LanaLou’s

This place might be fine for a drinks and live music but the brunch was disappointing.
Subpar ingredients lazily assembled.
I ordered the Elvis peanut butter and banana waffles. The peanut/​banana mixture was too sweet and cooked separately.
Communal picnic tables in the center and church type pews along the wall.

I dig Lanalous for the live music on the weekends, not the food. I should note I’ve only eaten here once, a brunch, and it was alright… but nothing I’d seek out again.
But as a venue for music, HECK YES you should be coming here! Very intimate stage area, so you’re getting right in there and seeing the band up close and personal.
$ 4.50 PBR/​Cariboo and $ 5.75 for highballs. They’ve got a late night food menu, with veg/​vegan options.
Lanalous closes by 1 so keep that in mind if you’re heading down for a band, the headliner usually goes on by 11.

Err, I’m not really sure what the other reviewers experienced, because my brunch experience was not so pleasant. We were one of two, maybe three tables in the whole place when we arrived. Only one table did not have food yet. But the menu looked good. We ordered, chatted, and waited. And waited. And waited. Nobody had talked to us since taking our order so we start looking around. 40 minutes after we ordered, one waitress says our food is ‘coming right up.’ No explanation or apology. 10 minutes after that, we were finally brought our 2 bennys and an omelette.
The potatoes were tiny fried lumps just shy of being burnt, but we were hungry so we dug in. The hollandaise sauce had separated, croissants tasted old (and like Safeway croissants), the spinach was the previously frozen chopped kind, and the omelette was cold. Not quite what I was expecting from the reviews or any sort of restaurant establishment. Especially for these prices. And service was lack luster — the waitress asked if I had a pen for the bill (though also generously offering to get one from the bar). Since most of these reviews are from 3 years ago, I’m guessing this place has fallen mightily.
AVOID!

I’ve been here quite a few times, and every time I walk in I remember how much I love it here.
They’re great for supporting local music, every weekend you can check out local bands. I’ve played here several times and have seen well established local bands share the stage with bands who are playing their first show. The staff is super helpful setting up.
The room and staff give every show a super chill feeling. There’s plenty of seating to relax with friends between sets, and a small stage for the bands right by the door. Someone else mentioned it, but the small stage makes it so most bands play right on the floor two feet from the crowd, which in my opinion is awesome.
Support your local music, and support venues that support local music.

Yummy food. Bargain prices. Beer. Local music. Awesome.

Exactly how I like my breakfast.
You make a rainy sunday, perfect. I look forward to checking out some of the night happenings. Arty. Dj’s, bands. nice for this part of town.

I’ve been back here a few more times since my last 2 star review.
1^st time was for brunch. The eggs benny was a HUGE improvement over the previous visit, both in portion size and food quality. Nice work!
2^nd visit was a weekday around 11:15am, and although the sign outside said they were open at 11am, the place was dark, except a light in the back kitchen. Maybe they chose noon on that day.
3^rd + 4^th visits were both for evening shows to see local bands. This place works really well as a venue. The small stage is still there from when the location was Hoko’s Karaōke Bar. It’s not even a foot off the ground, which really helps keep a great connection between musicians and the audience. Once Lanalou’s gets more volume constantly coming through and they can afford it, it would be nice to see a drink special or two.

I’ve only been once so far but will definitely go back. The quinoa salad bowl was freakin’ awesome. There was great music at their Bonzai night (1^st and 3^rd Thursdays) I tried to go last night before hitting the amazing Spectral Theatre (which see) but they were closed at 6 so check the times before you head down.

In the last few months I’ve tried a couple more dishes, and have yet to be disappointed.
First of all, the Mac and Cheese is pretty great, and very unique. If you don’t like horseradish then I do not recommend ordering this, because it has a major kick to it and they pump those noodles full of it! At first I was a little confused by it, not having been exposed to that much horseradish at one time before, but now I love it and it is one of my usual orders in the evening.
The other weekend I tried the French Elvis Cortez. This French Toast is some serious fucking business. They use sourdough bread with a peanut butter and caramelized banana centre. Oh god it’s so tasty. You don’t even know until you try it. It isn’t too sugary either, so you don’t need a major sweet tooth to enjoy it.
Other highlights include (if you’re there in the evening) the Field Medic. This is a drink made with apple cider and Bisongrass vodka and I’m not sure what else, but holy crapbags, this is like apple juice for grownups!
The perogies are decent, they are not frozen cheemo perogies either, when we asked about them, we learned that they come home-​made from a shop down the street. I can’t actually remember if these are on the regular menu… so I hope you don’t go in with your heart set on delicious doughy perogies and curse me when you are forced to order something else.
That’s all I can remember right now.

lanalou’s is our newest discovery, thanks to miranda l., and we were thrilled with what we found. a large place with plenty of seating in various configurations, here are the points that made me want to go back for more: 1. creative menu 2. attentive staff 3. church pews for booths 4. confessional booths are coming.
all in all, a gem in an up and coming neighbourhood. much potential!

Had a burger which was pretty good. The oil for frying the fries should have been changed yesterday. Wonderful service and, for now, I’ll keep this on my list of close and easy places to eat.

Go Go Business east of Main!
Living in the area, it’s been exciting to watch as places start to pop up East of Gastown, and this is one of the most recent new additions to the area East of Main st — which is really exciting. Powell St. especially has lots of potential, looking forward to see what the next few years holds for this strip.
LanaLou’s is quite large, with plenty of seating for small and large groups alike. Much of the furniture and décor has been pulled from one or more old churches, with plans in the works for some very cool theme based private tables. Very neat vibe.
The food was diner with a twist… loved the cinnamon coffee, and the attention paid to create new dishes like the apple pie french toast. Portions were reasonable and our large group was left happy having consumed too much coffee and with full bellies. Diner prices were great as well.
As a brand new place on a sketchy street, they are still way too quiet for weekend brunch and as such they were staffed with one waitress and one person in the back, so if coming in with a large group sit back and enjoy the coffee while you wait for your food to come up. That is what Sunday brunch with friends is about I’m pretty sure, although the two friends who had to eat and run had their food super fast so this wouldn’t be a problem if you’re there with anything less than the 12 people we showed up with ;)
Even more exciting was the fact that they are open at night, and have been setting themselves up as a venue for shows. Live music and cheap beer? Can’t wait to visit again!
Website is in the works with full details, which should go live fairly soon according to our very cute and attentive server

This is a great brunch venue. I would give it a 3.5, but since I can’t I’m rounding up. We ordered the Apple Pie stuffed French toast and the classic omelet with mushroom, cheese, and bacon on a croissant. The meal reminded me something I could make at home for brunch but wouldn’t think to. The food was really delicious! But a few things I noticed – the French Toast wouldn’t have been as filling if we didn’t share both dishes. And I guess I was expecting a fancier croissant with the omelet but this was more a run-​of-​the-​mill Costco croissant. It would have been better toasted.
I loved that the coffee had a hint of cinnamon in it. It was really unique!
All in all, I would go back. Especially since the prices were so reasonable. Both of us only paid $ 15 each including tax/​tip.
And the cherry on top – parking in this area is ample and cheap! $ 2 for 2 hours!

I live for brunch. LIVE FOR IT!!! and I am pleased to add LanaLou’s to my repertoire. They are quite new so I was expecting some kinks — no such thing.
At first I said no to the coffee, because I am an Americano snob, but after trying my boyfriend’s drip coffee I changed my mind. Delicious. The potatoes were perfect, crispy outsides, not too big, not too small, soft insides. We think the eggs are free range because the yokes had that beautiful deep orange colour. The also serve a little fruit cup with your plate which is a really nice touch. We’ll be heading back for more.

Great décor… Quirky, unpretentious and original. The staff were running off their feet but were eager to please and super friendly. The food… always amazes me when someone can take a simple meal and make it taste like something new. Had the salmon benny and a yummy omelette. Oh ya, and a certain number of caesars that pleasantly lubricated the rest of our Sunday activities.

Business should be booming!
I’ve been here for breakfast a couple of times and have found the food homestyle and satisfying with the service always warm and friendly.
I popped in for lunch today and was sadly the only customer. I’m a huge fan of the vintage décor and the music hasn’t let me down. From The National to Otis Redding I quite liked my quiet lunch for one.
I ordered the chicken sandwich with half fries, half salad. Everything tasted amazing. Nothing is too fussy but it tasted like it was made with love. I left pleasantly full and pleased with the service. Back to work I go :)
I think with a little more marketing and word on the street Lana Lou’s will get the business it deserves.

I feel like I’m missing out on some big secret, which makes me sort of sad. My partner-​in-​dine and I were super excited to try this place out after reading such great things about it on Unilocal.Unfortunately, our experience (s) were somewhat lackluster.
Our first time here was actually for lunch, since we dropped in on a weekday. We wandered in off the street and were greeted cheerfully and given our choice of seating. We settled into a pew and started out with some coffee. The coffee here is decidedly different, with a strong cinnamon-​y overtone. Nice if you like cinnamon.
There was some kind of problem with my order, so we ended up just both having burgers — I had the portobello mushroom and he had one of the meat ones. We agreed that they were just average, as were the fries that they came with. We were apologetically informed that they were still working out the kinks with lunch, so we decided to chalk it up to beginner’s blues and vowed to return for breakfast/​brunch.
We intended to get there early on a Sunday morning, but ended up sleeping in (oops), so didn’t get there until noon-​ish. I had the tofu scramble and he had the two egg breakfast. Coffee was tasty and bottomless, as usual, but the food didn’t rock our worlds. Our potatoes in particular seemed sort of crusty and dried out, as if they had been prepared and sitting around for a while. My scramble was kind of flavourless, and we used up the last of their Tabasco sauce (tears).
Ultimately, we left full and not unhappy, but maybe our expectations were too high??? Service is lovely and friendly and it’s definitely a unique space, but our dirty cheap breakfast cravings might seek satisfaction elsewhere.

Hallelujah! What better way to spend Sunday that at a place that looks churchy on the inside but also serves a wicked brunch. The décor in this place is almost as rad as the sweet tunes rockin’ out while you eat in your Sunday best.
They have a pretty big space, and some private pew-​booths in the back, where you could even take a date and make a confession. I ordered the veggie benny which was filled with spinach, goat cheese, and tomato on a croissant. It came with a side of fruit and potatoes, real potatoes, not those frozen, re-​nuked McCain bullshit potatoes. It was the perfect amount of filling after a sloppy drunk night, and the servers were on top of the coffee refills to the point that you were afraid to turn around cuz you knew they’d be right behind you asking if you wanted more, but not in that creepy way, more like that innocent Oliver Twist way, «please sir, have some more.»
The place doesn’t have a big sign outside, so its pretty hidden, and you wouldn’t know it was there unless you were looking for it. They have a sandwich board outside, and that’s about it so far, but I can see this place becoming one of those underground trendy spots that only the cool kids know about. So consider me the cool kid and check this place out.

LanaLou’s is a secret gem, nestled in Vancouver’s culturally rich downtown east side with friendly staff, charming comfortable décor, delicious old favorites, and intriguing looking variations.
A crew of us ventured in for brunch this afternoon (warning — they don’t have a sign yet! Pay attention to the address!) and were greeted by the lovely and cheerful owners; Lana and Lou. Lou took our order with a big sweet smile. I wanted EVERYTHING on the breakfast menu, but of course ended up ordering the salmon benny. (I pretty much always do at new places, and I tend to gauge how good a brunch joint is on their benedicts.) This one did not disappoint! Eggs perfectly poached, generous locally smoked salmon, classic hollandaise and capers, all on a croissant, which was a twist I rather enjoyed! It was moist, flaky, and didn’t compete with the flavours of everything else. The only thing is, I thought the menu said there’d be tobiko on it. I love tobiko, and didn’t spot any. Maybe it’s hidden.
Next time I’m trying the apple pie stuffed French toast! I keep wondering about what might have been, despite loving what I did get.
The drink menu was awesome, I can’t wait to go back and sample most of their inventive cocktails and martinis. We even got a sneak peek at the dinner menu (they’ll be open for dinner starting next week) and it looks amazing as well!
Lanalou’s is a comfy cozy brunch spot with great music by day, and soon to be a cool destination for group dinners and an impressive place to take dates. I’m so happy I get to see this place before it takes off and I need to start making reservations before headingout.

Despite some opening day glitches, I had a great brunch at LanaLou’s. The décor is great — a Victorian-​era parlour room, kitschy Catholic iconography (ncluding real church pews!) and a rock n’roll feel. The best soundtrack I have ever heard at a Vancouver café, so I can definitely see myself spending many an evening drinking here…
The place was buzzing, but our food was worth the wait. I had a veggie omelette, and it was prepared open faced, like a fritatta, with spinach, sundried tomatoes and a hint of garlic (it normally has goat cheese, too, but me no likey) The mash-​y hash was super flavourful and the fruit salad had nectarines in it — win. My brekko companion was similarly impressed — at least, I think she was, as she was wolfing down her food too fast to talk!
We will definitely be back — I think that this place is sure to be a hit and i am happy that I got to experience it on its opening day! Working in this neighbourhood, I know that we are in need of some fresh brunch/​lunch joints, and I heard that they’re going to do live music some nights as well. May I suggest a pub quiz? :)
Four stars this time, hopefully I will add one more when I try lunch and supper. And DRANKS!