Restaurant Awards 2025: The Best Casual Restaurants in Vancouver

Gold: Fat Mao Noodles

A bowl of nham ngeaw (tomato soup piled high with pork ribs, vermicelli, mustard greens, fried garlic and red cotton tree flowers) from gold winner Fat Mao Noodles will surely have your dining partner pulling a Chappell Roan and asking if it’s “casual now”—because even though this category is celebrated for laidback eats, these restaurants take being chill very, very seriously. From the simple but delicious mapo tofu to the glorious braised duck noodles, Fat Mao’s Chinatown and Downtown locations consistently serve up hot bowls of balanced brilliance dreamed up by chef Angus An (our 2025 Chef of the Year).

Multiple locations
fatmaonoodles.com

Silver: Chinatown BBQ

Just a few blocks away from this noodle shop’s downtown digs is silver winner Chinatown BBQ, an unfussy neighbourhood gem known for—you guessed it—kickass barbecue. The barbecue pork is a classic that’s just as good out of a takeout box, but for the full feel-good lazy-Susan experience you’ll want to dine inside the cozy room splashed with vintage art and abuzz with regulars. And, while we’re celebrating casual eats in this category, Chinatown BBQ’s more glamourous dishes  also deserve a nod: for a showstopper, order the Chef’s Secret recipe barbecue goose two days in advance.

130 E Pender St.
chinatownbbq.com

Bronze: AJ’s Brooklyn Pizza Joint

In fact, you’ll also want to plan ahead a bit to grab a pie at bronze winner AJ’s Brooklyn Pizza Joint—if you haven’t been, you can spot this restaurant from the consistent lineup of pizza-hungry patrons sheltering from the rain under East Broadway awnings. Once inside, it’s obvious why so many are willing to wait: it takes the team three days to make the doughy foundation of these massive pies. Diners choose from New York, Sicilian style or deep-dish Detroits, and it’s tough to go wrong. Actually, with the spirit of a Brooklynite, we’ll give it to you straight: the Roni Detroit is elite. Crispy pepperoni curled into cups tops this thick legend of a dish, and the cheesy corners that lace artfully up around the crust are an architectural marvel.

325 E Broadway
ajsbrooklynpizzajoint.com

Honourable Mentions

La Grotta del Formaggio
1791 Commercial Dr.
lagrottadelformaggio.com

Skewers
26 Powell St.
skewerspitabar.com

Find more of the best Vancouver restaurants on our list of 2025 Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Award winners.