argo cafe

a real jem. food is great, not your topical diner fare. the specials board is inspired and choosing one item is not an easy task. not one person in our party was disappointed. i happily recommend this place.

i'm sold.. wanted to go here for a long time , as i work in the area. friendly service. huge cup of coffee and it was damn good. i got a spanish omlette and it came quickly. it was very flavorful and quite a hefty portion. instead of hash browns or fries it comes with little tater-tots/potato chunk thingies. they rock.

it's cash only , and i only had debit..but the server assured me that he would front me the meal as long as i came back. that was a very nice gesture.

highly recommend this place, cant wait to get back and try more of the menu.

the benefits of having unemployed friends is not just that you have someone to hang with on your days off but that they always know the best places to go for good cheap eats. my favourite free bird introduced me to the argo cafe located in the industrial

the argo cafe is certainly a place i would not have found on my own. it was hm who alerted us about this hidden gem. after doing a bit of research on line, it appears that is very well known and popular with people who works around the area. the argo cafe is perhaps one of those place you will not bother check out. at a quick glance, you might not even think it is a restaurant. th painting outside is very gaudy. there is the heavy metal door and the windows are barred. if i did not know anything about this restaurant, i don't think i would even go in for a cup of coffee. maybe that's the way it should be. the argo cafe is already … packed to the brim everyday. there is no way they can take in any more customers. their opening hours are limited. they open only on weekdays for breakfast and lunch and closes promptly at 4:00 pm. it is obvious that they are there to meet the needs of the people who work in the light industrial zone. let's face it. this place is a dive and very much a hol

argo cafe was featured in the food network’s you gotta eat here. the outside looks pretty run down and the inside is similar but it’s a busy local diner. their daily specials change everyday and you can find them on their website. there weren’t any booth seats left so we sat at this counter here. the diner is small so there were a lot of things stashed at the counter.

this is a small but quite popular diner/cafe located in olympic village, right by 2nd avenue. the atmosphere is very casual, and they don't have printed menu: everything is written on the board. they have a breakfast menu that's served till 11:00, a lunch menu consisting of burgers, sandwiches, and various western/asian/mexican plates, and a specials menu that rotates daily. i had their argo plate and chicken chilli con queso. both dishes were quite tasty; the price was a bit higher for a diner, but still reasonable. the service was quite casual; the food comes reasonably fast and the staff were fairly friendly but generally leaves you alone. all in all, this is definitely worth checking out.

p.s. the staff asked me if i wanted soup, and i turned it down because i thought that it was going to cost extra (and i was too shy/scared to ask). but apparently, after checking their website, the soup is complimentary with their meals. so if the staff asks you, don't be like me and turn it down.

argo plate ($17.95):
4/5
this was from one of their specials menu, which rotates daily. it consists of short rib, bacon wrapped pork tenderloin, and roast lamb, and is served with mashed potatoes and vegetables. i found the lamb to be a bit tough and chewy; the pork was quite tender and well seasoned however, and the shortribs were tender and flavourful. the mashed potatoes were also very tasty, and were smooth, creamy and flavourful.

chicken chilli con queso ($14.95):
4/5
this consists of a thick stew-like chicken with cheese, and is served with either fries or rice. the stew was thick and very flavourful, and had a nice bit of spice. the chicken was tender and juicy (i think they used dark meat, which in my opinion is always superior to white), although i did find it to be a bit underseasoned on its own.

summary:
food: 4/5
price: 4/5
service: 3/5
overall: 3.5/5
recommendations: chicken chilli con queso

where are the menus? plastered all over the walls...so don’t ask for one. :-) remember to look at the specials. so many delicious options. today we chose the lamb shank (yes...at a diner), pork lion and seafood stir fry. including a soup, lunch is totally worth $15.95. the servers are super friendly. wasn’t going to have dessert after such a big meal, but when the server said the cherry pie had just cooled and i was gonna have the first slice....i was sold. it was fabulous and flaky. argo is definitely the place to go if you are in the area.

i’m so ashamed..lived here most of my existence and i finally tried out this place for dinner. i pass by here a gazillion times as it’s part of my bike route during the summer months too. but wow this place blew me away with every thing that touched my palette. was originally an old style german restaurant turned east meets west diner, argo serves up so many irresistable creations from chow mein to duck confit (this was featured on “you gotta eat here”). as their tagline goes: “downtown food, at an east van price.” this is soooo right!

my husband and i had a terrible experience at argo. i ordered a soup and my husband (who is allergic to eggs) ordered the club sandwich without mayo. when our food came, my husband open up his sandwich to see if there was any mayo. it looked as though there had been a white spread on the bun but had been scraped off. we showed the owner and asked if the white stuff was mayo. he looked at it half heartedly he said it wasn't. we found out after we left that there was indeed mayo in the sandwich. if my husband had an anaphylactic reaction to eggs, this would have been a very serious matter. 

and just to add to this horrible experience. i found a short black hair in my soup after almost finishing it. the hair certainly did not belong to my husband or myself.

we really wanted to like this restaurant, but after this experience. we will not be going back and would not recommend this restaurant to our friends.

love going to cafe argo. the food is so well done without the need for gimmicks or snobbery. will be back there soon for that spanish omelette...haunts me how good it is!

when you walk in the door of the argo café, you will feel like you were walking into a 1940s era diner. booths with tables covered in arborite and seats with vinyl fabric on them. this place looks like the set of a guy fieri episode.
and then in the night time it turns into a restaurant that serves steak and lobster, pork tenderloin or louisiana seafood pasta.
a menu designed each thursday and friday around what the chef has available and is fresh and in season. very cool concept.
tonight i started with a couple duck spring rolls. the spring rolls had a serious amount of duck! wow! very crispy and tasty and not greasy whatsoever.
next was a small cup of soup that came with my main course. a fish chowder which was good. not too thick.
for my main course i chose the sirloin steak with a peppercorn sauce and a lobster. yep, steak and lobster!
the steak was very flavourful and didn't need a shake of salt. tender meat with a nice seared crust and cooked just a shade past medium rare.
the lobster was very cool. a strong flavour of lobster that didn't need a side of butter.
the frites were also a hit. cut in house with a mandolin and then double fried. wonderful thin fries.
highly recommended and i will definitely return!

argo café has been hiding on ontario street until we started discovering the neighbourhood, thanks to the olympics.a cash only diner owned and ran by famous chefs that make delicious fresh food at half the prices restaurants they worked at prior would have charged.excellent service, tasty fresh food, decadent home made desserts and five flavours of milkshakes.they were so gracious to create a combo vanilla mocha milkshake. thank you.

a hidden gem!
my dinner started with lobster dumplings and deep fried pickles - amazing! next dishes duck confit and bbq pork tenderloin. moist and delicious! would love to come back and try their lunch menu.

you will remember things you forgot existed. first time i ate at argo i was reminded of the joy of shoe-string french fries, the likes i got as a kid in hotels in the 70s and 80s. second time i had a club sandwich, it was as classic as it gets. the turkey was actually carved, not processed, the bacon was cooked perfectly, a third piece of bread separated them and it was all slathered with mayo next to those great fries like the good old days.
lovely staff too, the younger girls are a couple of sweethearts and the woman who appears to be the owner is a really nice lady. the rest of the wait staff are friendly and quick.
if you are of a certain age it is the kind of place you will remember that hasn't been around in about 20 years or so and you'll return.

having been featured on food network show “you gotta eat here!”, we have also heard from friends about wanting to dine at argo cafe. with the sudden vacation i got, mr. h and i finally had a chance to try out some restaurants that are only open on weekdays, such as argo cafe. it was exciting to know that not only does argo have its regular menu, but it also changes its daily special. the extensive list of the daily specials can be found on its website, and the choices look promising. mr. h:  eating at argo cafe’s been on my to-do list for, like, ever.  so long, in fact, that i had forgotten what they were famous for from their food network show a while ago… i guess it was just “argo cafe = food network diner = yum, go eat”.  we finally had an opportunity to grab some lunch out together, so away we went!  i in