Food? Drinks?

Victoria is famous for its cafes, restaurants, lounges etc, so this is a pretty ambitious list. Apparently we have a magnificent concentration of cafes, particularly in the downtown core—pretty intense for a city this size.

Coffehouses, Swanky Lounges, Local Favorites, Asian Cuisine, Quick & Cheap, we have so much to choose from.

Jenn and Pema's Picks:

We've put together a lot of restaurants here, and you could spend a lot of time and money checking them all out, but if you only had a few bucks to spend and a few hours in which to enjoy yourself, these are the places we'd be sad if you missed:

Paradiso Di Stelle instead of Starbucks.
"Why go to Starbucks when you're in Victoria? It's like landing on Mars and staying inside the shuttle. Well... okay it's nothing like that, but it's equally dorky anyway."-Pema

Ferris' Instead of the Keg.
"You're in Victoria. Seriously. Think globally, eat locally... or whatever. Just eat well!" -Pema

Anything instead of Wharfside - "anything's better than wharfside" -Jenn

Lotus Pond instead of pretty much anything.
"Half-price wonderful vegan chinese food every day from 2:30 - 3:30 except monday. Lunchtime of the city's bohemian army." -Pema

Pagliacci's, for lunch "best bottomless bowl of $5 soup you'll have, ever." -Jenn

Noodlebox, for great to-go "If you like waiting half an hour. But it is great." -Jenn "Dude, when I eat there, it rocks, and I don't have to eat again for another like, five hours." -Pema

My Thai Cafe "Best Thai in town" -Jenn

BBQ Bakery "For great food and baking." -Jenn "Tragedy is not understanding the awesome goodness of Chinese desserts for the first 20 years of my life. Damn!" -Pema

Molé Really amazing food, in a fine dining atmosphere.

Resources at your disposal

If you're on a serious and heartfelt mission to search out the perfect spot(s) for an outing or something, I suggest that you combine this guide with the following other online resources (you'll still find our guide is better):

Victoria BC Guide at Chefmoz.org ↑

Foundlocally ↑

VicFun's restaurant page ↑

You can also check out the phone book for more ideas. But really, there's so many great restaurants here, the best way to find the kinda restaurant you're looking for is: walk around and find somebody you find really cute, say hi, and ask them where you should eat. Victorians usually have good taste in Victoria restaurants :D

Rating restaurants for pricing..

Use our pricing reference system to stay within your budget
(Pricing estimates include tax, but not alcohol)
$ = a meal for under $10
$$ = a meal for about $10
$$$ = a meal for between $10-$15