During the Paralympic Games, Dave Symington (as part of the Rolf Kempf Quartet) will be rocking out at Robson Square on his drums using sticks Velcroed to his hands. Cofounder of the Vancouver Adapted Music Society (along with former Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan), Symington is an active, solutions-oriented guy with quadriplegia. You wouldn’t think navigating a restaurant, even with some obstacles, would be a problem for him—especially in what Tourism Vancouver’s Web site calls “one of the most accessible cities in the world among travelers with special needs”.

But last week, Symington was dining with a buddy on Commercial Drive and needed to use the washroom. It couldn’t accommodate his wheelchair, he told the Georgia Straight. So he left the restaurant—in the rain—and headed to another one down the block. It didn’t have an accessible washroom either. So he tried another; same story. Finally, he was able to use the washroom at Tim Hortons.

“For the love of God,” he said, noting that this kind of search isn’t unusual. “It makes you feel like a second-class citizen. It can really put a damper on an evening. After that, you just go home at this point.”

For those visiting during the Paralympic Games, Symington recommends supporting restaurants with both great food and a commitment to accessibility. Provence Marinaside (1177 Marinaside Crescent), he said, is his top choice, close to the athletes’ village, and with a memorable antipasto trio (he recommends the risotto balls and the smoked fish) and a clafoutis that he claims is “the best dessert in town”. Symington notes that both the dining room and the washroom are highly wheelchair-friendly.

For athletes looking to carb-load before they compete, Duncan Campbell recommends the pad Thai at SalaThai (3364 Cambie Street). Or, the godfather of wheelchair rugby told the Straight, if you don’t mind the occasional opera-singing server, Cipriano’s Ristorante & Pizzeria (3995 Main Street) is a good bet. For spicy fare that’s uniquely Vancouver, Campbell recommends Topanga Cafe (2904 West 4th Avenue), the Reef (4172 Main Street), and the Indian buffets near 49th and Main—but not the night before competing.

“These guys [athletes] won’t have to worry about accessibility,” he said. “They’re athletes. They have small chairs.”

In fact, Campbell is so confident about Vancouver’s accessibility that he helped with the bid for the World Wheelchair Rugby Championships, which will be held at the Richmond Oval from September 17 to 26. Vancouver restaurants, he says, have no issues with accessibility—at least compared with those in other cities around the world.

Neither do those in the suburbs, according to Surrey-Panorama Liberal MLA Stephanie Cadieux, who has quadriplegia. She recommends riding the region’s wheelchair-friendly transit system to the Boathouse Restaurant in White Rock (14935 Marine Drive) for the view. For locally sourced food with French flair, she suggests Tap (15350 34th Avenue, Surrey). Rasoi (3268 King George Highway, Surrey), Cadieux said, is worth the trip for excellent Indian.

“In a perfect world, everywhere would be fully [accessible], but we’re not there yet,” she told the Straight. “But for the most part, you can make it work just about anywhere.”

Canada’s official Paralympic Ambassador, Sam Sullivan, told the Straight that restaurant accessibility is more nuanced than the width of washroom doors. For example, some restaurants are technically up to code, but only offer high, bar-style tables or booths—neither of which accommodate wheelchairs well. Further, accessibility, Sullivan said, is about more than infrastructure. It also depends on the attitude of both the person in the wheelchair and the servers.

“You have to be confident and comfortable in yourself,” he said, noting that those with more severe disabilities may have to ask for help in grasping utensils, or other types of assistance. “It calls for a certain maturity.”

Sullivan admits he didn’t always have that. He recalls the dark years after his life-changing skiing accident, when he was living on welfare. Plus, he was using a manual wheelchair. It was not a time, he remembers, when he had the presence of mind to negotiate challenging environments with any kind of humour.

While Vancouver restaurants aren’t perfectly accessible, Sullivan said, they’re among the most accommodating in the world. During the Paralympic Games in Sydney, Australia, he encountered two steps outside each restaurant—to prevent flash flooding, he found out. In Turin, too, most stores in the commercial districts had a step out front.

Vancouver, he said, has the advantage of being a young city—it doesn’t have to contend with 15th-century architecture. Plus, the city’s servers are usually very considerate.

“I think with the Paralympics here, we’ll do even better in our awareness, sensitivity, and willingness to be helpful,” he said.

Sullivan recommends the Japanese student spot Alpha Global Sushi & Bar (1099 Richards Street), in his home neighbourhood of Yaletown.