Restaurant in Vancouver, Canada
Solid $$$ Italian with serious credentials.
Ask for Luigi is a Michelin Plate Italian restaurant in Vancouver's Railtown neighbourhood, holding consistent Opinionated About Dining recognition from 2023 through 2025. At the $$$ price point with a kitchen open until 11 pm on Fridays and Saturdays, it's one of the stronger late-dinner options in the city for a special occasion that doesn't require a $$$$ budget.
Yes — and if you're planning a late dinner on a Friday or Saturday, it's one of the stronger options in the city at the $$$ price point. Ask for Luigi at 305 Alexander St in the Railtown neighbourhood has held a Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025, and appeared on the Opinionated About Dining Casual North America list every year from 2023 through 2025. That kind of sustained recognition at a casual Italian restaurant is meaningful. This is not a one-season hit. The 4.6 Google rating across 2,856 reviews adds weight to what the guides are saying.
The room runs warm and close. This is a neighbourhood trattoria format — expect shared energy, a degree of noise, and tables near enough to your neighbours that the buzz of the room becomes part of the meal. On weekday evenings the pace is more measured, making it a stronger pick for conversation-first dinners. Friday and Saturday nights shift into a louder, more social register, which suits celebrations and groups better than quiet business meals. If ambient sound matters to you, a weekday dinner or Saturday lunch gives you the room at a more controlled volume. The space itself suits dates and low-key celebrations more than formal occasions , dressy casual is the right call.
Chef JC Poirier built a reputation here on approachable Italian cooking done with enough precision to attract serious attention from both Michelin and OAD's notoriously demanding panel of eaters. The $$$ price positioning means you're spending less than you would at Vancouver's $$$$ tier , restaurants like Kissa Tanto or AnnaLena , while still eating at a venue with documented national standing. For a special occasion that doesn't require a blowout budget, that's a useful gap in the market. Compare this with similarly-priced Italian options in the city: Osteria Savio Volpe competes in a similar register, and Bacaro and Carlino are worth knowing as alternatives depending on neighbourhood and format preference.
This is where Ask for Luigi genuinely separates from much of the Vancouver Italian field. Kitchen hours run until 10 pm Sunday through Thursday and until 11 pm on Friday and Saturday. For a city where late dining options at this quality level are limited, those extra hours on the weekend matter. If you're coming from a show, arriving late after drinks elsewhere, or simply want to eat at a civilised 9 pm rather than racing to beat a 9:30 pm last-order cutoff, Luigi's Friday and Saturday schedule makes it a reliable late option. Vancouver's dining scene closes early by international standards, so a kitchen open to 11 pm at Michelin Plate level is worth noting when you're planning a longer evening. For context, if you want to compare the city's late-dining possibilities more broadly, our full Vancouver restaurants guide covers the wider field.
Lunch runs Monday through Friday 11:30 am to 2:30 pm, with weekend brunch from 10 am on Saturday and Sunday. If your schedule allows, weekend brunch is likely the lower-pressure way to experience the room , shorter waits, easier to get a table, and a less competitive booking window. Dinner is where the fuller experience lives, but brunch gives you access to the kitchen and the space without the same booking friction.
Reservations: Moderate difficulty , book at least two to three weeks ahead for weekend dinner, less for weekday lunch. Dress: Dressy casual; the room does not require formal attire but responds well to it for occasions. Budget: $$$ per head; plan for a full dinner with drinks to land at the upper end of that range. Hours: Mon–Fri lunch 11:30 am–2:30 pm; Sat–Sun brunch 10 am–2:30 pm; dinner Mon–Thu 5–10 pm, Fri–Sat 5–11 pm, Sun 5–10 pm. Address: 305 Alexander St, Vancouver, BC V6A 1C4.
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Against Vancouver's $$$$ tier , Kissa Tanto, Masayoshi, and AnnaLena , Ask for Luigi costs less and requires less planning to book. What you give up is the formality and the depth of a multi-course tasting experience. If your occasion calls for a full-dress special dinner with an extended format, the $$$$ options are the right call. If you want quality-assured Italian cooking in a lively room without the ceremony or price, Luigi is the better fit. Published on Main sits in the same $$$ band but operates in a different register , contemporary rather than Italian, and with a quieter room that suits business dinners better than celebrations.
Within the Italian category specifically, Osteria Savio Volpe is the most direct peer. Both are $$$ Italian with serious reputations, and the choice often comes down to neighbourhood and format. Luigi's Railtown address and later weekend hours give it an edge for post-event dinners and East Vancouver evenings. Savio Volpe's Fraserhood location serves a different part of the city. If you're undecided, the late-kitchen hours and consistent award appearances over multiple years tip the balance toward Luigi for a special occasion dinner.
For Italian dining context outside Vancouver, Bottega in Birmingham and Brodeto in Raleigh operate in the same $$$ Italian space and are useful reference points if you're calibrating expectations. For Canada's wider fine dining field, Alo in Toronto, Tanière³ in Quebec City, and Jérôme Ferrer - Europea in Montreal represent what the country's top tier looks like at a higher price point.
Come with a reservation, not a walk-in plan. The room is small and demand is consistent given its Michelin Plate status and OAD rankings. It's casual Italian in format but precise in execution , don't expect a grand multi-course production, do expect cooking that takes the ingredient seriously. The $$$ price range means a full dinner with drinks is accessible without requiring a special-occasion budget, which makes it a good introduction to Vancouver's better Italian options. If you're new to the city's restaurant scene, our full Vancouver restaurants guide gives wider context.
Dinner gives you the full experience, but weekend brunch (Saturday and Sunday from 10 am) is the lower-friction entry point. Bookings are easier to secure, the room is calmer, and you still get access to the kitchen's output. If this is your first visit and you're flexible on timing, brunch is the smarter way to test the room before committing a reservation slot to a prime Friday or Saturday dinner spot.
Specific tasting menu details are not confirmed in our current data , check directly with the restaurant before booking if a set format matters to your occasion. What the awards record does confirm is that the kitchen produces food serious enough to earn consistent recognition from both Michelin and OAD across multiple years. At the $$$ price point, if a tasting format is available it represents strong value compared to $$$$ peers like Masayoshi or Kissa Tanto. For broader Canadian tasting menu context, Restaurant Pearl Morissette in Lincoln and The Pine in Creemore show what the format looks like at a destination level.
Bar seating availability is not confirmed in our current data. Given the venue's small footprint and consistent demand, calling ahead is the right move if bar dining is your preference rather than a table reservation. If you're specifically after a walk-in-friendly bar dinner in Vancouver, per se Social Corner is worth considering as a comparable alternative.
Specific dish data is not in our current records , menus change and we don't publish dish-level recommendations without verified sourcing. What the OAD panel and Michelin recognition signal is that the pasta program is the core of what makes the kitchen worth visiting: this is the category where Italian casual restaurants at this level typically concentrate their leading work. Ask your server what's in season and what's made in-house. For nearby Italian comparisons to calibrate your expectations, Bacaro and Carlino are both in the city's Italian conversation.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Ask for Luigi | $$$ | — |
| AnnaLena | $$$$ | — |
| iDen & QuanJuDe Beijing Duck House | $$$$ | — |
| Kissa Tanto | $$$$ | — |
| Masayoshi | $$$$ | — |
| Published on Main | $$$ | — |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
Book ahead — weekend dinner typically needs two to three weeks' notice. The format is a neighbourhood trattoria: close tables, a warm room, and a degree of noise that comes with a full house. Chef JC Poirier's cooking has earned consecutive Michelin Plate recognition (2024 and 2025) and consistent placement on Opinionated About Dining's North America Casual list, so the food justifies the $$$ price point. Come for dinner if you want the full experience; weekend brunch is a lower-commitment entry point.
Dinner is where Ask for Luigi earns its $$$ billing and its Michelin Plate. Lunch runs Monday through Friday 11:30 am to 2:30 pm and is a lower-pressure, easier-to-book option — useful if you can't secure a weekend dinner reservation. Weekend brunch starts at 10 am Saturday and Sunday and is worth considering on its own merits, not just as a fallback. For a first visit meant to assess the kitchen at full stretch, Friday or Saturday dinner is the cleaner test.
Ask for Luigi is not documented in available venue data as operating a tasting menu format — it runs as a trattoria rather than an omakase or prix-fixe operation. At the $$$ price point with Michelin Plate recognition two years running, the à la carte offering is where the value sits. If a structured multi-course format is what you're after in Vancouver, Masayoshi or Kissa Tanto are better-suited options.
Bar seating specifics are not confirmed in the venue record for Ask for Luigi. What is confirmed: the room runs as a full trattoria at 305 Alexander St, and the format is close and communal by design. If bar dining is a priority, call ahead to confirm availability before booking around it.
Specific dishes are not listed in the venue record, and inventing menu items would be inaccurate. What the data does confirm: JC Poirier built the restaurant's reputation on approachable Italian cooking precise enough to earn Michelin Plate status in both 2024 and 2025 and an OAD Casual North America ranking every year since 2023. Pasta is the format's backbone in any serious Italian trattoria at this price point — ask the server what's current on arrival.
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