tacofino commissary

so many craft beer serving establishments opening in vancouver this summer!

and being the galivanting around town type that i am, i have tried to hit them all

well, okay the ones i get told about anyway

last thursday was opening night for tacofino commissary

an actual restaurant to go with the two food trucks they already have in town

its a delightful space on hastings street, just west of nanaimo street

a long narrow room with communal long tables

and an incredible light fixture of glowing white balls connected by copper wiring...

with live plants growing out of it

 Bocci Lights made by Omer Arbel!

tacofino was my third stop on thursday night, so i wasn't hungry
i did get to try a bite of my friend's banana churros though - savoury banana churro coated in sugar, served with banana sriracha ice cream
deeelicious!

the rest of the menu looks delightful

featuring such gems as cauliflower with serrano chiles, turmeric, crispy rice and spicy fish sauce

poke tostada with albacore tuna, soy, sesame, wakame and beer hazelnuts

tamale with spot prawns, crispy masa, lardons and slow-cooked egg

and of course the fish taco that made the orange food truck so popular

as for libations, they have them a-plenty!

bubbles, red wine, white wine, rose, sake and plum wine

cocktails and beer

draft beer in 12 oz jam jars, 32oz growlitas or 64 oz growlers:

tofino reign in blond ale, tofino tuff session ale, driftwood white bark and parallel 49 india pale lager

bottles:  pacifico, creemore springs lager and red seal pale ale

yes, you read that right, they serve beer in growlers and half sized growlers

makes a pitcher seem kinda sad in comparison doesn't it?

i ordered the parallel 49 ipl

and it went quite well with the almost overwhelming heat of the restaurant

hopefully they find a way to get air circulating in there!

the heat and the not amazing bathroom are my only negatives

everything else was fabulous

i really liked the order markers they have - shaved wooden blocks with stencilled numbers

you get one when you order and it stays with you for your whole dining experience

enabling any server to fetch you sustenance while putting it on the correct bill - genius!

go there!

support local small business

especially ones who are supporting bc's craft brewers!

open for dinner service from 5:00 – 10:00pm, and open for drinks till late