O’Doul’s Restaurant & Bar

I just noticed that O’Doul’s is approaching its final days before it closes and reopens as something new in June, but hey –why not give it some love before the fat lady sings?
Staying at the attached Listel Hotel and still on an east coast time zone that had me waking up obnoxiously early, I passed a couple mornings having a lovely, relaxed breakfast down at O’Doul’s before getting the day started. While I was kind of expecting more of a pub from what I could see from the outside, it’s definitely an upper-​scale restaurant once you get inside. Linen napkins, fresh-​squeezed orange juice in wine glasses… you get the picture.
The breakfast and weekend brunch menus are both pretty stellar with all your comfort food favourites elevated with fancypants touches. The coffee is served in infuriatingly small cups for those of us who really need to suck it back in the mornings but the orange juice is delicious. Just a heads up though, while it’s offered casually, that ‘ish is expensive — expect upwards of $ 4 per glass on your bill.
On day one, I had the Florentine Eggs Benny with perfectly poached eggs albeit a bit of a flavourless Hollandaise sauce and big chunks of potatoes that didn’t really suit my inappropriate love for crispy hashbrowns. On day two, I just wanted something light and really enjoyed the muesli served up with delicious chopped fruit and a mixture of light cream, yogurt and honey. Super tasty and even only eating half of it filled me up for most of the day.
The service was a miss with the hostess who was generally confused and distant both times I saw her but a total hit with the server I ended up having both days. I don’t know his name but surely anyone who’s been in more than once will know exactly who I mean. By my second visit, he greeted me by name, knew that I wanted coffee, and even asked if my friends would be joining me again after being in with two others the day before. He alone deserves a full five-​stars.

Now that’s a great Benny!
After picking friends up from the airport, we were more than happy to divulge in a late breakfast, and because they were staying close by; this was the restaurant of choice. With my search of a great eggs benny in the Lower Mainland, I believe I have found one that could be in the top ten. Rich, and not over the top Hollandaise sauce, mad fresh and far from anything packaged, eggs cooked perfectly, and presentation fantastic. Not much else needs to be said about the this meal. Service was great, and my friends were very happy with their omelets. Needless to say; this would be a place I would bring out of town guests (which is great since it’s connected to a hotel), and visit with the boyfriend for that perfect weekend breakfast date.

O’Doul’s Restaurant & Bar is actually one of the better places in Vancouver to enjoy some great food and wine. while hearing some of the better Jazz offerings in town.
Executive Chef Chris Whittaker’s menu is West Coast eclectic with some of the best seafood in town. The jazz is a mixture of local and national jazz artists. While they do not get the same caliber of names as say. .. Dimitrious’ Jazz Alley in Seattle, they do have great jazz and you will always enjoy your stay. It is hard to compare O’Doul’s with anyone and their own website says it all, «big city sophistication that copies no one.»

Went there for Dine Out Vancouver 2012. Rangeland Elk Carpaccio was a unique dish that you don’t often see on a DOV menu. It’s like beef carpaccio, very thinly sliced, but the meat was leaner and surprisingly, not very gamey. Pumpkin Gnocchi was also very good. The gnocchi was pan-​seared so it’s crispy on the outside, but nice and fluffy inside. They added just enough cinnamon to the dough so you can taste the spice but without making the dish taste like a dessert.
Pacific Provider Pink Salmon was definitely up to our standard for good salmon. The salmon skin was super crispy, and the meat was still slightly pink so it was moist. The Curry-​spiced Certified Angus Flank Steak was a very enjoyable dish. I like that the rub was a bit spicy, and the meat was quite flavourful. The steak was cooked to medium, so it wasn’t dry.
The two desserts were also good, surprisingly not very sweet. Perhaps its pastry department is light-​handed with sugar
Unlike the typical impression I have about restaurants during Dine Out, O’Doul’s service was quite good. Server was friendly and we didn’t feel like we were stereotyped as those «cheap people who would only come here for Dine Out». We had to observe the 1.5hr dining rule but we didn’t feel rushed. The service was efficient, food was served quickly but at a good pace.
Of all the Dine Out dinners I had this year, this was hands down the best experience. I didn’t have much to complain about, and I felt that it was a very good value for $ 28 per person. I would recommend others to give its regular menu a try!
Pictures and more details here:

This review applies to the bar section of this bar. They have jazz playing every night so it was good place to unwind after a long day of work. Some acts are great and you can end up enjoying yourself a lot depending on who is playing. Drinks are in line with other spots. The crowd is older albeit laid back. I enjoyed myself here several times. I did try the appetizers in the bar area and they were forgettable.

The boy and I recently made a weekend trek up to the Great White North and this was one of my «have to go» spots. I remember the breakfast here being the best EVER, specifically the Eggs Benedict. So I was pretty disappointed when my eggs benedict that I had been dreaming of for years arrived… cold. Like, super cold. I should have sucked it up and sent it back, but I don’t do that. So why after damn cold eggs does this place still get 4 stars?
For starters, I had a hamburger here that was total perfection 2 days before the «egg incident» The relish and bacon on this burger was amazing.
Secondly, the blueberry pancakes that my man ordered were out of this world. Tons of plump blueberries exploding everywhere!

We had the two spot prawn appetizers, one hot, one cold. Beautifully prepared, tasty, and lovely to look at.
The half romaine salad, roasted and dressed, was a wonderful experience. And the big, fat, silver anchovy draped over the green gave us a giggle, helped along by the half-​litre of wine. (love the size option)
The real treat was the side of sauteed mushrooms; a nice mix, tender, tasty, and worth repeating.
Our waiter was attentive and professional. This restaurant has served up some memorable meals over the years, and we were so looking forward to an evening with wine and chat.
Then why the three stars? The hostess had a not very pleasant attitude — we arrived early (5:30) on a Friday night, so we estimated they could turn over our table two more times after we finished. The place was empty when we arrived — but she made no eye contact with us, and I had to get assertive to be seated.
This place fills up around 8pm — my companion is an international travel professional, and we’ve both done the long stay hotel gig depending on our contracts — we know an early seating is a bonus to the establishment.
That said, the food was really wonderful, I highly recommend O’Doul’s for tasty, well-​prepared meals. And the cheesecake was exceptional, with shaved fresh rhubarb and coulis pushing it beyond ordinary.
A knowledgeable wine list, and some good BC wines will delight most folks.
Nice atmosphere, white tablecloths, arty chargers and some good art pieces throughout. Live music starts at 9pm, most evenings.

Good wholesome food, better than the cactus club/​milestones/​earls alternative, nice quiet atmosphere and the food was good. as a destination food place… don’t think so, but if you are i n the hood, it should not do you wrong, and if you like to stray off the ordinary they have a REAL chef in the back who will create you something special … you just have to be creative enough to explain it.
Good place to eat if you are in the 1300 block Robson (specially since the Fogg closed FYI it looks like the Fogg is going to become ANOTHER Greek restaurant in the west end oiy

Hmmm, I’m torn. I’ve been here a good 6+ times and had consistent good service (and complimentary scones) … of course, that all ended today. I’ve only been there for weekend breakfast/​brunch which is a solid 3 rating and occasional 4.
Usually, service is prompt and food comes out quickly — food is better than a greasy spoon but not on par with a high-​end offering like Café Medina.
Today, it wasn’t that busy and it took forever to place our order and even longer to receive the food. Tables who came in 10 minutes after us were being waited on before us. One of those days. Maybe it was just our server.
My favourite thing about coming to O’Douls are the delicious, warm scones. Every time I’ve been there previously, we’ve been given complimentary scones when we were seated — a nice treat that eases me into a leisurely Sunday breakfast. To be honest, it’s one of the main reasons I like to go there versus other places.
Today, no scones. But to add insult to injury, tables next to us (who arrived 5 – 10 minutes after us) started receiving scones … so we inquired thinking we had just been overlooked. Apparently, we arrived before the official ‘brunch’ period when scones are given to tables … we were technically in the ‘breakfast’ period where no scones are given out.
WTF? I ordered the same food that on the brunch menu … so it didn’t make any sense to me. AND, it annoyed me that we weren’t informed that there was a slightly different menu when we arrived since we were so close to the turnover time … they made us wait so long to order that we were well within the BRUNCH period.
Whatever. I visited their website and don’t see times mentioned for which time of day is breakfast vs. brunch — it just says that brunch is served on the weekend.
I guess we were a little too eager to visit today — won’t make this mistake again, O’Douls.

O’Doul’s seems forever.
Went there when it was known for burgers and paper mache animals and throughout it’s many make overs. When studying French culinary technique my practicum was with O’Doul’s. It’s also where we celebrated my first client’s home purchase.
Not top of the world but it is a good solid place to dine — my favourite meal is breakfast but also enjoy lunch at O’Doul’s.

Ate the beef tenderloin here and was very happy with the cut and presentation. Seafood chowder is really good too !!!
Nice place to drop in for a late night drink

I have mixed feelings about this place, I went there three times, and it is not very consistent -.- First time we went, I was delighted with the food and atmosphere, jazz is a very nice touch. Room is very classy, and service is attentive. But the last two times it seems like the food is getting a bit worse. All that we ordered (short rib, salmon, duck and salads to start) was very bland and flavourless.
I might give it another shot. I would definitely recommend it for sitting at the bar and listening to jazz!

It is a little bit expensive but it is really good! All the flavours explode in your mouth! It is a fine restaurant and everybody are very nice!
If you want to do a very good restaurant without to be afraid of your wallet, I recommend it!
I will go back there, that is sure!!!

I don’t know how we overlooked this place for the past 2 years since we moved here. We’ve been trying out so many different places for brunch, from the West End to Kitsilano and even all the way to Bowen Island while O’Doul’s is only 2 blocks away from our building! Perhaps the restaurant is slightly sunken and below eye level so it didn’t register with when we walked by it umpteen times.
We finally went there for brunch this Sunday. We sat by the window along Robson Street. The dining room is pleasant, respectable and comfortable. I ordered the Yukon Breakfast which came with 2 eggs, 2 pieces of sausage, 2 pieces of bacon, crispy home fried potatoes and toasts. With all that, it was only $ 11. I’m usually hesitant ordering my eggs sunnyside up because most restaurants do not brown the edge. My sunnyside-​up eggs were done perfectly at O’Doul’s with crispy brown edge.
Another plus for the restaurant is that it part of the Listel Hotel so it opens for business early. Perfect for me who wakes up even earlier on the weekends to take advantage of every single minute of not being at work.

We decided to go to O’Douls for a late night drink because it was one of the few places near our hotel that Unilocal reported had live music. Unfortunately the live music was very average and boring jazz being played a few guys in the corner. The whole place had a hotel bar feel (it isn’t a hotel bar) and the prices were even higher than some of the other expensive spots we had been that day. It’s a fine place to go and the staff is nice but it is really nothing special and there are surely some cooler places on the west end of Robson.
STOP 7 on our Culinary Day Out in Vancouver
Full story here:

Was here to listen to a jazz band playing for the International Jazz fest. O’Doul’s is both an upscale restaurant and jazz bar. These two are connected but distinguishable from each other. The playing stage is the the bar area but is poorly placed making it near impossible to see unless you’re right in front of the band. For 90% of the restaurant and maybe 50% of the bar, you won’t get a peak at any part of the band. The restaurant section was nice and the service is great here. But that’s what you’re paying for. The décor is classy and the wine menu is huge. I was on a liquid diet here so I didn’t sample the food. Beers were about $ 6 a piece and although I loved the jazz, this wouldn’t be my choice for an event venue.

It was so sunny after work that I treated myself to a drink and bite to eat at a fancy jazz bar. One thing leads to another, no?
Well, I’d never done it before, so I did. Today.
It was great — I had a Grilled Caesar salad off the Lounge Menu, which is the delightful short menu available between 3 and 5 when it’s too late to lunch but unbearably-​keener for dinner. I loved the big whack-​o-​romaine, charred softly on the edges, and served with deconstructed classic caesar components — shaved parm, crispy fancy-​ham of some sort, a slice of croûton-​ed bread, delicious dressing (which was surprisingly orange), and the kicker — full sized, oh-​so-​shleppy anchovies! Michelangelo would have totally freaked out of his shell.
The lounge menu offers a wine suggestion for each plate; the intuitive bartender started me off with a just taste of the BC Pino Gris, and as he suspected, I enjoyed his second option better, the name of which was washed down with the delish ‘choves. I love a place that dares to tempt me with a free taste of wine before my full sized glass, it fills me with class, even though I’m a young lass. T’was Fantass (tic).
I liked the space — generally, for it’s spaciness. I thought the jazz music was effortless and fitting…

O’doul’s was a great find in Vancouver. We were looking for a place to have dinner and we noticed that O’douls had a wine bar so that caught our attention. I was ready for some wine!
We were seated immediately upon our arrival and the staff was very welcoming. They offered us crayons and a kid’s menu for our daughter and that was a big plus. A lot of the restaurants we have been to in town do not have a kid’s menu and it can be difficult to find appropriate choices.
Since they are a wine bar, they have 2 oz pours of wine available so you can customize a flight. It was fun to try several tastes of wine since I have never had BC wines before. There were some choices from California and France as well. All our wines were very good.
Our server, Jason B, was excellent. He took great care of us and he went beyond the call of duty taking care of our little one. When I asked him if he had kids, he said no. He said there are kids in the restaurant so much that he has learned how to anticipate their needs. He really did a great job and I give him an A+.
We enjoyed our meal, our drinks and our time at O’douls very much. Next time we are in Vancouver, we will be back and we will see if Jason is still there too.

Five words: bloody amazingly excellent brunch scones. Forget about the rest of the food, I’d be happy to go here and just have tea and scones. However if you must get breakfast as well (which I suppose you have to since they don’t charge for the scones) then it’s quite reasonable as well. Pro-​tip: they’ll deliver more than one round of scones if you ask, no charge. Also, they start to serve the scones at 10am on weekends, best to get there at that time so they’re fresh from the oven.
BTW, take it from this Ulster-​Scott that it’s properly pronounced «Skohn» and not «S-​cone».

To the point:
— The table for our reservation was not ready when we arrived four minutes late.
— The maitre d’ asked us to stand to the side while we waited for said table to be set instead of offering us a place at the bar.
— Server was nice and attentive.
— My medium rare/​rare rib eye actually had some burnt spots which should never happen on such a lightly cooked piece of meat. Otherwise it was a good.
— Gelato that came with my dessert had some ice crystals in it.
— Jazz was great.