Tafs Cafe

Nestled in between Robson and Smithe Streets on Granville Mall, Taf’s Café is a mainstay of Vancouver’s downtown culture. Founded in 1988, it’s an establishment with staying power, remaining popular through big changes—first among them the transition from Theatre Row, as it was once called, to the current glitzy Granville Entertainment District.

Owner Ardy Shakerirad and his brother Rod have maintained the integrity of their business through decades of ups and downs, and today the café stands as a piece of city history as well as a place to grab cheap drinks and great food. In a city that’s always in transition, on a strip of downtown that’s gone from being the home of movie houses and arcades to the centre of Vancouver’s night life, Taf’s has kept on.

“It used to be movie theatres here, so we had more people come into this area,” says Ardy. He fondly recalls the movie houses that used to line downtown Granville. “We had Capitol 6, Granville 7, Vancouver Centre, The Plaza, The Caprice.” Different days, to be sure: now peak times are weekends, with traffic from the club scene as well as the usual diehard regulars.