Taf’s Café

The grumpy, disdainful old man behind the bar shatters the dream. The funky art paintings on the wall, danceable latin music, bargain prices, and kind, soft-​spoken waitresses had me believing this could be my new favourite bar. Undoubtedly present, he promises to kill your buzz and sober you up when you step up to pay the bill.

Met a friend before heading to an event. I’ve been to Taf’s over the years, so it was chosen more for location than anything else. The waitress was great. But, the overall state of the place is a bit of a mess. Especially the washrooms. Climb wonky stairs to one washroom boarded up, one without a lock on the door with a makeshift doorknob, and one with an unstable, toilet seat. You know the kind that is broken, only attached on one side, resulting in it sliding all over. Maybe that is why the bathroom smells like pee. Don’t think it’s been cleaned since the daily special was changed…

A few weeks ago my boyfriend and I were celebrating our first Valentines Day early on a Friday night. We went to a couple places on the strip of Granville street and just ended up bar hopping. On the way back my boyfriend wanted a drink before we headed back home so we ended up at Taf’s. It was a little before midnight and it says that they closed at 1 so we ended up going inside to have a drink. We stepped outside before ordering AFTER the waitress greeted us and decided to have a smoke.
Not long after we lit our cigarettes the waitress politely said that they were going to close the patio soon and we let her know we would only be 2 – 3 minutes. A few seconds after a man that looked like the owner rudely came outside and started yelling at us and telling us we couldn’t smoke outside and started tugging on the chairs we were sitting in. I got upset with him and told him he can’t be treating his customers that way and that we will smoke as much as we want. He proceeded yelling at us and taking away the surrounding chairs and tables and tried to take the table we were using too.
I left very upset that night and what was such a great Valentines day turned into a crappy one for the altercation I got in with the owner of this café.
I do not recommend!

I was visiting Van City during the last week of September and decided to hit up this dive bar when I noticed a cute korean waitress with a fine @$$ and set of legs in a short skirt working there. I guess that’s how they get people in the door. Anyway, we sat outside and ordered a few pitchers of beer, which were the cheapest pitchers we could find on the strip. I looked at the food and some of the stuff looked decent, though I never bothered to eat. Then there was the free for all to the washroom on the 2^nd floor. I swear some heroin must have been done up there. The floors were slanted and the area looked like a wreck, but somehow we liked it that way.

what this place needs, is a structural reno, and a real kitchen and cook.
The second floor looks like a cross– eyed construction crew built it– the stairs lean toward the bar, and the entire upstairs leans like a drunkard!
The kitchen is a microwave, their burgers made elsewhere and reheated to order.
The server/​cook is likely the owner, somehow taking the order, serving the drink and food, processing the transaction– all in complete silence!
The main floor, however, shows promise, featuring a decent bar counter and what appears to be new-​ish flooring.
If this was in a distressed neighbourhood, it would almost be charming; however, there are so many places nearby more appealing.

Horrible service and mediocre food. I was given a cup of water in a plastic Dixie cup. The Cajun chicken is ripped up pieces of miscellaneous chicken parts. I doubt I will be returning again.

Food was pretty terrible, I had a burger that was the most flavourless burger I’ve had in my life. The bread was dry and kinda stale an the burger came with something that tasted like Wasabi. The salad on the side was meaningless and even had parts of old bitter & sour tasting lettuce. Suprised I didn’t get sick
WORST of all the place totally ripped my friend and I off, who after a few beers weren’t the best at math. $ 80 for 2 pints, 2 pitches and a burger with tip…
(The pint & burger were meant to be a $ 10 combo) Out fault for not doing the math well I guess…

Let me put in a little perspective. This place isn’t offering gourmet meals, that is true. What it does offer is a reasonably priced meal that is completely edible (quite tasty really) of home cooked style dishes. Everything we ate was fresh and both dishes had great portions.
It looks like they have updated the décor because they have nice seats at the tables and the floors are nice dark hardwood.
The service was prompt and unassuming. Not overly «friendly» but not rude either. Two older gentlemen were working and they were just fine.
So if your in the Granville neighbourhood and want a quick, decent priced, home cooked style meal, give this place a try.

I was well aware before walking in that this place was a low rated dive, however, I had to come here ’cause it was one of the places I would walked by since I was 14 every week. I just wanted to have the right to say that I’ve been here at least once (on a mission to eat at every establishment on the Granville Strip before 2019).
The minute you walk in you’re reminded of the sad legion dives meets run down back packers hostel in the grungy area of LA (my best friend and I have stayed in one of these… it’s how we were able to describe the décor).
They make no apologies or attempt at any sort of upgrade. They tried to be fancy with the black table clothes. The chairs are literally office chairs and your drink, regardless of what you’re drinking, is served to you in a paper or hard plastic beer cup… just like at a football game.
The music sounded like dated 90’s hip hop beats meets trance. It’s a cross between South America meets African, just missing one too many steps.
You can buy art on the wall for cheaper than you’re meal.
It’s more of a place for cheap beer than it is eats. We had 2 hours to kill before our concert at the QE and needed somewhere to eat that wasn’t busy on a Saturday night.
First thing that kinda urked me is that I was FORCED to put my umbrella in the basket even though it wasn’t soaking. I finally negotiated to have it under the table. I’ve had my umbrella stolen many times (I had a really nice umbrella with me), therefore, I am possessive of having it with me during dining experiences.
Our food came out in 5 minutes literally. Faster service than at a fast food joint. The waitress stood over us and watched us eat like a butler. Both uncomfortable and humorous in a Monty Python sort of way.
We had the orange salad which was decent. Hard to fVck up salad. We had a bowl of chilli that had 3 small scraps of meat with a few hard kidney beans. The chilli was so watered down that it was like drinking those cheap Lipton instant cup of soups. If you’re on a diet, come here. If you want to feel satisfied, don’t bother.
Although the chilli was bad at least I didn’t fart during Bryan Ferry. I was in the front row so it would’ve traveled back.

Come here only if you’re desperate, wait you’re in the middle of downtown go somewhere else!

Ack.
I can’t believe this place is still open after all these years. I used to chain smoke and drink bottomless coffees here while I was in college nearly 20 years ago. It was mediocre then, hasn’t improved any since. The owner hasn’t gotten any friendlier either.

Great value! The daily specials for food are the best you’ll find on Granville and the ambience is nice. The man who served me is the owner and he is super pleasant. They have lots of interestjng art on the walls.
It’s a great place for some masturdating (going on dates by yourself) and I got some writing done!
Great veggie focacia and salad, soup was a simple lentil one that was OK. But for $ 7.50 for a huge plate with watermelon I’m not complaining ;)

Where do I even start…
My friends were visiting from the US so we came to Taf’s for dinner
Two of them got long island iced tea, one looked alright, the other one was half coke… I don’t know how they managed to make completely different drinks but they did, and the owner looked pissed when we asked to get another one made.
One of the servers didn’t give us the right information about their lunch/​dinner trio but that issue was resolved when another server came to the rescue
Their food was actually not as bad as I had expected (given the quality of their drinks), I really liked the focaccia and because it wasn’t that expensive I decided the place wasn’t that bad after all.
Until I got my credit card statement… they managed to overcharge me on tips. Funny how they actually put value on the kind of drinks and services they provide.

What kind of a restaurant advertises the same daily special for 15 years? Apparently Taf’s does. Are they just too lazy to change their sandwich board? Curry Penne anyone?
I’ve been in here a few times for drinks over the years. It goes like this. Say I order a Strawberry Margarita. The server will then bring me a Pina Colada. I tell them that’s not what I ordered, and they take it away. Then they bring me another drink that I didn’t order. It just gets exhausting after awhile.
The food is sub par, and the whole place just looks confusing.
I think Taf’s is beyond help. It’s been around for years, and it’s always been the same. But because of it’s location it gets a ton of traffic. If it wasn’t on Granville, nobody would ever go out of their way to eat at this gong show of a restaurant.

I got so messy here last night. I came here after stomping out of the Bottleneck. I ordered nachos and a bunch of drinks, and my ex got whatever he got. Our bill came to $ 50. Hell yeah.
The nachos were decent, especially for the price. It’s so hard for me to justify spending $ 15 – 20 on shitty carbs, so $ 8 was just perfect. Were they amazing nachos? No. You get what you pay for. The drinks being that cheap makes up for it.
There was 15 of us and the waitress didn’t seem phased much. We didn’t have to deal with the owner who seems like he’s not fun to speak to. The bills were confusing though, as she didn’t really separate them and I was told it looked like chicken scratches. I didn’t actually see the bill so I can’t vouch. I’d come here again for the $ 5 drinks, no doubt.

Plusses first:
+ My server was very nice. Though her grasp of English prevented her from understanding my comment about ‘no mayonaise’ (I ended up with mayo over everything), she meant well.
+ Vibe of the place is dark, cozy, somewhat funky.
Now for the Very. Glaring. minuses:
— Do not get the sautéed mushroom burger. It’s a spit piece of focaccia with a small puck of dry, overcooked, under-​seasoned beef in the middle. Mushrooms that had licked the flame but were still clearly raw were tossed on top. I had to drink beer to get this dry, terrible protein down.
— Owner wouldn’t give me a takeout container for my leftovers.
— The owner overcharged me for my beer and didn’t offer to amend to the advertised price, even after I mentioned it to him.
— I told my server I had an Entertainment coupon redeemable on my cellphone before I ordered. It wasn’t till I paid that the owner told me he wouldn’t accept the coupon (coupon says valid until November 1 2013).
Honestly, if it weren’t for the sweet server, this place would be a 1 star. There are lots of joints in the area that serve food twice as good at half the price (i.e. The Famous Warehouse, Factory, Loose Moose).
Avoid at all costs unless you’re intoxicated enough to both ingest mediocre food and not notice you’re being ripped off.

Although other Unilocaler’s didn’t give too many high marks for this establishment, I thought I’d check it out since I had an Entertainment coupon for this place. I thought, «Couldn’t be that bad especially if I’m going to pay ½ price.» Wrong.
Food: Comments about the food being bland are pretty accurate. I tried the chicken Parmesan and curry penne. Other than the chicken Parmesan tasting like mall fast food, it was odd that it was served on an open faced bun much like a sandwich. The curry penne was horrible. The penne was way overcooked… soft and mushy. The «curry» was like they took spaghetti sauce and tossed in some curry powder. Blah!
Ambiance: Somewhat confusing… pictures on the wall depicting city images, coffeehouse-​style furniture, loud Mexican music, candles on the tables and a menu that had Italian, continental, and burger type foods.
Service: The waiting staff were friendly enough. However, what really peeved me in the end was the owner. When I went to pay for the bill, I brought my phone up to the back of the restaurant where patrons had to pay for their food. When I showed the owner the online coupon, he said in a very unapologetic way, «We don’t do that. We never do coupons on the phone with this company. You have to print it out.» When I showed him that it clearly stated on the screen that the coupon could be used via a mobile device and I didn’t have to print it out, he basically said, «Oh well» and left me with the waitress to take my money.
So, I had to pay full price for food that was mediocre at best and got the «I don’t care» attitude by the owner. Needless to say I will never be back.

A Granville spot for people who don’t particularly like Granville spots.
As a local who came of age in the eighties, I’ve been coming here since the days when Granville was an edgier punkier Carnaby Street equivalent for our one horse lumberjack town.
Back in those days, there was nary a Starbucks to be found nor where there the legions of bridge-​and-​tunnel suburban meatheads and skanky club girls tottering around in stillettos that make the «Granville Entertainment District» such an intolerable shithole today. Of course, back in those days — there was no such thing as a ‘foodie’ and Robson Street was still known as «Robsonstrasse» — not the Rodeo Drive of the north, but the German Street of Vancouver — compete with House of Clogs and Bavarian Alpine Schnitzel House (but I digress).
Flash-​forward to today, and should I be so unfortunate to find myself on Granville Street, Taf’s is a refreshingly douche-​free oasis. Yes the food is mediocre, service sub-​par and the music can be a little loud, but the drinks are cheap enough and it’s Granville Street without the Granville Street.

The worst service I’ve ever had in my entire life.
I’ve never been inclined to step in this place but as luck would have it, my friends and I ended up here on a Sunday night a few weeks ago. I wasn’t expecting a 5-​star experience, but the service was ABYSMAL.
We were going around around the table ordering drinks, the waiter leaves before taking down everyone’s orders. When he finally comes back for the rest of the party to order, he was inarticulate in explaining the wine selection, then after we chose a specific bottle, he brings ANOTHER type, opens it and proceeds to pour without explaining that they didn’t have any of the one we ordered. Moreover, he was all like ‘it’s the same’ when I spoke up stating that it wasn’t what we ordered. Um… no, just cuz it’s RED and comes in a BOTTLE doesn’t mean you can just brush it off as the same. I’m no connoisseur and I was appalled, I can’t imagine how wine lovers would respond.
All in all, just terrible. How do you F up drinks? Ones that come in a bottle no less. You don’t even need to PREPARE it, all you have to do is buy it and have it THERE. I can’t imagine what their food would be like if they can’t even manage this.

What a ridiculous place. If it weren’t for stressful holiday shopping and waiting for VIFF films to start, I don’t know that I’d ever stop in here. But here we are, yet again, in Taf’s, drinking the most ginormous glass of $ 5 «red wine» to be found on Granville Street. To be clear, this is part of that special «boxed» grape variety — a little acidic and just boozy enough to make me forget about the ridiculousness that is the Granville ghetto.
I’ve found myself sitting in the strangely uncomfortable vinyl chairs in Taf’s more times than I’d like to admit for a variety of reasons, and have yet to see more than one other table filled with people. The upstairs, aside from housing the washrooms, is usually off-​limits for reasons I can’t even begin to understand, and up until the last year or so was filled with a waft of cigarette smoke from who I presume are Taf’s regulars… or the mob, I can’t be sure.
What a ridiculous place.

Downtown’s Blandest Food
I really should check Unilocal before I dine out, but I was in a party of three on Friday night and we made a snap decision to eat here after seeing the cheap beer prices. If I had checked the reviews, I would have dined elsewhere — and unfortunately, the reviews are exactly right.
We had a pitcher of beer, the curry penne with chicken, the pasta alfredo with chicken, and the Mexican burger.
Let’s start at the beginning: despite a neon sign advertising «extra cold beer» we were served a plastic pitcher (…really?) and highball glasses. The glasses and pitcher weren’t chilled. While I can expect a busy bar to run out of chilled pint glasses on a Saturday night, this place was completely empty save my party and staff.
When it comes to the meals, the menu is pretty strange. It doesn’t list any appetizers, and only has nachos on the back under beverages.
My pasta alfredo was very bland. The chicken was a shredded, unflavored mess dumped on top of the meal. It clearly wasn’t cooked with the dish, or even met the sauce prior to being served. There was also a load of parmesan cheese powder dumped on top. I love cheese, but I hate the green-​can, fake stuff and had I been given the choice, I would have opted against it. My meal came with what looked like a slice of focaccia bread, but it was also very bland. I couldn’t taste anything, which struck us all as strange.
Sara D. hit the nail on the head when she said the «curry pasta had no flavor.» (She also said «This place has extremely mediocre food.» I should have read this review first!) That was my friend’s main complaint. There was also another generous load of fake parmesan cheese dumped on the dish. It wasn’t mentioned in the menu, and it doesn’t belong on a curry dish.
The Mexican burger was also a hot mess. The beef patty was undercooked and completely flavorless. There wasn’t even a hint of salt/​pepper, just bland medium-​cooked meat in a lump. The bun was not toasted and refrigerator cold when served. My friend noticed it and wasn’t thrilled by it. The condiments were also a sloppy mess, in the bad way.
None of us came close to finishing our meals, and we called over the waiter to have him summon the owner. The owner stayed behind the bar and refused to come see us. He tersely dismissed our comments (relayed via the waiter) and offered to take a measly $ 5 off of our bill. We were all in shock. We’ve never been stood up by an owner, who we could see standing right behind the bar.
There’s no excuse for running a «restaurant» and not having the guts to face a set of customers with constructive criticism. While the atmosphere was nice, and the waiter was great, we can never recommend this place to anyone. There are cheaper drinks downtown, and better food virtually anywhere else.
Save yourself the trouble, and skip over Taf’s Café.

If you’re tired of paying too much for a beer when wandering through the choas of Granville, pop into Taf’s and enjoy the local artwork and friendly service of Artie’s fine bar/​restaurant.
Taf’s isn’t easy to find without the help of their sandwich board; the store gets overshadowed by the obnoxious bright neon of the other bars and retail shops in the downtown area. But pop in and find out what they have on special. You won’t find a better deal on pints of beer on the Granville strip and it beats waiting for ridiculously long periods for service at Café Crêpe.
Artie’s been running the business for 18 years on Granville and has managed to keep it running. With a great atmosphere, support for local artists and two-​levels of seating (up the steel staircase at the back past the bar), you should pop in and support this local establishment.
Our waitress was a really nice young Japanese woman with a great sense of humour, and despite what I’ve read from the other reviews on this site, Artie was polite and eager to please us. Quite the nice hideaway!