Oakridge Park opens on May 28, and the anchor food concept is Time Out Market Vancouver — 51,000 square feet, 18 kitchens, three bars, a pet-friendly patio, and around 1,000 seats across the whole space. It’s a food hall, which in Vancouver has a track record of either becoming a genuine neighbourhood hub or an overpriced mall food court with better lighting.
What makes this one worth paying attention to is the roster. Several of the concepts here have real history in the city, and a few of them are the kind of thing you’d drive across town for. Having them in one building on the Canada Line is genuinely convenient.
Start Here
Via Tevere
The Commercial Drive original is probably the most respected Neapolitan pizza in Vancouver — certified by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, which is the kind of designation that actually requires something of the kitchen. The Oakridge version is a different setting than the Drive, but the thing that matters is the dough and the heat of the oven. If those hold, and there’s no reason to think they won’t, this is a very good reason to visit.
Heritage Asian Eatery
Heritage built its following in the Financial District, where downtown workers have been eating their char siu and roast duck at their desks for years. The Oakridge location is the first time the Westside has easy access to what they’re doing, and it’s a significant addition to that side of the city. The roast duck rice is the thing to order.
Mee Bar
This is the one I’m most curious about. Cambodian street food isn’t well-represented in Vancouver, and what Mee Bar is bringing — Mee Kola (a rice noodle bowl with charcoal-grilled meat and seafood), Nom Banh Chok (a traditional Cambodian curry broth), Cambodian-style chicken wings — isn’t something you can easily find in one place here. Chef Nhung Nguyen is behind it. A food hall is actually a reasonable context for something unfamiliar; you can try it without committing to a full sit-down meal.
DownLow Chicken
DL Chicken has been building a following since the East Vancouver counter days. Nashville hot, done properly. The cult status is earned. If you haven’t tried it yet, this is the most accessible location they’ve had.
Kishimoto
A Commercial Drive institution for years — understated, consistent, not the kind of place that needs attention to fill seats. A food hall setting is unusual for them but the product will be familiar to anyone who’s made it a regular stop on the Drive.
MaKaam
From Nutcha Phanthoupheng, who runs Baan Lao on Fraser Street — one of the quieter but consistently good Thai spots in the city. MaKaam deserves attention from anyone who’s eaten at Baan Lao and wondered why more people don’t know about it.
Also in the Building
Feenie’s brings back the Rob Feenie name in a new format. Vendor lineups can shift after opening — check Time Out Market’s official site for the current roster before visiting.
Three bars: one cocktail-focused, one wine-forward, one the main floor bar. The building has a licensed patio overlooking a park. For the kind of afternoon where you want to eat at three different spots and then stay for a drink, the layout makes sense.
When to Go
The opening weekend (May 28 onward) will be busy. Fleurs de Villes has a floral installation running through June 7, which adds to the crowd. Opening weekend for a venue like this is always a bit chaotic — kitchens finding their rhythm, staff getting used to the volume, lines forming in front of the spots that got press.
The honest advice: if you can go on a Tuesday or Wednesday lunch in the first three weeks of June, you’ll have a better experience than a Saturday afternoon in May. The Canada Line stops at Oakridge-41st — walking time to the market is about two minutes from the platform. That makes the transit case easy.
Parking exists at Oakridge Park, but on opening weekends and evenings it will be a competition. The Canada Line is the right answer.
