Reviews of Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House (Restaurant)

Filipe Lopes

Walked in close to 6pm on Sunday, party of 2, was seated right away. Good service. Restaurant a bit on the noisy side but it was fun when the pianist started performing. My husband and I both ordered the cioppino and it was the best we've had in a long time. Very fresh, excellent flavored broth and good value. Overall a pricey restaurant though; we'll save it for special events!

Sandra Gabarros

We were here for happy hour. We had to wait about 20 mins to get a table. It was really busy on a Sunday afternoon. The price is not expensive for the portion and quality. $1 oysters and sweet potato fries stood out for us. The lobster roll was alright. Could be tastier. The calamari looked good but was a little bland. The kids had fish and chips and pasta from the kids menu. The portions were huge! Service was from the hostess was great. Less so for the wait staff.

George Barjak

Nice place , great food and lovely service;)

Michael Larkin

Meal type

Kostya Gradushy

Always a super good experience here. Waited for over a year to come back, and already want to go there again. This time we booked for the rooftop seating, excellent choice on a beautiful summer day. ☺️

Richard Quan

Really good option for a variety of seafood! Love their happy hour deals, especially the shrimp cocktail! Best cocktail sauce I've ever had & the shrimps were soo juicy. I could eat 10 of them alone tbh

Ray J

The BEST seafood I ever had was at this place!! The lobster oil mixed with balsamic vinegar was a brilliant idea and I regret it everyday that I didn’t buy a bottle of their lobster oil. The staff and service were also amazing and I’m so happy we kept adding our names to the waiting list until we finally got a table during our stay in Vancouver. You have to try Joe Fortes if you’re ever in the city. Be mindful the items are very expensive though!!

al may

Service

Cheese Arrows

The seafood linguine @joefortesvan is pasta-tively delicious Dining at Joe Fortes feels like spending time with a great friend, always there …

Ann Charby

David was our server and everything was perfect! Thank you. My best friend had a very nice birthday :)

Derek Purvis

I was visiting Vancouver from Toronto. I had the pleasure of dining at Joe Fortes on Monday July 5, 2021 for lunch. I have to say that the service at this restaurant was of utmost professionalism. It may have been the best service I ever received at a restaurant. First off, Rita, our primary server, was nothing short of stellar. Her recommendations were all top notch and she was unbelievable at ensuring my girlfriend and I were ok throughout our entire lunch. Cam also took part in serving us and was very impressive at checking up on our table as well. I also want to shout out Matt and Collin. Their efforts really made us feel welcomed and they showed that serving a table can be a full team effort. These four individuals were stellar at their job and truly break the standard for what good service is meant to be. Whenever I am in Vancouver, Joe Fortes will be a must visit during all of my trips. Thanks again guys and keep up the amazing work. Apart from the service, the food was stellar. The lobster and oysters were to die for and I won't pass up an opportunity to have them again the next time I am in Vancouver.

Benjamin Dawson

Excellent service, prompt even when busy, and beyond friendly. Plus, the food was fantastic. Happy hour win!

Alina Sirenko

Service

Wei Ye

Dine in

A S

The sea food is really good. The table space is really tight not comtable at all. But the ambiance is superb

Luke L'sk

Beautiful interior with a 1800’s vibe and an uplifting atmosphere. The food taste really good and the portion is more than enough for one person. I would suggest the waffle chicken. The staff are welcoming and very friendly.

Hyemin Son

Amazing experience here. Food was exceptional as well as with our server and staff. Personally the filet mignon was overpriced was what it was. The only bad part about the visit was the size of the table. We were literally given a tea-table for our meal and everything felt so crammed. Despite making a reservation a week ahead, the table was a disappointment, especially when you see a person eating by himself right next to using a 4seated table. Smh.

Paul S.O. Barbeau

A great place with a classy atmosphere that doesn't let you down on service, quality or price. Great sea food options. I had the bar tenders recommendations of mixed oysters that rival Tasmania for entre and Black cod Grill for my main. Even the coffee is great.

Péter Lukács

My wonderful partner surprised me with a visit to this lovely establishment tonight! We haven’t even left, but I feel compelled to leave a 5 star review! That’s how amazing the food, atmosphere and service is! (The Salmon & Trout are both excellent!)

Sheren

Lunch

Stefan Aufenanger

We went during happy hour, so we expected it to be full. Right away the hostess, told us we could have a table IF we would finish within 1.5 hours, which was kinda rude. We decided to stay, the food was slightly better than average, and a bit over priced. The pictures are of fried calamari, fried oysters & truffle fries.

Roderick Luna

Service

Vivian Jey

First time visiting for my sisters birthday and we absolutely loved it! The atmosphere is very relaxing and has amazing vibes with the live piano. Everyone been so friendly and the waiter made sure we like our food since we asked for few modifications on the sauce for main course and appetizers. Ordered Tiger Prawns with Basil aioli and Jalapeño aioli and it was delicious! Calamari was absolutely fresh and crispy. Main course which was the pasta could have been better (would give 3/5) but still fresh and tasty. Really liked the fact that they brought a complimentary Tiramisu for the birthday girl right after we finished the food. Will definitely go back whenever we crave seafood.

Momma J On the Move

Joe fortes used to be our go to for a nice meal and celebrations but won’t be going back after our last experience. -made reservations at 8:30, didn’t get seated until 8:50 -waited 15 min to get the menu and ordered right away since we were starving at this point -didn’t get bread until 9:30 -food finally comes out at 9:50 -our server disappears for the rest of the night and we never get a refill of drinks or bread. While waiting, we see two mice running around the adjacent table! -10:30 finally able to flag down a server to get the bill For a fine dining restaurant, the service was pathetic and the food was mediocre. I’ve had better service at McDonald’s. will go to the keg or hys next time. Completely disappointing from our past experiences.

Josh Wood

ShawOpen wifi available A great spot for seafood Lovely interior Ordered the sable fish, tiger prawn cocktail, ahi tuna and tiramisu- food was great and I would come back!

Tina Jalandoni

Meal type

Elisha Kainth

The Westcoast Seafood platter was decent; a ton of food for two, a lot of options. Everything ends up tasting the same though. Service was very meh... we got seated in a super small table, had to wait an extra half hour even though we had a reservation, and got told that we would have to wait again if we wanted to change tables. For a place charging $100 a head, I'd expect to be treated a little better, but I guess they only cater to old white folks.

Jonathan Freeman

The food was so good, absolutely fabulous. The portions were a good size. The service was excellent. Prices are high but worth it for what you get. I highly recommend this restaurant if you want to treat yourself and your partner to a wonderful dinner, you won't be disappointed. I was very impressed.

Shannon Li

Top quality food and great service. I am a repeat customer and always impressed with each visit. One of the best restaurants in Vancouver, BC for many years.

Antonino Pizzolato

Came to Joe Fortes for a belated birthday dinner with my partner. Given their reputation, we were quite let down by the experience. We could not find or flag our waiter - or anyone else for that matter - for a number of instances throughout the night. This largely took away from the pacing of our meal as we were waiting for lots of items such as more condiments, cutlery, water etc. Their crab cakes were amazing. Unfortunately, we were not impressed with our mains. The ribeye was quite tough and unseasoned. There was not a lot of marbling throughout. We would have brought this up to our server if he had checked in on us once. It was a disappointing experience which did not make us feel like we were celebrating a special night.

Joving Kalbo

Lunch

Linzi Voth

Disappointing experience. Came here for happy hour for a birthday celebration. The food was good but did not come out at the same time. We waited 15-20 minutes for the last person's food to arrive. By that time the rest of our meals were cold. The server was overly pushy about ordering more drinks. When the server asked us if we were ordering anymore food and said no, she immediately came over with the bills and machine to pay. I had a full drink and my friend had her full drink and food that she was still eating. My friend had to leave her food unfinished as another server came to clear the table. It seemed we were pushed out as soon as we said we weren't ordering any more food but were still eating and drinking. Very disappointed with the service. This was my first time at Joe Fortes and my last. Considering it was my birthday celebration with friends, this visit left a sour taste.

Harold Pang

Beautiful upscale restaurant. We were very underdressed and had no reservation. They got us a table and were very friendly. The service was impeccable and the food was grand.

Bradley Harper

Outstanding service and food. Seafood linguine is my fave. The brunch is also excellent, huge french toast and delicious lobster benny. The chocolate sin cake is very good and huge, might as well share it. Pavlova is one of the best I've ever had. The restaurant can be very loud, specially downstairs next to the bar (ask for a booth or a table upstairs if you prefer something quiet). Reservation is recommended.

Josh Chen

Hands down the best calamari I've ever tasted. Literally perfect, I don't even want to eat calamari anywhere else again cause nothing will compare. Great service too, sat at the bar and was served by Carina, must say she is very good at her job, was helped the second I sat down and my food was ordered within minutes. Only in town visiting for the weekend but will definitely be back again before my visit is over.

Tyrone Lumbo

Me and my husband came for lunch. Its our first time in Vancouver! Amazing and fresh seafood. Its a chilled seafood but they're all seasoned well and tasty. Their sauces are so different and delicious. Bring out the seafood taste a lot. If you are a tourist and never been to Vancouver, highly recommend this place. Better booked ahead or walkin at lunch time only

I W

First time dinning here, for our 4th wedding anniversary. Drinks and food are expensive but worth it as they are really good ???????? But our server didn't check on us as much as he did with the couple next to our table, which is disappointing coz I have to raise my hand to get his attention. Nonetheless it's a great experience.. The place is busy even with the pandemic and I'm surprised it's probably coz of The amazing food..

Diana S

The food was so good and the service was nice. Thx

Carolyn Chen

Dine in

Linh Tran

Fresh oysters + watermelon salad + rose wine + rooftop patio = beautiful lunch! Friendly and personable service by Corina & Mirela!

Colton Pinchin

A Vancouver institution. Excellent friendly service. Clean. All protocols in place. Great for brunch. $$

Julie Brooks

Joe Fortes is practically an institution in Vancouver… and what’s not to love about this downtown eatery? Well, I suppose the one thing that I dislike is how busy they are. That’s probably one of the reasons why we haven’t returned for many years. In July of this year, we came back for a revisit to celebrate a birthday and to have their Seafood Tower on Ice ($77.95 per tier). But first… the complimentary crusty bread with lobster oil and balsamic vinegar dipping sauce… oh so good! They also brought us out some complimentary blackened ahi tuna bites (bonus!). On previous occasions, we were seated in the upper floor and it can get quite noisy with all of the people. This time, we were tucked away in a back corner near the wine cabinets (it looked like a tall library, complete with a ladder, but with bottles of wine instead of books). I actually appreciated the quieter setting so we could hear each other speak while we enjoyed our Halo Strawberry and Rosemary Paloma ($8 each). Now for the seafood tower… The price has gone up since the last time we visited and comes with chilled Atlantic lobster (1/2 of a 1.5lb lobster), local oysters, marinated clams and mussels, scallop ceviche, albacore tuna crudo, and chilled jumbo prawns. I suppose this should be considered more of a seafood “platter” (unless you order multiple tiers) but they do serve it elevated on a platform. One thing for sure is that it is quite filling. Did I mention that we also ordered some other dishes as well? The Oysters Rockefeller ($22.95), Brussels Sprouts ($9.95) and the Petit Filet Mignon ($49.95 6oz). The filet mignon, which they divided in half on separate plates for us, was really tender and came with asparagus, café de paris butter gratin, and potato pavé (similar to an elegant scalloped potatoes side). To be honest, we only managed to eat a bit of this dish as we were quite full. The Brussels sprouts were really good and had large chunks of bacon which complimented the fried sprouts. Speaking of large… we weren’t expecting how large the oysters were going to be in the Oysters Rockefeller dish. Each shell was overflowing in large, plump, oysters (prepared with a spinach, pernod, and hollandaise)… it was almost like eating 8 large oysters. Although we were stuffed, they did bring us out this complimentary half serving of Tahitian Vanilla Creme Brulee with house-made biscotti and whipped cream. Seriously, the food here is amazing and the portion size and quality makes the price worth it. Service, as always, is also quite good.

Tammie Phan

My friend and I had an exceptional experience at Joe Fortes. Our server, Michael, was friendly and knowledgable. The mussels were among the best that I've ever had. The mac and cheese was also fantastic. The restaurant itself has old world class, but the atmosphere is friendly. One can go here for a business meeting, catchup with friends, or an anniversary dinner. I also love how the restaurant is named after Joe Fortes, a Vancouver legend. If I could change anything, I wish there were a few plant-based entrees so that I could share this amazing restaurant with a wider circle of friends.

Jora Nijjar

Dine in

JJ Banguis

The best happy hour for seafood lovers hands down.

Lauren Wolfe

My friends and I went during their happy hour! The portion sizes were perfect and not too expensive either. I recommend the corn/crab cakes - so yummy!

Chrissa K

Great service. Good food. Bit pricey, but its definitely worth checking out.

Tony Imoo

Went there for happy hour, arrived at about 3:45 and put my name on the happy hour wait list. There are two separate wait lists, one for happy hour, the other one for regular dinner. Got seated at 5:30. Ordered everything we wanted before 6. The waitress was great, food came out surprisingly fast for how busy they were. The fresh raw oysters were amazing. Lobster rolls, delicious. Calamari, good. Beef Carpaccio, okay. Fried oysters, ehh. Definitely go if you have a chance but be prepared to wait.

kim bee

Always a pleasure. Vibrant atmosphere, attentive staff, excellent food to be expected from such a renowned establishment. Come here for brunch. Cone here for dinner. Come here for Oyster Happy Hour. You wont ever regret it.

Anisa _

Dinner

JJ Johnson

Was gooooood. Not sure if the Steel Head Trout on mushroom risotto is part of the regular menu, but it should be. It was so freaken good I'd go back just for that. Not cheap, but totally was worth it.

cjd randoms

Meal type

Ed WANG

Meal type

Perry Farazi

Oyster happy hour was amazing!!! Thought it might be so so because it’s in such a tourist zone but it was my fav oyster happy hour of 3 places I had on my YVR trip. Our server & oyster shuckster at the oyster bar were passionate and wonderful! Get the specials of course, but try all the premium ones too. Had some great surprises like the sawmill bays :) tapped out at 23 oysters, I think that’s my PB!

Kathleen Joei

Safe,comfortable and kid friendly environment for a delicious brunch. It's a lot of potato though, highly recommended to substitute it with a salad (if multiple people are having brunch food).

Crisp Lenz

Service

Ivon Liu

Absolutely fantastic and I mean everything. From the facilities to the staff to the food. We ordered almost everything from the happy hour menu and it was great. The waiters not only serve, they are entertainers and very attentive. If anyone asks me where to eat in Vancouver, I will say Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House.

RN Benjamin

Awesome dining experience. A Vancouver classic. Service is always top notch which matches the quality of the food.

Joe Lee

Went there with friends last night for some birthday drinks - the food and the drinks were amazing!! However our server was not very receptive or accommodating to us at all. I understand it was a busy night for all restaurants but she made our time there feel stressful. There was no asking if we were here for anything special, she continuously only asked us about our entrees even though we had said we’ll probably just stick with appetizers and drinks and seemed annoyed with our answer. The only time her attitude changed was after we left her a good tip. We still had a great night and everything else was incredible - especially the other server who dropped off our lobster oil at the end of the night! He was great :)

Carina Ng

Don’t sit at the bar closest to the door during the the winter months. It’s worse than the North Pole. Everything was amazing but I was physically shivering the entire time.

Priscila de Paula

Holy cow! This place was amazing! Wine list that goes off into the sunset it was so long. Absolutely outstanding service, phenomenal food, upscale atmosphere with a laid-back attitude. And a live pianist! I would wear a collared shirt next time tho. While nobody said anything or treated me any different, this place is little more than casual dining.

A. Christine Slater

It was great they have the best sea food

Stephanie C

My boyfriend took me here to celebrate my birthday, and we had an amazing experience. This is a classic seafood and chop house with a modern twist. The food was amazingly fresh and nicely presented. We took a long time to decide what to order because as usual, we wanted everything. Our waiter Wade was so friendly and patient and made us feel very welcoming. Our water glasses were never empty during the entire stay of our visit. They started us with bread, dipping in lobster infused olive oil and balsamic vinegar. We got the seafood platter, lamb chop and seafood cioppino. Everything was delicious, good portion size and reasonable priced ($$$). Though the cioppino could be a bit more spicier. Live pianist played during the night we visited (Friday), classic and elegant. A really great date night experience.

D Rose

Spend 100 dollars after tax order seafood tower , cheap seafood combination, only half frozen lobster in this dish , so cheap . Never come again

Camilla le

Love their Poke Bowl and their seafood tower. Our server this time made the experience so much better with his upbeat mood and attitude. Tom/Tommy (I think his name was) thank you ❤ you are one of a few servers that made my dining experience perfect.

Karen Guy

Excellent experience! Our server Brian was very friendly and attentive. We didn’t feel like we had to wait for anything and he was brief with each interaction which was a bonus. As for the food, WOW! NY 12oz and prawns were incredible. That easily made the top of the list for one of the best dinners I have ever had in Vancouver.

Ian Gendur

Service

Vivian Chiu

Meal type

Chelsea Carpio

Meal type

Sylvie El-Hajjar

If you are looking for a nice steak or seafood try this place as you will not be disappointed. It is best to make a booking as they can be quite busy on Fridays and the weekend. The lighting here is subdued so you can relax a bit more and enjoy yourself..

Ronnie Fuentes

Dinner

Kenny Jones

Other

Kushwant Bussawah

Fine-dining prices for haphazardly executed bistro fare. After finally getting around to trying this iconic Vancouver establishment, I was deeply disappointed with the food and ambiance. The mussels were just so-so, the brussel sprouts were very salty and greasy, and the calamari was encased in the thickest batter I’ve ever encountered in my life! You’d think a place like this would know better than to be so heavy handed, and instead, let the delicate seafood shine. I’m glad we weren’t too hungry and didn’t spring for the bigger (and pricier) mains. Lastly, I’m really shocked out how people in this city dress — or don’t dress — to dine out these days. At these prices, I expect to have a “nice meal out” not surrounded by folks in shorts, tees, and runners. Womp womp.

Sally Lam

The staffs are very nice and welcoming. I absolutely loved the first front staff member that welcomed me in because he was very chatty, very nice and inviting. Our waitress was very nice, understanding and knowledgeable even tho she was new to the restaurant. I absolutely loved the food and drinks. Everything was great. I would rate this restaurant 6 stars if I could. One last thing, clients should be offered a barcode to scan the menu. I had trouble holding the menu on my small table. :( I only found the barcode after struggling with holding the menu.

Jessica Hong

I took a friend for her birthday on Monday. Impeccable service. Live piano player (on the stairs no less). An aura befitting a palace. The seafood tower was like catching a ???? - a rare prize indeed.

Alex Arellano

I truly wish I could give this establishment a 0 for this review. My friend took me here to have a true fine dining experience, and what I was left with was an understanding of how empty and tasteless the world of money is. The food was the most lack luster, bland and boring meal I have ever had. The spectacle of the restaurant made me feel like I'd at least get good service, but the server rushed us the entire meal. I went for dine out and I wish I could have ran away. The lobster bisque was just butter, the steak was sub par at best, the only good part of the meal was the lobster oil and bread and the waiter whisked it away before I could finish. The rice in the risotto was not edible and undercooked. I suspect that the dessert was removed from a package and defrosted. I'm disappointed and bored because the expectations for Joe Forte's was high but the experience was a low!

Helen Park

Dine in

Rhicke Jennings

Dinner

Ken Butchko

We went here twice while we were in town and enjoyed it. We sat at the bar and had $1 oysters, plus their clams, which came in a delicious cream sauce. We had a couple of different types of red wine and enjoyed ourselves. They have a couple of local "regulars" who sit at the bar and get very drunk and loud, but that's anywhere. Jamie was our bartender and he was fantastic!

Lauren Kennedy

Service is always great no matter what time of the day. For those that don't realise, they're open for brunch and it's delicious... On …

Jamie Learning

I had a slight complication with my food, but they did everything to correct their mistake. I feel delighted with how management handled the situation and will be going back again very soon!

Kristy Ng

The place is amazing and full of old school charm. Wade, our waiter, was top notch ???? I had sablefish which was the best fish I've ever had and my husband was very impressed with his pork chop. We topped it off with best creme brulee ???????? ...highly recommend this place so worth the $$ and reservation.

Rich Moore

Great seafood served with nice piano music in company! Very friendly staff! Very impressed with its deep fried jumbo onion rings! Trio seafood with extra jumbo scallop is a bit of pricy considering its size. Like its desserts!

Mihaela Georgescu

It was great they have the best sea food

Barefoot Centipede

Meal type

Z D

Excellent service and food, a staple of Vancouver's cuisine. There was a great piano player entertaining us inside. The outside terrasse is spacious, beautiful and covered allowing for great outdoor dining.

Leo Donatelli

Amazing food as always! My hubby and I came here for their happy hour and all of the seafood was so fresh and tasty. Will come back again for the oysters

Sheree Soloman

I like this restaurant’s oysters. Was fresh and a nice size. I usually go here happy hour time. Also, I strongly recommend fries too.

Brad Veinot

Delicious and amazing service! From the cocktails, to the bread, to the mains, the food and drink were impeccable. Service was attentive and consistent without being smothering.

Josh Stewart

Nice meal, service very good and quite accommodating. Classy... there was a piano playing during our meal. On the pricy side, but we were aware going in.

Julian “Mighty Jules” Taylor

The atmosphere, restaurant, service in this restaurant are exceptional. Being one of Vancouvers top known restaurants it does the job. Oysters and seafood are always fresh, excellent wine menu. I don’t think the restaurant is unique and the food isn’t that great.

Angela Q

Underwhelmed by the rude greeting, the general experience was not very impressive. The service was perfect, and we loved the venue. However, although the presentation of the west coast platter was absolutely wonderful, crab and lobster were very dry and tasteless. Scallops and oysters were perfect, good mussels and prawns.

Elsy Chow

Great service! Great food! Amazing place! Friendly staff!

Hamed Soltani

Dine in

Gary C

Dine in

Aom Hildebrand

I had dinner with some colleagues from work a while back and what a great night. Really fresh fish and seafood. I had the Arctic Char and was thoroughly impressed. It really was as good as advertised.

Gillahad

Meal type

Heather Mcdaniel

It was really very nice experience!

Shea Riley

Great atmosphere and we had enjoy the Dine-in menu with fabulous price. We ordered fish n chip and fresh Oyster on the side. The Kusshi oyster taste perfect. Highly recommended for anyone who lives here are visiting Vancouver????????

Samantha Dangubic

Elegant dining experience. The building has obvious history and makes efficient use of the space. Some areas looked a little crowded for my personal comfort so they were kind enough to sit us in an area with a little more room between tables and less people walking by. The happy hour specials were a good way to try a variety of their menu. The crab & corn fritters were light with a fluffy inside and crunchy exterior which came with a surprising jalapeño dip instead of the sun-dried tomato one they mentioned. The prawn tacos were juicy and flavourful; also spicy. The jumbo tempera prawns were exactly that with a light batter and enjoyable garlic aioli sauce. The "Crush" specialty cocktail was fruity and sour; a nice palate cleanser between the appies. The Panna cotta dessert still has me salivating; even on a full stomach. The custard was rich without being overly sweet.

Ezz Ghanem

service was great by eddie, happy hour good oyster and calamari but the dinner rip eye steak was a big disappointment, lobster oil is tasty

Jeri Connell

Very good restaurant and good offer of fish dishes. The selection of drinks is huge and the portions leave you full. Our service was extremely friendly and very talkative. The prices are reasonable for Vancouver. The locality is very nice, but to be able to talk it is actually too loud. The salmon we ordered was very fresh and tasted excellent, the green beans were already cold when serving. Nevertheless very good restaurant and very recommendable.

Richard Shine

The food and atmosphere, piano player, and servers were all very amazing! The only downfall is we were at a tiny 2 person table in an awkward spot and weren't given the option to sit elsewhere. But the service was impeccable and very much made up for the seating. The food was beyond delicious!

Ning Ann

Amazing service. Food was delicious, especially the crab cake.

Anita P

Revisiting this gem and will always highly recommended. Great foods, lovely ambiance, staff are friendly and attentive. Joe Fortes is definitely a-must visit for Vancouver!

Chancellor Kingsmyth

Service

Dillon Ray

The service was nice and warm. The food and osyters are always great. Definitely one of the best and one of my favourite restaurants.

Y L

Delicious food and friendly service. Our server was amazing with helping select our meals that evening! We got calamari to start which is a must try. My wife and I ordered a steak and fish and chips to share both cooked to perfection and came out hot. Then the best part DESSERT.. we had the creme brule also must try!!

Tyler Waggle

Excelent ..really good seafood

Nadeem P

Go to Black & Blue or Hy's if you want a good steak. Everything was ok/edible but not wow. And if I'm paying $200 for 2 people for dinner, it should be much better than just edible. Steak was under seasoned (which should never happen at a high end steak place), oysters were great but can get those anywhere in Van. The vegetable sides aith the steak were straight up gross, not flavorful. Fish and chips were decent but Steveston had better fish and chips.

Natalie Moon

Anyone who visits Vancouver needs to come eat here, and anyone who lives here who hasn’t been here before has no idea what they’ve been missing out on. One of the best restaurants in the city, an actual institution. Even if you’re not crazy about seafood! Haven’t had the chance to fully take advantage of the delicious looking menu, I mostly like to come here for brunch or happy hour, I imagine dinner is fantastic too. The food is absolutely delicious, the service is pretty top notch, you can’t beat the location and the restaurant itself is pretty nice too, especially if you get to sit on the second floor. The happy hour and brunch menu’s are just fantastic. The weekend brunch menu, isn’t the cheapest around but boy is it worth it, simply delicious and the portions are enormous. The Benedict’s are real good, wasn’t very impressed with my breakfast sandwich order. Always a good time here and the Beef Carpaccio is one of the best off the happy hour menu! Make sure to get here early because there’s always, always a wait!

Nicholas Quintillan

Dine in

Jamie Kerr

Service

Most Rahaman

The food and atmosphere was stupendous. The oyster happy hour from 3-5 was definitely worth it. Don't be discouraged by the FULL RESERVATIONS in the website or when you call. If you show up around 2:30 they can put you on a waiting list and get you in. It's definitely worth the wait. The oysters and cocktails were remarkable. The staff was very knowledgeable and friendly. The tables were a little close. We will definitely make this a "must go" on our next visit to Vancouver.

James Tanliao

Had to scan QR upon entry for proof of vaccination. Seating was a little too close together for comfort knowing that virus can still spread. Food was fantastic. I recommend the Halibut which is perfect. Oysters were yummy, though in my opinion ponzu sauce tastes best on them with hint of lemon and a drop of Tabasco, but that is just me. Everyone loved their food. The waiter was informative and helpful. Company was fantastic. The pianist played amazing music. Great evening out with friends. Like I mentioned before, seating is to close amidst a pandemic. Otherwise it would have been 5 stars.

Chris

What sets apart a good restaurant from a great one is service. Joe Fortes is a GREAT restaurant. Consistently amazing service on top of an impeccable menu. Can't recommend enough.

R Broome

A must visit in Vancouver. Every dish is carefully prepared and cooked to perfection. The service is the best I have ever received in my life. I visit every time I’m in Vancouver and even received a Christmas card from my go-to server.

Baran Fahimipour

Very good restaurant and super worth at happy hour, there is a happy hour menu on my photo, it’s definitely worth it. Recommend people if you are celebrating some important event, you should go there! But except happy hour will be a bit pricey! I had a great time celebrating my girlfriend’s birthday!! Really good! I definitely will go there next time

M Villarica

Dinner

Igor

One of the most popular Brunch staples in Vancouver. Great food and amazing vibe, it can get busy on weekends so reservations are recommended.

Joshua Sundvick

$$$$ Good but expensive... Wide variety of Sea food... …

Brian Mason

Meal type

Krista Robinson

Service, atmosphere and food all exceeded expectations. Sablefish and Shellfish Provencal were amazing! Sablefish melts in your mouth and the Provencal sauce was so good you could put it on anything.

Marissa L.

Good selection of wine Lobster oil with bread = A1 Service = A1 You need to book a table or else wait time can be long

Dan M

Great Vancouver restaurant. Their brunch is so delicious. Recommend sharing the coffee cake. The coffee cake flavour changes often and comes with a side of honey butter. Also a great place for seafood. Often has live piano music.

Kelso 002

Dine in

Sarrie Bui

The staff made us feel very welcome. The calamari appetizer was the best I’ve ever had ( better than Stephos). Only one complaint is that my steak had three bites of gristle. But maybe you should not go to a seafood restaurant and order beef. At any rate, I will gladly return.

Ali Mehrizi

Overall I liked the ambience - feels retro and old but in a charming way. We went here for happy hour and yes it was good value compared to their regular menu but the overall quality of the food was lacking. The oysters looked like pretty bad quality and all the food just didn’t taste very good. Maybe it’s because it’s from their happy hour menu. The service was good as well.

N E-S Dela Cruz

We sat at the bar and the bartenders were great and attentive. The carpaccio was wonderful, and the mains were even better. They had a pianist which really bumped up the mood. Definitely would go back again.

Eric Lin

Dine in

Saba Ni

Was expecting more forts... zero pillows, our service was really good and food came out fast af boi. I think the tables and chairs need a huge update though. Lobster roll was more wet than what I expected. But service was great ????

Salim H

Absolutely heaven for seafood lovers everywhere! We had lobster, mussels, scallops with sweet potatoes on the side. Everything's perfect except the scallops were too salty for me personally. Will definitely come again for our second and then some more. Just a tips, since they always fully booked try to call rather than make reservations online.

Aditya Koeswojo

Outstanding menu and great service... Oysters were some of the best I have had

Sarah E.K.

This place is an absolute must while in Vancouver. We loved it so much we went multiple times. The outdoor patio on a nice day is fantastic and the service is great. The first go around we had oysters and fried calamari with some drinks on the patio. The second visit was for dinner and we had the halibut special of the day, which was amazing, and the seafood linguine was to die for. Highly recommend this place - you can’t go wrong! PRO TIP for oyster lovers - hit the daily happy hour before dinner for “buck and shuck” dollar oysters. You’ll save a tremendous amount of money and it’s a great way to get an app in while waiting for your table or reservation.

Ryan Slater

The best. Period. They have blue cheese stuffed olives for their martini’s, high end US steak house style. ???? Staff are AMAZING, so many regulars = great food and service. Had the halibut as it is in season, as good as it gets.

Gabriele Milione

By far one of the best dining experiences I've had! Our steward, Jake, was attentive, great conversationalist, excellent source of knowledge and really made the entire dining experience. The food was almost perfect. I would have liked my steak a bit more rare but it was great quality, the truffle fries was great and the fried pickles... Well I'll never find such good pickles. The seafood was fresh, steak aged right and the wine paring was perfect thanks to Jake. It is expensive, very expensive, but you get what you pay for. I'd recommend reservations, i overhead there was a multi hour wait to get in.

P Nguyen

Dine in

James F

Love the vibe here. Food is great and service is good too. I want go go back for the patio!

Candace M

A group of us went here for dine out after not having been here for a while. The service was excellent. Donna, our server was friendly and helpful. She suggested a great glass of wine. One of our friends were late. They did not make us feel rushed at all. The drinks were very good. The food portions were generous. The vibe was busy and happening. Lovely live piano music. We were happy with the experience.

Jennifer Sumalinog

Great place! Good was absolutely perfect! Highly recommend but not for the light of wallet.

Danielle Fatica

The best wait staff and honesty just really good eats. Brunch ok weekends is a must! Joined them for dinner today and like always without fail, impressed my heels off

Jamie Twohig

I had a terrific experience here the other night when I came for dinner with my partner. We went on a Sunday night with reservations, which, based on how busy the restaurant was, is the recommended approach. The food was outstanding, with the Salmon Wellington being a particularly notable standout. I was also highly impressed with the service - our waiter was friendly, informative, and attentive throughout our visit. I'll definitely be back here again.

Ken Lee

The service is amazing and the food is very delicious.

Karen

We had dinner here last night. They have $16 valet parking right in front of the restaurant which was convenient. We were running a little late for our reservation so we too advantage of it. There was live piano music which was nice. Piano was on the upper middle floor so it was not overly loud at all. Moscow Mule - This is my favourite drink and they messed it up bad, There was not ginger beer flavour and it was pretty weak. I was disappointed thought it was a start of a bad meal. Mac and Cheese - creamy texture and nice cheese flavour. It was under seasoned. Had to put a bit of salt on it and it was perfect. Crab cake - it was flaky on the inside and crisp on the outer. Really good crab cake and the coslow side was good as well. Fresh BC Oysters - it was the only kind of oyster they had. They were meaty and had a creamy component. They lacked water (no ocean taste) and they served No fresh horseradish. Halibut - was perfectly cooked. It has Large flakes and was sweet tasting. Served with Plenty of potatoes and vegetables. Presentation of the dish was nice and clean. Ling Cod - more a firmer texture than the Halibut. But nice flake and moist. My wife and I enjoy both the Ling Cod and Halibut but I preferred the Halibut. New York Cheese Cake - Was presented well and it was so good, The blue berry filling complimented the cheese cake well and balanced the sweetness. I really enjoyed it. Pavlova - This was amazing!! Have to get it. Creme Brûlée - was told this is their best dessert and it did not disappoint. My daughter loved it and I enjoyed it. The custard was rich in flavour and had a nice creamy texture. Caramelized sugar top sweet with a slight bitter kick. Our server did a great job. Very happy with out dinner experience here. Only real complaint which was my Moscow mule.

Sweetjackie

I come here every time I fly to Vancouver for work. The ambience is gorgeous, alive and swank. The food is crazy good and service top notch. I can’t believe my bro lives in Port Moody and hasn’t been. This is a restaurant not to miss. They have fabulous seafood and other menu choices for those who prefer something else. Joe Fortes is an experience not just a meal

Nikki Siu

Service

Froggy Plays

Meal type

Mimi So

Service

Trena Kraft

The food here is amazing. The atmosphere is nice as well. The seafood platter was delicious. The dessert creme brulee was nice. The only thing off I would say about this place is the waiter/waitress uniform is really outdated and not appealing to the eye. The waitress' blazer/coat had shoulder pads was not appealing.

Anna Andres

Service

Chris Soukoulis

Joe’s is a classic, been going here for years. Absolutely love the food and the service. Brian at checkin is just genuinely such a nice guy. Roben our server was so kind. Love it here. Cheers!

Eduardo Cordova

Meal type

CHLOE AQ GUIMARY OLSEN

Dine in

Tamara Thierman

Dine in

Crystal Walts

The BEST oyster place! This was our first time here during happy hour, and omg we found our fav oyster place here in Vancouver. 100% recommend! The layout of the restaurant is also so nice :)

santafegls

Joe Fortes is an excellent restaurant with very fresh seafood and meat on the menu. The oysters were sensational. The fish outstanding. Lively atmosphere. Amazing service. No complaints.

Shantelle

Went for happy hour and got the seafood platter, mini lobster rolls, and more oysters. Reasonably priced for seafood but only because it was happy hour. Make sure to make reservations...

Philip Liu

Meal type

Graham Miiller

One of the best dinners we've had out! This seafood feast was one for the books. The atmosphere was top notch, with the piano player (very cool that they played old and modern songs) and classic fine dining feel. Our server was probably the best we've ever had. He was so attentive and on top of his game and a GREAT sense of humor! He kept us laughing and feeling well taken care of. Can't wait to return next time we're in Vancouver!

Alix Aldred

Service was great, ambiance was perfect and food was really good!

Rachael Gurdas

Dinner

Vayan Ali

I think this place is excellent for fresh oysters and other cold seafood items. So i would recommend going for the happy hour to grab a seafood platter and more oysters. However, I was extremely disappointed with my dinner items which consisted of the clam chowder and the wellington. The chowder had an overpowering bacon taste with no essence of clams whatsoever and the wellington was one of the most blandest meals I've ever had. No seasoning at all on the trout inside the wellington, such a shame. The best part of the dinner was actually the lobster oil they serve with the bread.

Pearl Paradise

Always amazing food. Staff are very attentive and the atmosphere is 2nd to none. Always have a great time here

Mark Yager

Service was good. Food was good.

malagu malagu

Great service, and the oysters were spectacular! Truffle parmesan fries werent as truffle-y as I'd like ... Could hardly taste any flavoring to them at all. But allmin all, a nice Happy Hour excursion!

Sarah Conley

Service is always great no matter what time of the day. For those that don't realise, they're open for brunch and it's delicious... On top of the portions being pretty generous. At dinner, try the pork chop. Not many places pull it off this well!

Leslie H

Very juicy and hearty dish served with perfectly paired sweet potato smear and vegetables. Service was impeccable and the red wine paired perfectly. Went for a girls get together, a fun time and great service!

Brian Premo

Gotta say this place got excellent atmosphere. Today visit was for the happy hour $1 oyster ( there other great selection as well available) is not only budget friendly but very fresh ingredients was put into during the making. . The options we've ordered: -Joe mini cheese burger (Compact but tasty) -Fried oyster (fried yet fresh) -Crisp calamari (the portion is amazing) -mini lobster shrimp roll (just delicious) -sweet potato fries Overall the experience was very impressed and highly recommend everyone to visit here!

Elsa Kermani

What a vibe! From front desk, to the pianist, lobster tank, oyster bar, old-style fashion and service. It was an experience I was not expecting. We ordered the seafood tower, crab cakes and mussels. I think the oysters were the best I've ever had. Very well done.

Chixy Dustin

Joe Fortes is a must-try. Excellent service, atmosphere, and food. I've tried their dinner menu a couple times, but mostly go for the happy hour menu. I would recommend ordering the lobster rolls, calamari, and of course the oysters :) I also liked that they have a QR code for access to their menu during the pandemic for infection control!

Alex W

Amazing food. Great quality and fresh ingredients. Serving is generous. Service is very good. Very expensive though.

Nardine

Dinner

Fouad Damerji

Amazing food and service! Great recommendations from the staff. Defently would recommend

Chelsea Vancouver

Service

T

The service is absolutely unbeatable! My husband and I dined here on their first day back from covid. The restaurant was so clean, there were a few staff only designated to clean and they followed so many protocols that we felt completely safe and able to have a great time. Our server was a gem and the food was amazing!

Phil aw Sufer

Simply brilliant seafood with an amazing wine list and in-house made dessert selection to match. I’d recommend the calamari to start, seafood platter and pavlova for dessert (carrot cake is epic as well). The vibe is fantastic and matched by the enthusiastic staff who are keen to explain the menu and help with suggestions for food and wine. You have to eat here!

Alex Kwok

Terrific seafood and meat choices in Joe Fortes. Been coming here for 20 years and the best thing about it is that nothing changes.

Kevin D

Our server, Peter was simply amazing. He was attentive and kind and you could tell he loved being there. So refreshing. We had the calamari and some drinks and it was all so splendidly priced and well served. I am glad to have found such a high quality and authentic joint. There was live piano playing and it was so beautiful to hear love music after so long being unable to hear people play. Overall an amazing experience. Though definitely get there early for happy hour or be prepared to miss it. Highly worth it tho!

Wilfred Tang

OMG... sooooo good everything from our sever Donna, to the shrimp cocktail to the seafood linguini was exceptional! Rooftop deck was closed (bummer) sooo might be back tomorrow! A must if you're in Vancouver!

Bluish Kornerz (bluishicicles)

My partner and I were in the mood for some seafood and decided to try Joe Fortes, we didn't make reservation but they were able to seat us at the bar. We arrived around 6 and the restaurant was already pretty crowded, we ordered some oysters and 2 mains, and some dessert. The oysters were fresh and good quality, and their mains were excellent. We usually do not get dessert from western restaurants as they tend to be too sweet for our pallets, but I decided to try the trio. It turned out to be delicious, not overly sweet, and the serving size was perfect. Overall, this was a really good restaurant, it's high end, but it was really busy and crowded, I would recommend making reservations ahead of time to get nice seating.

Bianca Palk

Came for the oysters during their happy hour. Excellent value for the quality. I also had an order of the tiger prawn cocktail, found to be a bit pricey ($9 for 3 prawns) but they were also very delicious and decent size!

Jonathan Kleinberg

Great place with the friendliest staff. The crab cake was amazing but I have to admit I was expecting more from the lobster and prawn roll. Almost no lobster and was just good, not great.

Melanie K

Service

Deborah Cheng

Everytime we visit Vancouver we make reservations here either for lunch or dinner. It's usually very busy and recommend making reservations online or call in. We ordered the West Coast Seafood Platter for 2 comprised of seared scallops, grilled salmon, shrimp, mussels, snow crab, and lobster. The service was exceptional, the interior clean, and the food was very good. They also serve premium cut grilled steaks if you're not a seafood fan.

Melissa McCandless

Dine in

Ian Lindsay

Food was cooked to our order, atmosphere was as expected, and our server Mirela went above and beyond to make an unforgettable evening.

Ritesh Maisuria

I have been coming here for quite sometime now. It has always been a positive experience except yesterdays lunch. Let me start off by saying that the food and service are usually consistent and top notch. Yesterday’s experience was disgusting and I cringed every time the young bartender with a man bun and Ray-Ban sunglasses tried flirting with female customers at the bar. He was so preoccupied with flirting with the women around the bar that he had no time to attend our table. I get it, we are a couple of guys having lunch while we wait for our spouses to finish shopping so we shouldn’t be priority... It took about 15 minutes to get the bartender’s attention and place an order. Food came out in a timely fashion. Once finished I asked for the bill which took another 15 minutes to bring because Fabio needed to talk to the women around the bar top.

Himawari Goma

Beautiful place, with excellent attention, the atmosphere is a bit noisy, the food is very good, I recommend lobster bisque.

Afras Khattak

Our dinner at Joe Fortes was very delicious! We enjoyed the calamari very much, it was very meaty with delicious breading and yummy sauce. We also had one of the chilled seafood platter's they have, which was where I docked one star, because although most of the seafood on it was delicious, the lobster was little to be desired. It was lacking all flavor you would expect from a lobster, which left us feeling a little sad because that was what we were looking forward to the most. Moving on, lastly we split the sable-fish entree, which was so rich with flavor and tasted amazing (would highly recommend that dish). Overall, the atmosphere was loud but pleasant for the most part.

Jenny Crisp

Service

Fariba Asadi

2 girlfriends and I had the best experience here. Our service was incredible, our meal was amazing and the Pavlova dessert was mind blowing. We really enjoyed the pianist as well! I can’t wait til we’re back in the city and can return.

Alynah Bryn

One of the best restaurants in town. Service was friend, attentive and customer-oriented. The happy hour was amazing! The oysters were fresh and plump and all the seafood were delicious. Their food and desserts were of highest quality! Top quality dining experience!

Mariam Wifi

Wow! The best seafood place in Vancouver! Wonderful foods, wonderful service and great atmosphere. We had really good time there!

Jason Roy

Loved this retreat. Service was great and food was amazing. We could not chose what dish we would give our preference. The environment is relaxing and we had a live music during lunch. Make sure you have a reservation as the place gets busy. Enjoy ????

Stu DG

Based on the first visit, Food: Happy hour items are very good in portion and taste, drinks are very well priced. Main course (steak) can use bit of upgrade in freshness or prepare level in meat. Steak did not have good taste to it (steak did not have the meat aroma) not seasoned correct or cold grilled... Steamed meat inside without much juice. Portion wise, very forgiving for big eaters. Service: top grade Cleanness: top grade. Overall: 4/5

Erica S. Lee

Incredible happy hour. Showed up around 4:45 and were seated at the oyster bar area within 15 minutes. Staff was really friendly, oysters at $1.50 each is a great deal. The rest of the menu is somewhat pricey but worth it (the seafood is super fresh here) 10/10 would recommend!

G S

Disappointed that the patio was closed today. Seated at a table very close to many tables. Same as precovid. No distance between diners. Will definitely not be going there anytime soon unless we can get a patio seat. Service was good, seafood tower is not a tower but a plate.

Elena Konkolewski

I liked coming here for brunch. Had the eggs benedict and it was very good. I just don't like that they try to upsell you other things. It's an iconic place in the city that everyone should try at least once.

alice ung

Strap in for a dinner experience! What an incredible dinner menu this place has to offer! On the pricier end but worth every penny! Oysters were fresh and delicious Beef carpaccio was present nice and good size The halibut dinner came with a pico de gallo and roasted potato’s and veg. The beef tenderloin was cooked perfectly and had an incredible baked potato slice along with roasted veg. Carrot cake for dessert was delicious. Sweet and dense. Lots of cream cheese if youre into that!

Michelle Choi

This restaurant is a total experience. It truly was the ultimate date night. Right from the moment we walked through the door, we were greeted promptly and seated quite quickly. The staff from start to finish were so friendly and extremely professional. The meals were nothing short than incredible. This is a top class restaurant but it was worth every penny.

A T

Excellent seafood and wine selection. A bit loud and crowded though. Had challenges getting valet parking (not evident how and where and the street gets busy. Phoning didn’t clarify this either).

Paul Barbeau

The food was really good and the size is decent. The lobster and shrimp rolls were not on the menu but you could ask for it. I ordered the cioppino and it was very hearty. The lobster oil with the bread is a must. We ordered the trip for dessert and love it.

Katya

Dinner

dorinachen

Great food, service, and ambiance ???? awesome for brunch in downtown in a place with lots of natural light and live pianist ???? ????

Paula Hlavacek

First time at Joe Fortes, the experience was so great starting with Katie at the front desk and having a outstanding service from Melissa, the ambiance, the piano guy and off course the food, if someone is looking for the best food experience in Vancouver Joe Fortes is the place

David

Dine in

Mark Nielsen

Went for happy hour. Frickin busy. Ordered oysters. Waiter didn't specify if I wanted the " Happy Hour" oysters. Didn't know there was a difference. Happy hour menu says oysters $1.50. I ordered 12. Should have been $18. Charged $40. Live & learn. Food used to be regular order at a " Happy Hour" price. Now happy hour sizes. Considerably smaller. Tapas style. Overall good visit. Will know next time to specify Happy hour oysters. I mean with Tabasco, they all tsdte similar.

Alan Bo

I went there last night with my family. The food was good, oyster was fresh. The reason why I gave 2 stars is because the waiter was not very friendly, he rushed us in the middle of our meal. He came with another waiter and started taking our food away without asking our permission. I stopped him and told him that our kids are still working on the fries. Then he came back with bill and pos machine. We were so confused but still my very nice husband paid the bill then asked if we could stay a bit longer. He said yup see you soon then left...... we were only there for half an hour, wasn’t taking too much of their time....

Jaina Andrews

Service

The GOAT

Nice spot with fantastic food - decor is a little outdated though.

Peter Daviduk

Absolutely love Joe Fortes! The service is always top notch. We went for happy hour. We enjoyed fresh oysters, mini lobster and shrimp rolls, calamari and truffle fries. We loved the live piano music while eating our meal. Highly recommend this Vancouver restaurant.

Lorenzo Federico

Joe fortes is a great seafood place. The patio upstairs is amazing but you need to reserve it in advance. Usually there is a piano player and the service is top notch. On this occasion we went for brunch and were pleasantly surprised by how good the food was. Defiantly go here.

Katie H

We just tried this place after hearing the reviews. Walking in the first thing I noticed was the live piano music which added a nice ambience. The seafood platter was amazing and came with half a lobster, shrimp, mussels and oysters. I also ordered a sirloin steak but should've sticked to strictly seafood instead. I had to return the sirloin but the server and manager were really nice about it and tried to make it up.

Alex O'Neil

Came here for an anniversary dinner with my husband and it was lovely. The waiter was very attentive and helpful. The atmosphere was lovely and the food was great. We requested a nice spot as it was our anniversary and we were not disappointed. Will definitely come back again for brunch one day. Thank you for a wonderful evening.

Vivian Le

We were planning to come to this place for a long time, since me and my friends have different schedules, it was hard for us to get together. Finally we were all available on that date3 pm January 10, 2022, so we did a reservation for 3 pm. we were greeted by a very nice and pleasant hostess. but before we sat down, she told us that our table is only for an hour and half since they are expecting a busy afternoon, but since it was a Monday afternoon, I am sure its not gonna be busy and we can stay longer than an hour and half. we ordered seafood platter, 2 orders of mini lobster and shrimp rolls, and truffle fries. and three 9oz of red wine to start. we were enjoying our bonding and conversation, the food and the wine. Once in a while our server checked us out and asked us if we are ok and if we need anything else, we said we are ok, and she asked again if we wanna order more food, I said we are ok for now, and we want to enjoy and relax, by that time we ordered our second round of 9oz of red wine, and it was not even an hour and our server kinda told us that our table is for only an hour and half, at that time we felt that she was kinda rushing or kinda pushing us too much to order more. i know you have to upsell but please let us enjoy what we were having, a good conversation and a good food and good wine!!! so at about an hour and 10 minutes she came by again to give us like a last call. We asked her if there is any space in the bar so that we can drink more and order more food, after few minutes she came back and apologise because there is no space in the bar, so we decided to pay our bill and just move to another restaurant, and she suggested Cactus club which was nearby. But on the way out we noticed that there were spaces in the bar, so we asked the hostes if we can sit at the bar and she said yes we can just go to the bar. We stayed there and ordered more food and drinks. at the table were we first seated was not relax because of our server was rushing us, at the bar we enjoyed it more because we are more relax and the bartender let us enjoyed our time, our wine, our margarita and our food. good service from Jaime our bartender. Not a good experience in the restaurant, but we have a good time at the bar. we will come back and hopefully to sit by the bar area.

Trish

I ordered the poke bowl and my boyfriend ordered the seafood bowl. We also got the parmesan fries which were very good. I rated it a 3 star because it didn't live up to the hype for me. We went for lunch though so perhaps dinner is best. We are pescatarians from Ontario and just found we didn't get the bang for the buck.

You Meetatamia

Joe Fortes is such a beautiful place. Inside it looks so classical, vintage and elegant. The patio at the top was so beautiful as well, and this is where we sat. I enjoyed my white wine sangria, however it wasn't as flavourful as I would have liked it to be. Also, our server was not the best. She gave us the wrong drinks, was not very friendly and generally had a poor attitude. If I would ask her a question about something on the menu, her tone of voice made it sound like I was stupid for asking. However, that was just one experience with a server. The place inside looks beautiful, and the rest of the items we ordered did taste very good.

Pardeep HB

Meal type

Cheri Vs

Brunch was great! We ordered the fried chicken Benedict and pulled pork Benedicts. The Joe's coffee cake is like a chocolate banana cake on steroids.

Tony Rodney

We went for dinner around Christmas, it was very well made and very flavourful. The staff were very professional and the service was very prompt. It was a special outing for us and it was superb. I highly recommend this restaurant.

Danijela Mihajlovic

While visiting from Ontario a group of friends and I heard about Joe Fortes for its Happy Hour seafood selection and decided to give it a try. We ordered the oysters, a seafood platter, lobster rolls and the calamari. The oysters were good, really fresh delicate taste for sure. The platter was a bit of a let down unfortunately. For such a large selection of seafood (clams, fish, shrimp etc), not much seemed to stand out in particular. The platter tasted somewhat frozen or even masked by other flavours, but generally just ok. The lobster rolls were again, just decent. A shared sentiment was that the bread roll seemed to be slightly more impressive than the lobster itself. The lobster taste wasn't particularly distinctive. The calamari was definitely a highlight. Well seasoned, well fried and really crazy tender for calamari! It was probably one of the best calamari experiences I've had. Service was also good. Our waiter had a sharp wit and dry humour to her and didn't hesitate to have a jab or two along with us in good fun. While I'm sure it would be alright, do make sure to put a shirt on perhaps. We were visiting in casual clothes right after a visit at the aquarium, and we felt underdressed compared to the rest of the restaurant.

Dan B

Service

Manuel Aguayo Redondo

If you are celebrating, if you have family from out of town in, if you're trying to impress clients... The list goes on and for the scenarios that make Joe Forte's the perfect spot but for us it's just consistently knowing you are going to get the absolute best service, food and location in the city. We should know, our family have been coming here for 30 years. The outdoor patio is so hard to beat. We celebrated a special birthday tonight and it couldn't have been better. Simply one of the best and an absolute classic in Vancouver. Our server Heidi was also so fantastic, thanks Heidi!

Alex Vos

Great happy hours oyster and beverage and the staff is amazing!

FulSend Gaming

Dinner

Christine Ball

Great food. Lobster bisque is amazing. Best crab cake in the city.

Irene Yung

Ruined my daughter's 19th birthday. Shown to a bad table, server immediately pushing the most expensive items and add ons, table left with empties on it the entire meal, one meal was missing a key item (no apology, just came with it and dumped it on the plate), another meal had the smallest piece of hugely overcooked halibut. Couldn't wait to leave. Very expensive, and probably the worst meal (for the price) I've ever had.

Justin Kimura

Great meal to end off our day in Vancouber. Apps were amazing.. had the mussels and the calamari, along with a delicious cocktail. Seafood was fresh and the children's meals are huge portions. Highly recommend. Hope to come back the next time I'm in Vancouver!

Jason McKenzie

I called 3 times to make a reservation and every time I called I was put on hold for more than 10 mins. On one occasion, they hung up on me. I really don't understand it? I later tried to talk to a manager and that too was on hold. I guess they really don't want my business. On the flip side, I found a great pasta place in richmond called Wasuta Pasta. There many restaurants out there if they serve you well, just move on.

Steve Eisner

Dinner

Kiki

Omg this place never disappoints! Absolutely amazing customer service and food. We went during happy hour and the food and drinks were BOMB! We ordered prawn tempura, oysters, prawn tacos, corn and crab fritters, and all of it was so so yummy! I visit Vancouver at least 5 times a year and always have to come here for brunch lunch or dinner! It’s just so FIRE!

Veloboy 1910

Service

Kari

My step mom recommended that I come here while visiting Vancouver for business and I was extremely glad I did. It was a perfectly classic and delicious eating experience. From the old school look inside, to the atmosphere of conversation around every table, energetic piano playing, great seafood, happy exchanges with our server, you couldn't ask for more. I had clam chowder and then the days catch with chef's choice preparation (which was Arctic char Florentine). 10/10 Feels like a Vancouver institution. Perfect for my visit.

Nikki Canon

Lobster eggs Benny was delicious. Hubby enjoyed his burger. Can't go wrong with Joe Fortes.

Ashuni Patel

Dine in

Jacqueline Baird

Top notch for seafood in the Vancouver area. I went here with a group of friends and we arrived on a busy Saturday night. The hostess told us it would be about A 30 minute wait but took us to the bar and found us a seat so that we can go ahead and have a drink While we waited at the bar maybe 15 minutes the host came and checked on us three different times to let us know that our table will be ready soon. I cannot brag on the service enough at this restaurant. Our table order the chef creation a trio of fish the pork chop and the salmon Wellington. They were all cooked to perfection. We also had the calamari and oysters for an appetizer. The lobster oil is a nice surprise with bread and the staff is very conscious of food allergies. This was definitely my favorite dining experience in Vancouver.

Arash Foroughi

Awesome food and great service. Happy hour menu rocks. Shout out to our server Melissa K!

James Ong

This is THE place for fresh seafood and oysters on the half shell. 5 ???? service, great food, and the perfect atmosphere! We sat at the bar for happy hour oysters and ended up ordering two of every type of oyster on the menu because even the happy hour ones were amazing! The sweet potato fries were the best we've had... We got a second order after the first vanished within minutes. The bartender claimed the "Onion rings are like donuts..." and you couldn't make up a more accurate description. This is a great place to eat, everything is fresh and tasty!

Geno 0j

Popular venue in Vancouver located in the historical district Lively terrace and internal patio with view on the ground floor Very good vibe with live piano On the menu mainly seefood so I would recommend to stick to the classic Interesting wine ???? list Excellent and very friendly service

Riley Jackson

This place has gotta be my top 3 in downtown especially for seafood and brunch. The oysters and clams were very fresh and the carpaccio was sliced perfectly. I gotta mention one more thing and that is that their wine selection is unreal. No wonder all the stars stop by here, rightfully so. Thanks for the fine service. ????????

Michael Kane

Joe Fortes is pretty much a Vancouver standard offering a quality range seafood. I was hangin out for a REAL east coast clam chowder & I wasn’t disappointed. Along with their ‘happy hour’ Jumbo Tempure Prawns & a range of happy hour wines, cocktails and beer, it’s hard to be disappointed by Joe’s traditional atmosphere, service & most importantly, VALUE! Talk to the barman. He’s up for a chat!

Alphonse _ dizon

Excellent place for oysters during their happy hour. I've never been disappointed of the times I've been. One of our families favorite places for special dinners.

Mike Li

I had a wonderful night. Friend and I stopped in on a whim and split the Scallop Special, Crab Cake and a blueberry lemon compote cheesecake. Was absolutely divine! Our server Johnny was great and made it a fun experience.

Alex Jahangard

Food was delicious! Service and atmosphere are good ,there have pianist. We had seafood chowder soup ,chicken and waffles,turkey sandwich. Its a good choice for brunch!

Derek Chiu

We’ve always been Joe Fortes Fans for dinner so decided to check out their happy hour. We had buck a shuck oysters (6per person at a time) the oyster Rockefeller (which was the star) the fish tacos, calamari and a $5 glass of house white. Service was friendly and attentive. Some of the best seafood in town!

Claire N.

Very very authentic and great selection of seafood dish. Oysters were super fresh. Must try the scallop

Lorri Prime

Came here for our first wedding anniversary. So glad we did. Surf and turf was so good! But our server made the experience! Melissa (k?) was so bubbly, friendly and attentive! All the little extras make u feel that much more special on an already special night!

Katya R

Joe Fortes is a definitely a place to dine. Went with friends during dine out Vancouver and everyone enjoyed the experience. Steaks and salmon were well prepared. Desserts were fantastic. Service was ideal as food came out in timely fashion. Servers were also attentive and checked in on consistent basis to take care of table.

Jasmine Hanson

Great place to enjoy seafood dishes. We ordered deep fried oysters, beef tartar, and fresh seafood cioppino. Every menu was very flavorful, but my favorite was fried oysters! The lobster oil was also great to enjoy with breads. The best part was the live piano play that made the overall atmosphere jn the restaurant even classier and special. ????

Ronica Dhir

Service

Ripu

Richard the manager was un courteous impolite and and highly mismanaged . He had no idea about the totals and billing. After we paid the entire bill he still was clueless about the arrears , due to his own mis management . Totally not expected in a Restraünt of this scale .

Alden Salgado

We had the dine out menu and unfortunately the whole experience was underwhelming. The lobster bisque and tuna were bland. For the entrée, the salmon was raw and we felt sick the next day. The size of the dessert was huge but definitely felt like it was ordered and made by catering companies that came frozen.

Scott Tsai

This is a Vancouver must try. Their happy hour platter is a great way to try multiple types of fresh seafood. For $38 you get everything you see in the picture along with a really nice vibe from the place and the nicest servers. Their drinks are also nice and not watered down at all.

Stephen Brown

Flew into Vancouver and this was the first place to try and it didn’t disappoint. Sat at the bar for happy hour and 1.50 for very fresh oysters. Also the calamari is amazing. If I have time will go back to try dinner.

JM Roubos

Joe Fortes is a must-try whether you’re a local or a visitor. I have been here a number of times for the past 3 years and I have never been disappointed. The service, staff, and food are always phenomenal. Their bread is always cooked in-house every day and the lobster oil & balsamic vinegar combo is to die for. My favourites to order are their mussels and their sablefish. Always cooked to perfection and always consistent. Their dessert is also immaculate as well. Decor fits its atmosphere since this restaurant has been around for a long time. They sometimes have live piano music playing in the background which really sets the mood. It does get busy on most dates (holidays & weekends) so definitely make a reservation. If you are unsure about their menu, definitely make some time to go during their “After 9” menu or their happy hour menu to grab some awesome foods and desserts.

Susie Lin

The food of this place is tremendously delicious. The servers are super nice, they really take their time to answers any questions on the menu and to provide recommendations as well. The pianist sets a wonderful atmosphere to just relax and enjoy the occasion. We will be coming back to this place for sure. Thanks Joe!

Peter Craig

One of the best restaurants in Vancouver downtown. Fantastic foods and great atmosphere. All the foods I tried are mind blowing. Amongst them the best were Crab cake and Miso Marinated Sablefish. All the items in the West Coast Platter are out of the world. A must try for all the food lovers.

Shonnah

Lovely lobster bisque and clam chowder. Oysters are some of the best I've had in town. Cocktails were solid as well, Moscow mule to be specific. Went for my birthday brunch and the dessert was fabulous

Alejandro Dizon

For the prices you pay, you expect the staff to be presentable and act professional. I look fairly young and I do get asked for ID everywhere I go. Not an issue. I work in hospitality and understand what it’s like and how to ask someone for their ID. Our waitress did what is required, however when asking she joked with my boyfriend that I look 16, this made him uncomfortable. Not a funny joke to make with a 37 year old male that walks into your establishment holding hands and kissing the lady that he is with. The situation was made awkward when it did not need to be and ruined the entire experience from the get go. The staff are dressed extremely sloppy. Females with shaved hair on the side and a top bun. Visible piercings on the face. I had high expectations for this establishment. I do suggest they fix up the appearance of the staff and their “humour” or lower the prices. Bring the prices down to suit the staff that look after your table.

Marc Petrunia

Chicken and Waffles very beautiful presentation but... very disappointing, The server said these were better then the Aria Cafe in Vegas. I do believe the chef does need to review this recipe, size is too large, coating lacking flavour, not true fried chicken sauces on top didn't help, unnecessary portion size.This dish is not worth the calories, which I put a lot of thought into and tried. Perhaps a trip to Vegas to check out the best recipe ever ...at the Aria Cafe. Love Joe Fortes, I stop here every time I'm in Vancouver, this review is not a true reflection of the food. That is why this review makes me sad I left very disappointed not satiated by my experience. I will be back!!

Jamie Lee

Amazing experience, all around! We managed to get a reservation for 830, it was still very busy at that time. All the staff were friendly, attentive and timely. We shared an order of West Coast Mussels - which were done to perfection, our mains were the Seafood Linguine & Joe Wellington - both were generous servings and were absolutely delicious. Amazing quality at a very fair price point!

thrift culture

Great upscale dining restaurant with a variety of raw oysters and fresh seafood options. Joe’s Gold oysters were my favorite with notes of cucumber and a clean, refreshing finish and the Kusshi oysters were also very nice. Tonight’s special was a seafood trio, which is a treat for the indecisive visitor. I recommend this restaurant highly when looking to splurge for a night out on the town.

Gladys L

Dinner

Jason Chow

Meal type

Zhouxinyu Guo

My fave seafood restaurant of all time in Vancouver. The popular seafood tower is something we order every time we eat at Joe fortes. All my friends and family love the seafood tower. The seafood is super fresh and comes with a good variety of seafood. This time we went, my boyfriend and I shared them seafood pasta and it was delicious! We were definitely very full by the time we left. Very satisfied. It was my boyfriend’s first time there as he is from the east coast and he absolutely loved it!! Can’t wait to go back. Highly recommend if you’re looking for a great seafood restaurant with good food, impeccable service and cozy atmosphere!

Grace C

Great atmosphere. We were seated immediately. The wait staff were pleasant. Good menu selection. There was a mix up with my order and the staff were forthright about it and apologetic. They gave me free clam chowder as an apology and it tasted fantastic as did the seafood pasta. Nothing was fishy, all tasted fresh. The muscles were just bursting with broth. I highly recommend it.

Kevin & Gina Gordon

Older style restaurant. Halibut was good, salads were excellent, we had three various salads and all were good. Piano was a bit too loud for my ears.

Simon L

Hard to beat the $1.25 Happy Hour Oysters! Calamari was great with a nice cold lager. Great energy and atmosphere. Servers were prompt and friendly. Thank you, Joe Fortes!

J.D.

Service

Ti Tran

Meal type

Lili Zwart

Always be our top list. We just love this restaurant.

Matthew Schmidt

Absolutely beautiful restaurant, sat on the rooftop patio and it was lovely. Ordered the pork chop with a side of creamed spinach and it was absolutely delicious. The only reason I took off stars was due to the staff bringing our friend the wrong order, and then charging him for the plate he never did order in addition to the two runners who both had a very snooty demeanour towards us which made us all quite uncomfortable.

Johnny Chau

Food was great! Service was great! Small thing manager could look into it, my steak was served in a bowl plate. I was having trouble cutting it, is not really a big deal but it would lot easier if they use a flat plate

Alexis Scigliano

Always be our top list. We just love this restaurant.

Joy W

Went here recently for a friends birthday and we had an amazing experience. It was our first girls dinner in 2 years and with eased restrictions, it was a little nerve wracking being so close to the tables beside us, but the experience was good overall. The service we received was excellent and the nice added touch of a special birthday menu did not go unnoticed. Three of us orders the special trio entree for the evening and two of us ordered off the regular menu. I ordered the salmon Wellington and it was delicious!! I highly recommend this restaurant.

Anissa Thompson (AnissaT)

Mostly a seafood restaurant but with other choices available, here for my daughters birthday so her choice. I'm not a fish fan but can attest that all the fish that was ordered was all enjoyed. I had a new york, cooked medium and melted in your mouth. We reccomend boun appetito

Dan Yeung

Best Happy Hour in the city! If you like seafood don’t deprive yourself of Joe Fortes! $1.50 oysters?!? Look at the size of them! You had me at hello ???? $1 per ounce of wine, max 9oz! Then there’s the lobster shrimp rolls. Just look at them - Need I say more?! The bread was garlic bread by the way! Service - on point! Food - on point! Atmosphere- on point! Sitting at the bar allowed for chit chat with the friendly bar staff as they worked hard at getting the drinks out all while smiling! Really nice afternoon spent enjoying some unreal eats at unreal prices. Note: Very busy at 3pm on Sunday. I was lucky to get a table. Resos are recommended.

T.

One of the best Happy Hour menu in Vancouver. Great attentive service, always busy. Oysters were shucked quickly and cleanly with no shells in your mouth. The prawn tempura was crispy and super juicy! Definitely worth coming, but be warned, long lines ahead unless you go right at the beginning.

Seba Moussalli

The service here is always top notch, the ground floor is accessible for wheel chairs. Not much options here if you are a vegetarian but if you are a fan of seafood you will be in heaven. I have tried multiple things on the menu and the only thing that I wasn't impressed with was the calamari, their crab cake is wonderful. They have an extensive wine list and for those on a budget during the week the do their Blue Plate menu which is a different specific meal M-F for $9.95 I have had three out of the five offered and never had a complaint. They have a lovely rooftop patio for the summer but there are quite a few stairs to get to it so bare that in mind, worth it if you are able! Obviously they have many different oyster options at the fresh oyster bar and many different seating options. A little on the costly side but worth it!

Penny Rusty Sophie

Dine in

Saeed Farea

Other

Christy M Kuettel

Dinner

Travis Chaney

All their dishes are great and the service is exceptional. Their specials are always tasty and sometimes they have discount promotions like their month long Benny bonanza. Also, make sure you try the table bread with lobster oil.

Andrew Wang

Dine in

Kylie Gayon Woo

Went here with my girlfriend for our 2 year anniversary and had an amazing time :) Every staff member was attentive and friendly, and our server was incredibly cheerful and kind. We ordered a steak and salmon respectively and both were fantastic. I had also mentioned that it was our anniversary while making the reservation and our server surprised us with a free tiramisu and a little “Congratulations” sign made out of chocolate! Amazing touch! Definitely the perfect place to go if you want a classy restaurant that doesn’t cost your whole pay check to dine at!

Vladimir Zhukovskiy

Had a girl’s night and ended up here after some drinks for dinner. It was nice inside, but kinda stuffy and the vibe we were getting from the servers made us super uncomfortable. We weren’t exactly dressed up and felt very unwelcome. The server could tell we felt uncomfortable and still felt the need to push dessert on us despite declining several times. The filet and ribeye were both good, came out pretty slow but overall couldn’t really enjoy it because of how weird it felt.

David Beilis

Visited this summer and loved it. Such fresh ingredients and surprisingly generous portions. Lobster/shrimp roll was heavenly. The atmosphere was amazing and felt like I was in New York, especially with the live piano.

Apinita Noon

Went for happy hour - great cocktails and food (especially loved the margaritas, truffle fries, and fritters - prawn tacos were also great, quite spicy) however we did find the lobster rolls and prawn cocktail very overpriced for the portion size. Definitely worth the experience as this is a must-do in Vancouver, just be prepared to pay a bit more than what you might find appropriate.

Sara Tabet

Wonder place to come for some delicious seafood. We come here for special occasions and it is always great. The food is cooked well and the staff are friendly and provide great service. The one idfference this time was that the restaurant booked a large party on the upper floor, which squished the groups around including us as there isn't much space to begin with, making the experience a bit less enjoyful. However the staff were apologetic about it and tried their best to deal with the lack of space

Sheida

Top service. Very tasty food. Highly recommended.

Fatma Nurmohamed

Went for a birthday dinner with my family and I ordered the fish and chips, nothing fancy I thought I’d make it easy for myself , no way to screw that one up. Well to my surprise they did screwed up. Fish was way too Fishy and the coleslaw wasn’t fresh at all , fries were ok but Not wow, I’ve been around the world long enough to know what’s good food and what it isn’t . And this wasn’t even close to be rated good IMO for a fancy place like this in one of the hottest cities on the planet it is unacceptable! You only have a chance to impress and I wasn’t so I’m Never coming back that’s for sure.

Ah-Yeong Jo

Dinner

Christy Foster

Very very delicious food here. Definitely worth a trip

Brett Cloutier

Dine in

Brittany Bookworm

Great selection of oysters for a reasonable price. Waiter was well versed in the different types of oysters. Nice ambiance

Yingkai Wang

When you’re told before you’re seated that they need the table back in 90-minutes, you’d expect that the service would be timely. Here, no: our cocktail order took over 30-minutes from ordering to arrival. And even worse, the single course of our meal took an hour to arrive - and this is after we had to follow up to ask about the delay. We asked for a variation in the brand of liquor in one of our cocktails, we were told it could be done, there was no mention of additional charges. When the bill arrived, we had to ask for that too, just like we had to follow up on when our meal might arrive, there were additional charges for the change in liquor and they bill didn’t even list the correct beverages. When we queried it this the waiter said, “oh we only charged you for one ounce not two so you’re already saving $2”, the tone they used was far from kind. When you have to wait over a half hour for two beverages, and then about an hour for a single course of a meal, and then are spoken down to that way in a place like Joe Fortes, it’s sad and very disappointing, and I supposed should have been expected given the poor experience up till the moment before. A different reviewer was right, the staff, even the ones at the hostess desk by the front door are dressed quite sloppily and definitely far from neat and tidy. I totally understand that they weather is warmer in summer, but surely there should at least be a minimum standard. For the prices they charge and the tipping expectations, you expect both staff to be well-presented and the service to be at the very least very good. Perhaps the other reviewer was correct: Joe Fortes should bring their prices down a to suit the service and staff that look after their diners.

Dane Dillon

Dinner

Chris de B

Dine in

Jon Sheffield

I am in love with the place, the service and the food. The oysters were amazing, the drinks were magnificent, and our server was the best I've had in a while. Thank you for a great experience

Tiffany Lew

Such a good place, good food, drinks and all servers have so much personality and take care of you really well! so much fun! Been here 3 times already and it’s always soooooo good. Seafood pasta is insanely good!

Bonnie Chung

Quality dining with quality service, had great experience for my first time here. Went during brunch hours and the food was great. Every week they feature a different coffee cake, highly recommended it! Decent selection of eggs and benny and brunch cocktails. Shoutout to our server Norm for excellent service.

Daniel Nanson

Very good deal at happy hour. Taste good

Katherine

Came here for brunch on a Saturday and had their chicken and waffles. The chicken skin was very crispy and good. They use chicken breast for the meat, which may have left it a bit dry. But the waffle was somewhat small relative to the chicken and didn't really add much to the dish

Darryl Bannon

Super impressed with the happy hour oysters! They were yummy and it was cool that the oysters get shucked in the bar area in the middle of the restaurant.. Although, I was very underwhelmed that the shrimp cocktail during happy hour is literally two pieces of shrimp. But I guess what can I expect with the fact that they are black tiger shrimp. Which are quite big and quite sure that they are expensive to buy. But if you are there to eat, $10 for two shrimps isn't worth it. I would go to happy hour and just enjoy the oysters! ???????? You would only get the other dishes offered during happy hour to just taste them. But not to get full!

R. O.

Fabulous!! Absolutely fabulous!! We took my son's in-laws there a few weeks ago for Happy Hour. They are from out of the country and are very particular with their seafood and they were extremely impressed. Thank you for a delicious dinner!

Nóra Királyi-Papp

Joe Fortes is a vancouver staple. It really is the plaice to be, they have a well tuna'd piano. Their food is excellent and I had Ahi steak and it was superb. It really was salmon enchanted evening. The service was polite and well dressed, and was very prompt, he went out of his way and wasn't shelfish at all. Will dophinately be going back to Joes Fortes this year at least. This visit was New Years Eve and there was a live band, luckily nobody dropped the bass. Thanks joe for a great evening.

Sydney Gloster

If you love seafood, particularly freshly shucked oysters, then this is the place to go. The crispy oysters are great, too, if you like them fried. (Don't go for the steaks though; there's The Keg nearby.)

Terry Khu

First time here and it was great! We went for brunch and the food was delicious, quick and service was excellent. Our waitress was also very accommodating with my food allergies. They have an outstanding patio and we got lucky because there was live music. I definitely plan to go back.

Alexis Birks

The staff at Joe Fortes often seems too scared and overwhelmed to be particularly helpful or friendly. Once you get past the frazzled hostess and moody bouncer, the interior is luxurious and old school. The rest of the experience is a crapshoot, in terms of food and service: half the times I’ve eaten here, the service was poor and the food was overcooked. For such a posh, expensive restaurant, the mains are pretty boring, small and scantily seasoned. I’ve had better luck with the lunch menu: the lobster roll is delicious and the drinks are fine if your server remembers to bring it to your table (mine did not; it did end up on the receipt though so watch out for that). Other things to note: the beet salad is basically just arugula and quartered tomatoes drizzled with vinaigrette; the miso glazed sablefish is on a giant wad of warm, unseasoned kale; the $20 (!) crab cake is tasty and comes with a nice slaw.

Don Sherrah

It seems like Joe Fortes has lost their way and really treading water since their glory days of long past. I had some great experiences there in the late 90's/early 2000's, but we just went recently to try their happy hour and everything we ordered was tired, poorly executed, and frankly, just very behind the times. Vancouver restaurants have continued to blossom over the last many years and Joe Fortes just hasn't taken note of what the competition is doing. The calamari was nearly all batter & no seafood, the crab and corn fritters were way too bready and overdone, and even the fresh oysters just weren't as good as other places. And the atmosphere there seems very dated...unless you're out on the rooftop patio (where they don't serve happy hour). And on top of that, the service was very indifferent and the waiter didn't even know what the wines were for happy hour. Perhaps happy hour isn't the best way to judge a place though, so I won't speak to their regular menu, but my comment is if this is the best you can do, then don't offer happy hour at all. Otherwise, get with the times and raise your game with a modicum of creativity in your dishes. I'll be taking my business to other game-changers in town instead.

Gurjap kang

Super friendly servers and amazing food. Thanks for making my birthday memorable. Get the tower!

Joey C

Other

Dinesh Sunthareswaran

Meal type

Ryan Clark

Nice outdoor platform in the summer, oyster is one of their specialty. Beef carpaccio is out of my standard, very thick slices of beef. New definition? Place is super crowded, long waiting line if no appointment

Robert Kent DesRochers

Really enjoyed this venue. Very charming, old school atmosphere with a huge atrium and old money atmosphere. Also enjoy having a pianist in-house. Lots of locals/business people visit for anniversaries and get-togethers. Prices here are quite high but pretty good considering that this is a landmark in Vancouver. As long as you don't get alcoholic drinks, your final bill is gonna be pretty acceptable. The wait staff here are extremely efficient and I haven't seen such speedy service in other restaurants of equilavent quality during my North American trip.

W. C. Hui

Oysters were great, steak was perfectly grilled. Highly recommend Joe Fortes

John !

Great food, superb service!

Natalia Yan

Very friendly and hard working bartender. Excellent customer service. Awesome environment.

Christian Pantel

Great vibes! Food was good.

Livia Velasquez

Went for happy hour and the food was amazing but the service was even better! Would highly recommend the lobster and crab rolls and the platter. Also if you're with multiple people and are tempted by dessert, do yourself a favor and treat yo self with the dessert trio.

Angela Jeffery

My friend and I ate here recently and had an absolutely superb experience. When we arrived, the place was certainly bustling and busy. We didn't have a reservation so all their normal tables were booked. As a result, we were told we could either wait 2 hours for a table or sit at the oyster bar. Although at first we were certainly reluctant to take the offer of a seat at the oyster bar, it ended up being the best decision ever. We got to chat with the oyster shucker the whole night. He was super kind (the Sunday guy); I wish I remembered his name and knew how to spell it out because he sure was a stand out. Our server, Peter was also great. He was well humoured, friendly and attentive. Our food was delicious. We both had steaks wish were perfectly cooked and high quality. A bit disappointed that baked potatoes aren't a thing there, but the mashed potatoes were outstanding. The vegetables included with the steak were yummy and nicely complemented the rest of the dish. We topped the night off with an unnecessary amount of cake. I got the carrot cake and my friend got the chocolate sin cake. Needless to say, it was too much cake and awfully rich, but it was too delicious to resist. Do I regret, eating the whole slice of carrot? Maybe a bit because I felt super sick afterwards; but honestly when do you ever get such an exquisite cake that is flavourful and not too dry?!?! All the staff were very personable and made the night one to remember and undeniably special. Many staff members commented on my friend and I's battle with trying to finish our cake slices haha! Anyways, I would definitely recommend this place for a night out whether it be with a friend, family or s/o. We will be back one day! Also great bread while waiting for our food!

Diana Egbikuadje

Dine in

Pam Kirby

Service

Tim M

Lovely dinner on the roof top patio. Excellent service from Robert. Food was great. Had the Halibut dinner special which was delicious. Tried a couple of Joe's gold oysters. They were fresh and delicious. Family had steak and cioppino and we are happy with their meals too!

Zain Shyanne

Superb experience and amazing waiter! The quality is very high! I loved the Arctic Char that I ordered and my husband loved the halibut as our main dishes. The oysters are on point and crab cake was yummmm

Karen Frank

This place is great. I got the seafood linguine and the lobster/shrimp rolls and they don't fail to impress me. The seafood chowder needs improvement, but the main dishes were so good it makes up for it.

Jean-Paul Bouliane

Me and few friends went there for dinner and we all ordered some oysters and mussels to share. They were pretty tasty and decent quality. The atmosphere was very nice and service was great, our server knew the menu well and helped us order. For drinks we got two bottles of white and a for our main we got chioppinoes, and diffeent grilled fish. They were very tasty and cooked well. We all enjoyed our food and had a great night. Unfortunately I got really sick the next morning due to food poisoning. I know oysters can be very tricky and I was the only person out of 5 people who got sick and we all shared two dozens of two kinds of oysters and withing few hours I couldn't stop puking and going to the bathroom. I don't want to put this on the restaurant because it can happen with raw seafood and I think it might have been only one oyster that was bad because no one else got sick.

Kissan Mistry

It is one of my all time favorite places to come for Brunch and Dinner. The chicken and waffles at brunch are probably my top 2 in the city. The ambiance here is amazing with the live piano. The service is always impeccable. You can never go wrong by visiting for any and all occasions. During the summer the rooftop is nice with a good vibe. Just come at least for the chicken and waffles and thank me later.

Barneysaurus

3-5happy hour, super cheap, super fresh, super gooood.

Gabriel Richard

I came here with my partner and mother to celebrate a special occasion. Service was splendid, wine pairings were great, but the food was disappointing. For the price point, I suggest trying other local favourites. We started with oysters, lobster bisque and a new England clam chowder. The oysters were fine, but the lobster bisque lacked a depth of flavour, very one dimensional. The New England clam chowder was the same and required salt. Our mains were Joe's Wellington, by far the best meal we ordered. Next, we had two sirloin steaks. My partner's was served properly, however mine was presented on the wrong side, causing me to cut against the grain, leading to a very chewy steak. I had to flip it around a few times trying to figure out the best way to cut into it. We both ordered medium rare, which mine felt more towards rare, especially given the chewy-ness. The vegetables it was served with were hit or miss. The puréed carrots were delicious, the parsnips as well. However, the mashed potatoes were disappointing given the price point of the meal. Last for dessert, we ordered the Tahitian vanilla crème brûlée and carrot cake. Despite the "oh", from our server when asking for the carrot cake (he seemed very surprised, as if no one orders it). It was the best carrot cake I had in my life. I want that carrot cake every single day.

Hiroka Sugimoto Kranenburg

Special place for a special occasion. Amazing food.

Marty Anthropocentrist

Delicious Poke Bowl. Visited during lunch time when it wasn't overly busy. The staff were attentive and the service was great.

Rob Morra

I rarely give 5 star reviews to a restaurant. However, Joe Fortes have exceeded my expectations for quality of food and customer service. The customer service is outstanding. They are attentive and polite. They have a Happy Hour menu from 3-5pm 7 days a week. The menu offers many great choices for awesome prices. They have $6 bubbly and $1.50 a shuck. Make sure you go early or make a reservation because it will be a long wait!

Ivy Ho

We booked the restaurant to take an advantage of their happy hour oysters. They were good except they were limited to 6 only per person. Their HH cocktails was okay, not exceptional.

Trace

We had a fantastic seafood platter for 2. Steamed mussels, oysters rockafeller, snow crab legs, 2 sockeye salmon fillets, jumbo prawns and scallops topped with a whole lobster. For what you get I thought the price was very reasonable, and the perfect amount for sharing. You also get rice and vegetables with the meal. The staff was excellent, very friendly and attentive. Our waiter Matt did a great job, super friendly and funny. He informed us that they will be opening a new location in Whistler sometime this summer, can't wait. Thanks for a great dinner.

N Master

We just tried Joe Fortes for the first time tonight and had an awesome experience! We walked in without a reservation and were sat right away, the staff were all very friendly and personable. Our server, Colin, took great care of us and made some great recommendations. We drove up all the way from Squamish and will definitely make the trip again. New favorite spot :)

Reema Aviles

Dinner

Kourosh Yazdani Rashvanlouei

Really great vibe and service. Love happy hour oysters and applies. Always busy so make sure you get in early to enjoy all the tasty foods on the menu.

Joanna Tseng

The happy hour oysters for $1.50 each was larger than most places, smooth and rich. Delicious calamari, truffle fries and lobster and shrimp rolls. Great with drinks of margarita and beer. We showed up at 3pm and got a table right away.

Linda Ng Thomson

Primo food, primo service, primo experience. I’ve been to many luxury restaurants, but this surf-and-turf takes the crab cake!

Velia Zambrano

5 star for service but -3 star for the taste I dont know why is place is popular Its good for drinking but not for eating Its my first time and last time here

Karim Salib

We were in Vancouver and spot prawns were in season so this is where we were recommended to go. The service and food was absolutely incredible, but it was the most expensive meal I've ever had by far!! But if you want to splurge and you're craving seafood, there is no better place to go. Just make sure you make a reservation!

Peihshia Ooi

Dinner

Catherine Ho

Lunch

Heidi J.

Perfect steak and fresh oyster, excellent services and environment!

Billy Lam

Meal type

Amanda Lim

Meal type

Blair Norton

Meal type

Roberta Oramabo

Classy atmosphere with professional servers. Our food was amazing except for the truffle fries ... which had no truffle taste. But that's a minor issue so still 5 out of 5 stars. We came here on NYE and there was live music!

Wally Muzlantov

Lobster and shrimp roll is my fav! Love coming here for brunch. Always so delicious and cravings satisfied. Took my boyfriend here for his birthday and he loved it

M Nguyen

Dine in

FELIpe alOU

TL;DR: Great service with fresh seafood. A bit pricey but worth visiting during happy hour. We haven't been able to make a reservation at weekends and decided to go on a Tuesday afternoon. The place was pretty packed even though we arrived at 3:30. The place has really nice decor and ambience, giving this 80s vibe. The server was really friendly and attentive. We ordered the bubbly, Moscow mule, happy hour seafood platter with extra oyster(only a dollar and half each!), prawn tacos and parmesan fries. The seafood was really fresh and the shrimp was juicy and sweet. The clam and the muscle were also great. The prawn taco was really spicy with this cajun flavor. But it was great to eat along with the seafood platter. One problem is the plates are generally really big and if you take a small table there really isn't much space to put down many plates of food. Overall, it was a really pleasant experience. But the price might be a bit higher than other happy hour place but it wouldn't hurt to visit here and there.

Anna D

The Happy Hour food was fantastic but our waiter David was the best part of our dining experience. He was so great we will never forget him! ????????

Henry

Had some best memories here. It seems not as clean as a few years ago but the service/food maintain the same level. Must try their lobster oil for bread. Clam chowders are very good (better than most seafood restaurants)

Catherine C

did happy hour buck oysters and wine before my party came. had the lobster, sirloin and crab cakes for dinner, all menus did not fail me. bartenders and servers were very friendly and adhered to our needs without even having to ask. awesome service guys! i would bring all my out of town guests here for sure

Amy Y. Chen (陳柏英)

Very nice presentation. Amazing food.

Jess S

Meal type

H Chan

Service

Holly Jung

The food is always stellar along with the ambiance. Arrived to be seated on the patio where mice were seen on the floor. We were moved closer to the bar which is in another area, but again, harassed by mice in the planter. Definitely a great place to go, but they have a very serious mice problem they need to get a handle on!

Malakai Paul

This is an amazing restaurant with an even more amazing happy hour experience. Recommend getting here 30 minutes or so before that special starts (1$ oysters is a big highlight). Really happy with the food quality and the service

Danica

Happy hour! 7 days a week, 3 to 5 pm. Central location downtown, plenty of seating indoors and on their spacious patio. The oysters are always tasty at $1.50 each. My friend and I were tempted by Joe’s chilled seafood platter at $38.95. We enjoyed the oysters, marinated mussels and clams, prawns, albacore tuna crudo, scallop ceviche and ahi tuna poke. Happy hour drinks are also excellent - $1 per ounce for happy hour wine, other drinks ranging from $5-$7.

Erika De Torres

Great service! Delicious food and time spending on the top roof patio, in which we were invited after sitting inside. Recommend. Guinness didn't taste like European one. Three fish / seafood linguine

Lyndsay Brennan

The food here is absolutely delicious. Everything we ordered was tasty. We ordered the seafood platter, beef carpaccio, crab cake, lobster eggs Benedict, dessert trio. The service was great too. Definitely recommend and would love to come back.

Seo Looker

Good: they do fried food really well. Calamari was good. Chicken and waffle was alright even tho it needed a bit more seasoning. Huge portion. Not so good: The server was friendly enough. Her first question was “have you been here before?”, not my fav one to be asked. Not everyone is a tourist. My drink came really late even though I could see it sitting on the bar for 20 mins ????. We also wanted some hot sauce but she did not check on us till too late.

Johnny Martinez

The besssssssssssst ???? The shrimp texture made me to cut it into little tiny pieces so that i can eat longer ???? wow best shrimp i ever had and Oyster? Its there “MAIN” no explanation needed ???? Steak soso but it was very pretty looking :)

Gurv

I can see why this restaurant is a must if you're looking for fine food and a great wine selection. The food was excellent and the service was top notch. The piano playing was a fine touch to go with the great food. I recommend this restaurant; it's not cheap but the dining experience is worth every dollar.

J vfx

I came here with my partner and mother to celebrate a special occasion. Service was splendid, wine pairings were great, but the food was disappointing. …

Kathleen Espiritu

Dine in

Kevin Som

Came for the happy hour and had a wonderful experience with good service and great food. We loved all the seafood options and the stand out was the crispy calamari which had very tender squid that was fried and seasoned perfectly. The sauce it came with was a nice pairing too. We also tried the $1.5 oysters and the mini shrimp and lobster rolls, all of which was fresh and tasty. Plenty of drink options and the ambience had an old school vibe which we enjoyed. Our server was attentive and knowledgeable.

Alyah K

Service was top notch as expected as Gordie was great who tag team with another lady which we didn’t catch the name. We really enjoyed the lobster bisque as both myself and my wife ordered one each. The bread in dip was flavourful. The platter is huge and good value for money vs Caderos version as it included 3/4 of a lobster. Not as sophisticated as Blue Water Cafe but the oysters were good as they were big, fresh, and juicy. The steamed clams were good but have had more flavourful shellfish in Ucluelet. Only thing we didn’t enjoy was the small table as it was uncomfortable with all the food we ordered as it felt claustrophobic. Even tho they check vaccine passport for Covid we felt nervous sitting so close to another table as their separation is not 6 feet and no shield between tables. Especially for my wife who does contact tracing and know that double vacationed doesn’t mean you won’t get infected. We have a 10 year old at home who can’t get vaccinated and trying to not bring home to him since he was hospitalized with bad asthma for a week. Interesting fact she learned with contact tracing is that single vaccinated seem to have lower infection rates vs double vaccinated as they seem to let their guard down vs a single vaccinated person. Even before the pandemic we had bigger tables and more spacing at Blue Water so don’t think we will return to Joe Fortes for a while, at least until all family members vaccinated and booster done.

Kris-ms

Service above and beyond always! Melissa, a very pleasant server is very attentive, friendly and genuinely interacting to all tables ???? excellent patio setting for a beautiful weather. Yummy yummy yummy foods and there are plenty of drinks to choose from ???? ???? ????!!!

M C

What a lovely restaurant! Some of the friendliest and attentive service we experienced during our entire stay in Vancouver. The food is divine - the West coast mussels were the biggest and most flavoursome I've ever had!

Kathleen Mansfield

Excelent ..really good seafood

Andrew H

Good food, but way too crowded. They stuffed too many tables in, so it's very cramped. For a restaurant that charges this kind of prices, I expected to be seated comfortably. Not within 6 inches of another table on either side.

Beckalynn O.

I love good food! This spot was highly recommend by several of my friends! The food did not disappoint and the service was awesome! We had the salmon Wellington, fish and chips and several apps and we loved it very thing!!! We can’t wait to try their brunch.

Saulius Grigaliunas

Dined for both lunch & dinner and both times was fortunate enough to get same waiter (Andrew) who waa very attentive, delivered first class customer service skills with utmost professionalism and very knowledgeable on explaining the menu to help ease of selections. Andrew coincidently without asking was our server for both lunch and when we returned next day for dinner. Andrew the waiter was super attentive to providing outstanding customer services, from start to finish for myself and family????????We will visit again thanks to Andrew

J Z

This place is fantastic. Their oysters and their macaroni appetizer were delicious. We had the best server too. He was so personable and explained everything in detail when it came to food. 5 stars!!

T Tran

Meal type

Liam Friesen

Very nice place. Great ambiance, the food was amazing, good size portions. Go for the trio dessert!!

Nephi Acluba

Wow wow wow, we had the best server ever (Heidi) she was really amazing and hands down the best server We’ve ever had. The food was really amazing too, we went for the happy hour and got a bunch of stuff as seen in the photo. We were going to order more from the dinner menu but got full so decided not to. We Will definitely be returning, amazing atmosphere, workers and food!

Jameel Amlani

INCREDIBLE HAPPY HOUR OYSTERS! $1.50 EACH! PLUMP, FRESH, DELICIOUS ANDDDD LOCAL! We were super impressed! Our server, Richard was delightful and hilarious. It was a great experience and we loved the ambiance. Happy hour was HAPPYYYYYY!❤

Werner Tesche Yáñez

Our bartender, Dedy ( I think that was his name ) was incredible, super nice, great service.

Lilia Jang

The for was excellent. We did the Dine Out Vancouver menu here and it was great value.

Jules Ng

This place I think is great specially for the piano , it makes a vibe from the old days . The oysters are awesome , and the waiters and waitresses are quiet polite . I only give 4 stars because the last time I was here I barely could hear the piano .

Amr Saber

Great atmosphere as always. However, this time I was caught off-guard by the hostess at the front. I understand we are going through some challenging times right now, which is even more important for service staff to ensure patrons have nothing short of a friendly and welcoming experience at restaurants, a place we go to relax at the end of a long day. Food is amazing as always, oysters and wine are always a great choice.

farida ali

Meal type

Raj

Great experience here. Went for the happy hour which has some incredible deals! Our server was great - super fun and attentive.

Melanie & Matthew Ryper

The. Best. Happy. Hour. In all of Vancouver, hands down. Oysters are fresh and always do delicious. The other items like the calamari, lobster rolls and fries are so tasty. To top it off, their happy hour is so affordable, so it’s great to meet up with friends and have great conversations with people. The service is always excellent and if you can, get a seat by the bar! The bartenders are AWESOME.

Chris H

The biggest attraction is the long standing institution being around in a nice area. However, the service quality depends on the day, and so does the food. It is actually so inconsistent that the value is not aligned with the experience. This restaurant is very much a brand, and not necessarily quality. Not bad, but really not that great.

Sam YYC

Very nice seafood selections and loved the concept of them using those seafood to combine with breakfast /brunch dishes. Food wise really enjoyed it overall with it having really decent portions. That said, service kind of rushed us through the meal making me not enjoy the whole meal as much. Get the benedicts or seafood pave!

Jacquelyn Page

A great place to visit during the holidays - they have the Xmas decor and also have a piano player in the evening. We ordered drinks - they have amazing coktails, especially the old fashion and a great selection of craft beers! The applies are great - we ordered a wedge salad, which was quite filling - full of blue cheese and bacon and also had the calamari at the waiters suggestetion - it was THE BEST calamari I've had in Vancouver, a definite must to order! For dinner we had had the muscles, sirloin steam, Mac and cheese, brussel sprouts and salmon wellington. Everything was phenomenal! The muscles broth was insanely good and I've never had the salmon wellington, but if you're a fan of seafood and beef Wellington, give it a try. The food and ambiance was only made better by the waiter "David" - he was professional, funny, and consistently took care of everything we needed. We will definitely be back, and if you've never been you need to go asap!

J C

Dine in

Dave Empey

I cannot say enough about the staff at Joe Fortes! From the servers to the bartenders everyone is top notch!! They’re attentive, friendly, knowledgeable - and some even hilarious! Their recommendations were amazing - steelhead trout, with the perfectly paired wine. The food is delicious but it’s the service that brings me back :)

John Emery

This is THE place for fresh seafood and oysters on the half shell. 5 ???? service, great food, and the perfect atmosphere! …

Kim Nguyen

I’ve always wanted to try this place and very happy I did! I went here for brunch and had the lobster roll while my boyfriend had the chicken and waffles, both were delicious. The staff are extremely nice and very helpful. My only problem was trying to figure out how to eat my lobster roll because it was huge!

Jenna Meyer

My Sister said Let's Do Happy Hour with Joe's, I said Sure Who's Joe? She Laughed while opening the Door replied Allow me to Introduce You..

dina karan

Matt was a very kind server, will definitely come back just to see him!

Omar Shehab

Review | Fine Dining (1~5) #Atmosphere: Receptionist Professionalism 4 | Interior Design 5 | Menu Design 4 | Server Professionalism 5 | Hygiene 5 #Food: Serve Speed 5 | Presentation 2 | Food Quality 5 | Taste 3 #Price Overall: $$$$$

Gurpreet Bhatia

Excellent seafood and wine selection. A bit loud and crowded though. Had challenges getting valet parking (not evident how and where and the street gets busy. Phoning didn’t clarify this either).

Nancy Nguyen

The food was tasty but for the price it should be better. We eat out at a lot of restaurants and we are very familiar with food and pricing. It was not worth the price paid however we did enjoy our dinner. Ordered 2 different bottles of wine and a server poured one into the other. Nobody brought a new replacement bottle and nobody adjusted our bill for it. We won't be returning to this trendy spot. Other places would never allow this mistake to happen without trying to correct it.

carlhaluss

Great place, ambient and service! The food was great, loved it!

Erika Ryan

Amazing food and Service thank you so much for this lovely dinner we will come back for sure

Ella

Great service and delicious food. Definitely a fancy experience. I would recommend double checking your bill at the end though as more than one of the people in my party were charged incorrectly for drinks.

Taylor Wilson-Lee

Great service and fresh seafood. Overly generous 4 scoops of gelato! (Minus one star for the small rock found in their mashed potatoes.)

Antonio Lopez

There is definitely a reason why this place is a well tenured fixture in the downtown foodie scene. I hadn't been here for 15 years and tonight I was still as impressed as I had been all those years ago! My kids, partner and I had calamari, crab cakes, seafood linguini, lingcod, salmon, carrot cake, key lime pie, sherbet and crème brulle. Each dish was fantastic. Even the bread with lobster oil was sooo good.. The live piano and attentive wait staff really highlighted the experience! Will not be waiting another 15 to go back!!

lea “Lea” howard

Visited in August 2017. We looked up the best restaurants in the area and this definitely did not disappoint. We tried oysters and although not my cup of tea the ladies next to us loved them and one of the women found a pearl in hers! Our entries were amazing but the dessert platter was unreal. Our waiter was extremely knowledgeable and very helpful in our decision making throughout the meal and choosing drinks. The building itself is absolutely beautiful. Definitely check it out!

Fidel Cashflo

My boyfriend took me here on my birthday + our anniversary and it was our first time; from the service or the atmosphere 10/10. The food is unreal an 11/10! We got to sit rooftop. They made my birthday so special! They had a menu that had “happy 21st birthday” written and brought me dessert! I will 100% be back! Such an amazing experience!

Tim Conneely

Best service, best brunch, best happy hour, best live piano music, and best complimentary birthday surprise. They served me the best crème brûle I've ever tasted on a beautiful plate with a birthday message and a candle for birthday wishes. Absolutely love this place.

Brooke McLaren

Service

Richard T

Went for happy hour and experienced good service and tasty food. We ordered the seafood platter and 10 oysters. Even though the experience in the restaurant was good, I was hit by extreme nausea, threw up every 30 minutes and had really bad diarrhea that night (about 5 hours later). I've reported this to Vancouver Coastal Health just in case there is a Vibrio outbreak, and flagged this issue to the restaurant. The manager at Joe Fortes asked me to speak to the chef, who was kind enough to refer me to VCH, but that was it. I would've liked some more thought and care given to customers who experienced this degree of illness after dining in this place! I am now having trouble digesting and developed a minor fever. I am sure I've not eaten anything else suspicious in the last 48 hours, so I am pretty sure it is the food at Joe Fortes ???? The tempura wasn't really what I imagined it to be. The batter is a bit too thick it overwhelmed the shrimp, but I think they do fried food pretty well. The lobster roll was a bit small. For over 9 dollars you get two avocado-size toast with maybe six pieces of lobster in it. Update: a week later, the Chef wrote a letter and sent me a $100 gift card.

Jeffrey Kidd

It was my first time eating here. When you make a reservation, the happy hour menu is not applicable doesn't matter what time you come....that is a shame that we find out after we sit down. This was not clear as you go through the reservation process, in fact, after you confirm the reservation with OpenTable, it shows you the Happy Hour menu, very very misleading. If happy hour is not applicable with reservations, why show your reservation customers this menu? Our reservation was 5:30, the intention was that we could order some drinks and appetizers, then order our main, but not allowed. Also, feel like being rushed so they can turn over the tables. The dish I ordered was not very remarkable. I didn't even finish my dish and it was taken away. For the amount of money you spend vs the experience and value...best to skip it.

JAN

Enjoyed the foods &drinks ! Thé cocktail ( Lowery ‘s cove ) and Rum are so tasty. Corn crab fritters (Appetizer ) with bread and olive olive are so good! Loved the Christmas decorations and great service!

Sophia Snegova

Great food, excellent service, lovely patio. Seafood lovers, this is your jam!! Excellent wine list too. I love their oysters, ceaser salad and their shellfish boullibase. Snow crab was my last dish and also incredible. You really can't go wrong at Joe's.

Wayne

Not often I come downtown to dine. And I have been to Joe Fortes a few times. Food, service and ambience always excellent. Today, however, was my best experience so far. I was hosting four of my friends for brunch. Naturally, when I am hosting friends my hopes are for a stellar experience. Soon as Tim approached our table, I knew we were in for a special time. Such a gentleman, and so patient. Two of my friends asked for some special tea, and some other special milk to go with it. Tim never flinched. Service was always attentive, never rushed. Matter of fact everyone that came to our table, from the server who brought our water to those who served our food were all exceptional. Tim has a wonderful, straight forward and sincere way of doing things, combined with a wonderful sense of humor and professionalism on every level. I will be back, not as often as I would like, and will ask for Tim!

Brittney Evans

The vibe and service at Joe Fortes is always great! They also have a wonderful rooftop patio you must try in the summer. I love their calamari, and most steaks are good as well. I have tried the Dolly salad, and felt that it was only okay. Prices are quite high though, but that is balanced with high quality food and service.

A A

Awesome food and ambiance

Terry Choi

Great fish here. Mashed potatoes with Asparagus was also great. Oysters were not too Shabby.

Zoe Rain

I chose to go there while in Vancouver for my girlfriend's birthday. The food was exceptional and the service was impeccable. Was worth every penny and I strongly recommend. EZ 5 stars.

L Lee

Dine in

Tanisha Bamforth

Great experience here. Went for the happy hour which has some incredible deals! Our server was great - super fun and attentive. Even with Covid measures in place, you do not feel crowded at all. Great atmosphere and such a cool space. Would definitely come back for some more cheap happy hour eats!

Cindy Lee

Amazing food and great service! Love going here with my friends and family

Toss

Excellent food, atmosphere, and service. Blackened cod, seafood linguine, porkchop, fish&chips, steak, crab&corn fritters, and tomato&beet salad were all amazing. Really enjoyed the live music and the bustling atmosphere.

Harm Singh

We went for happy hour at 3pm and was surprised to find the place was packed full! Thankfully, I had requested a booth seat in my reservation so we at least weren't surrounded by people on all sides. But it was super noisy. Maybe not the best place to go on a date as it was hard to have a conversation. I came for the oysters as it's been on my bucket list of things to do in Vancouver before we move again. It was ok. I didn't know you can't choose which types of oysters you get for the $1.50 happy hour special, as I would have liked to try a variety. The fresh lemons saved it. I don't think I could have eaten them at all without it as the seafood taste was stronger than I expected. Didn't care at all for the other sauce it comes with. Two out of 12 oysters had shell bits in it, but it wasn't too bad. Prawn tempura (2) for $9.95 was my husband's favorite. The size was decent. Shrimp and crab rolls (2) for $9.95 was ok. The bread is toasted and super tasty, but the stuff inside was pretty tasteless and it was definitely on the small side. Crispy calamari for $8.95 was my favorite, and I'd argue is one of the best value for money on the happy hour menu. Truffle parmesan fries for $7.95 was ok, and definitely helped to neutralize the seafood taste in my mouth. My husband enjoyed the white wine for $1/oz. I asked them if either of their beers was low in sulfites which makes me have vertigo and they couldn't tell me so I had to pass on the alcohol altogether, which I was sad about. The waiter was very nice and friendly and checked up on us frequently enough. The restroom is up on the second level which didn't seem like it was being used during happy hour. It seemed a bit quieter up there. If you suffer from vertigo like me, going down the stairs is terrifying as you can see the whole restaurant from the stairs. All in all, I am glad I came here and crossed fresh oysters off my bucket list and enjoyed a decent variety of items at a reasonable price. Fyi, we were also offered the lunch or dinner menu during happy hour and that was nice to know we had other options.

Steph C

Fine omraw oyster selection and always a great meal and atmosphere!

Sab L.

Went in for happy hour and had the best experience! The oysters on happy hour are 1.5 each which was great. We asked for the vinaigrette and extra horseradish which was a good call. We also ordered the lobster rolls. The atmosphere is busy and service was speedy and prompt. Definitely will be back, especially for happy hour!

Marlon Thompson

Been going to Joe fortes for at least 15+ years for everything from birthday parties, business lunches/dinners to special occasions with the wife. We are always pleased with the food and service. Killer prawn cocktail, awesome clam chowder, steak and seafood are as fresh as it gets. Can't wait until my next visit!

Matt Lemcke

Good service, Nice and kind waiters, Perfect foods. I love this place. I will visit here again soon.

Jesse Cain

Other

Ricardo Seah

Loved the shrimp cocktail. David at table 69 was the best server I have ever had!

Farooq Mian

The seafood linguine @joefortesvan is pasta-tively delicious Dining at Joe Fortes feels like spending time with a great friend, always there and reliable. The vibe here is like a classic seafood house with lots of wooden accents and a pianist playing in the background Service is always impeccable. The servers gives you enough time to browse the menu without feeling rushed and your glass is always full. The kitchen staff always provide your dishes in a timely manner I can’t think of a better way to have my first dine-in experience in a while then enjoying my favourite dish, the seafood linguini. It’s got tender seared scallops & prawns, mushrooms, peas all covered in a very flavourful creamy white wine sauce???? The sockeye salmon was very delicious as well, topped with maple brown butter. The accompanied roasted potatoes were cooked perfectly and so were the asparagus I felt safe dining here as they are following social distancing regulations at reduced capacity. They are doing this by only accepting reservations. They are checking their staff for symptoms before their shift and they are all wearing masks. Great job✊???? Don’t forget to check out their happy hour 3-6pm, 7 days a week for their chilled seafood platter . ????Seafood linguine $42.95 ????Sockeye salmon $36.95 ????Brussel sprouts $9.95 ????RUBY SOHO $8: grapefruit juice, Fentimans ginger beer, honey syrup, mint, and fresh lime @vancityh on Instagram

Brad Jones

Amazing food and amazing restaurant. One of the best restaurants I have ever been to

Kelly Kelly

Amazing food and experience. While it is definitely on the pricey side there is a great happy hour wine ($1/Oz)and appy special that we have enjoyed. The service was fantastic here, very friendly staff, and a great atmosphere. Everything we have eaten has been fantastic, a few of our favourites being the mini lobster rolls, calamari, deep fried oysters and of course fresh oysters. Highly recommended.

Sab L

Great chicken and waffles as well as eggs Benny for brunch. Housemade lobster oil is heavenly with the bread and when the weather is nice, patio is the way to go!

Will Thompson

Very professional staff and fantastic foods.

Mornington

For a place of such prestige and high rating, we expected much better, but we’re given a pub style experience at a Michelin star cost. Dined at Joe Forte’s this evening while visiting the city from out of town. Service was pretty good ( friendly but not always timely…) I give this bad rating as I was sitting at the bar next to a lady they had dining with them who had her suitcase on the two chairs beside her wide open with her stuff falling all out as if she was in her hotel room. On top of that she had her shoes off and feet up on the chair. To cap it off she walked around freely all over the dining floor looking for outlets to charge her laptop so she could continue this lavish experience she was given.

Jen Bond

You get top service you expect from an institution like this! Food is great and fresh. Fried dishes are nice and light, any seafood dish is a great choice!

Lance

Very popular seafood restaurant. Happy hour food is not nearly as good as the regular menu. Even on a Wednesday happy hour is very busy. They take reservations for happy hour now so definitely recommend making one. Fresh shucked oysters definitely the best of the happy hour menu. Everything else is 2 thumbs down. Don’t expect your happy hour cocktails to have much alcohol in them.

Sophina R

Joe Fortes is always consistent. The food always arrives exactly as expected (which is a great thing). The aspect I love most about Fortes is that my expectations on food and service are always met with excellence. I always know what to expect having dinner here. Our server ‘Brian’ (I believe), was particularly exceptional. He was informative, helpful, and a all-around great server. I highly recommend Joe Fortes if you’re in the mood for traditional seafood. Also, make sure to try the lobster oil. We even bought a bottle for our wedding previously. If you like a classic 30s style venue/restaurant, this is the place to go. Fortes has been a staple of Vancouver for years.

Tricia C

Perfect food, super kind, but busy at Happy Hour. It's worth waiting for.You can eat one of the best oysters in Vancouver.

Raj D

Happy hour visit, decided to order everything on the HH menu. It was awesome. Service was great too. Will be back for dinner next time.

Mark Tanaka

Great food, great service! If you are looking for fine dining, then this is the place to go. This is a great place where you can enjoy your food at your leisure, enjoy your company, while listening to a great pianist in the background. They don't rush you, to get their next customer in, even though they are super busy. My daughter and I shared a halibut meal (they do the separating, so presentation is very appealing), and we added a side of scallops. This meal came with your choice of potato and an array of succulent veggies, cooked to perfection. We added a side of roasted brussel sprouts which were mmm, mmm, good ???? We finished with a blueberry cheesecake, which definitely will tickle your taste buds ???? Definitely a five star, and highly recommended!

Mike Williamson

1930's style. loved the place! service was a bit slow and they messed up on our initial reservation. would have gave this a 5 star if they were polite about it.

B

I love the seafood in this place, everything is super fresh and the cocktails are always on point, the staff is really friendly and the ambiance with the piano man completes the hole experience.

G ST

Very expensive but soooo worth it. The Surf and Turf is great! Hubby likes the steak.

Stephen Bruce

Excellent food. Very accommodating for special diet considerations. Beautiful dining room, and rooftop patio. Staff is outstanding.

william yang

I ate here as a part of a work dinner and thoroughly enjoyed the food. The clam chowder was delicious and was actually better than I expected. The steak was good and the cheesecake was delicious. I had red wine accompanying my meal and thought it was a lot more smooth than I had anticipated. I do not recall the specific type of wine we had. The server was excellent and helped to ensure the experience was good for myself and my 18 coworkers.

Shannon Almasi

Maybe management should pay the servers more so they're not constantly trying to upsell us like a pushover. Extremely annoying, pretentious and unwelcoming. We came for happy hour, ordered a decent amount of food and the server just seemed desperate for the money and seemed unmotivated to serve my table after we ordered what seems like a "small" amount of food for him. Service was rushed, not even a quick quality check was made and were asked if we wanted to order more food three to four times and felt pushy. If we wanted more food, we would have asked but for the record, its happy hour. Can't expect every table to order enough food for a triple digit bill. Food was good amazing nonetheless but wish I could leave a better review because the food was genuinely good.

Jennifer Müller

Dine in

Aiden Carey

We went for the happy hour special and we were surprised with how fast the service was and the quality of the seafood. The oysters were amazing, as well at the lobster rolls. It's a must go for seafood in Vancouver

Celine Mori

You MUST come here for happy hour oysters!! Probably one of the spots with the best priced happy hour oysters I’ve seen here ($1.50 each). The oysters are really big! The other happy hour appetizers are well done and also pair well with the oysters. Their fries were crazy crisp.

Raymel Santos

This is my 2nd time that I've come to this restaurant. The 1st time was amazing... however the 2nd time I was expecting more. I ordered the salmon Wellington and I was hoping that the salmon would not be dry. And Yes!! It was dry and I would say that the side dishes did not complement with the main dish ... it had a carrot puree and some sauteed asparagus. Also, the main dish also had a sauce which I couldn't taste the flavour... it looked like a mayo sauce. Although the salmon was very dry. The mushroom and the shrimp did well inside the salmon Wellington they added a little bit of moist that the salmon lacked. For dessert I ordered a Joe's Sin Chocolate cake... it was good I thought it was going to taste a little bit more different, but it was good a huge ???? I would have recommend the restaurant that they had kept the lobster bisque cuz it was AMAZING!!! I tried it when I first went there ???? Taking food aside... the service was good... the staff were attentive and very polite

Julie L.

My girlfriend and I came here for our anniversary after hearing good things and we were not disappointed at all. We ordered the deep-fried oysters, calamari and crab & corn fritters and all 3 were amazing and very generous portion. We also had all 3 sangrias and those did not miss either. Not a big fan of raw oysters but the deep-fried ones are a game changer. Our mains were the steak and the seafood linguine and for a place known for its seafood the steak was amazing. After debating whether or not to get desert I opted for the carrot cake (Yeah I eat a lot that day) after seeing tiktoks about this place and hands down best carrot cake I've ever had. 10/10 would recommend.

Seohyung Lyou

We were visiting from Ontario and as our first time in Vancouver we were looking for mostly seafood places since me and my husband love fresh seafood. We were greeted right away by the amazing hosts and was given a booth per reservation request as we wanted a little privacy since it’s our 3rd wedding anniversary. We went during happy hour and prior to this had a heavy lunch somewhere else so we just wanted to try a few of their offerings. I ordered bubbly and my husband ordered a beer and coffee. We watched our server placed the tray with our drinks at the counter less than a feet away from us for about 5 minutes before she delivered the drinks. Weird but that’s okay. Then she asked us if we were ready and we were so we ordered the happy hour seafood platter since we weren’t overly hungry as we mentioned we will start with that for now and might order more and she then responded in the weirdest tone “is that it?!?” Weird but we let it go again. Platter was okay. We have had better. Even if it was happy hour we expected good quality still. We decided to ordered 6 more oysters as the oysters in the platter were not bad. The server then responded “just six? Nothing else?” At this point we were like annoyed and didn’t even want the oysters anymore. Oysters had a weird taste to it. Almost creamy and not in a good way. We both felt weird after eating it. Didn’t mention anything due to service being rude and short. We still tipped 15% because we are not rude. Won’t recommend. For an establishment that’s been open for years, we expected better. We had better experience elsewhere. 4/10! Edit: The management reached out to us and I can’t stress it enough how their establishment fixed the issue. We were not expecting for them to do anything but they did and because of that they definitely will have our business in the future. An establishment that cares about their customers and future customers to come and for us that is enough to come back and recommend them.

Adam Chu

I come here for happy hour and I love fresh oysters and the atmosphere. It's a great place for a drink too. Their staff are friendly and attentive

C M

Excellent food, atmosphere and service. However, it is a little bit hard to talk because the whole restaurant is packed with talking people. Should be a good place to go if you want to reward yourself.

Alina Chakabe

I was quite excited to try this place and the lobster roll was recommended by a friend to try. The overall vibe of the restaurant was warm & inviting, and there was live piano playing. The servers were excellent as well, so it was off to a great start. We were looking for something light to start the day and we ordered lobster bisque, lobster roll, and mussels. I was quite disappointed as the dominant taste of the lobster roll was...bread? It was so bland that I couldn't quite make out what I was eating. The salad was also bland, would have added another level if a balsamic reduction was added to the dressing.The lobster bisque was also questionable in flavor. The mussels and its broth though were quite a surprise. The mussels were juicy and the broth was comforting as it was cold and rainy that day; it was definitely the highlight of our stay.

Tina Tran

Other

Jesse Antoine

Food and service are always great though it can be a little loud for a date when it's busy. Excellent holiday ambience for a December night

N C

Service

Sophie Wheatley

Make sure you make reservations because they fill up quick (even on a Wednesday). Service was fantastic thanks to Johnny D and Nelson! For starters, I shared the crab cake and it was yummy! They also give bread with a lobster oil and balsamic vinegar dip which tastes DELICIOUS! I had the albacore tuna with roasted veggies on the side and the dish was decent. I had a salmon dish last time which was juicy it was wonderful!

Henry Spurgeon

Joe Fortes is one of my favorite fine dining Seafood & Chop restaurants. Whether you're doing full course or just an entree it's great to hit in both summer season and in winter. The restaurant has different atmospheres depending on where you sit, most notably the Wine Cellar and the patio are the best two spots. It's classic service and the waiters are impeccable, they are also well-versed in wines.

Renee The Vegetarian Hairdresser

David was our server and everything was perfect! Thank you. My best friend had a very nice birthday :)

Rick C

Delicious and amazing service! From the cocktails, to the bread, to the mains, the food and drink were impeccable. Service was attentive and consistent without being smothering.

Gabe W

$$$$ Good but expensive... Wide variety of Sea food... Warm Staff with very good service.... Tried Lobster bisque and Arctic Char... both where good and unique taste though... One should try Bread (ofcourse free of cost)with Lobster Oil... Guys watch out your dressing.... Most of them where really Dressed... For quick bytes, u can get from Bar Table...

Debbie L

Meal type

Tommy Reinerth

We book this restaurant from dine out website and it link to opentable to book the time. It has 1:30 available and we booked it. When we arrive at the restaurant and got informed can not serve dine out menu till 4 pm. Which I think the dine out or the opentable made a great confusion since we though we were booked for the dine out. It was really let done for me and my girlfriend since we were both very excited before we head to the restaurant till the waitress told us can not serve the dine out menu. Food was ok nothing really surprised me and feel most stuff is really oily.

Ari Katsiavos

Came here when I was in BC for a vacation. Came with some friends from Quebec. Absolutely fantastic service, sublime food, and delicious wine. I want to fly back just to come back to this restaurant. Absolutely amazing

Anthony Tsui

The happy hour is just insane. Our waiter Dennis was extremely enjoyable to deal with and made us feel very happy. We will definately come back and hopefully we can get Dennis again! Keep doing what you are doing

Katerina Do Rego

Lunch

Positive Perspective

From Alberta first time checking you guys out and it was a amazing experience, the food was great and the atmosphere was fantastic. Our server was Kevin H and he made the experience much more enjoyable, thank you again for the amazing experience Kevin you were great to have.

Audrey T

I've been meaning to come to Joe Fortes for a long time now and thought Dine Out Vancouver would be a great time to finally do it and boy oh boy was it a treat! When you enter you are immediately greeted by the host and hear beautiful live piano music which I was not expecting! Beautiful high ceilings and the music make for a classy atmosphere. There is an extensive wine list and quite a few cocktails. My husband opted for beer but I chose one of their signature cocktails called Lighten Up which was $15 so on par with your average cocktail bar pricing. The flavours were so complex and it was the perfect amount of sweet for me. Definitely worth the price tag. My husband and I each had the lobster bisque to start and the 8oz New York steak. Our steaks were cooked perfectly to each of our likings (mine medium and my husbands medium rare) and had soooo much flavour- it tasted like the steak had been marinated for hours. It was served with jalapeño creamed corn which was not at all overly spicy but again packed with flavour and the herb crusted potatoes although they may sound basic, were almost mind blowing because I had no idea potatoes could have so much flavour and still be so crispy on the outside while still soft in the middle. The asparagus was also delicious and a decent portion (approx. 5 pieces). The entree was definitely 10/10 in my books. Dessert was also delicious. Between the two of us we had the chocolate truffle tart and the creme brûlée. The tart was super chocolately and fudge like. It was very rich but nonetheless hits the spot if you're in the mood for chocolate, which I always am! The creme brûlée was also delicious. Our waitress was very attentive and accommodating. She was helpful in giving suggestions for drinks and food. I'm very glad we came here and had a sample of what Joe Fortes has to offer. We will most definitely return but perhaps for a special event next time as the regular menu is a bit pricey.

Marcela MA

Joe's happy hour was great. Had prawn tacos & calamari! My main server was great & the guy serving drinks & food was great! Did not enjoy the oysters as much. Also the server who gave them to me was not too friendly. The atmosphere was great but it was a little warm even with the overhead fans. Also you had to climb a good set of stairs to get to the lav. Overall a good experience but dinner would be a lot more. Charles Dickson

v lee

Bratt is a wonderful wonderful guy. We had our anniversary today and he made it so special

Doug

When in doubt, go for the Chef's creation!

Edmond

My friend and I had decided to check this place out earlier this week after hearing about their oyster happy hour special. A few hours after dining, my friend felt nauseous for the next 48 hours, having all symptoms of food poisoning including throwing up at various times of the night. I started experiencing nausea and dizziness the following day and all throughout this day I have been unfortunately bedridden and uncontrollably throwing up several times throughout the day, along with other symptoms of food poisoning. The abdominal pain was so severe at one point that I had to call out of work. I am extremely disappointed and hope they sort this out soon so that others do not experience the same unfortunate events.

Joyen

Filet Mignon was superb. Was not a big fan of Potaoe Pave, seemed to be missing something in that batch? Happy hour chilled platter was amazing. Great service

Scott Donnelly

First time eating oysters and what a great experience. They had some of the best prices for oysters highly suggest. The service and the restaurant were amazing as well.

Alan Gozda

Lovely dinner and drinks! A girlfriend and I went here early for happy hour and tried the fries, fried chicken, and pizza. Food was pretty good with the fried chicken being the best thing... was so flavourful! Drinks were awesome and perfectly made. We tried a small plate of the hand made butternut squash pasta as well and were blown away by the taste - definitely order this one even though it’s not on the happy hour menu.

Jessica Goggin

Lobster bisque was less than average. Served luke-warm. No toast nor bread served with soup. Disappointing. Fish and chips were excellent.

Jair Lacerda

Absolutely disgusting! Have been coming here for 10 years as a customer. Food and dining experience has always been great, but was refused entry as forgot my ID at home. Provided manager with COVID vaccine status & picture of photo ID but they refused entry. Was with a party of 3 individuals, and had to go back to retrieve my physical ID, to join my friends for dinner. Delayed 2 hours for a simple dinner. Ironic part is that as a healthcare worker, working during the pandemic, restaurants like this are refusing entry if no ID is present. Didn't realize Joe Fortes was going this route, otherwise we would have just chosen a different restaurant. Next time if this happens to you i'd suggest asking the Manager for his own ID.

Ken Buenaventura

Tried out the 2022 Dine Out Vancouver menu at this place, ordered the steak dinner. One of the best steaks I had at a restaurant, I find that most places don’t rest the steak in room temperature long enough and instead cook it right out of the fridge. The middle ends up being too cold when I order it medium rare. But this one was perfectly cooked, perfect temperature in the middle, was very juicy and had a nice beefy flavour. Outside was perfectly grilled, nice colour and not burned. The potatoes were amazing as well, perfectly seasoned, crisp outer shell, soft inside. Tasted like the potatoes were boiled almost soft enough to be smashed potatoes, but instead they are partially smashed , then baked in the oven to give it a crispy outer edge. The dessert was amazing too, not overly sweet but the flavours were perfectly balanced.

Zn A

There are no words to describe how amazing and delicious the food is here! Oh and you can’t help but have your breath stolen by the stunning visual display if impeccable decor throughout the entire place! Just wow ????! Oh and if that weren’t enough... how about the friendliest most knowledgeable staff in the restaurant business all seem to work here! Including of course the chefs and back of the house members! Joe Fortes is next level dining in absolutely every way. Find a way to get yourself here and on more than one occasion! You will thank me, your tastebuds will thank me. ✅

Taylor D

Servers and entire staff are second to none. I get the feeling that if you get a job here, you have bragging rights to anyone in the industry, especially locally. Great vibe. Great food.

Jamie Lisa Brown (James girl)

Service

Anna Liang

Great food and atmosphere, but it took over 2 hours to get our meals

Diana Hsu Morris

Want to go for this restaurant for a long time! Finally came and tried their happy hour menu...(from 3pm to 6pm) For food, I love the $1.5 shucked oyster and the mini shrimp and lobster roll most???? drinks are all in a very reasonable price, I ordered white wine and it taste good!! The design is full of vintage styles and antique idea???????? Must come again and eat all the menu again for sure haha

Danielle Pureifory

Meal type

Jacob Elias

Food is amazing as always. Service is prompt and everyone there works so hard and great as a team. Our server tonight was Brett. He was kind, courteous and very personable with a great sense of humor. He completed our night out. Would highly recommend.

Calvin Fu

Joe Fortes.. Wow. Exceptional service indeed from the doorman to the hostess and the waiters. Even Brian the maitre d was so courteous. We went in with a baby expecting to be turned away by a bustling restaurant but it was quite the opposite. So very accommodating. Thank you!

Giovana Nascimento

Very expensive but soooo worth it. The Surf and Turf is great! Hubby likes the steak.

Dawn Peters

Excellent service. Classic decor, oysters, piano. Quite expensive, but food was good.

Miss Peeved

Not only was the food fantastic but the service was amazing and made the experience as good as it gets. It's no wonder they have been one of the top restaurants in the city for years.

Sam Foster

The atmosphere is nice here. Theres live piano playing. Food was delicious. Service was excellent. I would go back again.

Brenden Du

Delicious! I usually come for happy hour but I wanted to try the regular menu! I had the lobster roll and it was great! Very lobster-y! Had a side of truffle fries and they were amazing with mayo. Because it was my friends birthday, they provided us with candied salmon and a creme burlee!

Shane W

Service

Julian Medd

Dinner

Meesh

Happy hour is SUPER busy and walk ins fill up quick so I'd highly recommend making a reservation. My partner and I got the happy hour tacos (pictured), $1.50 oysters and tiger prawn cocktail. All super yummy and highly recommend! The staff are incredibly timely and friendly. Highly recommend!

Aaron Winston

Joe Fortes is a top shelf dining experience. Amazing staff and an amazing atmosphere. A must try.

Matt Karimi

Good brunch in the heart of the downtown core. Always get for brunch reservation here. The food is consistent and good. Service is attentive. My criticism would be that the front of house isn’t always the most welcoming and the espresso drinks are too small. Aside from that I would highly recommend the Lobster Benny.

Krishty Roy

Service

Tiffany Tam

Fresh seafood, perfect steak, great service.

C A

Beautiful staff and restaurant! Waitress was amazing (Rebecca) Waiter was perfect (Nick);helped someone beside us with little no no English, and handled it perfectly. Thank you so much for being amazing people; y’all are amazing. ???????????? have a beautiful day ????

Julia Combot

Great food and service. Nice variety of mains.

Smilesmart Smilesmart

Attentive service. Impeccable food. Great drinks. It on the pricy side but you get what you pay for. Will return again.

Colin Mandich

We've eaten here a few times over the last few years. The service and food has always been excellent. Fantastic steaks. Even the veggies are very good. Can be very busy at peak times, and certainly isn't a quiet place but isn't overwhelming either. Live piano most evenings. Highly recommended!

春

Meal type

Ashleigh Hayhoe

It was my very first time to visit there. Everything was great. Food was so delicious and I would say the restaurant is one of the best restaurants I’ve ever been in Vancouver. Also I was impressed with the service provided. First, when I ordered food I said we were going to share dishes. Then one of each course was served split in two plates. Second, I put a memo when making a reservation saying that it was gonna be a belated birthday dinner. I was so happy when desserts were served with a message of Happy Birthday on the plate. So appreciated. I will definitely come back next time. Just one thing I want to mention is that if you want to enjoy food in a quiet atmosphere, this wouldn't be your first option. It was a little too busy and crowded.

Magnolia

Happy hour menu was fantastic! Oysters for $1.5 were massive and the calamari is a must have! Food came out really quickly and wait staff was very friendly. Highly recommend going during happy hour to get some deals and then staying for more!

Katrina

One of the best experiences of mine for seafood and especially oyster bar. Very professional crew and luxury ambiance with live music in the heart of downtown Vancouver. Several times awarded and acknowledged. Strongly recommended.

Romina I

Meal type

Meaghan Bhim

The oyster on happy hour is fresh & delicious (and I've ordered 2 dozens), fried calamari is crispy & full of flavor. It was a wonderful beginning, unfortunately, as an entree, the scallop just ruined everything. Well, I could give a 4/5, if I haven't chewed sands in my last piece of scallop. Before that, everything is quite good except 2 pieces of scallop were a little bit overcooked, oh, and I have to say, the rice is not match this course also. As the best seafood restaurant of the town ~ if not the whole nation ~ it's a bit disappointed that they made such rookie mistakes. Joe's Wellington is something new to me, it is the first time I tried a seafood Wellington, compare with the regular one with tenderloin, Joe's is more loose and light, has no strong flavor. It's more like a sandwich to me, but still a worth try. The restaurant is very busy, waiter/ress are very well trained, it's not easy to maintain that, but Joe Foetes did it. BTW, the lobster sauce for bread is awesome.

Jess

Definitely a place to visit at least once during the summer. Their seafood dishes never disappoint. The oysters were super fresh and yummy. Their caesar salad is definitely worth because they pile a bunch of seafood in. You can substitute the roasted potatoes with mashed potatoes (which is what I did).

Matt Genzel

Dinner

London O'Conner

Our waiter was amazing, super polite, always checked on us. Food took a bit longer then usual, I ordered a beef tenderloin steak, cooked to medium rare chicago style and it was barley even seared on the sides and it was not even close to medium rare, the mash potatoes were also cold in some parts, overall a 3/10 experience for a $80 meal. They did get us a beautiful desert on the house which was amazing!

Heather Chilcott

Food was fresh and the staff was great! Served some of the best calamari I’ve ever had.

Kathleen Hyland

Amazing food! Amazing service! Amazing atmosphere! I've been here more than once and I can say I have never had anything to complain about. It's worth the trip all around!

Clara Berry

Great food, and great service. We ordered a bottle of wine, and our server chose the best bottle to match our meals. Not just that, but he had a great attitude, which made the meal that much more enjoyable. Once he found out it was my birthday, we got some desserts for the table. Overall, I would highly recommend this restaurant, not only for the great atmosphere, but for the flavourful food, and awesome service.

Ellen H

I wanted to give this a five so bad. The service was definitely 5 stars! The Oysters were amazing, the horseradish mash was great the steak was tasty but not a a 5 star cut. The seasoning was perfect but I would expect a perfect cut for the prices they charge. I chose my favorite... A New York. The golden beets were bland and an odd side dish in my opinion. Still a lovely meal overall.

Eddie Rojas

Been a regular here for past 14 years. The quality and service have never disappointed . I love the oyster and muscles. My companions have always loved the fillet mignon.

Julie Soriano

All the food we ordered tasted wonderful even my daughter who is a picky eater and has food allergies really enjoyed the food here. Service was great. The bread could be a bit fresher in the beginning.

Jorge Denerghi

Why have I waited so long to come here. Sure this place is a treat but man is it good. Everything is fresh. Service is phenomenal. Great vibe. Any of their aiolis is simply yum.

Lem Jo

A classic seafood restaurant that is a must visit when downtown Vancouver. It’s got that old New York feel in it. Seafood is fresh and prepared everyday you can imagine. We started with shrimp cocktail and beef carpaccio, and I had the seafood Caesar salad, and my husband had the seafood chowder and oysters for our mains.

tomo

Lunch

Gala F

Delicious Artic Char! Would recommend wine over cocktails though. Impeccable service. Definitely a good place for seafood (and meat!).

Jay R

Service

Mike W

We tried 2022 dineout vancouver menu $59 pp. Tuna Crudo appetizer tastes pretty good, disappointed in the Lobster Bisque (it tastes really bland, lacking flavour). New York Steak is good but not wow. Creme Brulee dessert surprisingly delicious! Attentive service, pleasant experience. The restaurant was packed on weekdays so make sure to reserve ahead.

Mark Crystal

Great food and great service. Highly recommended to make a reservation, otherwise you’ll need to wait for at least 30 min for a table. There’s is also valet parking available.

Andy Chalus

Great food, terrific service. Piano player came down from his piano to ask what we'd like to hear.

Leila haidar

Reasonable cocktails and happy hour. Great oysters.

Pia Manzon

What a great place for happy hour. Top notch service and old school feel. Felt fancy but not pretentious.

Anne-Charlotte Podvin

Worst experience today. We called in to see how long the wait would be for a walk in on the patio. We were told it would be 1.5 hours. No problem. There are strange times. We were told to come in to put our name on the list. Also no problem. We were a block away. When we arrived, the hostess told us the wait would now be two hours. Okay. That’s reasonable. We put our names down and set off to find a drink while we waited. We received a phone call 30 minutes later telling us they had a table at the bar. We declined since it was date night and we wanted a table. We received a second phone call five minutes later telling us they now had a table. Meanwhile, we had just ordered drinks at a different restaurant expecting a long wait for our table. The hostess told us we would be pushed to the bottom of the list if we didn’t take this table. We accepted this only to be put on hold. When the hostess came back, she simply told us, “You keep declining tables. You can’t dine here.” Thanks Joe Fortes. Maybe I’ll stop by with a clock for your host staff.

Celine Bergeron

Dinner

Josh Morrison

Fresh oysters. Do I need to say more? Ok maybe. They were so good! Tasty and salty. Just delicious. And the mains were amazing. Steak cooked perfectly, sablefish to die for (melted like butter in your mouth). And the service was OUTSTANDING. I've never been so impressed with the service. Not once was my beer empty. Very glad I went. Very much worth the money spent!

Grace E.

Dinner

brad grainger

What a fantastic evening of dinner, drinks and great conversation on the rooftop patio. We were taken to Joe Fortes for a business dinner so although the menu wss enticing and looked scrumptious, our host did the ordering for the table. The seafood platter was huge and quite varied. The oysters were divine as were the corn, seafood fritters and calamari. Will definitely come back with the family next time we're in Vancouver

Ronald LeBlanc

Absolutely wonderful service and food. We came for our anniversary and our server made wonderful suggestions and adjustments (food as well as wine) for our dinner to make it immaculate. I absolutely enjoy good service and the staff at Joe Fortes is definitely well trained. I had a wonderful evening!

Charles Dickson

Don’t know what the hype is about this place, went for happy hour and the oysters were so fishy and not fresh. Calamari and tacos were are 7/10 for me. Would suggest going elsewhere for seafood. Also service wasn’t great I felt rushed.

Eric Pike

Always love coming to joe fortes for happy hour oysters ordered the seafood platter wasn't disappointed

MyMy LoVe

Best chicken and waffles in the city and the coffee cake is SO GOOD!! One of my go-to brunch places for sure, highly recommend dining on the patio in the summer!!

Tom Wilson

First time at Joe Fortes and had such a great experience! Phyllis was our server. She was so helpful - from helping us choose an entree (we were debating between a few - everything on the menu looks so good!), to pairing our entrees with a good wine, to helping us choose our first oysters (and taught us how to eat it too). Every recommendation was perfect. She went above and beyond. I already recommended this restaurant to many of friends because of her excellent service. Thanks so much Phyllis!

utmart321

Dine in

Ana Krunic

Just ok. Wine not chilled. Lobster bisque not hot. The beat part was the creme brulee. Won't visit again.

J Smith

Extremely tasty seafood. Took my sister there for her birthday and we had the seafood platter. The oysters and muscles were to die for. Great atmosphere and extensive wine list.

Dustin Davis

The atmosphere was fantastic with decor on both floors and a live piano on the stairs. Servers were very attentive and knowledgeable in the menu. Brunch food and drink options were plentiful, and portion sizes were big for mains as well as desserts. The crab cakes were amazing, must try. The brunch special had salmon, eggs Benedict, salad, fruits, potatoes, prosciutto, and a corn bread which was my favorite. Price is higher than average but you are getting your money's worth.

Jenn Rae

Good interior design and great atmosphere, staffs are all very nice as well. The lobster oil is very nice which make me have two pieces of bread instead of just a bite usually. Then I had oyster Rockefeller, oyster is fresh and seasoning is good. Then I have salmon wellington for main course, the portion is big, but the food itself is just okay. The salmon is a bit over cooked, which I am expecting undercooked instead. Overall not bad but not really good as well.

Joe Ma

Went for a birthday dinner recently. They had menus with a "happy birthday" message on them which I think was a nice touch, plus we got a complimentary cheesecake for the birthday gal. The food was great, highly recommend the beef carpaccio (we got 2!). The lobster oil is amazing, I regret not getting a bottle to go. The steak was cooked better than the steak at Hy's to be honest. A fantastic restaurant overall. My only non-serious complaint is that the menus are too big! But that's part of the roaring 20s/art deco aesthetic for sure.

Mehr Poulad

Dined at their roof top. Beautiful place. Ordered bone in rib steak with fries which was perfectly cooked. Seafood linguine was exceptional! Will definitely come back in few months to try their oyster!

조준휘

Service

Raj Sidhu

Service

Abraham Wong

Food, staff and experience is amazing here. Delicious seafood restaurant with a very vancouver vibe

Diane

Joe Fortes never disappoints! We always make an online reservation as the restaurant was packed busy as usual .. latest visit was to celebrate our mother's birthday during Happy Hour.. our group of 6 (including 2 kids) delighted in the freshest chilled seafood platter, crispy calamari, lobster rolls, steamed asparagus, and pavlova dessert. Our server even provided us with a surprise creme de brule dessert sparkler topper! Can't wait to go back when their outdoor patio opens :)

gunjan gupta

Good food, very good customer service and a nice view looking down into the streets, from the corner table of the patio.

Helen I

Came here for the dine out Vancouver menu. It was absolutely delicious. Very large considering its a discounted 3 course menu. Wasn't things I would usually order but was really pleasantly surprised. The tuna tartar was amazing!

Cindy Chang

The food of this place is tremendously delicious. The servers are super nice, they really take their time to answers any questions on the menu and to provide recommendations as well. The pianist sets a wonderful atmosphere to just relax and enjoy the occasion. We will be coming back to this place for sure. Thanks Joe!

Dylan Guglielmello

The food here is delicious and service is absolutely VIP. I will be honest. I was a little bit skeptical about coming here because it's such a "tourist" staple. The biggest highlight for me was the service. Our waiter (I wish I remembered his name) was super personable and attentive. He was always open to crack a joke and it made the night very memorable. That being said, the food did not disappoint. I got the Seafood Trio (included Arctic Char, Salmon, and Shrimp). It was absolutely delicious and the portion was a lot bigger than expected. In retrospect, I will likely get the Arctic Char alone because this was my favourite. The other highlights were the filet mignon (really tender and juicy), giant scallop (really went down smooth like butter), and steamed clams (sauce is to die for). The oysters were really good too (recommend Fanny Bay and Kusshi). Bonus! We went during the Christmas season. Joe Fortes goes all out with the Christmas decorations. Absolutely loved it!

Albert L

Meal type

Blair Leavins

Dine in

Manny D

Lobster and shrimp rolls are delicious! Chocolate sin cake was a great way to finish off the night.

Brian Matsumoto

Excellent food, excellent service. On a Friday evening the conversation is high, so go upstairs if you need a quieter environment. The lobster oil is good enough to bring a bottle home. Enjoyed reading about the history of the restaurant's namesake!

A Y

Amazing food. We had Kevin as our server, he gave us great recommendations. The food was amazing. All the seafood tasted fresh. The scallops melted in your mouth, the jumbo shrimp was large and a bit tough, snow crabs and lobster were generous in size. The menu indicated enough for two but we shared it amongst three and it was satisfying. The dessert was ok. Wine was good but a bit overpriced. Overall great service start to finish. We didn't have reservations and were told they would fit us in around 930. We wondered around and came back at 830 we were sitter almost immediately.

Hyunmin Cho

I’ve been here for brunch, happy hour and dinner so I can say that overall it is a good place. Let’s start with brunch which I most recently went to for. I think that the eggs Benedict offered for the Benny bonanza event is alright; unique on paper. Taste wise I think it’s alright I have been to better ones but I think that it’s not too salty which is good. The food came super quick once we ordered and the service is very good. Happy hour for me is the best deal at this place $1 oysters and truffle fries can’t go wrong with that and the service is still pretty good. I came here way before they changed their menu and previously it was a better deal but currently speaking it still is a good deal. Dinner is normal, food is good and their service is still good. Overall worth going to, especially the happy hour.

John Lam

Quality seafood, fantastic environment, service mostly outstanding. $1 oysters and $6 wine for happy hour. Been there a few times, but have to comment about the service during happy hour, the quality of service is not so pleasant. The server who took our orders didn't seem to be willing to enhance our dining experience. Very disappointed at the waiters attitude.

Jinping Wei

I hadn't visited here in quite some time. Our dinner experience was fantastic from start to finish. The service was excellent and every person from the doorman checking vaccine passports, to the host, the manager, and server were super nice and helpful. The food was excellent and the atmosphere was vibrant, but not too loud. We were celebrating a birthday and didn't know they provided a complimentary dessert, so that was a pleasant surprise as well. Looking forward to our next visit here!

Dennis Wong

Came here for Happy Hour now that restaurants are back open again. Service has always been great at Joe Fortes, but it's a shame that the happy hour menu seems to be a bit downsized compared to before.

Renee Andrews

The shrimp & lobster roll was okay. Expected more lobster for the price.

Kirk Heaton

Best restaurant! Atmosphere is wonderful. Really friendly staff and the food is always great!