leave the waitress was nowhere to be found.
The menu has just undergone a redesign, but all the same items are still there. While the bellinis used to be $ 4 they are now $ 6. Pizzas are $ 10 on Sundays/​Mondays, up from $ 9, and are usually $ 13-​$ 16 full price. I would not pay full price for these — for that price you’d be better off going to a proper pizza place. We are fond of the biltmore pizza with chicken in place of the shrimp. It has pesto and a bit of spice to it, and is a decent size. Two of these pizzas is more than enough for a meal for two and leftovers.
Salads and burgers for $ 16 each? Laughable. As others have said, their value proposition at this stage has gone out the window. I still like their food, but am not often willing to pay the increased prices. In my books Browns will stay a once-​in-​awhile treat.

Ordered a double gin and tonic, either the tonic was out on the beverage gun, or he accidentally used club soda. Our waitress kindly fixed it for us, however the replacements tasted only of tonic water, ordered a shot of gin to see what the Well Gin was, and it turned out to be watered down beefeater. What a scam!
Restaurants (bars in particular) make most of their money off booze, in this case its booze and water.

I’m a big fan of their social slushies. Yum Yum. Their food is better than most pub fare and I like bellinis but find them too sweet. So the social soda is awwweeesoooomme. So good, it’s soda, vodka, and a bit of their slushy drink. Holy toledo. Best drink guys.

I am a foodie. I don’t just like food, but love the experience of dining out. When this place opened in my neighborhood I was ambivalent about it as it was replacing a local Greek restaurant that was iconic and had been there as long as I could remember. I decided to ignore the chain of restaurants that brown symbolizes… I was wrong to do so! One of my loyal employees started to eat every day at Browns and I was quietly curious. As often happens I grew food bored of my regular eateries on west 4^th– hard to do since there are so many great choices. Circumstances placed me in the position of taking the employee for his performance review and I needed a fast lunch. David suggested Browns and I thought how bad could it be?
I was immediately impressed with the modern and welcoming ambience the small yet inviting pub style interior had. The attractive service staff, both male and female are dressed appropriately and the room has a traditional bar seating, table, and BOOTH .This is a huge deal for me as I want to be in a quiet booth and comfortable seating. Service is attentive and friendly, the drink and food came in a timely manner. I enjoyed the general Tao’s chicken starter with just enough spice, yet not over powering. When pub food is on the menu I always try the healthiest option and after perusing the menu settled on the cowgirl salad. AWESOME combination of veg, cheese, nuts, dates and flavorful dressing– not too overwhelming. I left Browns with a content stomach and a new favorite for my lunch meetings to take my employees.

I’ve lived just around the corner from this place and have been going there for years. It has the hues and moods of a Cactus Club’s circa 2002 ish. Their music play list is on a loop and broadcast from some corporate central mainframe where each song is carefully picked by pencil pushing higher-​ups (No joke) Yup, the same songs are played night in and night out and the staff aren ‘t allowed to change it. Their drink specials are a bright side ($ 4) along with the fantastic wait and bar staff who never fail to treat customers like gold. Their food is ok. Good breakies, satisfying burgers, and the General Tao’s Chicken with almond rice is my favourite. For those who can experience browns as something new it will definitely satisfy most. Its mastery of formulaic aesthetics and atmosphere will blend you in effortlessly. But after a while the seams start to show.

I have a soft spot for Browns on West 4^th and Vine as it was the very first bar I went to when I arrived in Vancouver. It was a block from my then apartment.
I’ve always found a beer at the u-​shape bar a treat. The bar staff have always been friendly with good chat.
For beer lovers (like me) Browns has been left behind by the craft beer explosion. Expect no hand crafted casks. It’s pretty standard stuff, with a $ 4 sleeve of Granville Island lager (or social lager as they say here) available everyday.
But because of its location it has a fun and friendly neighbourhood environment. Especially around that after work time.
It’s probably a 4 star for my nostalgia and a 3 star for the average Vancouverite.

My friend and I both ordered the 5oz steak filet and it was absolutely awful. I asked for medium, my friend for medium rare and both steaks came out burnt and overdone!!! The taste was really bad, bland with a bit of a bitter taste because it was burnt outside. The server was very nice though n ambience is alright. Food gets 1star though, really poor quality!

Vegans beware. The place may seem chill to watch a sports game but everything is cooked in butter so the only options we have are the salads, you can sub Tofu for the chicken. They are pretty good but not worth the $ 15+ bucks it costs. If your friends are forcing you to go here, there’s something to get you by but definitely a miss for the friendly vegan.

Great food, great value on drinks. Food is slightly overpriced for quantities served. Service staff were very friendly and the patio held my party of ten comfortably. Would return for sure!

Browns has such a great, diverse menu — impressed! There were lots of options for me which I struggle to come across at other restaurants. They’ve got great special for Sundays & Mondays.
Biltmore pizza — pesto, feta, prawns, sundried tomatoes — brillant and delicious! Great flavours throughout, a little kick of garlic… awesome!
Wings & Ribs — good wings, could’ve been saucier. Boyfriend wanted the ribs. They were a bit boney, not a lot of meat and meat was overcooked. Still very tasty though.
Prawn tacos — another hit! So tasty and packed. Nice salsa and guac.
Service was also excellent. We ordered all this food plus one drink each and the bill was $ 55. Most awesome — we will return :)

Ugh, every bit the soul-​less, generic and TV-​obsessed sports bar I expected it to be. Right down to the dreadful selection of beers. Ended up choosing a whisky-​sour and a manhattan — both of which were as bland as their surroundings! (Hint: using limes for the whiskey-​sour is NOT how it’s done!)
Kits is surprisingly lacking in the funkier bars that make Main Street so fabulous. We tried Browns in hope it ‘might’ pleasantly surprise… but it didn’t.

For drinks — 4 stars. They have great $ 4 specials and the ambience is really nice. The one drawback is the limited selection of beers.
For food — 2 stars. It is faaar too pricy for food that is mediocre at best.
Average — 3 stars. Check it out for the drink specials, but don’t come on an empty stomach.

average

One of the better options among the various «upscale casual» chains. Good salads and soups, and a shockingly good veggie burger (though it comes on an irresistibly squishy tasty white bun, so if – like me– you try to resist the siren song of white flour, ask for your burger bun-​less).
The service is consistently polite, music selection is actually not bad, and during the day (if I stop in for lunch) it’s not usually that hectic and you can sit and work while you eat. All in all, a very useful spot.