The Tomahawk Restaurant

1550 Philip Ave., North Vancouver          www.tomahawkrestaurant.com

FOOD 

Around since 1926, family-run Tomahawk is a North Vancouver institution. It was featured on the TV show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives where host Guy Fieri gushed over the restaurant's signature roast beef dinner with Yorkshire pudding and beef dip sandwich. But what about its burgers? Tomahawk has a large roster of them — the "Skookum Chief," "Dagwood Super," "Chief Capilano" among them — featuring organic beef patties, eggs, and wieners. Unfortunately, the consensus among the group was that it doesn't matter how many "doodads" you add, you still have to have a good burger at the core — and the core was lacking. Patties were sorta dry, the "Tomahawk sauce" was barely detectable. Shredded lettuce was a nice change up. Fries were cafeteria-like.

AMBIENCE

Comfortable. We like the history of the place and the unique aboriginal art work all over the walls and the throwback ginger ale in a bottle.

SERVICE 

Competent. Nothing stood out.

VALUE

Despite our misgivings, we've actually been here three times now. The value is decent and we like the "comfort food" vibe and dose of nostalgia of the place.


Summing it up, eating at The Tomahawk is like driving an older model Nissan Maxima through Chinatown with Jean-Claude Van Damme in the passenger seat while listening to Cutting Crew's Died in Your Arms (visited on January 22, 2014).