14 Vancouver restaurants that big-name celebrities have visited and loved

Joe Fortes

Price: 💸💸💸💸

Cuisine: Seafood / Steakhouse

Address: 777 Thurlow Street

Why You Need To Go: Joe Fortes is less a restaurant and more a Vancouver institution at this point — the type of place you go if you want oysters in a gorgeous room that smells faintly of generational wealth.

Recently, stressed-out-pretend-chef Jeremy Allen White dined here while filmingThe Social Reckoning (sequel to The Social Network). The restaurant has also reportedly hosted Elijah Wood, Nas, and Jim Treliving

Lunch Lady

Price: 💸💸

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Address: 1046 Commercial Drive

Why You Need To Go: It shocks me not at all that John Mulaney, Zach Galifianakis, Nick Kroll, Fred Armisen, Mike Birbiglia, and Jason Mantzoukas have good taste. Which is why they chose one of my favourite local restaurants to dine at during their visit here for the Great Outdoor Comedy Festival.

Sula Indian Restaurant

Price: 💸💸

Cuisine: Indian

Address: 1708 Davie Street

Why You Need To Go: I love Sula's, and it seems like that's something (probably the only thing) Priyanka Chopra Jonas and I have in common. Sula's new Davie location has quickly become a downtown favourite, and if it's good enough for international royalty-adjacent celebrity culture, it's also good enough for your Friday night comfort-food meal.

Desi Indian Lounge

Price: 💸💸

Cuisine: Indian

Address: 1355 Hornby Street

Why You Need To Go: In what can only be described as a coordinated Vancouver-Indian-food press tour, Priyanka's husband Nick Jonas was also spotted at local Indian restaurant. (If my inside scoop is correct, the Jonas Brothers were in Vancouver filming Camp Rock 3 — because I guess two entire movies about teenagers written by boomers that burst into song wasn't quite enough in this economy?). Nevertheless, I'd never heard of this spot, so it's good for the brothers for putting it on the map.

Vij's

Price: 💸💸💸

Cuisine: Indian

Address: 3106 Cambie Street

Why You Need To Go: Sticking with the theme (who knew Vancouver was a celebrity Indian-food hub?), Hilary Swank was spotted picking up takeout from Vij's. A real "celebrities, they're just like us" moment.

To nobody's surprise, Hilary has excellent taste: Vij's is a Vancouver institution that practically deserves heritage status.

Zarak by Afghan Kitchen

Price: 💸💸💸

Cuisine: Afghan

Address: 2102 Main Street

Why You Need To Go: Owen Wilson was spotted dining at Zarak in lazy golf dad attire, which somehow feels exactly right for a restaurant this effortlessly cool.

Warm, moody, and one of Main Street's most beloved dinner spots, if Owen's "wow" was going to lead him anywhere in Vancouver, it's nice that it was toward Zarak's mantu dumplings and beautifully spiced kebabs.

Tojo's

Price: 💸💸💸💸

Cuisine: Japanese

Address: 1133 W Broadway

Why You Need To Go: A Vancouver classic with bona fide culinary legend status. Tojo's is where you go when you want sushi that feels like an event. Also, apparently, where Hayden Christensen goes when he's in town.

Full disclosure: I don't know much about Star Wars, but if fans can take comfort in the fact that Anakin Skywalker trusted the omakase, you probably can too.

Minerva's

Price: 💸💸

Cuisine: Greek

Address: 2411 West 41st Avenue

Why You Need To Go: I refuse to enter into the weeds of Blake Lively drama, but Ryan Reynolds, unto himself, is a sort of Vancouver institution. Having grown up here, I'd be remiss not to mention his self-proclaimed favourite restaurant "in the world" — Minerva's.

Cozy, Greek, family-friendly, and dripping with nostalgia, it's the place where all of us Kerrisdale kids went for dinner after soccer practice and loved every time.

Little Bird Dim Sum

Price: 💸💸

Cuisine: Chinese

Address: 2958 West 4th Avenue

Why You Need To Go: Seth Rogen keeps coming back, which is the highest endorsement possible from a Vancouver-born food loyalist.

Honey's Doughnuts

Price: 💸

Cuisine: Bakery / Doughnuts

Address: 4373 Gallant Avenue

Why You Need To Go: Deep Cove's Honey's is one of the most low-key celebrity hotspots in the region. The doughnuts are offensively good, and none other than Kate Winslet agrees, claiming during a red carpet interview at TIFF that she "pines" for Honey's Doughnuts. I promise this is worth the trip to Deep Cove.

Lee's Donuts

Price: 💸

Cuisine: Doughnuts

Address: 1689 Johnston Street

Why You Need To Go: Seth strikes again. Lee's is a Granville Island essential and, yes, one of the few doughnut places that can actually go toe-to-toe with Honey's (aside from a midnight Krispy Kreme run, of course).

The fact that David Chang and Seth featured it in their Netflix series only confirmed what locals already knew — Lee's is a top doughnut contender.

Blue Water Café

Price: 💸💸💸

Cuisine: Seafood / Pacific Northwest

Address: 1095 Hamilton Street

Why You Need To Go: Michael Bublé being spotted at Blue Water Cafe feels painfully obvious and not all that thrilling. Polished, classic, basic, and just the right amount of Yaletown fancy, it's exactly where you'd expect one of the city's most beloved exports to be enjoying a solid seafood dinner.

Rodney's Oyster House

Price: 💸💸💸

Cuisine: Seafood

Address: 1228 Hamilton Street

Why You Need To Go: Melissa Fumero from Brooklyn Nine-Nine, alongside the show's Director of Photography Rick Page were spotted at Rodney's Oyster House and she gave her stamp of approval on an Instagram post that said "Enjoyed some amazing oysters, chowder, & lobster rolls with Rick Page today. That's the post."

If Amy Santiago approves the oysters, the rest of us don't need to do any further due diligence.

Phnom Penh

Price: 💸💸

Cuisine: Cambodian / Vietnamese

Address: 244 East Georgia Street

Why You Need To Go: Actor Jimmy O. Yang shouted out Phnom Penh, being one of the first celebrities whose taste actually aligns with a boots-on-the-ground local Eastside gem. He's seen here enjoying "amazing Cambodian, Hu Tieu." In this post, he also shouts out Kissa Tanto, Saku, Golden Paramount, and Keefer Bar.