save on meats

over hyped. ordered the club sandwich. advertised that the sandwich comes with avocado but it does not, it's an avocado mayo. thechickenhad no flavour although not dry. service is not horrible but not great.

my wife saw this place on tv and told me i’d love it. she was so right. the food is fantastic, staff are a lot of fun to interact with, and after lunch we went into the meat shop in the next room and bought some stuffedchickenbreasts for dinner.

bottom line: let's get the good points out of the way first. thechickenwas spot on, great seasoning, awesome crunch. the gravy was delicious, super savoury. here comes the bad part, what is up with the waffles? is this corn bread? you serving corn bread waffles? that's bat shit crazy if it's corn bread cause it was so dense. i had a couple omg am i going to choke moments. i've had their other dishes before and no complaints but the waffles, dammit, could have been epic.

so about thirty years ago, i discovered save on meats on east hastings street. it was a butcher shop where i could get rabbit and lamb shanks and other things and at reasonable prices. so the occasional trip to vancouver for ingredients came to include a stop under the neon pig! in the last few years, save on meats has been home to a diner, with socially conscious management who are active in the local community, even handing out tokens redeemable for a breakfast sandwich to those in need. prices are reasonable for the stated purpose of being accessible to the local residents. the folks here could not be friendlier and we were soon seated in a comfortable booth and enjoying the artwork and vibe. it didn't take us long to decide and order.chickenand waffles! this came with a wonderful meaty gravy and syrup and thechickenwas nicely tender and moist. marie and i were split on the crunchy coating. i found it a little dry and was not a fan but she munched down every bit. the waffles themselves tended to be a little heavy. that's the thing about gravy and syrup though, they tend to cover other weaknesses. we also had a burger with cheese and bacon. this was a basic winner with a tasty pickle and a nice no nonsense bun. served with a generous side of in house made "haystack fries" which were a good delivery system for any remaining gravy or ketchup! not sure what the best way is go get them into your mouth though. someone suggested chopsticks! we recommend this place for its food and its service to the community!

opened in 1957, save on meats is one of those legendary institutions, a gem of a place that resides in the middle of a big city. found on the edge of gastown and not exactly on a “great” part of hastings, the location turned out to be an endearing part of this diner that only caused me to like it more. i heard about this place by seeing it in enroute magazine’s dining guide 2016. bold consensus?: i think that we can all agree that the best burger in all of the land can be found at in-n-out burger and i have to say, the excellent burger at save on meats may actually be the next best thing. there! i said it!!!

we visited on a saturday evening and it would be amiss of me not to mention that this place is located a mere block away from where hastings gets “bad.” because of the sketchy neighbourhood, i could see that some potential customers might be scared away. don’t let this stop you. the area is more harmless than it looks and the way that som embraces their downtown eastside location and their community is actually quite beautiful. you’ll know that you’ve found them when you see their glorious neon lights! that rotate!

they started off as a butcher shop back in the heyday of hastings when the street was vancouver’s main shopping and entertainment district (a bygone era) and then expanded to include a diner later on. the restaurant itself is actually quite large, a long and narrow space with a soaring ceiling. one side of the room features exposed brick and booth seating, along with hip and interesting art on the wall. on the other side, a very long counter dotted by chairs. it feels old and fresh at the same time, and surprisingly not all that divey. yes, there are needle disposal units in the bathrooms, but this is just one example of how this place is embracing where they are. again, don’t let it frighten you.

we were told to sit wherever we wanted, settled into a booth, and were immediately helped by the incredible staff. why incredible? i give these guys a ton of credit for the jobs that they do. not only are they serving amazing food, but they are also pouring free coffee for less fortunate customers and are engaging them in conversations. they know who these people are and are treating them with dignity. we can all learn a little something from this.

i had heard that their milkshakes were very good and was quickly drawn to the adult milkshake section where i could get something called the legendary shake (wild turkey bourbon, bacon, milk, chocolate ice cream, topped with whipped cream and more bacon! - $9.45). with a name like that, how could i not try it? yup, the shake sounds crazy! but it looked amazing. it tasted even better! chocolatey and delicious, i could taste the alcohol but it wasn’t too much. the best part was the bacon! this bacon was extra good, so salty and crispy, smokey and flavourful. i find that you can’t get bacon this good in the grocery store - it’s gotta come from a butcher or a farmers’ market. this thing is big enough to share between two people. super fun!

the food menu includes various sandwiches and even all-day breakfast... but the “thing” is the burger. that’s what they’re famous for. the spicychickensandwich was totally speaking my language, but it had to be the burger. so i went with the save on burger (since 1957 save on meats has hand ground local beef for the best and freshest burger in town. today, our cache creek burgers come straight from our butcher shop and are topped with american cheese, crisp butter lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles on a brioche bun topped with s.o.m. sauce - $8.95) which is served with your choice of haystack fries, salad or coleslaw. the food came out lightening fast and looked great. i subbed real cheddar ($0.95) on mine and now that i know how good their bacon is, i will add that as well next time. i ordered my burger with haystack fries and asked for coleslaw on the side. the server suggested that they could simply do half fries and half coleslaw, which i happily accepted. the fries were the best!! i love a shoestring style fry and these ones were fried perfectly and tasted crispy and delicious. maybe the best fries that i’ve had in vancouver, actually. i found the coleslaw less good and too chunky for my taste. it seemed like a pile of big cabbage with not very much dressing or flavour.

but the burger. let’s talk about this most wonderful burger. i’m not even a burger person! i rarely order hamburgers and almost always order something else, given the choice. but this burger is special. every part of it is excellent. the beef tastes ultra fresh and it’s not cooked to a char. the mark of a good quality, real, housemade beef patty is one that can be served medium rare. i almost jumped with joy when i saw the hint of pink after taking a bite. the bun is also incredible. a buttery brioche that is perfectly squashy in exactly the best way. every vegetable was crisp, bright and fresh. the pickle was delicious. and their special sauce made all the difference and tasted amazing. this burger was literally perfect in every way and every day that you let go by without trying it is unfortunate.

the prices are exceedingly reasonable at som. plus they have a conscious. they offer a token program where for $3.50 you can purchase a token that you can then give to someone in need. or the restaurant will do it for you if you prefer. this will buy that person a sandwich. since 2012 they have served up over 88,000 delicious meals to residents of this neighbourhood. the entire initiative is extremely heartwarming.

save on meats is trying to make things better instead of worse. in my opinion they’re doing amazing work. but aside from that, they are serving amazing food and the best damn hamburger in vancouver! which is why you absolutely need to try them.

top notch all the way around. a great blend of classic, vintage diner feel with modern updates that make this place a really comfortable, cool (but not too cool) spot to enjoy great north american diner fare. i eat here regularly for lunch but weekend brunches are a special treat. really hard to pin point a favourite but menu highlights are definitely the burger, mac and cheese coquettes, roastchickendinner and arguably the best milkshake in town. it's a unique and rare find special to vancouver.

mixed experiences: good side - 1.50$ hotdogs and 2$ brekfast samdwiches at outside window. classic burger inside is tasty n well seasoned and worth 6.50$. downside: the chili amdchickenpot pie were very bland beyond, despite being sold on thechickenpot pie as one of their most popular dishes. when we complained it was bland we were told, "ya, maybe the kitchen forgot to put in the seasoning in the morning", but were offered nothing to makeup for it. also a poutine i ordered was 10$, yet sloppy, tasteless and small. ill go back for a cheap cheese burger, but will probably avoid anything else.

fantastic!. great food and friendly service. what's not to like? had thechickenand waffles. best i've had since i lived in southern california.

terrible meal there today. new menu lacked the best sandwich. had the club house sandwich -chickenwas too salty, bread was soggy, avocado was mushed up, and raspberry vinaigrette for the salad was too oily and didn't taste like raspberry at all. my friend's burger bun was burnt and fries were cold. won't go back and wouldn't recommend to anyone.

amazing!. i just wrote my review, but i also wanted to add that when i walked in a lovely young patron told me to try the tuna melt which she said was fabulous and in addition to that i sat at the counter and was surrounded by other patrons raving about the food. i guess it may have been some growing pains from the time some of the other reviewers went to the day i went in, but that is to be expected with all restaurants. people also have to remember that they are eating in a diner, not a five star restaurant. finally, with respect to the prices, let's not forget that this is not a soup kitchen, it's a business that has to make a profit. the prices were like most diners and very reasonable.


-----22 dec, 2012-----

amazing!. first i have to say the atmosphere was fun and busy and the people who sat and then served me were absolutely welcoming and friendly. the food was delicious and the menu was really great. i went for lunch and enjoyed a couple of glasses of white wine with their "big salad" which was butter lettuce, goat cheese andchickenserved under a fresh and flavourful citrus vinegrette. i tried save on meats after seeing it on the gastown gamble and when arlene dickenson became a partner and it exceeded my expectations! all the booths were completely filled with "women who lunch" business people and students - which leads me to believe that it's become a pretty "in" place to try out. i know everyone is entitled to their opinion, but i have to wonder if those who are going a little overboard complaining are usually the ones who are always complaining about something anyway? save on meats is just up the street from my work and i parked right on hastings and abbott. the neighbourhood felt safe and is a cool mix of both people working and living in the area. i'll be back.

save on meats review. my wife and i were all hyped up to try save on meats restaurant after watching the diners, drive ins and dives on the food network. i gotta tell you what a real disappointment it was. my wife ordered a hotchickensandwich and what she got was one slice of toasted bread with fat and crumbly pieces ofchickensmothered in an imitation gravy with about 15 frozen fries and they charged 10.00 for that! mychickendinner was absolutely horrible , two small frozen littlechickenthighs, frozen peas and carrots and about 15 to 16 frozen french fries and we also shared a milkshake. if i wanted a frozen dinner i could have went to safeway and bought a hungry man t.v. dinner for about 4.00 and it would have tasted better and at least i would have got more chicken!!!! our total bill came to 35.00 plus 4.00 dollars for parking . what a joke!! i think diners, drive-ins and dives was just an advertisement for the restaurant and i will never take they're word for it again!! the only good thing i can say about that restaurant was the waitress was very nice and that's about it!! stay away awful!!!

i've tried this place three times now, and all have been disappointing.

i can't remember exactly what i have the first time, but i sat at the counter. i think it was some type of braised beef sandwich. it was okay, but certainly wasn't any great value. for some silly reason i thought that this place was supposed to be a little bit more affordable, considering the part of the city that it was him. you know what they say about assumptions.

at best, the service was mediocre.

the second time i went there, i had an open facedchickensandwich. it tasted alright, but again was certainly no great value for what i paid for it. as well, when it was brought to my table, i wasn't given any cutlery with which to eat it. i had to ask the waitress for a knife, and then after waiting over five minutes for her to bring me one so i could eat the food that she brought to me, i finally just got up and went to the counter and asked again. i was greeted with this silly little smile, and an excuse about how she had forgotten because she was busy. by this point my sandwich was almost cold.

absolutely pathetic service.

i went there again yesterday for breakfast. in all honesty if it wasn't for the fact that i had gone to three other restaurants in that part of town that were closed, and i wasn't just really really hungry, i would have set foot in the place.

needless to say, not only did they screw my order up, they screwed my friends order up. and after informing them of this, they screwed up their attempt to fix it. the waiter apologized and told us that we wouldn't have to worry about the charges for the extra product that was brought to us. in the end, they charged us for everything. had they have actually gotten the order correct, it would've cost us less money.

bottom line. the food is passable. the service is extremely lacking, and the prices are high for what you get.

if you read any number of the reviews that have been posted on urbanspoon about this restaurant, you will see the same complaints over and over and over again. the fact that nothing changes, at least as far as the service is concerned, shows that the management of this company or the owners care very very little regarding the opinions of their diners.

so i'm going to ask you directly:

save on meats owners or manager:

why do you not do something to address the concerns your diners patrons have about your establishment?

does it not concern you that i can go to your restaurant three times, and have subpar service all three times? do you really think that i'm going to recommend your restaurant to anyone else? you should be very concerned about the things that people are saying about your service and your food and your prices, but it seems that you're not.

someone wrote a review prior to this one, and i think she hit the nail on the head. vancouverites need to wake up when it comes to restaurants that offer crappy service, expensive prices, small portion sizes and mediocre food. people in this town are so used to putting up with this kind of stuff, that it just becomes the norm and they expect nothing more.

honestly, you should be embarrassed about the experience that you provide, and i as well as everybody else should be embarrassed that were naïve enough to think that this is acceptable, and to keep going back.

no more.

more plate than food. the club was only a half sandwich. the open faced.chickenlooked so lonely on the plate. no peas and very little gravy. my chocolate shake came as a sunday before the meal. reasonable price but i have an aftertaste and won't be back

had lunch today and i ordered the burger while my wife had the clubhouse withchickennoodle soup. the soup tasted off like it was sour. thechickenin the clubhouse was old and dry.
disappointed with the burger. nothing special about it.

after seeing this place on diners, drive-ins and dives we were pumped to go to this place. we picked a day and were looking forward for a couple weeks for this. we took our son with us, and were excited as we walked in and sat down. looked at the menu even though we had studied it for the 2 weeks leading up. the server dropped the menus and seemed nice. took her a bit to come back even though they were not busy. we both ordered a burger and fries with gravy and our little one had the friedchickenwith veggies. this is where everything went down hill fast. it took 25 minutes for the food to arrive and when it got there it was some of the worst i have ever had in a diner. the burgers where these tiny little pattys with no flavor. the bun was cold, fries were cold and tasted freezer burnt. the gravy was chunky flavourless slop. thank god for hot sauce and vinegar. the friedchickenwas over crispy and hard and to top it off it was flavorless. the veggies seemed like they were frozen and had been nuked. the server didnt come back to see how the food was till we were done and by then it was to late. i have not been this disapointed in a long time. avoid this dump!