Photo credits: constantchoicraves

10 Best Maple Ridge Restaurants To Dine At This Year

Maple Ridge attracts people from around the province with its small-town charm, and it is well on its way to becoming a place for foodies. The city has an ever-growing number of restaurants serving dishes made from high-quality local ingredients.

From a blooming bistro and gastropub culture to the appearance of many international cuisines, including Portuguese, Japanese, and Italian, Maple Ridge restaurants cater to all taste buds.

Here is a list of the best restaurants in Maple Ridge that deserve to be visited:

10. Chameleon Restaurant

Photo credits: Chameleon Restaurant

Located in the heart of Downtown Maple Ridge, Chameleon is a casual dining restaurant and lounge, with a fun and stylish ambience. The restaurant serves contemporary cuisine, with the menu showcasing the best seasonal produce, everything local and at their freshest.

Ponderosa Farms Wild Mushroom Linguine is an excellent and flavourful main dish from Chameleon. Sourced from local farmers, the wild mushrooms add a fresh earthy flavour to the dish, which along with the creaminess of the sauce, will be a delight to mushroom lovers.

If you get a chance, do try their Chef’s Tasting Menu. This is a 4-course menu that features dishes specially curated by the chef for the day. When you book for the Chef’s Tasting Menu, be prepared for a culinary experience!

What to order: Wild Mushroom Linguine, Chef’s Tasting Menu

Address: 11965 224th Street, Maple Ridge

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9. Jimmy’s Lunch Box

Photo credits: constantchoicraves

Jimmy’s Lunch Box is a small mom-and-pop cafe that serves up some serious competition to other brunch places. The place offers some great classics and comfort food, with a Korean twist. If you are in Maple Ridge and looking for a good brunch/lunch cafe, Jimmy’s Lunch Box is worth visiting.

The Steak N Egg breakfast dish is well-balanced, with bulgogi beef steak – cooked to melt-in-the-mouth perfection, sunny egg, deep-fried rice for crunch, and warm kimchi – the Korean twist we talked about earlier! All these individual components taste fantastic together.

What to order: Wonton Soup, Steak N Egg, Ham & Cheese Sandwich

Address: 22504 Lougheed Highway, Maple Ridge, BC, Canada V2X 2V1

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8. GM Restaurant

Photo credits: malika30

Serving Maple Ridge for more than 20 years, GM Restaurant is the place that you will get extensive recommendations for when you ask around for the best Indian eatery in the area. The restaurant is simple, nothing too fancy, and has a retro vibe to it. The staff is friendly and the food is beyond words.

The Butter Chicken here is a crowd-favorite – pleasant, creamy, and addictive, with the spice level spot-on. The Butter Chicken is best eaten with the restaurant’s popular GM Rice or Garlic Naan. GM Rice is fragrant basmati rice cooked with whole spices, onion, and peas. The naan is freshly made, soft and chewy, and in perfect texture to scoop up the yummy butter chicken sauce.

Vegetable Kashmiri – a dish that will make you wonder if a veggie sauce can be this flavorful! This curry sauce is made with seasonal vegetables and fruits, which make for a chunky textured sauce, and it comes lightly spiced. What’s interesting is that the sauce also has nuts and raisins in it, which add a hint of sweetness to the spices.

When you dine in an Indian restaurant, you will look at gulab jamun and ras malai for dessert. Yes, you can find these traditional Indian desserts at GM Restaurant, but what they are famous for and take pride in is their Cheesecakes.

Available in a variety of flavors, including White Chocolate Banana, Chocolate Hazelnut, Strawberry, Salted Caramel, and more, their cheesecakes are smooth, light, creamy, and gratifying.

What to order: Butter Chicken with Naan or GM Rice, Vegetable Kashmiri, Cheesecakes

Address: 20726 Lougheed Highway, Maple Ridge, BC V2X 2R1

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7. Home Restaurant

Photo credits: mikirowbottom

Conveniently located on Lougheed Highway to serve road-weary travelers, Home Restaurant is exactly as its name suggests – fresh food tasting like it were made from scratch by mom’s hands! This perfect pick-me-up spot serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but is more famous for its breakfast offerings.

For a breakfast that will keep you full for a long time during your road trip, the Rocky Mountain Bowl from Home Restaurant is ideal. The bowl comes filled with fried potatoes, sausages, bacon, and ham, everything cooked well and nicely seasoned; but, what makes this humble breakfast bowl outstanding are the melting mozzarella cheese and light and fluffy scrambled eggs on top.

Their Schnitzel Champignon, served for lunch and dinner, is a tummy and heart-filling meal. The plate has two large pieces of pork schnitzel smothered with a thick and creamy gravy and sauteed mushrooms. The schnitzel is light and crispy on the outside, and the inside is juicy and flavorful. For its size, you may have to have half of it packed-to-go, if you don’t have a big appetite.

What to order: Rocky Mountain Bowl, Schnitzel Champignon, Lemon Meringue Pie

Address: 21667 Lougheed Highway, Maple Ridge, BC V2X 2S2

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6. Ban Chok Dee Thai Cuisine

Photo credits: Ban Chok Dee Thai Cuisine

An award-winning restaurant serving authentic Thai cuisine, Ban Chok Dee has a menu highlighting the cooking styles of all four regions of Thailand. To make your dining experience as authentic as possible, the restaurant also has traditional Thai decorations everywhere.

How can you go wrong with ordering Pad Thai from an authentic Thai restaurant?! The Pad Thai here at Ban Chok Dee can be had with chicken or prawns, and also contains egg, tofu, and other toppings, served with pan-fried rice noodles. The dish is a tad bit spicy and full of flavor. The generous portion makes it satisfyingly sufficient for two people, but you might not want to share!

Served with rice, their Green Curry has tons of fans. You can choose to have chicken, beef, or pork in your curry, and also choose the spice level, in addition to the minimum spice level the curry comes with. The original spiciness of the curry makes it pair well with the rice.

If you prefer noodles over rice, try their Drunken Noodles. Again, with the choice of chicken, pork, or beef, you get stir-fried rice noodles with crunchy vegetables in Thai spicy sauce. The amazing flavor of this dish is likely to linger on your tongue for the next 24 hours!

What to order: Pad Thai, Green Curry, Drunken Noodles

Address: 20395 Lougheed Highway, #400 Maple Ridge, BC V2X 2P9

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5. Paliottis Westside

Curry Penne & Chicken | Photo credits: Paliottis Westside

Paliottis Westside is well-known for one thing – its exclusive and extensive vegan menu. Who can say ‘no’ to vegan Italian food!? This family-owned and operated restaurant has a pleasant and bright ambience, and they have separate vegan and non-vegan menus, offering plenty of delicious options for vegan diners.

The Pizza Rolls, both vegan and non-vegan, are great as appetizers. Stuffed with roasted pepper, spinach, garlic, and all other goodness, the rolls are huge and delicious on their own, and even more so when dipped in the vegan tzatziki sauce. 

The Cajun Chicken Penne is one rich and delectable pasta dish you will enjoy at Paliottis Westside. Of course, it is the cajun cream sauce that makes this dish; the cajun spices give the sauce an earthy flavor, and you can also taste a little bit of spice and zing in it. The chicken comes juicy and the penne cooked to al-dente, and everything together makes the dish extremely enjoyable.

What to order: Pizza Rolls, Cajun Chicken Penne, Vegan Oreo Cheesecake

Address: 20757 Lougheed Highway, Maple Ridge, BC V2X 2R2

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4. Humble Roots Cafe & Deli

Photo credits: Humble Roots Cafe

Humble Roots is a small cafe that takes a farm-to-table approach with their handcrafted dishes. Serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the place is warm and friendly, and the best seat here is definitely the patio (if weather permits, of course!).

The Salmon Benny here is a must-try breakfast dish. Similar to many other items on their menu, the salmon is also smoked in-house, and has a unique taste to it, unlike you normally get in other breakfast places. The benny is served with crispy hand-cut hashbrowns – nicely crisp yet soft inside, and can be had as a dish on its own.

What takes the spotlight in their winter dinner menu is the Sirloin Skillet. This gluten-free option features the premium AAA sirloin from the local Hopcott Farms, and the dish has everything you would expect from a traditional steak dinner – sauteed onions and mushrooms, seasonal veggies, herb-roasted potatoes, and mushroom gravy, all of which falls into place exactly as it should.

What to order: Salmon Benny, Sirloin Skillet

Address: 13179 224 Street Maple Ridge, BC, V4R 2P6

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3. Pho Song

Photo credits: wjleungry

Anytime the people in and around Maple Ridge crave soupy noodles, or Vietnamese food, in particular, Pho Song is the best place to be. This warm and friendly storefront serves traditional Vietnamese cuisine and is famous for its noodle soup, spring roll, and BBQ. The best part – you get delicious food at unbeatable prices.

You cannot start your meal at Pho Song without their signature Spring Rolls for appetizers. Available in pork, chicken, and shrimp options, the spring rolls have a light and crispy exterior, deep fried to perfect golden brown.

If you’re there for their noodle soup or pho, the House Special Soup would be the recommendation you hear everywhere. The soup contains medium rare beef, brisket, beef balls, and tripe, and oozes with meaty flavor, without being overwhelming. You will get a bowl of pho filled to its brim, which can be easily shared between two people.

What to order: Spring Rolls, House Special Soup, House Special Fried Rice

Address: 22334 Lougheed Highway, Maple Ridge, BC V2X 2T4 Canada

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2. Big Feast Bistro

Photo credits: foodiecole

Big Feast Bistro is a go-to place in Maple Ridge for vegans, vegetarians, and people with other dietary restrictions. This small town bistro features a trendy and urban atmosphere and serves extraordinary hand-crafted food with several gluten-free, plant-based, and vegan options. From Ocean Wise certified seafood to local, sustainable meat, all the ingredients they use are of top-notch quality.

If you are after a gluten-free breakfast, the Pulled Pork Hash from the restaurant’s Big Feast Breakfast menu should be your order. The dish comes with slow-roasted pulled pork – tender and sweet, roasted sweet potatoes, caramelized onions, and poached eggs. Topped with both fresh hollandaise and bourbon BBQ sauce, this will be one of the most delicious breakfasts you’ve had. You also get a fruit salad bowl and toast on your plate.

For a flavour burst in your mouth, try their Blackened Chicken. The house-made cajun spice dry rub adds tons of flavor to the chicken, and though the outer crust is blackened, the inside of the chicken remains juicy and tender. The parmesan cream is the perfect creamy and rich dipping sauce for the flavorful chicken.

What to order: Pulled Pork Hash, Blackened Chicken

Address: 11920-227 Street, Maple Ridge

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1. Il Corsaro Pasta Bar

Photo credits: brendonaford_95_d1a

With 44 years of rich history, if there is one reason that Il Corsaro Pasta Bar still continues to be one of the most popular Italian restaurants in the whole of Vancouver, it would be their consistency. This little cozy place serves amazing Italian food, with traditional Italian flavors, made with fresh and quality ingredients.

The Baked Ricotta Cheese & Spinach Pasta Shells is one dish that the restaurant’s loyal customers highly recommend. While their arrabbiata sauce has fans of its own, the addition of the sauce in this dish certainly elevates the flavor. The lightly crispy and stretchy edam and mozzarella cheese topping on the pasta shells will not make you stop without finishing your plate!

One of the highlights at Il Corsaro is that you can choose your favourite pasta and add from a long list of pasta sauces to make a dish of your own.

Some of the sauce choices available are alla panna (garlic cream sauce), pesto, genovese (roma tomatoes, white wine, and pesto), and martrigiana (arrabiata, garlic, and bacon). You can add your favorite extras to your pasta as well, like Italian sausage, meatballs, etc.

Il Corsaro is popular for its signature tiramisu, which only means one thing – you cannot not order it for dessert!

What to order: Baked Ricotta Cheese & Spinach Pasta Shells, Make Your Own Pasta, Tiramisu

Address: 22370 Dewdney Trunk Road, Maple Ridge BC

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The up-and-coming culinary landscape of Maple Ridge is fresh and awaits to be explored. From local pizza places for your cheat day indulgence to contemporary cuisine; mom-and-pop cafes to casual fine dining, the options available are enticing.

How We Create Our “Best” Lists

All Noms Magazine’s “best” lists are created using multiple factors and signals to help readers find the best restaurants, things to do, and places to stay at. Some of these factors and signs include personal experiences, correspondence with locals, and compiling experiences from review sites.

Each list is also created to be balanced (in terms of price, cuisine type, ambiance, and more) as possible. This means that the lists are not specifically created in ranking order. You should be comfortable picking from any of the spots on the list and generally have a good time. But of course, YMMV (your mileage may vary) and everyone may have different experiences/palates.