Yes pigs can fly!, the Vancouver icon Save On Meats has been reborn and I must say that it manages to keep the best parts and more have been added~the booths are wired for laptops and there’s WiFi !.

Originally opened in 1957 it went strong for all of my life~things that stand out in my mind from childhood are Woodwards and Save On Meats and the big pig sign, the business finally closed it’s doors in 2009 when Al DesLauriers retired. I know I was now very happy to see it close, it was a go to place for summer BBQ eats and good deals on roasts for family dinners for me and my friends and a kick ass burger for pennies on the dollar, here’s a video I found that documents the last day of the old Save On Meats uploaded by Davely70. The new owner Mark Brand is the owner of the higher end restaurant Boneta in Gastown as well as Sea Monstr Sushi, The Diamond, Sharks + Hammers and the Catalog Gallery, this Vancouverite was eager to see something good happen to the building and not let it become another victim to the wrecking ball. After a year and a half full renovation and more than $1,000,000.00 pumped into the facility it’s a welcome and needed business in the Downtown Eastside.

There is a lot going on in the space now, part of the four-story building is leased to SOLE Food, an urban farm, run by local residents, who use it as a distribution center for produce. Brand is planning a commissary kitchen for neighborhood residents who might wish to start a food business. The complex also includes a bakery for the restaurant and baked goods are also sold next door in the butcher shop. It’s one of the few places where almost everything is made in~house, the bakery grind their own flour for baking, using wheat from various farms on Vancouver Island and this ends up in the homemade killer bread, baked goods and the brioche hamburger buns.

The ice cream for the triple thick shakes and soda fountain ice cream deserts is all made in-house and is DIVINE!. I’ve had the chocolate, banana and the coffee shakes here and have been a happy camper every time.

Having the butcher shop as part of the building helps keep the costs down on the restaurant side so you can have a filling home cooked meal and it won’t break the bank and also lets the neighborhood residents get benefit of being able to get quality affordable meat and baked goods on a limited budget. At the front where the windows used to separate the 2 entrances is now a take out sandwich and quick eats window where you can get an all day breakfast sandwich on homemade biscuit for $1.50

The menu speaks for itself:

they do the big 3 here~breakfast, lunch and dinner here, opening at 7am and closing at 10pm you have ample time to get over and get some good eats, the addition of a $4 kids menu with dishes that all come with your or your little one’s choice of salad, fries, coleslaw or fruit cup and milk or juice. makes it kid friendly and headache free for mom and dad.

Now on to the food I’ve had:

the Save On Meats burger with bacon and cheese with fries on the side $6, yes that price is right~six bucks!, its made from ground chuck and flank steak, it has house made bacon, cheese and all the usually suspects on a brioche bun, any other place this would be $10-$12 easy. I really liked it and it was the first thing I tried on my initial visit, the burger was flavorful and juicy, the bun was buttery and a bit sweet. It’s like the original Save On Meats burger got grown up and refined during the building makeover and still remained dirt cheap~a deal that you can’t miss in my books. One issue that I do have is the fact that the burger patty was a lot smaller than the bun and is something I’ve seen in other bloggers pictures, it’s not a deal breaker in my eyes~just a minor grumble and the pickle on top made up for it!.

the Clubhouse with fries and house made coleslaw $7

the roasted chicken in this bad boy was moist, tender and in my eyes needs to me a meal on its own!, it’s a classic done right in my eyes and is a solid choice of a sandwich. One thing that I didn’t mention above in talking about the burger were the fries~there crisp and tender inside like great fries should be and I’ve found myself craving them at 11pm at night a few times last week. When I order this again I’m going have to insist my sandwich be on more regular bread~I don’t know if I got the 2 ends from a loaf but the outsides were hard and difficult to eat around the edges, also on this visit my sandwich order was taken but got lost in translation in the kitchen and wasn’t made for 30 mins when I finally had enough and asked WTF, even the waitress couldn’t understand what happened back there in the kitchen, at the end of the day I had a free coffee triple thick shake for my trouble (as pictured above).

the open-faced roasted chicken sandwich with house made brown gravy with fries and coleslaw $8, I really liked this sandwich, the bread was super soft in the middle where the chicken was placed and the crust had some slight chew to it-if my clubhouse was on this It would have been a perfect sandwich, the roasted chicken was moist and tender. The house made brown gravy was not overly salty and added the right moisture to this classic knife and fork sandwich. The coleslaw they make here is vinegar biased I think, all I know it’s not the gloopy mayo kind and I really love it!. One thing that I will say is that this menu item needs to have another piece of bread with chicken and gravy on it to be a open-faced chicken sandwich and to fill you up, I was still hungry and could have easily downed a burger or a couple of pieces of pie from Acme Cafe 2 doors down from Save On Meats.

The Damn Fine Ruben $7, this was ordered by a lady sitting next to me, she asked the waitress to surprise her with a sandwich that is killer and this magnificent treat was brought to her, the sandwich lived up to expectations of something great and I think I’ll have to have one of these next time I’m in.

The Meatloaf plate with Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes and fresh peas & carrots $9, classic meatloaf with gravy minus the tomato soup top like mom used to make. This plate comes with your choice of fries or buttermilk mashed potatoes and fresh carrots & peas, the mashed potatoes are killer here and are not to me missed. I really enjoyed most of my meatloaf, it has a nice rich beef flavor and the gravy is great without being salty, the one issue I ran into was 3/4 of the way through someone next to me pointed that some of my meatloaf looked pretty pink and boy was she right!, the waitress took my plate back to the kitchen and returned a few minutes later, I was informed that one of the owners looked at it and wasn’t comfortable serving it, she offered me something else off the menu so I chose a sandwich, when she returned from putting in my new order she told me that they use nitrate in the meatloaf~or as she said “salt peter”, I was relieved that I didn’t eat undercooked meat but then I was kinda pissed at the fact I was fed nitrates when I wasn’t expecting them to be in this dish.

the Corned Beef Sandwich on Caraway Rye $7, after my meatloaf incident this is what I ordered, it solidified the fact I have to try the Damn Fine Ruben because the corned beef here is really good!, the mustard cut the richness of the meat just fine and the bread used is really good, it had caraway seeds and they add a great flavor to this and the ruben.

Sitting near the cakes and pies is a dangerous thing, I watched as this beauty was brought out by the pastry chef

the Save On Meats version of a Black forest Cake $6, I didn’t have any of this but it looked damn good and the chocolate glaze on top added to its decadence. One thing I did have a piece of but didn’t get a photo was one of their chocolate chip, macadamia nut and BACON cookies!, the lady next to me ordered some to go, they weren’t my thing~too crisp and crunchy and I didn’t get any bacon flavor.

I’d say that once all the opening kinks get worked out Save On Meats will enjoy another long life in its original home and will be feeding a whole new generation to come. Mark Brand you have done a great thing for the community and me and a lot of other Vancouverites thank you!.

@saveonmeatsdine

@saveonmeats

www.saveonmeats.ca