THE 200-BLOCK OF EAST GEORGIA:
Neighbourhood highlights
1 London Hotel, 700 Main at Georgia. Restored brick building built in two stages between 1907 and 1910. The corner building is three storeys and houses a large and popular pub on the main floor and SRO rooms upstairs. The second building at 212 East Georgia is four storeys, with the Caffe Brixton (sandwiches, pastries) on the main floor and SRO rooms above. Rated a Heritage C on Vancouver’s Heritage Register, as a building that “contributes to the historic character of an area or streetscape.”
2 Matchstick Coffee Roasters, 213 East Georgia. Trendy coffee shop packed with hipsters. Located in a strange building that has six storeys of strata-titled retail and commercial spaces in front, and a seven-storey parking lot in back. The lot was originally the site of Charles Woodward’s first department store, which opened on the northeast corner of Main and Georgia in 1892, when Main was called Westminster and Georgia was Harris.
3 Fat Mao, 217 East Georgia. Groovy Asian fusion noodle house. Open a year, popular.
4 Liang You Book Store, 218 East Georgia. Chineselanguage book/convenience store.
5 The Flats on Georgia, 219 East Georgia. Nine-storey, 28-unit condo development that was built on a 25-foot-wide lot.
6 221A gallery, 221 East Georgia. One of three contemporary art galleries in the block, along with the Access Gallery (222 East Georgia) and Centre A (229 East Georgia).
7 Ramen Butcher, 223 East Georgia. Its website boasts it has “the best ramen in Vancouver,” and customers seem to agree: it often has lineups. Open a year.
8 Yee Fung Toy Society, 226 East Georgia. One of Chinatown’s famous “society” buildings, tending to Yee family members. Housed in a 1911 white brick building that is rated a Heritage C.
9 Treasure Green Tea Company, 227 East Georgia. Traditional Chinese tea house, housed in a very elegant space.
10 Lore Krill Co-Op, 239 East Georgia. Built as a ninestorey condo, it was converted to a 97-unit housing co-op after it was completed in 2002. Many units are large and house families. Sits on the site of the old Keefer Laundry.
11 Phnom Penh Restaurant, 244 East Georgia. Longtime favourite of fans of Cambodian and Vietnamese cuisine. Customers huddle together outside for a smoke. Often has big lineups for lunch and dinner.
12 245 East Georgia. Ninestorey, 40-unit condo, now under construction. On a 25-foot lot.
13 Mamie Taylor’s, 251 East Georgia. Popular three-yearold restaurant/bar. Decor includes lots of taxidermy, much of it donated by customers.
14 Carley B.B.Q. and Hot Pot Supplies, 255 East Georgia. Longtime Chinatown meat shop. 15252- 260 East Georgia. Twostorey brick building built in 1910 that stretches over three lots and houses several businesses. For many years, it was a warehouse for the wholesale grocers H.Y. Louie Company. In the ’90s the Banana Room booze can (an illegal afterhours bar) operated in the building’s vast second-storey space. Heritage C.
16 Gar Lok Seafood, 252 East Georgia. Classic Chinatown seafood shop where you can pick up live lobster, live crab and a mysterious fish called “fresh thorny head.”
17 Tin Lee Supermarket, 260 East Georgia. Longtime Chinatown grocer, giant space.
18 259 East Georgia. Art deco building that was the longtime home of Ho Sun Hing Printers, which was Canada’s oldest Chinese print shop before it closed last year. Currently empty.
19 Fresh Egg Mart, 269 East Georgia. Funky business that sells fresh eggs and flowers, and has a big fish tank in the front. The exterior is painted electric tangerine, which makes for a colourful combo with the teal green of the former Ho Sun Hing Printers building next door.
20 Kwong Hing Herbal Products, 275 East Georgia. Retail on main floor of an old house that was first hooked up to the city’s water supply way back in 1889.
21 Jiamei Market, 293 East Georgia. One of Chinatown’s largest fruit and vegetable stores. Located on the main floor of a four-storey building that houses the Argo Hotel upstairs. The building dates to 1911, and is rated a Heritage B, which means it has “significant” importance.