Vancouver: The Elbow Room

The last time I was in Vancouver, I had so much fun with the Elbow Room’s wacky waitstaff I had to go back. Plus, my nephew is a burger fan and they make what is known as the best burger in Van.

The elbow room is a local institution at 560 Davie Street, a cute little cafe that is sparse but comfy. The real attraction, besides the food is the amazing staff that you can’t help but love.

The Elbow Room was started in 1983 by Patrick Savoie, an ex-teacher and Brian Searle, an insurance adjuster. It’s original location, at 720 Jervis Street, was located in the first mayor of Vancouver’s house, and was declared a heritage building. At first Bryan did dishes and Patrick cooked. We had one employee, Vera McKee, who waited tables…We now have 52 seats, a staff of 10-12 and abusing customers from all over Canada, the US and the world.

They do have some crazy-ass burgers. Check these out

Tom Select Burger
Topped with bacon, pineapple, peach slices and camembert cheese.

Trucker Burger
Mushroom, baby shrimp, bacon avocado, a fried egg and cheddar cheese

The Chad Lowe
(For the meat lover, a.k.a. ‘ The F ‘ ing Kidding Burger ‘ )
Two 8 oz patties, sautéed mushrooms and red onions, bacon, pepperoni, B.B.Q. and HP sauce.

But being the princess I am, I ordered

Princess Burger
Bacon, sliced avocado, feta and camembert cheese.

Thick, juicy, feta-y…truly a great burger. We also split an amazing fresh banana-blueberry shake

We had room to split one more thing. Now, if you don’t finish your food at The Elbow Room you get a spanking. You can sometimes talk them into accepting a donation to A Loving Spoonful, but they really do try for that spanking. One way to avoid a spanking is to bring a college boy because 1. They can finish any plate of food 2. They are more tempting spanking bait 3. They are probably used to that kind of thing what with the hazing and such. OK here is a sample of the menu. Guess which treat we ordered?

A. Savoury Pancake
Bacon, Cheese, Sausage or a Combination

B. Banana Walnut French Toast (No Jenny Craig here)
Made with pound cake. It’s delicious and very rich.
Add Bacon, Sausage or Ham? $2.75
Add Blackberries,Blueberries,Strawberries,Banana,or Raspberries $2.00

C. Evelyn Hilderbrant
A large cinnamon bun, grilled as French toast.

D. Administrative Assistant
Banana, green apple slices, and orange wedges, with a blueberry yogurt and Muffin (cranberry bran or Blueberry Peach). No eggs. No meat. Nothing to clog your precious arteries.

That is correct, sir! C – a French-toasted cinnamon bun. Woohoo! Halfway through our burger, we were confronted by our wild-haired waitress, “What’s the matter with your french toast?”

“Nothing. We’re eating in courses.”

“Yeah, that’s our dessert.”

“Ohhh dessert! Well, dessert!” She ran off and returned with a giant can of Reddi-whip. “Now it’s dessert!”

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