Chill Winston

Chill winston is some of the worst food service I have ever experienced. The staff was inattentive and rude. The food took an hour to make, and was mediocre. It probably could have been made in about 15 minutes (not to mention the bill was ridiculously high.) I will not reccomend anyone to go to this restaurant. It upset me and my family on our vacation and I hope they get shut down soon, or fire their serving staff. Absolutely awful.

Location and ambiance were great, staff were nice but seemed to stand around at the front chatting amongst themselves a lot… The food was expensive. I might be convinced to go back for a drink on a nice day but definitely wouldn’t recommending it to anyone.

Great outdoor seating. Service was great! Had the chicken drumsticks and bison burger. Both were delicious! Also had the tasting flute of three beers. The pours were much larger than most and a great price. Good selection of on tap beers. One of the only places in Van that serves lunch and brunch at the same time.

Did not realize the extent of the food available until last night — from octopus sausage to a roasted cauliflower terrine, I ate like a champ. And the Four Winds IPA was the icing on the cake. And for actual cake, I had the pavlova. Blown away.

What happened to this place? Used to be so amazing! Please bring back the original menu you launched with. It was so so good! (Every menu since has been underwhelming, to the point where I only come if a friend insists.) Came here a few days ago in the evening and got to sit on the fabulous outside patio. Then waited 25 mins for our water (group of 4.) It was busy so we didn’t really mind. Then went to order a few bottles of wine, you didn’t have them yet, and our food, we all had to pick something different because it had either sold out or you didn’t have it yet. Then after taking our order the server came back and said we had to change it again because everything we ordered again was either sold out or not in. 45 mins in we all settled for a cocktail and went to Irish Heather.
I noticed that the new menu included a lot of $ 30+ mains. I know you make a higher profit margin, but part of going to a restaurant that sells +$ 30 mains is the atmosphere, including $ 30+ a plate service. Not sure if the person (s) in charge of setting your menu is in touch with your demographic.

Recently organized a corporate party at this place and I was pleasantly surprised. I was expecting about 40+ people to attend and had my reservations about parties of that size and no private rooms…
In the end we had a party of about 45 people and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised how smoothly everything went. We had two servers assigned to our tables and they did a great job of serving everyone and making it look easy. I know that it is tough to serve such a large group in orderly fashion and keep everyone happy. If they happen to read the review — thanks!
For food we had some stationary canapés which were also really good — chicken waffles and pulled pork are awesome! There is a minimum you have to spend (about $ 27 per person on food) when it comes to parties as large as this one, which is understandable and most likely established in case it’s a group of people that doesn’t drink as much. Food was a bit slow to come in the beginning, but that was to be expected with the quantity of food that got served and the variety we got.
All in all, I would definitely recommend considering Chill Winston if you are planning a corporate event and want a good place that allows your team to mingle and doesn’t require a formal sit down.

Pretentious, overpriced, underwhelming.
The Chill Winston does average food averagely at best while somehow managing to fill the place charging top dollar. One trip was enough for me.
There is a lot of fun and good food to be had in gastown, I’ll go elsewhere.

This place is pretentious AF. They took hipster to a whole new level, and it seemed really forced.
Ambiance and service– The ambiance of this place is good (hence the second star)! They have cute décor and a huge patio. The service was also good, they were polite and beautiful.
Comfort– We had a party of 5 and were seated at a table that would have comfortably fit 2 people ordering drinks. Plus 2 of our party had to sit on a really low couch, 2 people got chairs, and 1 person got an ottoman. It was really uncomfortable, especially when our food came! Not that we ordered meals, that would have been impossible given the size of the table. We ordered the seafood platter and had to play Tetris with our drinks so it would all fit.
Food– $ 22 for a «cauliflower steak». That’s a slab of 30 cents worth of cauliflower. We ordered the seafood platter for $ 35 and it was good, but it had octopus (which we didn’t notice on the menu) so we all regretted our choice and wouldn’t get it again. The oysters on there were really good though!
Drinks– The drinks were ok, nothing to write home about. The tea-​infused cocktail wasn’t good, so I don’t recommend that. I stuck with beer.
Chill Winston was NOT chill, it was super hoity-​toity and uncomfortable. Not worth the exorbitant prices. If Winston owns the bar, he should take some of his own advice, and chill.

Really cute place, low key vibe. I like Chill Winston for drinks and snacks. I had wine here instead of choosing from their massive cocktail list. The meaty snacks they have are kind cool. I had the bone marrow, which was nicely done but needed more salt. This place is first date-​worthy… check it out!

I had a great time at Chill Winston tonight. First introduced to this place through a local app called Tangoo, I was keen to get my first patio experience in. I was greeted in a very professional manner and quickly sat at the bar while I awaited my date and an open patio table. My sole point of minor dissatisfaction was that I was not offered a drink at the bar for about 5 minutes, nor was I acknowledged.
Once I was seated, I went through an array of delicious drinks. The Nemesis, The Calrissian, and a very interesting Tea-​Based alcoholic beverage.
I chose the pizza of the day which was a nicely cooked duck, spinach and mushroom build. Very delicious. My companion had a duck salad. The service was excellent once we were seated and we were approached at a steady but appropriate interval to be offered refills on water and other drinks.
Would definitely return with a larger group on a Friday afternoon.

*shrug*
That’s kind of how I felt about my whole experience.
It’s a total hipster bar, like TOTAL. Everyone there has tats and manbuns. I am very uncool so I felt very out of place.
For gastown, this place is pretty central (just becareful what street you walk up after since it’s just a few blocks from the methadone clinics and that place is scary, even during the day).
I tried their pan fried trout. No complaints. It was a solid dish. I loved the veggies with it, especially the brussel sprouts but I am pretty partial to them in general.
Ordered the cherry pavlova for dessert — total skip. Awful pavlova.

What a fantastic little joint!
My husband and I were visiting Vancouver for the first time and we accidentally stumbled upon this little place…
The porch outside along the square and the beautiful umbrellas and flowers invited us in. We walked in and were promptly greeted at the host stand, and we chose to sit at the bar.
I quickly noticed the chandeliers made out of vintage decanters and port glasses… So amazingly cool that I had to take a picture and, of course, plan to make DIY-​style once I got home.
I know I’ll never get around to it, but that’s beside the point.
The menu is fantastic, comprising of mixology cocktails, tea cocktails, platters to share and a drool-​worthy array of amazing entrées, salads and the like.
I started out with a mulled wine-​style cocktail: served warm and thoroughly enjoyable. My next choice was one of their famous tea cocktails which I had never heard of. Gin, cucumber, cilantro, lemongrass… all of my favorite things in one glass.
Easy going down and equally adangerous.
While sitting at the bar, we learned that underneath Chill Winston is a rather secretive underground that hosts live music, late night cocktails, and even later night pub fare.
Can’t wait to check that out.
Overall, Chill Winston is very eclectic, creative and, in fact, chill. Go and enjoy!

Very cool lounge atmosphere in the heart of gastown
usually very busy and cool background tunes to enjoy
drinks are pricy but:
1) they have been mixed well in my experience and
2) Your paying for the area with the drinks
and food items, thats why they are so high.
I would definitely come here for a date or meet up with friends
for drinks, haven’t tried the food yet however it did not seem
appealing enough for me to shell out $$$$ especially for
Kale pizza, but whatever floats your boat.

Goo dessert, interesting drinks
I have been this place a couple of times, the environment is definitely really cool. The drinks are on the more interesting side, don’t expect to see any of your regular drinks on their menu. Their food menu is rather interesting, lots of rare meat (raw i may add). If you are not adventurous then maybe this place isn’t for you. I thought the best part about their food was the dessert. We had this stout cake, which was AMAZING. I would definitely go back again with friends as the environment is very mingly

I’m a bit surprised by the negative reviews on this place, honestly. I can’t think of anything about it I didn’t like. I was very impressed. (Okay, now that I think about it, it wasn’t the best Moscow mule I’ve ever had. It was too sour.)
For a Saturday night during Labor Day weekend, it wasn’t as packed as we expected. There was no wait. Our party of 4 was initially seated by the entrance, at a tiny, low lounge table which would’ve made dining a challenge, so we asked to be moved to a more «regular» table, which was supposedly the same size but higher. Our server was very cheery and articulate and had really awesome people skills, and we made sure we still got her at our new table.
Food items our party ordered: poutine, ostrich tartare, bison burger, earthwise platter, chicken and waffles. I tried everything but the last one. Everyone loved the poutine — perfect fries, perfect gravy! Thick gravy. Finger-​licking gravy. It was gone within minutes. The ostrich tartare was amazing. Great buttery texture, seasoned just right. It came with a quail egg and chicharon for dipping, which gave it a really nice, unctuous, crunchy dimension. The bison burger was generous and juicy, like a real burger should be! The tomato-​bacon jam in there made a huge difference, though, for sure. The earthwise platter was marvelous. It was a big tray of vegetables handpicked by the chef, with a couple dipping sauces. It looked so pretty, and really, what lounge just serves a tray of vegetables like that? And the veggies were all incredibly fresh!
The ambience was just fantastic. Loved the low lighting, candles on the tables, the glass windows — and the outside-​people watching through the glass windows! It’s a trendy joint, yes, but it felt genuine. No pretentiousness at all from what I saw, which was a pleasant surprise to this Seattleite.
Oh, and they have the coolest menus! I definitely got a kick out of the manuals for building tools on the menu pages!
This place wins. I’ll be a return visitor the next time I’m in Vancouver.

We went here for a friend’s birthday party.
Good points: The place itself is definitely a cool space and the service was good; the drink that I had (Spooning Jesus) was tasty and strong.
Bad points: The drink was scarcely larger than a shot glass, and filled to the brim with ice. The food is outrageously expensive; I split Chicken and Waffles ($ 16.75). It was one cornish game-​hen-​sized chicken breast and half an Ego waffle. Also, it tasted gross (we ate about half of it, which was about 2 bites each); it wasn’t quite revolting so we didn’t send it back.
I might consider coming back for a drink if a friend was insistent, but I would never order food again. There are other places in the same area with better prices and better food and drink.

We stumbled upon this place while strolling through the Gaslamp district and window shopping. It had started to sprinkle outside, so we wanted to sit and hang out at a bar and grab a drink indoors somewhere.
The décor of this place looks like an old English pub with a modern twist. The atmosphere is definitely very «chill» so it lives up to its name! They had a lot of beers on the menu, but unfortunately they were out of the only one I wanted to try (a grapefruit beer). I ended up getting a blonde fruit type beer, which was okay but I wouldn’t order it again.
My sister ordered a cocktail that had a REALLY odd flavor… it tasted like the Smarties candy. kind of chalky? and not in a good way o_​O
Even so, we really enjoyed the vibe of this place and our server was extremely nice and friendly, so it still deserves 4 stars.
Another good thing about this place is that the taxis line up right outside of it at night, so you can easily grab one to get you home!

The most recent visit disappointment me so much that I would only return if everything else is closed in the whole vancouver.
Despite the patio was packed, the inside was empty as it can be, so we asked to sit inside to avoid lining up… The hostess made us wait in line, and even though they had four hostess standing together working, they can’t seem to figure out a way to sit people… So we waited about 15 minute while the inside was completely empty…
When we finally sat down, no waiter or waitress approached… Until we dragged someone for some water after sitting there for another good 10 minutes.
I was embarrassed because my friend was in town and I recommended this place because I have been here before and it was actually not this bad.
Later on we finally got a waitress, and during the second half of our dinner, she disappeared… Another girl took over without even informing us. We just assumed she’s our new waitress.
Everything took forever to come…
I can see that they have at least ten, twenty people working and most of them were just standing by the door and chatting. Seriously? I felt quite bad for the owner because this is not even a buffet restaurant; service is actually required.
The food was alright, except the pork chop… It IS huge! But its so uneven. Some parts are way over cooked and some are a bit too raw, it was all pink and not flavored. We just left it on the plate.
When we asked the second waitress if it’s normal. She said it’s perfectly fine without a blink.
There are so many other places in gas town that’s worth the money and time to visit.

Nice location in the heart of downtown, very friendly staff, nice patio.
The 3 stars are basically because of the food, which it wasn’t amazing for the price. $ 16 for tortilla and 3 dips, $ 16 for a very small chicken & waffle dish and $ 17 for daily pasta with a OK taste.
If they provide a bit better food for that price, I would be more excited to go back, but right now I have better choices with cozy patio in downtown area.

After having dinner nearby, I wanted a drink. The roommate and I walked around Gastown and stumbled upon Chill Winston. It had a bustling lounge vibe, so we decided to check it out.
February 2012
*Heart of lilith
Since I was full from dinner, I decided to get something light. The Heart of lilith was perfect. Very subtle with a hint of sweetness. It was refreshing. The space is fairly large, so we got a table for two and just enjoyed a drink each. If you’re looking for something chill, you can do that here. But it is loud as they have music playing, so it’s not a good place to chill and talk. Much more like a lounge club atmosphere.
Fun place to stop by and have a drink. But I wouldn’t want to stay much longer than that.

Tolles Ambiente und coole location. Sowohl aussen als auch innen mit schönen Sitzmöglichkeiten. Die Speisekarte läßt nicht viel Aufschluss was man wirklich bekommt, ein wenig Phantasie braucht man schon. Die Cocktails gut gemixt und mit 8 – 13 CAD (ohne Tax) absolut im Rahmen.
Service bemüht und sehr nett.

Situated in a nice atmosphere in the middle of Gastown, the Chill Winston features a comfortable interieur. Unfortunately the servings are quite small and not spiced at all I have been eating way better and cheaper in Vancouver before.

I have fond memories of our visit in Vancouver the best place to chill out and have some phantastic food, was Chill Winston.
Very tasty pulled pork, and the tuna tartar was to die for, came back for it a couple of times and I must say, I am sometimes still craving it.
Guess we’ll have to come back to Vancouver ;)