Griffins at the Hotel Vancouver (900 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, phone 604-684-3131) is a decidedly upscale and yet casual restaurant in the sumptuous Hotel Vancouver in the middle of downtown. Most of the patrons at lunch were wearing business attire, but this was not surprising considering that the restaurant is located very close to Vancouver’s main business and financial district. The attraction here is the lunch buffet which is a somewhat formidable $27, but at this price offers a good degree of quality as well as the expected quantity. Pictured below are some of my choices from the buffet table: there is a variety of cold and hot selections including seafood, salads, soup, cuts of meat and pasta dishes, as well as some very tempting desserts.

The Shark Club (180 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, phone 604-687-4275) is a popular sports bar and grill located in Vancouver’s downtown, very close to BC Place Stadium and GM Place, respective homes of the BC Lions Football team and the Vancouver Canucks hockey team. This spacious hangout gets busy during and after sporting events, which you can watch on the many TV’s while listening to a DJ spinning some funky beats. They also have a fairly well rounded food menu which is available at lunch as well. Below is pictured my seafood linguini ($13.99) which was quite tasty.

Dix BBQ and Brewery (web site, 871 Beatty Street, Vancouver, phone 604-682-2739) is a large restaurant/pub located very close to BC Place Stadium and GM Place Stadium in downtown Vancouver. The kitchen handled our group of 17 people flawlessly, and we were satisfied with our entrees such as Whole Chicken Breast ($12.95, pictured below) and their famous pulled pork sandwich. Their in-house brewed beers such as Red Truck Ale are some of the best in town.