It’s no secret that the restaurant industry has been hit HARD by the pandemic and post-pandemic economic downturn…
It has been basically a constant barrage of bad news for restaurant owners.
And it has become the reason that many beloved restaurants permanently close their doors.
Below we’ve compiled a list of 15+ Vancouver restaurants and food spots that are on their way out or have closed recently:
🍳 Longtime Main Street diner is closing after 10 years – Fable Diner blames lease terms and the delayed Broadway subway.
🍵 Richmond’s herbal tea shop shut down after one hard-fought year – Meet Herb is closing as owner Ziki Li leaves Canada.
🍜 A 15 year Richmond pho restaurant served its final bowls – Pho Hoa + Jazen Tea closed in Connaught Plaza July 26.
🎪 The Richmond night market era ends after 26 years – Richmond Night Market says 2026 is its final season.
🥢 West 4th loses another restaurant, an Asian fusion spot after 3 years – Don closed August 3, one day after we reported Simpatico’s 57-year run was over.
🍳 Surrey loses its Melbourne-style brunch cafe after 5 years – Ruex served its last service July 31.
🌶️ Richmond’s 4.5-star Sichuan restaurant has quietly shut down – Szechuan Tales is done after opening in 2022.
🫕 A Richmond hot pot restaurant shut down mid-relocation – Happy Lamb closed its Lansdowne Centre unit July 21, leaving rows of exhaust hoods and no announced successor.
🍔 A “be back soon” sign hangs, but the Main Street retro diner is done – Lucy’s Eastside Diner closed after 16 years, and a health closure, and its stools are part of a $150K sale.
🫒 Beloved West 4th Greek restaurant quietly closes after 57 years – Simpatico left a lease sign as Kitsilano’s only notice.
🦪 A caviar seafood room shut down quietly after eight months – Osetra, the debut restaurant from The Key Collection, closed at the base of the Deloitte Summit building after a permit problem.
🐑 Parker Place’s food court just lost its Xinjiang stall – Jiang Jiang has shut down after roughly four years of lamb skewers and big plate chicken, a rare turnover for the food court.
🍣 A Richmond conveyor belt sushi spot shut down after just 4 months – Mino Club Cafe closed its conveyor belt sushi on June 22, and the space is now up for sale.
🍔 Vancouver’s only outpost of a vegan burger chain shuts down for good – Odd Burger closed its Main Street location less than two years after its November 2024 ribbon cutting.
🍕 Longtime East Van pizza and steak house shuts down after 57 years – Trocadero served its last pizza on May 24, closing the Nanaimo Street institution after the building sold; the space is becoming a daycare.
🍽️ Richmond’s Versante Hotel closes its fine-dining restaurant after nearly 5 years – Bruno opened with the hotel in 2021 and has now permanently closed.
🍱 Family-run Japanese spot near Metrotown shuts down after 35 years – Isami has closed on Kingsway, with its owners retiring as the lease came up.
🍲 A longtime West End Korean restaurant closes after 11 years – Kosoo‘s original Cardero Street location has closed for good.
🍜 World’s largest mazesoba chain drops two Metro Vancouver locations – Kokoro Mazesoba has left Richmond and UBC, though a new CF Richmond Centre spot is still on the way.
🔥 A fake ‘Indigenous’ café was shut down by the Health Department days after opening – the Commercial Drive café was closed for rotten food and unapproved sources after Inez Cook of Salmon n’ Bannock called out its false claims.
🐟 A popular poke shop shut its Kingsway location after barely a year – Pokey Okey served its last bowls on June 22.
🥩 A North Burnaby Greek steakhouse closes after 51 years – Little Billy’s has served its final plate.
☕ A Saigon-style Vietnamese cafe on Victoria Drive has quietly shut down – Hem 377, the East Vancouver specialty cafe, has closed.
🍕 A 14-year Yaletown Italian staple shut down without a goodbye – Robba da Matti has quietly closed its original Yaletown location, open since 2011, with no announcement.
🍝 A Richmond Asian-Italian fusion spot quietly shut down after 5 years – Broli Kitchen, the fusion restaurant from a former Sheraton chef, has quietly closed, spotted by a Noms Mag reader.
🍤 A Burnaby Japanese tempura bowl spot quietly closed after 5 years – Tendon Kohaku shut its Brentwood doors last week.
🥐 North America’s only Japanese-style French croissant cafe is gone after 2 years – Hazukido Cafe+ closed at Aberdeen Centre on June 14.
🫕 A self-serve hot pot spot closed barely a year after opening – Datang Hot Pot‘s renovation text blast turned out to be the end for the Leslie Road malatang spot, which only opened in March 2025.
🥐 A family-run Yaletown croissant shop quietly closed after just over a year – Dulcey has its windows papered up, with Google now listing it as permanently closed.
🍜 A 4.7-star Vietnamese stall quietly shut down after two years – Hight Dragon has closed in Richmond’s Public Market food court, with a new rice noodle spot moving in.
🍚 A sizzling-plate chain has shut its last Canadian location – Pepper Lunch closed its final Canadian outpost in Richmond after arriving in 2015, ending the chain’s national run.
🍜 An Okinawa soba spot is closing its storefront after under a year – Tatchan Noodle is shutting its Strathcona storefront at 383 Raymur Ave on June 26.
🥡 A longtime Crystal Mall food court stall is closing after 18 years – Kingspark Good Food is shutting down on June 7.
🍜 A Tokyo ramen chain is pouring its final yuzu bowls in Metro Van – AFURI is closing both its Metro Vancouver outposts after six years of yuzu-spiked broth.
☕ A longtime Korean cafe on Coquitlam’s North Road is closing after 7 years – Bono Cafe closes for good on May 31, going permanently dark June 1.
🍲 A longtime Aberdeen Centre Korean restaurant is closing and relocating – Man Ri Sung shuts its third-floor Aberdeen Centre spot on June 7 after a decade, then reopens in the mall’s food court by mid-July.
🍩 Popular Kitsilano mochi donut and brunch cafe is closing after 8 years – Their There is shutting down in September on West 4th after lease renewal talks fell apart.
☕ Longtime downtown Blenz outpost quietly shuts down after 20+ years – Blenz Coffee has closed one of its earliest Vancouver outposts on the corner of Robson and Seymour.
🥘 A new Richmond clay pot spot quietly shuts down after just 3 months – Hey Yearn is another quick closure in Richmond’s Union Square.
Without sounding too doom and gloom…know for a fact that the world keeps revolving regardless.
All we can do is cherish the memories we’ve made at these food spots and understand that change is inevitable. Want to see what changes are coming up?
Check out our list of new Vancouver restaurants that recently opened and are opening soon.