Mexican Restaurant Sal y Limón Expands to Commercial Drive

There was a specific moment in our recent taco draft in which I knew I had lost. After making the excellent Top Rope Birria my second pick, the draft went to our food editor, Neal McLennan, for two consecutive picks. I was hoping against hope that Neal’s Gen X mindset and preference for the West Side would mean that he wouldn’t snag Fraserhood’s Sal y Limón.

Of course, being the crusty veteran he is, Neal didn’t hesitate and took it with his second pick. And while I ended up finishing as a decently close runner up, there was no stopping Sal y Limón’s popularity from propelling Neal to a victory. (Granted, he also had some excellent other picks in Chancho, Popina Cantina and Carnitas El Rolys.)

The same folks that voted for Neal and who make Sal y Limón one of the surest bets to have a lineup out the door any time of the week will surely be over the moon with the news that the eatery is opening up a second Vancouver locale on Commercial Drive. (Unfortunately, going that far east is in strict violation of Neal’s status as a pompous westsider.)

Already boasting locations in South Surrey and at the airport, it seems that—at least according to a piece of paper plastered to the inside of the old Starbucks that used to sit at Commercial and 2^nd—that Sal y Limón is coming to Commercial Drive.

That Starbucks is just one of many that have been vacated in the city since the pandemic arrived. And while it’s tough to see millennials lose their emergency option for a café to work at if all the cool spots are packed, we can only hope that the rest of them are taken over by places like Sal y Limón.