When I posted a story Friday about Burnaby taking over the old Horizons restaurant site to operate its own eatery, people were shocked that the city has its own food empire going.
The city currently runs several eateries through its Food Burnaby operation, including at the Riverway and Burnaby Mountain golf courses. Another food outlet is at the newly christened Christine Sinclair Community Centre.
Riverway is what I consider to be the city’s best “hidden gem” restaurant because there are a lot of people – people who aren’t golfers – who don’t know about it. It’s located way back at the southern part of Burnaby, so it feels hidden in a way, but people should really know about how good the food is.
They also need to learn about the lobster burger, a concoction that makes coming out on the other side of the pandemic just a little easier.
Just look at this thing. A fresh patty, lettuce, tomato, cheese, sauce, crispy onions – all topped with Cajun prawns and a 3 oz. lobster tail.
Good lord it’s amazing.
The rest of the menu is just as good. This restaurant also features an amazing dining room with rich wood and huge windows leading out to vistas of the golf course. There’s also a fine patio that lets you watch people flail away at their golf balls.
It’s really a nice experience.
As for the old Horizons site on Burnaby Mountain, the city is now renovating the former restaurant building, according to a statement from the city.
“This work includes investigating the building condition to ensure any issues from fires in the building’s past are fully remedied,” said the city, adding there were fires at the site in 2010 and 2016.
“As well, we will be updating and upgrading the facility with the intention to operate it as a city-run, full-service operation,” said the city, adding what model of restaurant has not been “fully fleshed out.”
Possibilities include a restaurant similar to Horizons or one geared more toward catering events such as wedding receptions.
“We are still developing a complete operating model for this facility, and will share the details once they are finalized. Meantime, we plan to offer visitors to Burnaby Mountain a grab-and-go café as a first step towards a full reopening of the facility in 2022.”
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
