Sweeney’s of Yaletown

Fresh, quality ingredients at the same prices as subway or quisnos.

* Nice casual upscale sandwich lunch spot *
Popped in for lunch, and was pleasantly surprised by the variety of sandwich options.
I had the crispy duck confit sandwich, which had a generous portion of duck confit served on a nice crunchy sesame bun with a slaw and Dijon mustard. The ingredients were all high quality, and the flavours really blended nicely. This was a very nice sandwich.
I also got to take a bite of the tuna tataki sandwich. It was made with nicely sliced bincho, which was coated in shichimi before slicing. The fish was fresh tasting. It was served with marinated watercress, and a mashed avocado on a very hearty eastern European style baguette. Also a really nicely balanced sandwich.
Other items I hope to try in the future included a schnitzel sandwich as well as a pulled pork sandwich.
At lunch time you order at the counter, and they bring it to your table. Apparently at dinner time they have full table service with a more extensive menu.
I’ll definitely be back!

I came in. It smelled like butter. Let me rephrase that: I came in because it smelled like butter. They were baking brownies. The nice man behind the counter said, «we make the best brownies you’ve ever had in your life». I was really hungry, so I bought one.
He was right.

Customer service with a smile? Check. Making you feel like they’d actually want you back? Check. Great food? Check.
Gerald’s got a great operation here, in a neat space. Hosted a small get together of 30 people like it was no problem at all, his team are well trained. The cookies? Homous? Samosas? All yum! And they make sangria to die for.
Great little place — I can see myself hopping on the Canada line from my office just to go there for lunch.

As a visitor to Vancouver this past weekend we wandered throughout Yaletown looking for a nice spot to grab a drink, and score we did. Sweeney’s has some seriously awesome white wine Sangria that went down like a treat over the wonderfully warm weekend. Awesome staff and customer service, and what looked like a great menu (that provided some great smells coming from the kitchen) that we unfortunately weren’t able to stay and try since we had other plans. Awesome place!

I’m hoping it was an off-​night for Sweeney’s, as I’ve heard good things but wasn’t impressed with either the food or the service.
We were the only two people in the restaurant, on a Saturday night — not a good sign, although it was fireworks night so perhaps a contributing factor.
Having two servers standing right at the entrance to the patio was quite off-​putting; I know it was meant to be welcoming, but probably frightened away more prospective diners than it enticed. Our waitress seemed either inexperienced or bored: she spoke so softly that I couldn’t understand half of what she said. I was also uncomfortable with the waiter (who remained at the patio entrance the entire time) and his manner of trying to engage with people who walked by – it came across as too forward and almost desperate.
We ordered the meatloaf sandwich and tuna tataki sandwich (which was not on the dinner menu; I asked for it because I had heard such raves about it).
I love tuna and avocado, but didn’t appreciate this sandwich. The bread was too crusty and dense, and very hard to chew. The flavours of the tuna and avocado were overpowered by the slaw and dressing.
The meatloaf sandwich was better, but nothing special.

I had the soup of the day (tomato curry) and a vegetarian meatball sandwich. It was a Sunday afternoon and I got the impression I didn’t catch the establishment at its best.
The soup was luke warm and had far too much basil pesto poured on the soup (basil pesto and tomato curry are a strange mix which frankly does not work). The soup was heavy and greasy.
The vegetarian meatballs sandwich tasted authentic but lacked spice. It was also very heavy. I would not recommend this for anyone looking for a «light» meal.
Sadly, I also suspect I contracted food poisoning from the improperly heated soup. Within hours I had classic food poisoning symptoms.
I will not be giving this another try, which is sad because Yaletown could use a good casual soup and sandwich establishment.

In a nutshell, Sweeny’s has impeccable customer service, delicious quality food (as organic and locally sourced as possible), a relaxing but fun atmosphere, and shockingly affordable prices for what you get! Whenever I eat there, I forget about the hustle and bustle of Yaletown, and feel more like I’ve been whisked away to a nice down-​to-​earth joint on the island.
They have great daily lunch specials, but if you like Japanese style tuna and avacado (two of my fave foods) then I HIGHLY recommend the tuna tataki sandwich. I’m a totally helpless addict. I haven’t tried their soups, but my coworker had the butternut squash soup today and it looked great. Her «mmmmm“s of delight said enough.

A cute lil space, with a hand written sandwich board outlining the small (but growing) sandwich and salad selections. That along with a good selection (at pretty reasonably priced) of reds and whites made me feel welcome right away at Sweeney’s. It was pretty quiet in the late afternoon and my order came out swiftly. Tuna Tataki in a biodegradable take away container (score bonus points for respecting the earth!)
As far as a sandwich goes, mine was pretty darn good! Huge flavour, well soaked in dressing/​cucumber bread, but still crusty (notice I didn’t say crunchy). It was a well appointed size for me but if I were a bit of a bigger eater, I might be wondering where the other half of my sandwich went for the $ 7.50 I just spent. Perhaps that’s just me being frugal, but while I waited I was offered a choice between a brownie and a chocolate chip cookie sample. And holy! The brownie was divine! And what girl doesn’t love a free nibble of dessert before lunch?
Favourite touch? The tip jars. You chose: Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen. I picked Emilio, and it’s not because of the Breakfast Club ;)
A sandwich and a glass of red or a beer (carefully curated by Barry at R&B, according to the sign) would be a perfect way to spend a summer evening, or even a workday afternoon!