Why is the City Making it so Hard to Visit the Amazing Molli Cafe?

Or how endless, brainless, construction is keeping you from the city’s freshest Mexican food.

Our offices are in the “tony” enclave of South Granville, which means we’re very well situated for the buying of children’s bedding and very pricey women’s cardigans, but for the most part s.o.l. when it comes to walking somewhere for lunch (although we’re all quite excited that Jamjar has moved into the old Rangoli space and Rangoli into the old Vij’s space).Which means more often than not, I’m hopping in my car and driving someplace that grabs me (which is how I came last week to dumpling nirvana on Gore St.).  Earlier this week it was the lauded Molli Cafe that was calling me. The modern, casual Mexican spot is perfect for a quick lunch (or they’ll happily do take out) and my pal, and VanMag Restaurant Awards judge, Lee Man, Instagrams the place so often (he’s an uber-fan) that it’s never far from my taste buds. Plus it’s just off Burrard and Davie, so only a short drive from VM HQ.Yeah, right.The wizards at the city have closed the entire west side of Burrard and the majority of the east side as well, so there’s no parking anywhere near the front. You can try to park on one of the side streets but then you are looking for parking in the West End, a task which handily surpasses arachnophobia as Vancouverites’ number one fear. Or you can always park on Davie—that’s always super easy. After 13 minutes of driving around I actually gave up and headed back—hungry—to South Granville…only to get caught in another traffic jam on Pacific because the aforementioned wizards at the city have also closed the free flow lane onto the Burrard bridge.But Lee posted another picture today and I thought, honestly, I’m not going to let the nabobs win this round. So I drove back and after less then nine minutes I did, in fact, find a spot. And I was rewarded richly for my perseverance. When people (by which I mean critics) say that flavours are pure I always think, “so what”? Peanut butter on white bread—that’s a pure taste and while I love it I’m not going to drive around Davie Village to get it. But Molli’s approach to Mexican food is pure. There’s now more than a few spots in town that can craft a nice tinga de pollo taco, but it’s only at Molli that I feel like I can taste the flavour and especially the freshness of each of the requisite elements that go into that ‘lil handful of joy. So I had four.And I was so happy that I turned back on Pacific and got in that same flipping traffic jam, but this time with a smile on my face.

Molli Cafe

1225 Burrard St.mollicafe.com