The Red Umbrella Cafe

Food is great. Service is mediocre. Coffee is slow, have to ask for everything (ie refills) can be quite slow at times

what a quaint little café! I am staying at a nearby hotel on a business trip, and in less than 24 hours, two business owners have recommended that I try this restaurant.
The prices were surprisingly low to me. Their breakfasts start at $ 6 for eggs hashbrowns and choice of meat.
The ambiance is calming, with neutral colors, wood furniture and nice artwork. The display cases are full of pastries and treats. All food and pastries are apparently made in house. Kudos to them!
I am on a post new years diet, so I took it easy on the menu, and got ONE buttermilk pancake (not the best choice for a diet, but all in moderation, right?) with Blueberries, and a decaf americano. Delish! They baked the fresh blueberries right in! no gummy sugary sauce. I am in town a few days. I am definitely coming back!

The only breakfast place in Vancouver I am eager to go to. The fact that it’s a stone throw away from home makes me a regular.
I love that you can customise your breakfast. I always get
— scrambled eggs: ⁵⁄₅ they’re creamy, not eggy and not at all greasy
— sourdough toast: ⁵⁄₅ homemade and heavenly
— hash browns: ⁵⁄₅ perfectly crisped
— bavarian sausage: ⁵⁄₅
— grilled seasonal vegetables: ⁵⁄₅ amazing
I believe they have the best London Fog in all Vancouver and I also love their mocha (if you don’t like your mochas sweet at all this is the place to go). Also, their tea is great. It’s tea bags but a higher quality of tea bags. Definitely some of the better tea I’ve had from a non-​asian food joint.
People have criticized their service but it’s good enough for me. The place is always packed and there are occasional mistakes the servers might make but in general I’ve always felt like they make a consistent effort to provide good service.
This is definitely the most underrated breakfast joint I’ve come across

Homemade bread! Great cappuccino! Enjoyed our breakfast here. Small space. Love the rustic table. Would definitely eat here again.

The food is great. Really flavoursome home style food. The hash browns are amazing! However, the service is really, really slow. I don’t know if it is because the place is so busy, the kitchen can’t keep up, or because they need at least two more serving staff. So, don’t go there starving, especially on a weekend, because it will be at least 1 hour to wait and order and then another thirty minutes before your food arrives.

I don’t give 5 stars easily, but I have to say I had a really nice experience here! The homemade bread and jam were utterly delicious, such as the brown hash. The poched eggs were a bit too cooked though. My tea pot was refilled with hot water without asking anything and I stayed there 3 hours on my laptop without anyone saying anything to me.
There were 2 waitresses at the time I went there and I have to say though that the male server was nicer (and so quick) than the girl. Would definitely come back until I’ll have the same experience as other reviewers here (which I don’t expect, of course).

I could not believe the awful service we received here yesterday.
My partner arrived first and said he stood waiting to be seated, as it asks on the sign as you enter. A server walked past my partner several times to serve the customers outside and decided not to seat him and instead ignore him.
Then once I arrived we sat at the only free table in the window but it was incredibly warm from the sun beating in. The male server was very nice and friendly and offered to close the blinds for us. But it seemed to be broken so he kindly moved us to another larger table that we had to share with one other customer. But we did not mind.
Then we had our menus and decided what we wanted. We were ready to order and we waited and waited. I even asked the young server if we could order but she said she could not take orders and would get our server. Then she came back and said she could take our drinks order but not food. That was fine, so we ordered drinks.
People were coming and going and being served and we were still waiting. When our server was serving the man at our table beside us his food and topping up his coffee, we tried to make eye contact… we were ignored. She made eye contact once and walked away. One time we made eye contact and I asked if we could order. She said she would be back in a minute. Five minutes later she had still not come back.
I turned around to the counter and she was standing there with her hands on the counter just watching the café and not doing anything. I would understand if she was busy but she was not. This made me so angry.
We got up, asked to cancel our drinks and left telling this lady that we could not wait any longer for her to take our order. We had been there for 25minutes!!! This was unacceptable.
I am a server in a local restaurant of similar size and would never ever treat a table this way. I don’t know what this servers problem was but it became obvious she was not serving us on purpose.
We live within the Bidwell block and could have been two new regulars. But not after today. Food looked good but we would likely starve before being served.
Some serving or customer service training would be appropriate for this server and maybe the whole team… if you could call it that. People need to work together to make a place successful.
From unhappy customer who didn’t even get to order!

It was a busy day, got a table outside but they forgot about us. Took us about 15 minute to get their attention and finally got the menus and some water. We were about o walk away and look for another replace to eat. We were hAngry ok? … But well my partner was patient, stood up and got the waiter’s attention by waiving through the window. Waiter was actually really nice and brought us water immediately, he even ask if we needed wi-​fi. He recommended the special, which was BLT and a bean soup. And it was actually pretty good! I really loved the sandwich and the soup was delicious. It has a hint of cilantro and citrus. The BLT had so much bacon, and instead of lettuce they used spinach which made it even mor flavorful. My partner had the omelette and he enjoyed it very much. Although he ordered a side of toast and he got just one slice of toast, which wasn’t enough (for him)
We both enjoyed it, will definitely come back and try some other things in the menu.

Some of the best breakfast food I’ve ever had! Our entire group loved their meals. Two downsides, they only have one high chair and after we ordered it was around a 30 minute wait for our food.

I have to admit, the other reviews regarding the staffs attentiveness are true. However, I can completely understand why. The food is so fresh and flavorful, that it created more interest than a place this size can handle, especially during brunch hours. Everyone wants to get in but put too Mich expectation on the staff, who have to zip indoors and out to serve tables. it’s worth the wait! Best French toast I’ve had yet.

I rarely put in one-​star reviews, and generally ignore — or at least discount — damning reviews by others if there is too much carping about poor service or about other non-​food related issues. In this case, though, it is my turn. This is among the most poorly run restaurants I’ve ever experienced — so much so that we left hungry, angry, and quite astonished after waiting for more than an hour for an order that never came out of the kitchen.
We started suspecting something was amiss after about 30 minutes, when the people who were seated immediately before us got served but we didn’t. We got more suspicious when not one but two tables of people seated well after us got served (the first people had already paid and left by this time). We tried to get the server’s attention (frankly she should have noticed that people at a table she was responsible for were just sitting there for a very long time). After all, it should be in her interest to get her tables served and moving so that other sets of people — and presumably additional tips — would be coming her way. After motioning to her a couple of times with no result, one of us finally went over to her and asked how long it would be before our order came out. She replied, «Let me just go double check.» Another 10 or so minutes went by during which time she busied herself doing this and that with other tables, but never came back to us. We finally went up to her (at the cashier area) and asked again. She replied that our order was lost and that she will put it in again.
An older woman (probably the owner or manager) was standing at the cashier area as well. Frankly, they both seemed to be from Planet Clueless — focused on the system issue of figuring out how our order got misplaced, and not at all aware that taking care of patrons who had been totally ignored for over an hour and who had to leave their seats and go over to them to be noticed, might be important. Although they clearly saw that we were upset, there was no apology — just a couple of passive «mistakes happen,» «we’re only human,» and «we have been very busy» statements mixed in with some anxiety that we seemed to be less than pleased with the service. Both my companion and I were quite taken aback at both the server and the owner’s inability to understand the basics of customer service.
My companion told them that we weren’t willing to continue waiting and not to bother with our order. We both turned to leave. After my companion left and was already outside, the older woman offered to comp our meal. Since my companion was already gone, I declined the offer.
This could be a lovely little place if they just figured out how to run it. After reading other reviews of this restaurant with similar complaints about poor service, we are wondering if it’s one particular server who has a problem or if it is the way the entire place is run. Regardless, we won’t be back to see if service improves — there are lots of other places from which to choose. Too bad because we live in the neighborhood and this could have been one of our regular brunch places.

What the hell is up with this place? Who do the staff think they are? I’m giving it a one-​star review and I didn’t even get around to eating there, the service was so atrocious (actually, nonexistent)
My husband and I live a few blocks away from here, and love to go for breakfast on weekend mornings… we had never been to the Red Umbrella, as we have our usual favourites, although there are tons of places to try. Very recently we decided to try this place out. It doesn’t stand out, it has a red awning without the restaurant name (reminds me of the Red Wagon on East Hastings in that regard, which had a red awning and no name for at least a year or more), and it usually seems full of people. Its reputation must stand alone, we thought.
Went in and it was, surprisingly, not busy. There were a couple of free tables inside, and a few free tables on the small deck. The woman behind the cash register looked like she was either on Xanax or was just an unfriendly person. She blinked at me a few times and then said we can sit anywhere. I asked if we could sit outside. She blinked a few more times and said «Outside…okay, sure, I’ll be there.» Remember, it was not busy, and the place is TINY.
We took our seats and waited about 5 – 7 minutes before she wandered out (shuffled out) with two menus. Did not ask us if we wanted anything to drink, which is customary. Shuffled away.
We decided on our food. Waited another 7 – 8 minutes or so before she plodded out again. Unsmiling and in a monotone, asked what we wanted, and we told her. «Plus a coffee for him and a black tea for me,» I added. «And water.» She nodded and went back in.
We sat there for at least 10 or 12 minutes, maybe more. I looked in the window and she was again behind the counter, looking at the register. The couple sitting behind us had finished and left and another couple had taken their place by this point. We were frustrated and at least wanted our coffee and tea. A blonde waitress came out with a tray with mugs, and we assumed that this must have been ours. Nope! She went to the table behind us with the drinks, meaning that the people who came AFTER us had already been served, while Xanax Woman was standing there with the «Fish Heads» song going through her head.
Enough. We got up and left. This is NOT how you serve breakfast on a weekend morning, especially when you’re a) not busy, b) itty-​bitty, and c) accustomed to a weekend brunch crowd. You can maybe get away with this sort of shit attitude at the Naam, which is always packed and a decades-​long institution, but it seems nobody here has any idea how to serve (based on other reviews here). Considering servers make their tips on SERVICE, they shouldn’t take that for granted. I only really post here when places are horrific or excellent, and this was pretty incredible.

Fantastic breakfast/​lunch spot. I’m new to Vancouver and I really enjoy coming here. The atmosphere is cozy, clean & the menu is pretty delicious. I come for the breakfast because I immediately got hooked on the fresh omelettes (I prefer egg whites only & yes they have that option!) and the phenomenal hash browns. Hands down the BEST hash browns I’ve ever had. Definitely a must try! The only thing is that they’re pretty busy on Saturday’s and Sunday’s so you may have to wait quite awhile for your food. I came on a Sunday and waited 45 min before my breakfast came. But, it’s worth it! Just maybe if you’re not in a rush.

I’m not one to complain about restaurants, but I’ve been asked to leave this restaurant a couple of times now.
The first– the server took our plates and we asked for a second cup of coffee (our cups were empty throughout our meal) — and she said no, there are people waiting and we needed to move along.
And again today– I went to sit on the balcony and the server came out saying someone sitting inside had asked for the table and we needed to go wait in line.
I did not bother to wait in line– I walked to another restaurant… One that at least appears to want our business.

I’ve been going to this place so much I thought I’d update the review.
The few minor complaints I had at first we’re all solved by the fact that the staff kept asking me what I like or didn’t like and adjusted my order accordingly. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a place like this where the staff genuinely care.
The owner bakes all the goodies and bread herself, and all the women on the staff are beautiful, professional, and wonderfully kind.
It’s very hard for me to find anything about this place I don’t like.
One of the West End’s best kept secrets!

Very nice establishment with friendly and made to feel welcomed service for people from out of town. The breakfast was wonderful. Would definitely come back again.

Very cosy little place on the corner of Davie street. It feels a lot more welcoming than other coffee bars on Davie where a quick breakfast is offered. I had ‘The works omelette’ and mostly appreciated the fresh and perfectly spiced veggies to spice up the eggs. I chose toast over their hash brown option, but immediately regretted that choice when I saw them on my partner’s plate. Hash browns here are fresh, roasted patatoes instead of those plastic fried roasties you often get at other places. Even though I much enjoyed their buttered, multigrain toast, which was made fresh, I’ll definitely go for hash browns instead!
My partner tried out the salmon and avocado bennies. She wasn’t a big fan of the hollandaise sauce, which tasted like butter only. She loved the salmon and advocado, but mentioned that the eggs and advocado combination wasn’t her favourite even though salmon and advocado or egg salmon was a perfect match.
We’ll be back ;-)

For longest time we would just walk on by. Then one day we noticed that they did a bit of a facelift and it just drew us in. Nice and bright, a little tight on the seating side but nice friendly staff. Meals can take a while but you are getting some quality breakfast made from scratch. Bread is made in store and it really makes all dishes stand out. We fell in love with the BELTCH sandwich, it has some sundried tomato/​pesto sauce which is killer. So good that we ordered it to go today, yum! Nice spot in the west end, give it a try.

The bright and airy room with big windows was what caught our attention when walking down the street. There’s also some seating outside, perfect to enjoy a bit of sun and a drink, but that Sunday was a bit too cold for that and we wanted to sit down for a light lunch.
There was a special on for $ 9, soup and chicken pot pie, but instead we went for two of their sandwiches on the menu, and we didn’t regret it a bit! The Veggie Delight was delicious, the bread alone was mouth watering.
The coffee wasn’t so great, particularly the espressos, too bitter and a bit flat on flavour.
Service was alright, we didn’t wait long to get our food or anything else. Felt like a good place to be on a weekend morning.

They have really good skinny vanilla latte. Everything is fine, the Eggs Benedict would taste better if they used an English muffin instead of a biscuit.
If you love home-​made cooking and organic food, this your go to place. The location on the corner of Davies Street in the West End is great as it’s near the sea wall. This place has the potential to be a lot better.