eight 1/2 restaurant lounge

i've been here once before; years ago. i liked it, but just never got around to trying it again until tonight. we ordered some chips and salsa and some hot wings to start. i had the mushroom risotto. my friend also ordered the risotto, and my other friend had the mussels. the risotto was good, but i feel it could have been a little more flavourful and should have had more portobello! i didn't try the mussels, but my friend said they were great! the highlight for me though was the hot wings! they were not your typical wings doused in hot sauce. they were amazing! home made hot sauce (i assume). best hot wings i've had. i will absolutely come back for them. i recommend getting some to start.

what the -------- ?. after being ignored by the waitress when we arrived, the bartender sheepishly advised us we could seat ourselves at one of the many empty tables. after a few minutes he came back with menus. a few minutes later he took our drink orders, not the waitress. we ordered two gin martinis, one with a twist, one with olives. he delivered both with garlic stuffed olives and the twist came with a wedge of lemon and then he said, "sorry, we don't have a "twister", so is a wedge ok?" what the ----? needless to say, we didn't stay for dinner and add to the drink fiasco the obnoxious music, several large screen tvs with the news on, the uninspired looking menu, the absent waitress who made faces behind the back of customers that she actually bothered to take orders from, it all means we'll never be back.

hello friends! the holiday festivities are slowly coming to a close and one of the places i went to celebrate at was eight 1/2 lounge! eight 1/2 lounge is hidden away in a nook along main street and 8th street. it used to be a home in the 1880’s until they converted it into a restaurant about 8 years ago.

we came here with a groupon and really enjoyed our visit. the atmosphere inside here is really nice- there’s a bar alongside the restaurant, which was just as popular as the restaurant itself.

we ordered the main pasta, which i didn’t enjoy at all (2/5), the wings (which were $8.50 because of happy hour) and a shrimp pizza ($2 off because of happy hour). the wings were very well seasoned and the pizza was thin (the crust was super crunchy and tasty) and delicious!

definitely recommend this place, especially on a friday night! ☺️

140 character summary: menu had tons of variety and options for all sorts of moods. the featured dish was fresh salt spring mussels that were alright. the hot wings had a quality control issue but were okay. . i was recently invited by tangoo to participate in their #chewingforcharity charity event. participating restaurants donated the cost of their special featured dish whenever a diner ordered it.

sometimes, as a regular blogger, i get these invitations to visit certain restaurants or try new food around vancouver. this time, i was notified of a great event, called the #givewarmth fundraiser, by tangoo, a marketing service for the food industry. they are currently hosting a #chewingforcharity series at eight ½ restaurant lounge (mount pleasant)... the limited edition dish they were offering was the mussels. marketplace pizza, and risotto are regulars on the menu... more info on blog...

very nice bar to hanging out with friends. nice food with fare price. but only one server made me need to look after her all night long, and obviously she's not happy to work alone, i felt like dine in a fast food restaurant.

this place has awesome food, service and ambiance. love going here for lunch, but dinner is great as well. highly recommend everything on the menu, but their pizzas are to die for! great bar selection and vibes all around. always come here with friends and it's a good time. large variety of foods on their menu, everything is delicious. confort food at it's best right here.

my partner and i have been to eight and a half many times - has been our favourite little restaurant for past 3 years. i don`t know what has changed but sadly it is going down hill . we always have the tuna tataki, prawn pesto pizza and something from the feature sheet. we were there on a saturday night - no feature sheet, the pizza was dried out and tasteless and the tataki which always has avacado in it was served with cucumber! i mentioned to waitress that food wasn`t up to par and she said `yeah i know`. no offer to try and make it better or anything. we are so disappointed. we won`t be going back.

very good, good small plates good beer selection. funky atmosphere, good place to come and chill. good attentive service.

4.5/5 (great atmosphere and service) (mount pleasant gem)

eight and 1/2 is a place that feels a little like home - wait, it did used to be a (heritage) home! which is super cool. a hidden gem may i say. the restaurant is a heritage house near main street and inside has this really alive atmosphere. when i first walked through the door, i saw two dogs playing in the "lawn" area which was already a good start to the late brunch.

pork_ninjas and i were welcomed with glass jars with water and cucumber. so refreshing and lovely!

eating an early dinner here before catching a show on a saturday. such an interesting title for a restaruant (eight and a half!) the restaurant is quite tiny, reminds me of those narrow san francisco houses….dj…stephanie…michelle anyone there? okay, enough of that. serving up fresh local ingredients and focusing on healthy cooking which means no fryers, microwaves or cooking gases as the website states, i was intrigued at just how the food would taste.

my girlfriend wanted to come here and eat, one monday night when i had time off we showed up, i was surprised how busy this place was at 8:00 pm. i soon realized that there is stand-up comedy, i guess it makes sense why they are busy. we didn't care for the stand up actually, just wanted to try the food. i asked them do we have to pay the $5 each if we eat and leave before the show starts they said yes. good because i wasn't about to give away $10 for something i didn't even want.

we were told to wait as there isn't any place to sit, after ~5 minutes we were walked over to the bar. i told the waitress if it was okay we get a table instead, as there is an empty spot in the corner she said no, that's reserved for the stand-up comedian and crew. i said okay sure, we would still like to wait. after 5-10 minutes we noticed a group walked in and just started sitting there. she had just told us that it was reserved, clearly it was not. (as they were ordering drinks and food and watched the show. explain soon)

few minutes after that, another party of 4 left, and i thought okay, whatever we will just sit there instead no big deal. as soon as they left, a different waitress brought a couple to the table. that made me upset as there wasn't anyone waiting for tables before us or nothing. not a good way to start off the night.

we just sat at the bar and ordered our food at this time, wild mushroom risotto with salmon and a steak sandwich. the food took a while to come, my steak sandwich was not too bad, but the girlfriends risotto and salmon wasn't too good she told me. i tried it, i didn't like it as well. the risotto had this strange taste and the salmon was very dry. she barely touched the food.

at this time, the comedy show was about to start, as promised to leave before the show started we tried to flag down our waitress. the show had started and we were just sitting there still tiring to flag down a waitress. after we did we asked for the bill and to pack up the food. when she finally came back with the food she dropped it and left. we waited to flag her down again to bring us the bill. you know the drill, waited some more. when she finally brought it, we told them we were paying with credit card and she said she will be back with the machine. after waiting and waiting, i wanted to leave cash if we had enough. no luck, we just waited some more. when it was all said and done, i think i listened to half the show that i clearly wanted no part of.

i had an opportunity to try out eight ½ restaurant lounge awhile back as they were having a 20% off brunch promotion if you post a photo of your meal on social media for that particular day. their brunch specials run from 11am to 3pm on weekends. the restaurant is located on main street and 26th avenue which is conveniently easy to get to.

a decent if not spectacular place for brunch or dinner. they've always got good beers on tap, the food is presented well and reasonably priced. it can get a little cramped, especially if you have a larger party, so phoning ahead is a good idea.