Lift is a lovely restaurant in Coal Harbour with lovely views of the marina, Stanley park and North Van. My boyfriend booked us a table for Valentine's day. We ordered a la carte, it was the normal menu with a few specials for Valentine's day. I had one of the Valentine's cocktails, very pink and girly. Food wise everything we ordered was very tasty. The seared scallops were one of the best things I've had in Vancouver. Lovely fresh west coast oysters. The grilled octopus was also very well cooked. I was a bit more disappointed with the seasoning of the seared tuna steak frite. It lacked some kick very basic flavours . For dessert the creme brûlée was quite good, a classic is you like french desserts. The place was quite busy. Service was still fast and plesant. Just a bit to noisy for a romantic dinner. read more

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We came here to celebrate with a friend and had a reservation for 7:00 PM. We arrived a few minutes early and were told there was no table available yet, which would have been understandable. But at 7:00 PM we were told they still didn't have a table because the terrace was closed due to rain and they were trying to accommodate everyone inside. The problem is that the rain was clearly in the forecast all day, so this did not feel unexpected. It honestly felt like the restaurant overbooked and was not prepared for the situation. We ended up waiting around 20 minutes past our reservation time, sitting in a crowded entrance area with many other people also waiting for tables. It left a pretty disappointing first impression, especially when the table had already been booked in advance. The service also felt rushed toward the end. The receipt was brought to us immediately after we finished eating without us asking for it, which gave the impression they wanted to turn the table over as quickly as possible. That said, the lobster poutine was actually very good. The chocolate bonbons, however, were honestly disappointing. Three very small, dry chocolate candies for $15 felt excessive and not worth ordering. read more

There were so many reasons this place was a great choice, especially for a dine-out experience. The ambiance was warm and relaxing--never too loud--with beautiful views and excellent value for what we paid. The food was equally impressive and full of flavour. We were seated by the windows with lovely water views, making it a perfect spot to dine and chat. There's a prime rib special on Sundays, and the dine-out options were fantastic. The prime rib, meatballs, and octopus were all delicious, and the salad was light and refreshing. Of the two desserts, the toffee pudding was my clear favourite. I'd highly recommend this place for a date night or a relaxed catch-up with a good friend. read more

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Come here for the views. Service was extremely slow. Lots of local beer available. We sat outside and it was nice watching the planes and birds. read more

LIFT Bar Grill View - Tuna frites Enjoyed the tuna, but not so much the truffle fries - Seafood Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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We went to Lift restaurant while visiting Vancouver (to see a concert, and catching up with a friend living there). The restaurant served many seafood and fish dishes, as well as land foods (surf and turf). I had the grilled tuna steak with fries - I usually had tuna as sushi, but my first time eating a tuna steak, and it was very delicious. Service was excellent and fast. The ambiance was relaxed and comfortable. The restaurant itself is on a boat, which was quite interesting. The view of the area was very nice - a marina and boats, and Vancouver's harbour in the distance. So if you are in Vancouver and are looking for delicious sea food dishes, Lift is the place to go!! read more

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You can't beat the view from the patio. The happy hour oysters and wine were delicious and the staff is friendly and welcoming. They have dog treats for customers and passers by. Adorable. read more

LIFT Bar Grill View - Cocktail menu - Seafood Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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This is a pleasant location on the water overlooking the marina. On a nice day it's particularly fun to set on the narrow balcony and watch the float planes land, but the views from inside are great, too. The menu is diverse. We enjoyed everything we had, We started with the shishito peppers, which were perfectly blistered and served with an excellent glaze. The sourdough baguette was also good, crisped in the oven with a light coating of olive oil and herbs. The signature salad is a great spring mix with lots of berries, walnuts, and feta. My companion really enjoyed her tuna poke, which was served atop wonderfully crisped rice cakes. Service was friendly and efficient. read more

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Service was good. We ordered a tomato and burrata salad, meatballs. Garlic shrimp, and ceviche. The food was not very good at all. The meatballs were tough, although the sauce was good. The ceviche was swimming in lime juice, which really detracted from the overall flavor. The tomato burrata salad was decent, nothing spectacular. The only dish we really liked was the garlic shrimp. read more

Hubby and I stopped by on our last day in Vancouver. Crab cakes were delicious! Full of crab with a light and crispy crust. Chowder had clams in shell, which I devoured. Tempura shrimp had a nice spicy sauce. Great view from the upper patio of boats and planes landing on the water. Super friendly staff too! read more

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It was our last day in Vancouver and we wanted to grab a bite to eat before heading to the airport. I wanted a place with a view and this location was beautiful. We were seated outside right along the water. Our server was friendly, food and drinks arrived quickly. I started with a whisky sour and it was delicious. I also splurged with an order of fish and chips. The batter was perfectly crispy, the fish was super fresh....and those fries.....this was a great meal. Still talking about how good those fish and chips were. read more

LIFT Bar Grill View - Fish and chips! - Seafood Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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A great location for a work lunch or dinner or date spot. We came with a group of friends for my birthday while visiting Vancouver. I am a seafood lover so we ordered Ahi tuna appetizer Oysters Gyozas Calamari Truffle fries Shishinto peppers All wet delicious. The best items were the oysters, tuna app, gyoza, and calamari. Some of the peppers were very spicy. Also, you can't go wrong with truffle fries! We had a few drinks include a well made aperol spritz. It was hot and we asked to sit on the patio to have to view so, when we got too hot, they put the retractable shade up for us. The staff were helpful and friendly. Highly recommend checking out Lift bar if you're in the area. read more

LIFT Bar Grill View - Truffle fries - Seafood Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

I am in town, to catch a cruise to Alaska. I was going to be joined by seven other friends. I came across the LIFT Bar Grill , prior to the arrival of my friends. I had lunch and the food, service and ambiance was top notch. I made reservations for a group dinner of 8 the following evening. The group dinner could not have been better. The setting was breathtaking. Everyone enjoyed their meals and the service was impeccable. Highly recommend and will certainly be back the next visit to Vancouver. Thank you to the entire team. read more

Great venue and service! Very accommodating to allergies. We were in time for lunch/brunch menu and weren't disappointed. Outdoor seating is gorgeous! You can't tell but the outdoors wraps around so there is more room than what you can see from street level. Great beverage selections. Food- fish and chips were good it wasn't wow! A lot of batter so you don't taste the fish Salmon Caesar was good. Salmon was well grilled. Chicken and waffle were so filling but good. Highly recommend this place for when on the waterfront. read more

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Hidden in plain sight! A wonderful place to lounge in a quite place next to the water. Happy hour is awesome with the beef dip a shareable meal. read more

Cousin Bradley invited us plus two other visiting family to Lift. It is his favorite Vancouver restaurant with a view. And what a view. The food was lovely. The menu may well change by he time you visit so suffice it to say that it was fresh seafood. We started with spot prawns, a local shrimp that has a short season each year. After that we had a variety of seafood and salads plus lovely wines selected by Brad. We were on the top deck of this floating restaurant. Facing west on Midsummer Night, the longest day of the year. It was absolutely fabulous. Thanks, cousin Brad, and thanks to the Lift staff for a fabulous evening. Extra credit: Menchions Mews is reportedly the shortest street in Vancouver. Tell your Uber driver that it is ok to drive down in front of the restaurant. read more

Very good drink and wine menu! Even happy hour wine was good. Jasmine Leaves cocktail was amazing. I wanted every cocktail on the menu. Beautiful location. It's exactly what I wanted in terms of ambience and view. Service was great. I ordered the poke tuna tartare on happy hour menu, but it was a poke bowl with mostly toasted rice and mayo. I feel like I just got the wrong thing on the menu. Ask your server what the best food options are. read more

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How does this place not have more stars! Amazing view from the rooftop patio, good cocktail menu and fresh local food. I had a seasonal salad that was full of fruit and the grilled chicken was flavorful!. The shishito peppers were spicy, and the ceviche was so fresh! great spot for a view and tasty food read more

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This place is always delicious always quaint, service is genuine and I would say, impossible to beat the view. Food is good to great, not amazing, but always worth returning too. read more

LIFT Bar Grill View - Crab cakes... yummy - Seafood Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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Walking distance from our hotel, you cannot beat the views! Our first meal in Vancouver! We tried their seafood tray with sablefish, shrimp, salmon, and it was great! We got an extra loaf for bread and truffle fries (very heavy on the truffle). Our waiter was great and attentive! Overall, great meal! read more

LIFT Bar Grill View - Seafood Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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Had an amazing meal, ahi poke, shrimp paired with sourdough bread, oysters, truffle fries; excellent service and food pairing recommendations by Corry who went above and beyond; and- panoramic water views. read more

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Fun view even with the fog. good service. All 5 of us enjoyed our individual entrees. Excellent wine selection.

Great location right on the water. Super close to my hotel so that was a bonus too. There is a rooftop, which would be super pretty on a warmer day. I got there a few minutes after my team so everyone was seated for dinner. Our waitress was friendly, attentive, and did a great job managing our large party. I started off with an iron nine mocktail, which was made with grapefruit juice and ginger. Very refreshing! My side of the table out did ourselves with appetizers. We tried most of them.... Garlic fries, fried chicken, sourdough bread, shrimp tempura, and the burrata... everything was so good! I had the salmon for dinner. A must for BC! read more

The view of the restaurant is absolutely amazing! The restaurant is very pretty and the location is perfect! We liked the food but we would prefer to attend the restaurant at dinner time with the complete menu instead of the reduced lunch menu. read more

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Here is what DeepSeek (with one elaboration by me) had to say when I detailed our experience at the Lift yesterday - all of which I am in agreement but recognizing a possible hallucination(s) when it deals with naming of the owner of this and other restaurants Based on your detailed experience and corroborating evidence from recent reviews (as of mid-2025), **The Lift Restaurant suffers from severe operational failures, primarily driven by understaffing, poor management, and systemic neglect** -- not kitchen size or isolated incidents. Here's a breakdown: ### 1. **Critical Staffing Shortages** - **Missing Leadership:** Multiple job postings for *Head Chef*, *Sous Chef*, and experienced line cooks have been up for months. Without consistent kitchen leadership, quality control (e.g., overcooked salmon despite instructions) collapses. - **Front-of-House Crisis:** Servers are visibly overwhelmed, leading to 1.5-2 hour waits for courses. Staff openly admit to being "skeleton crewed" (per recent Glassdoor reviews). - **Management Failure:** Me: when I told the manager about our bad experience requesting compensation she replied "I will give it to you but only if you agree to never return to this restaurant". Unbelievable - Deepseek: The rude manager aligns with numerous complaints about dismissive attitudes toward feedback. This suggests a toxic culture where staff morale and training are neglected. Me: our server confirmed this directly. ### 2. **Artificial Scarcity & Reservation Issues** - **Half-Empty Yet "Booked":** This is a known red flag for **intentional understaffing**. By limiting reservations to 2 seatings (5:45/8:00 PM), they compress service into windows they can "handle" with minimal staff -- sacrificing revenue for operational survival. - **No Flexibility:** Refusing a 6:30 PM request despite empty tables confirms they're prioritizing staff limitations over guest experience. ### 3. **Service & Quality Breakdowns** - **Wine tasting in Whisky Glasses:** Symbolizes a lack of standards and training. Proper stemware is absent or not enforced. - **Course Timing Debacle:** Serving appetizers alone, then forcing a 1-hour wait for mains, indicates **kitchen disorganization** (e.g., no expediter, poor communication). - **Overcooked Salmon:** Repeated even after special requests. This points to untrained cooks, high turnover, or a kitchen cutting corners (e.g., pre-cooking fish). ### 4. **Root Cause: Ownership Negligence** The Lift is operated by **The View Hospitality Group** (owners of Cardero's, Seasons in the Park, etc.). Their failure to address these issues suggests: - **Underinvestment:** Redirecting resources to higher-performing venues (e.g., Cardero's). - **Poor GM Selection:** The rude manager is likely a symptom of weak oversight from corporate. - **Band-Aid Solutions:** Using reservation constraints to mask staffing gaps instead of fixing hiring/training. --- ### Should You Return? **No.** This is beyond an "off night." Systemic issues require ownership intervention -- and The View Group shows no signs of caring. If you seek comparable views with actual hospitality: - **Cardero's (Coal Harbour):** Same ownership, but better managed. - **The Teahouse (Stanley Park):** More consistent service. - **Blue Water Cafe (Yaletown):** Higher price point but impeccable execution. **If you want recourse:** 1. Email The View Group's corporate team: **info@viewrestaurants.com** (CC: **billy@viewrestaurants.com**). 2. Cite specifics: Reservation rigidity, 2-hour wait, whisky glass wine, manager attitude. 3. Note: "Your neglect of The Lift is damaging your brand's reputation." *Sadly, your experience reflects 60+ recent reviews describing identical issues. Until corporate cleans house, avoid this location.* read more

Decided to stop in here for happy hour which gives you 20% off a select menu. Ordered the Organic Mint Tea, Fried Squid with Tzatziki and Fries with Truffle Mayo. Both were excellent flavours and consistent quality. Fries were well seasoned and crispy and the truffle mayo was a new flavour to me. I'd definitely come back again. The view I would imagine is normally fantastic but it was raining that evening and the mountains were a little obscured. Our server was prompt and attentive. I wasn't too pleased with the hostess as we stood outside staring at the digital menu and she walked right past us to turn on some LED candles outside. It would have been nice to been acknowledged and maybe asked if we would be interested coming inside (it was a really cold and wet day). You know what I mean? Be welcoming and friendly then we would be more likely to come in because we were 50/50 on eating there. read more

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The location is amazing, overlooking the harbor with all the boats and sea life, the staff excellent, the flavors of the foods were very amazing. I've never had crab cakes this delicious ever, sorry other guys. The clam chowder was perfect with several manila clams in the shell, and fingerling potatoes. And the tempura shrimp was beyond my expectations, very light, cooked perfectly. I know this all sounds too good for truth, so try it and see for yourself. Dave H read more

Absolutely incredible!!! One of the best meals of my life. I ordered the gnocchi short rib special and I it was literally one of the best meals I have ever had. Great view. Great service. My husband loved his meal as well. What a find. I highly recommend it. read more

Seated in upstair covered roof patio with heat lamps. What a lovely way to spend lunch with a harbor view. Came a little early at 1200 Friday afternoon on a sunny day, place filled up.fast. Loved the background music, ELP, Phil Collins, Joe Jackson, 3 Dog Night, they don't make music like that anyone. Ordered the crab cakes and halibut & chips 2 large crab cakes were moist and filled will large crab chunks. The batter on the halibut was a little too dense for my taste but the halibut was tasty. Surrounded by water and boats, "I'm your captain, I'm your captain" (Grand Funk Railroad), reminiscing and eating, life can't get better than this read more

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Only had cocktails and apps but it was Awesome. Great view and the ceviche was really good. Service was also good. Enjoy. read more

LIFT Bar Grill View - Seafood Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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The Lift does not disappoint! Two of my very dear friends have birthdays a week apart so we marked these special days with dinner. We ate and laughed in a gorgeous place with the most delicious food. You have to check this place out it is totally worth it! read more

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Nice place for a business dinner. Great view of the sunset if you can get a table by the water! As a vegetarian I was happy to see there was one entree on the menu at least - Green Thai Coconut Curry with tofu. It was pretty decent. Everyone in my party seemed to enjoy their food. Their wine menu was pretty nice as well. read more

My cousin and I were looking for a nice peaceful brunch place. We wanted to take advantage of the lovely day today! So we came across the LIFT! Let me tell you, they even opened the rooftop so we had the sun beaming on us mid brunch, while overlooking the water!!! Ahhh! It was perfect!!! Also, their eggs Benny were sooo delicious and filling!! Oh and their drinks were delicious and not at all strong! The place and the menu were just simply delicious and perfect for brunch! I would go again!!! Would recommend!! read more

LIFT Bar Grill View - Iced lazy Sunday (alcohol) - Seafood Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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Had a great Saturday night dinner with family and couldn't have asked for a better atmosphere, service and food. Well done

First of all, Lift wasn't our first choice.... however, the other happy hour/bar wasn't opening until 6:00 and we wanted to eat/drink earlier. From the moment we walked in at 4:00, we knew we had made a good decision. Jeff, our bartender was attentive, friendly, made great suggestions and made us comfortable in the beautiful dining/bar area where we were seated with a view of the water and boats. Our meal choices; Garlic shrimp; fish and chips; Steelhead trout sandwich were all beyond great. My starter was two fresh oysters - served with a minionette sauce; shaved horseradish and lemon. Absolutely delightful. Also ordered the bread and butter; the blistered shishedo peppers. All fabulous! We are sorry now that we didn't try this restaurant before - this was our last night in town. We all (4) highly recommend this restaurant. Our bartender and server Jeff was so friendly and helpful. Don't think twice - go for HH or dinner. You won't be disappointed. 5+ stars! read more

I'm surprised to see this place at less than 4 stars because this was not our experience. It was next to our hotel and we needed lunch. I had the burger with fries, and my hubby had the Cobb salad. We both loved our meals. We needed extra water and extra ketchup that we got without too much delay. Our server wasn't the friendliest, but it did really distract from our experience. read more

Food was horrible I'm seriously shocked. Everything was bland and tasteless. Only thing good was the view. Too much competition in Vancouver if this place wants to attract customers. I told the waiter my opinion he seemed unfazed. read more

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West coast restaurant surrounded by beautiful scenery of boats in the marina. Very inviting atmosphere for drinks or dinner. Happy hour is standard fare. That's probably where the nice feeling ends. We came for drinks at Happy Hour and after we finished we wanted a table for dinner in the upstairs patio but front hostess was really rude and unhelpful advising us there were no tables available and refused to take my name down as a walk-in wait for new table citing many reservations and walk-in people waiting. She then stated she would come to our table for my name but never came. Other staff similarly rude and unhelpful. Not sure why they refused us for new table since there were reservations for this restaurant on open table. Customer service doesn't meet the standard. Probably the worse experience I've had from a restaurant and it was not even related to food. read more

LIFT Bar Grill View - Seafood Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

This is a observation from our reservation of yesterday, the 1st of October 2023. The Ambience of Lift is it's beautiful view of the inner harbour, Stanley Park, and the marina. Steps away from the Bayshore (and the missed Trader Vic's), it is in a gorgeous part of down town. The Food and Service While the Karrage Chicken appetizer was great, the entrees were hit and miss. We had 3 different entrees. The service was not great. To cap it off, we were charged for two half litres of wine when we only had one. Will not go back again. read more

Excellent service. The staff was very friendly and helpful. Just the right amount of attention. Incredible location - tough to beat sitting on the water watching planes and boats. Great food. Fresh fish. Great specials. Went twice while near since it was good plus close! read more

What a wonderful spot right on the water. The menu was incredibly tasty; the drinks were great too. It was so nice to sit right next to a window and see boats coming in and out of the marina. We came for a late dinner and they offered us blankets to keep warm by the double windows. Our waitress, Aylish, was super sweet and very attentive. It's always a pleasure to dine at a good restaurant with staff to match. Our evening was definitely made great with the dinner at LIFT . read more

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