You’ll find hearty basic breakfasts, a burger-lover’s wish list of delights and plenty of comfort food at Hamburger Mary’s in the West End
Mia Stainsby
Sun
You’d have to be living in a fog not to have noticed Hamburger Mary’s at Davie and Bute at some point in its 22 years of existence. Make that 27 years if you count its beginnings on Denman Street in 1979.
What you might not know is that it’s still a busy, thriving diner busy at breakfast (bennies, omelettes, pancakes and various permutations of egg dishes), lunch and late night. It’s open to 3 a.m. during the week and 4 a.m. on weekends, in case you’re wandering this naked city, starving, in the wee small hours. The original owner sold the place in 1999 and there’s been a couple of changes since but you’ll still find hearty, basic breakfasts and a burger lovers’ wish list of burgers with meats ranging from musk ox, organic beef, buffalo, bison, venison to vegetarian.
Entree-style dishes lean to old-fashioned comfort foods, like meat loaf, pyrogies, ribs, Salisbury steak and pastas.
There’s a bit of a concession in the milkshakes — they’re made with low-fat yogurt, not the traditional high-fat ice cream.
In summer, the side patio offers good viewing for watching the colourful Davie Street parade of life. Inside, there are flashes of the ’50s, with neon lights, Arborite tables, a jukebox, posters and signs from another era.
It was one of the earliest gay-friendly places to open in Vancouver but that’s nothing unusual on Davie Street these days.
“We don’t flaunt it but do embrace it,” says Rob Logan, who’s been the chef since 1994. “You’ll still hear the occasional Barbra Streisand.”
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HAMBURGER MARY’S DINER
1202 Davie St., 604-687-1293
© The Vancouver Sun 2007
