Restaurant Awards 2024: Best Casual Restaurants in Vancouver

Want a great meal without too much fuss? These Vancouverites have a casual vibe and next-level dishes.

The Best Casual Restaurants in Vancouver 2024

Gold: Chancho Tortilleria

Who better than a taco joint to take top honours in a category that celebrates the culinary art of no-fuss dining? Casually earning themselves gold for the second year in a row since relocating to the Drive, Chancho Tortilleria maintains its excellence in delivering what our judges called “near perfection” carnitas—hand-chopped to order—and tortillas so well-constructed they’ve revolutionized this town’s taco game. The colourful new space only adds to the experience, ensuring every visit is as fresh as the food itself.

2096 Commercial Dr.
chancho.ca

Chancho

Silver: Street Hawker

Silver goes to Street Hawker, where chef Justin Cheung’s “crave-worthy flavours and epic concoctions” take you on a nostalgic trip down memory lane with a neon-tinged, ’90s arcade twist. Think juicy burgers that demand a stash of napkins and milkshakes that you can’t—and shouldn’t—resist, like the Milo Dino (malted chocolate) shake. “The General Tao Crusher chicken sando packed me to the gills and tingled my tastebuds,” admitted one judge.

3088 Main St.
streethawker.ca 

Street Hawker burger
Street Hawker. Photo: Rich Won

Bronze: Fat Mao Noodles

Snagging bronze is Fat Mao Noodles, where chef and owner Angus An captivates with his bold Thai flavours. Whether it’s the classic hot and sour pork noodles or the two locations’ signature soups, each dish testifies to the restaurant’s vibrancy.

983 Helmcken St.
fatmaonoodles.com

Fat Mao. Photo: Olivia Horrell

Honourable Mentions: Motonobu Udon and La Grotta del Formaggio

Honourable mentions Motonobu Udon and La Grotta del Formaggio serve, respectively, Japanese comfort at its finest and an Italian experience so authentic you might just hear the gondoliers.

Motonobu Udon, 3501 E Hastings St., motonobuudon.ca
La Grotta del Formaggio, 1791 Commercial Dr., lagrottadelformaggio.com

Find more of the best Vancouver restaurants on our list of 2024 Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Award winners.