Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House ★9.1

Joe Fortes: Oysters, Brass and Live Piano

Walk in off the bustle near Robson and the decades fall away: a horseshoe oyster bar gleaming under brass lamps, some of the continent’s fastest shuckers working the ice, a pianist setting the room’s pulse, and a rooftop garden hiding above it all. Joe Fortes has been Vancouver’s great seafood saloon since 1985 — and the bar remains one of downtown’s most reliable good times.

The Story

The name honours Seraphim “Joe” Fortes, the Barbados-born swimmer who arrived in 1885, tended bar in the young city and became English Bay’s first official lifeguard — a man so beloved the city gave him a monument. The restaurant channels that warmth into a turn-of-the-century room that has hosted Vancouver’s business crowd, visiting celebrities and generations of regulars for four decades.

What to Order

Oysters, first and always — the selection rotates through the continent’s best beds, shucked to order at the horseshoe bar with a glass of something cold. Beyond the ice: more than thirty kinds of fresh fish daily, chowder with pedigree, cedar-planked salmon, and chop-house classics — thick steaks, chops and the seafood towers that make neighbouring tables reconsider their order. The bar mixes proper martinis and keeps the wine list broad and ocean-friendly.

The Space

Five rooms in one landmark: the grand dining room with its soaring ceilings and big-booth comfort, the mezzanine hovering above the piano, a mahogany-panelled wine room for private feasts, a bistro-bar where the after-work crowd lands, and the rooftop garden — an urban oasis with a living green wall and an outdoor fireplace.

Who It’s For

Martini-and-oyster loyalists, business dinners that intend to run long, visitors who want old-school Vancouver in one room, and anyone who believes hospitality is a craft. The bar side welcomes solo diners like old friends.

Good to Know

Do I need a reservation? For dinner and the rooftop in summer, yes; the bar keeps room for walk-ins.

Is there live music? Nightly piano in the bar — it’s part of the house identity.

When is the rooftop open? Through the warm months, weather permitting; it fills fast on sunny evenings.

What if I don’t eat seafood? The chop-house side — steaks, chops, roast chicken — is no afterthought.

Is it good for solo dining? Excellent — a seat at the oyster bar is one of downtown’s great solo rituals.

Opening hours