West End resto roundup: Breka Café and Hannam Supermarket to open, English Bay's Cupcakes closes
Here's a quick look at some changes in West End's ever-evolving food scene.
While we previously reported on Hokkaido's Ramen Taka preparing to open its first international location in April on Bidwell Street, a café and a grocery store are gearing up to move in and a longtime dessert venue has shut down.
Breka on Denman
Breka Café is preparing to open a new location at 821 Denman Street in the space that formerly housed Dairy Queen.
The local chain, which launched in 2006, has four locations, including two on the edge of the West End: one at 818 Bute Street (at Robson Street) and another at 855 Davie Street (at Hornby Street).
The bakery and coffee shop offers a range of cakes, pastries ranging from cookies to strudel, sandwiches and paninis, and bread.
The Georgia Straight had not yet received a response to an inquiry for further details.
The company opened its fourth location in Kitsilano at 3750 West 4th Avenue in May 2017.
Korean supermarket expands
Korean grocery store Hannam Supermarket is preparing to open its third spot in the Lower Mainland.
The company launched in 1998 and has two locations in Metro Vancouver: one in Burnaby (106–4501 North Road) and another in Surrey (15357 104 Avenue).
A new store is gearing up to open on the second floor at 1323 Robson Street (at Jervis Street), joining a large number of Korean food establishments in the area.
Their stores carry products by brands such as PalDo, Haitai, Lotte, Ajumma Republic, Samyang, MonggoFood.
The Georgia Straight is awaiting a response from the company to an inquiry for more information.
Cupcakes closes
An English Bay sweet spot has gone dark.
Cupcakes at 1168 Denman Street has permanently closed. The company has not yet responded to an inquiry from the Georgia Straight about the reason for the closure.
The local chainlet opened its first store at 1116 Denman Street in 2002 before moving to 1168 Denman.
The dessert company relaunched as Cupcakes and Other Good Stuff in June 2016. Along with the rebranding, the company also stared up a preservative-free ice cream line called Betterwith.
In July, co-owner Lori Joyce left Cupcakes, which she cofounded with Heather White, to become the CEO of Betterwith Foods.
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