Risty’s Cafe

Used to be my favourite sushi spot, but no longer. They’ve changed management recently and prices went up, and many of the old menu items are now gone (e.g. yummy roll, red tuna roll). The atmosphere of the restaurant went from being friendly, cozy, hidden neighbourhood gem to overpriced, generic, and cold. Bring back the old management!

Anyone know did they change hand or what? Went there just now for their cheap breakfast, waited 20 mins to place my order, waited for my coffee, no one care, than I asked for coffee again. …
Well … I missed the old ristys service.

I love Risty’s.
It’s a nutty combination of N. American Diner and Japanese Izakaya/​Sushi place run by a Chinese family. Not at all gourmet but the food is good and, did I mention, it’s wildly affordable.
There are a handful of breakfast specials. Pancakes and french toast are solid. Again, nothing gourmet but the dishes perfectly satisfy my big weekend pancake and egg breakfast cravings.
The sushi and Japanese food is surprisingly good for the price.
I lived in Japan for nearly 4 year and I know Japanese food. I’m constantly disappointed by the various Korean and Chinese Sushi restaurants in Vancouver. While Risty’s isn’t going to get a Michelin star rating anytime soon, all the tastes are spot-​on. And I applaud them for being able to hit a handful of various dishes with integrity.
My only criticism is they keep a big screen TV on much of the time which no one seems to watch. However, they’re usually good about turning it off or turning down the sound if you ask.
All in all, a great little local eating joint.

MARPOLE has lots of Restaurants… but not alot of good ones. This is not one of the good ones .They have no previous experience as restauranters and it shows. Food is low grade bland and just plain awful. I have tried it several times of day and the only thing cosistant I the poor service and school cafeteria food. The waitresses are clumbsy and not familiar with there own menu. It’s like they though let’s buy a restaurant and keep it as low grade as possible spend no money on upgrades or quality food and we will be famous … Umm ya not so much

I think the management changed recently but the food and quality haven’t really changed much. I love the Japanese menu much more than the Canadian Menu. I definitely recommend the bento lunch boxes, udon, and sushi platters.

Review based on a lunch visit and a dinner visit.
Dowdy little Marpole has more quality dining options than it gets credit for, but this isn’t one of them.
On the first visit, I had a chicken teriyaki + cali roll bento. The chicken was of a very low quality cut, unseasoned, and not fresh. Cali rolls were pretty much tasteless.
The second visit involved a hot beef sandwich + fries. The sandwich was actually decent, but the fries were clearly baked, not fried — defeating the point of ordering fries in a restaurant.
My girlfriend says the sushi generally isn’t bad, but there are much better sushi options in Marpole (Sushi Wow + Sushi Hoon).
It avoids a 1 because the sandwich was ok, and there’s no pretension whatsoever.

Another hole in the wall kinda sushi place. I will be honest and thought that it was a diner as there is little cultural resemblance for me to think otherwise. Cheap sushi. The sushi was well priced enough that I went beyond my avocado and cucumber roll and got a fried yam roll and a veggie roll. Customer service was okay. Very dead inside when we went.

Very solid hole-​in-​the-​wall restaurant. Two excellent omelettes, toast, coffee and tip for $ 20. Super fast service too. Beats the heck out of IHOP, Denny’s, White Spot for breakfast on the quality to price ratio.

This used to be a great little spot, friendly staff, good prices and amazing food. New ownership has ruined it– the new staff is terrible. My food was given to the wrong table and five minutes later was picked up and given to me: not okay. We’ve tried it a few times hoping for redemption but the food is not as good, service is inexcusable and a disappointing experience all round.

This is a diner. It has a diner vibe, but isn’t as run down as you might think when approaching it from outside. I only had the breakfast, but it was basic, super cheap (there’s an early morning breakfast deal), and tasty. I’ll definitely be back.

For what is costs to eat here, this sushi was awesome. It below average sushi prices and it was definitely better than a lot of sushi spots in Vancouver. Service was extremely fast.

Been here quite a few times but recently changed hands and haven’t been since. The menu is extensive — from canadian food to japanese sushi. The bento boxes are decent and reasonably priced. Ample parking on granville st. They take credit card (or least the previous owners did).

I keep meaning to come but just haven’t taken the opportunity. I’m not sure if the current owners have any relationship with the original Risty’s on Broadway and Granville decades ago, but in any case, I enjoyed the food here. The staff are thoroughly chinese but the menu is a mishmash of japanese, canadian, and chinese dishes.
The portions are impressive. Great place for a big lunch or breakfast. I want to give it 3.5 stars. There are quite a few regulars who the servers know by name and what they usually order. I thought that was interesting. I honestly don’t see that as much anymore in Vancouver. I’d like to come back to try some of the other items on the menu.

Have only gone there for breakfast. They have an above average trucker’s breakfast special. Choice of rye or sourdough toast as well as brown or white. I have had the eggs benny too (not bad)
Service is great.
The layout is a little odd. There is booth seating around the restaurant perimeter in an L-​shape with tables in the middle. Restrooms at the back and a sushi bar alongside another wall that intercepts with the cash register.
So everyone kind of knows what everyone else is doing in the restaurant.
Free parking in the back or out front.
It’s busy during meal times on the weekends, you may not get a seat straight away, but weekdays no problem.
I am working myself up to trying the sushi. I like fusion but have had some strange experiences with duo cuisine restaurants where flavors of one style of cuisine blends over into the other. (worried that my sashimi will taste like a cheeseburger) But in retrospect my poached eggs don’t taste like unagi so maybe I should go for it!

I really liked this place. Outside décor makes it seem kind of greasy but once you’re inside it had a much nicer feel. Server was super friendly! Sushi was pretty good, and an impressive amount of choice for a place that also has an entire Canadian style menu.
Also crazy cheap. Well worth it.

If I could give this place more stars I would. This little hole in the wall is unique and delicious. The restaurant offers both a Canadian and a Japanese menu. I love it because it caters to whatever your in the mood for. Originally when we first came here we wanted Japanese food and were not disappointed. Their sushi was not only delicious but also a great deal. They have super cheap rolls but the quality is one of the best I have ever had. I’ve gone to some top sushi places in Los Angeles and this is by far one of my favorite places. The Golden Cali Roll is AMAZING!!! Most likely the best tasting sushi roll I have ever had. We liked this place so much we ended up going back there for breakfast and dinner in the same weekend.
The staff is nice and friendly and are very prompt to refill your cup and make sure you had everything you need. I HIGHLY recommend this restaurant. You won’t be disappointed.

Asparagus wrapped in beef is amazing!

Still amazing, but I have found an area they NEED to improve in for sure. The tempura, is too oily. It either needs to be chilled batter in hotter oil or just hotter oil. Too much oil is penetrating the outer layer SOAKING the inside meat (shrimp) or (salmon).
This means it’s not reaching the optimum temp to fry and is just BOILING in oil instead. Please fix this!
Each item placed into the fryer lowers the temp of the oil. Especially frozen foods. Care should be taken to allow the fryer small periods between batches to re heat to optimum temp. That and not over crowd the baskets.
I ordered two rolls, The Risty roll, and Ninja roll. Both were PERFECTLY EXECUTED. EXCEPT the tempura. The side of salmon fries with the Risty roll and the shrimp inside the ninja roll was quite oily. Not the worst I have encountered, but bad enough I had to pick the meat out.

Good food. Delightful staff. Quick service. Can’t complain.
Only tried the Sushi here, though they do offer Canadian cuisine (breakfast, lunch and dinner).

This is probably the best place in Marpole. Am I allowed to say that? I haven’t explored Marpole yet. But shit, this place is great.
I love that there’s two types of cuisines with extensive menus of both. It made ordering really, really hard though. I probably took twenty or more minutes to decide, and ended up ordering just an unnecessary amount of food.
I got the eggs benny, chicken yaki something or other (shhhhh, I’m super whitegirlnewfie, okay?!), and the beef teriyaki bowl. Hollandaise sauce was mediocre, but It was good once seasoned with salt + pepper. the chicken and bowl was great though.
The server did initially get my order incorrect, but realized it before taking it out and had it corrected, so that was nice. Accountability was appreciated, and I already had food to eat anyway.
The prices here are more than reasonable, and I like that it kind of looks like a dump. The inside and out are definitely dated, looking like a cheap diner, but that’s kind of what it is. They’ve got pictures of their own dishes on the wall which is both helpful and hilarious.