There’s an old saying that goes you should never mix business and pleasure. When Kath, the woman I was interviewing for a story on palliative care, suggested we meet over breakfast, I thought why not ask her if she was interested in sharing her insights for this blog? She was in, and even suggested the restaurant. So we hit Commercial Drive for a visit to the somewhat awkwardly named Friendly Banners Restaurant.
Now FBR is decorated in 80’s style pastels and pictures of large lush flowers. But unlike other restaurants that desperately need to be redecorated and scrubbed clean, FBR was spotless. And while the name of the place is somewhat awkward, it’s accurate. The service was very friendly, efficient and unobtrusive, which I appreciated as we had work to do as well.
I ordered the Banners Breakfast, which consisted of scrambled eggs, a bagel, bacon, and panfried potatoes. Kath had the smoked European sausage, eggs, pancakes, potatoes and toast. Both are breakfasts were huge. And everything was homemade. And everything was absolutely delicious. Our tea was served in these 70s era ceramic teapots and came piping hot.
Kath is a very busy mother of 5 and she appreciates restaurants that serve lots of food for not a lot of money, so a visit to a place like Banners is always on the agenda when they visit Vancouver. Serving sizes were more than ample, and kept us both sated for just about whole day. And here’s the best thing: FBR has a ice-cream bar. You can have ice cream for breakfast! How cool is that?
Banners has definitely restored my faith in greasy spoons!
The facts
Friendly Banners Restaurant
1690 East 12th Ave. (at Commercial)
604-874-0731
www.friendlybanners.com
Breakfast for two cost us 19.80
Theresa’s rating: 3.5 eggs out of 5
Kath’s rating: 3.5 eggs out of 5





