welcome fellow travelers today we're at the tomahawk restaurant in north
vancouver british columbia let's go explore
the tomahawk barbecue in north vancouver is a vintage diner that's operated in the
same neighborhood for almost 100 years opened in 1926 by "Chick" chamberlain
this was vancouver's first drive-in restaurant cars would drive up to the front and chick
would come out to get the order and then go back inside to cook it before delivering it to the car
the original menu consisted of barbecue beef pork and rotisserie chicken that was cooked overnight
and was served with bread that customers could assemble into their own sandwiches
a barbecue beef sandwich or barbecued chicken sandwich cost just 10 cents after world war ii
the restaurant modernized with a sawdust burning grill and the menu expanded to
include standard dinner dishes as well as pre-assembled sandwiches and burgers
in the early days the tomahawk was the only place in north vancouver with a phone
so the vancouver wharfs used to call each day looking for workers people looking for work
would come in for breakfast and after getting the call would walk across the train bridge to work
then they'd come back to the restaurant at the day's end for dinner the tomahawk also became
the unofficial office for local police who would do their business there and wait for phone calls
the original restaurant was built like a log cabin with logs laying directly on the ground
which led to problems with dry rot so in 1960 the tomahawk moved across the street
to its present location which used to be a church the previous congregation had
outgrown the building and offered it to chick for his restaurant to this day the
restaurant is still run as a family business with chicks son chuck taking over the reigns
this was also the place where a young bryan adams used to work as a busboy and dishwasher
working the 6 pm to midnight shift for just 250 an hour to save up for his first amplifier
the menu at the tomahawk bbq consists of north american comfort fare made with high quality
ingredients such as free run eggs and certified organic beef breakfast is served all day long but
the one thing that the established doesn't serve is liquor tomahawk simple yet delicious food has
earned it some acclaim the restaurant has shown up on tv programs such as diners drive-ins and dives,
you gotta eat here and was also named in the publication where chefs eat
the tomahawk has always had a respectful relationship with the local first nations
community in north vancouver who in the early days would barter meals in exchange for crafts
and other goods the two totem poles standing at the entrance to the restaurant were carved by
chief mathis joe to commemorate the 1939 official opening of the lionsgate bridge
which was attended by king george vi as well as the queen mother elizabeth and all of the burgers
on the menu have been named after local first nations chiefs inside the restaurant is part
diner and park museum with a unique decor full of first nations art and artifacts in the early 1990s
some thieves broke into the restaurant and stole many valuable items when they heard of the theft
local native elders visited the restaurant and performed a cleansing ceremony one of the elders
assured chuck that the items would come back to the restaurant and to leave the spots vacant
it took over two decades for that promise to come true in 2012 the restaurant was being
used for a film shoot and an unknown person dropped off all but three of the stolen items
which were somewhat dusty but otherwise
undamaged and speaking of movie shoots the eclectic
interior has added atmosphere to shows like x-files supernatural
and more recently has been seen in dirk gently's holistic detective agency this holistic stuff is
garbage it's it's you there's there's something about you psychic trumpet what are you doing
oh that nice chef traded me this jeep for the corvette um so do i um and then
visits to this unique restaurant have become a tradition for many local families
and if you're in north vancouver and hungry it's worth a visit
and while you're there you can also fill up on a healthy dose of history and atmosphere
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