Restaurant in Vancouver, Canada
Book early. The wood-fired steaks deliver.
Elisa is Vancouver's most credentialled steakhouse: Michelin Plate 2025, a World of Fine Wine 2-Star Accreditation, and a 6,000-bottle wine cellar anchored by a four-person sommelier team. The bespoke wood-fired Grillworks Infierno separates it from every gas-fired competitor in the city. Book at least three weeks out for weekends — this room fills consistently.
With a Google rating of 4.6 across nearly 2,900 reviews and a 2025 Michelin Plate plus a World of Fine Wine 2-Star Accreditation on the shelf, Elisa is the clearest answer to the question: where do you take someone to Vancouver's leading steakhouse dinner? At $$$$ pricing, you are committing serious money — but the combination of a bespoke Grillworks Infierno wood-fired grill, a 6,000-bottle wine cellar with 700 selections, and a front-of-house team that includes four named sommeliers makes this one of the harder reservations in the city to justify skipping. Book it for a special occasion, a client dinner, or any night when the meal itself is the point.
Elisa sits at 1109 Hamilton Street in Yaletown, Vancouver's most design-conscious dining neighbourhood, and the room announces its intentions the moment you walk in. The centrepiece is the custom-built wood-fired grill — open, theatrical, and the visual anchor for everything that follows. Warm materials and contemporary lines give the space a particular kind of confidence: this is not a room trying to look like a steakhouse; it simply is one, and it knows it. First-timers often arrive expecting a conventional North American steakhouse and leave recalibrating what that category can mean.
Chef Andrew Richardson runs a steak programme that covers Canadian and US Prime cuts, wet- and dry-aged beef, and a selection of Japanese Wagyu for those spending at the upper end. Everything is cooked over sustainably sourced hardwood on that Grillworks Infierno, which matters in a way that gas-fired competitors in the city cannot replicate. The smoke is subtle and structural, not dominant , it gives the beef a depth that carries through every cut. The Vancouver cut (bone-in tenderloin) is the house signature and worth ordering on a first visit. Beyond beef, the tartare menu alone runs five variations: classic beef, yellowfin, smoked bison, vegetable-focused, and further iterations that demonstrate this kitchen has real range. Sake-marinated roast sablefish with bok choy, daikon, and sesame-soy horseradish shows that the seafood programme is taken seriously, not treated as an afterthought for non-steak diners. Nonna's coniglio brasato (braised rabbit) is the menu's most unexpected item and one of its most rewarding. The crispy hashbrowns are a house favourite for a reason.
The wine list is one of the strongest arguments for booking Elisa over its peers. Wine Director Franco Michienzi has assembled a 700-selection, 6,000-bottle programme with particular depth in California and France, priced across a range that makes the list genuinely accessible rather than purely aspirational. Corkage is $35 if you want to bring your own. The sommelier team , Noel Hollett, Esme McLaughlin-Brooks, and Todd Prucyk alongside Michienzi , is the kind of depth you find at dedicated wine destinations, not standard steakhouses. If pairing matters to you, Elisa is significantly better-resourced than any direct steakhouse competitor in Vancouver for this conversation.
Service under General Manager Ricardo Ferreira and the Toptable Group's operational standards runs polished without tipping into stiff. The team moves between wine knowledge and table attention without making either feel like a performance. For a first-timer, this translates into a dinner that is well-paced and well-guided , you do not need to arrive knowing exactly what you want.
Elisa's Yaletown address is an asset for late-night plans. The neighbourhood has density: bars, lounges, and the walkability to extend an evening without committing to a taxi. Elisa itself skews toward a complete dining experience rather than a late-night bar drop-in, so if you are arriving after 9 PM hoping to graze, check the kitchen's last-order policy before you go. For a full evening, the format works leading when dinner is the anchor and the neighbourhood fills the rest , check our full Vancouver bars guide for what is close by.
Elisa is a hard booking. The Michelin Plate recognition and sustained critical attention mean the room fills consistently, and Yaletown's concentration of corporate dining and special-occasion traffic adds pressure. Plan at least three weeks out for weekend tables; weekday availability is more forgiving but not guaranteed for prime-time slots. The venue is operated by the Toptable Group, which also manages other Vancouver properties, so the booking infrastructure is professional and reliable. Walk-ins are possible at the bar, but do not count on it for a table on a Friday or Saturday.
Elisa is one of several strong cases for Vancouver dining at the leading end. If you are building a longer trip around eating well in the city, our full Vancouver restaurants guide covers the broader field, and our full Vancouver hotels guide can anchor where you stay. For the wine-focused traveller, our Vancouver wineries guide and experiences guide round out the picture.
For context on what $$$$ dining looks like at the leading of the Canadian market beyond Vancouver, Tanière³ in Quebec City and Alo in Toronto represent different interpretations of the same price tier. In Montreal, Jérôme Ferrer - Europea offers a useful comparison for occasion dining. If your travels take you further afield, Le Bernardin in New York City and Atomix in New York City set the international reference points for what sustained excellence at this price looks like.
For a wood-fired steakhouse with Michelin Plate recognition, a 6,000-bottle wine cellar, and one of the city's strongest sommelier teams, yes , the price is justified if steak is the format you want. Among Vancouver's $$$$ tier, Elisa delivers more technical specificity around beef sourcing and fire cooking than most competitors. If you are price-sensitive but still want serious steak, Riley's Fish & Steak is worth comparing before you commit.
Yes , it is one of the strongest special-occasion options in Vancouver at this price tier. The combination of a theatrically designed room, polished service from a Toptable Group front-of-house team, and a wine list with genuine sommelier depth makes it well-suited for milestone dinners. The Michelin Plate credential and World of Fine Wine 2-Star Accreditation give it the kind of external validation that makes the choice easy to justify. For contemporary tasting-menu alternatives, AnnaLena or Kissa Tanto are worth considering depending on the group's preferences.
At least three weeks for a weekend table, ideally more. Elisa's Michelin recognition and consistent demand from both local and visiting diners make last-minute bookings unreliable for prime-time slots. Weekday evenings are more accessible but still worth booking in advance. The bar is an option for walk-ins, though availability is not guaranteed on busy nights.
Walk-in bar seating is possible, but treat it as a bonus rather than a plan. On weekends especially, demand is high enough that a bar spot is not guaranteed. If your visit is time-sensitive or occasion-driven, book a table. The bar works well for a solo diner or a spontaneous weeknight visit when the room has more give.
Elisa does not advertise a formal tasting menu as a standard format , the kitchen is structured around à la carte ordering from a steak-led menu. The value case is strongest when you order broadly: start with the tartare, commit to a main cut from the wood-fired grill, and let the sommelier team guide the pairing. That approach will cost more than a set menu at comparable venues, but the wine programme is strong enough to justify the investment if that dimension matters to you. If a formal tasting-menu format is what you want, Barbara or AnnaLena are better fits in Vancouver.
The menu has range beyond beef , the tartare programme includes vegetable-focused options, and the seafood section is substantive (sake-marinated sablefish, Dungeness crab spring rolls). That said, the core offering is a steakhouse, so diners with red-meat restrictions will find fewer anchors than at a contemporary or fusion-format restaurant. Contact the venue directly before booking to confirm accommodation for specific dietary needs, as hours and contact details are not currently listed on this page.
For $$$$ contemporary dining with a different focus, AnnaLena and Kissa Tanto offer strong alternatives with more menu flexibility. Masayoshi is the choice if Japanese precision matters more than fire cooking. For a step down in price without abandoning ambition, Published on Main at $$$ delivers creative contemporary cooking with strong value. If you want something outside the standard dining format, iDen & QuanJuDe Beijing Duck House is a $$$$ Chinese option with a very different kind of theatre. See our full Vancouver restaurants guide for the complete picture.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Elisa | $$$$ | — |
| AnnaLena | $$$$ | — |
| iDen & QuanJuDe Beijing Duck House | $$$$ | — |
| Kissa Tanto | $$$$ | — |
| Masayoshi | $$$$ | — |
| Published on Main | $$$ | — |
A quick look at how Elisa measures up.
The menu has enough range to work for most non-vegetarians: seafood options like sake-marinated sablefish sit alongside the steak programme, and the tartare menu runs five variations including a vegetable interpretation. Strict vegetarians or vegans will find the kitchen's focus on premium cuts limiting. Worth calling ahead to confirm what the kitchen can accommodate for your party.
Yes — this is one of the stronger cases for booking Elisa. The combination of a Michelin Plate (2025), a World of Fine Wine 2-Star Accredited wine list of 700 selections, and a room in Yaletown that reads as genuinely celebratory makes it a reliable choice for anniversaries, business dinners, or milestone meals. At $$$$ pricing, expectations are high, and the kitchen generally meets them.
Bar seating details are not confirmed in current data for Elisa. Given its $$$$ price point and the room's design focus on the Grillworks Infierno wood-fired grill as a centrepiece, the experience is structured around table dining. check the venue's official channels at 1109 Hamilton Street, Yaletown to confirm bar availability before planning a walk-in.
Book at least 2–3 weeks out, more for Friday or Saturday. The Michelin Plate recognition and sustained critical attention keep the room consistently full, and Yaletown's concentration of expense-account diners means prime weekend slots go fast. For special occasions on specific dates, 4 weeks ahead is the safer window.
A dedicated tasting menu is not confirmed in current venue data for Elisa. The format is à la carte, with the steak programme as the anchor and supporting dishes built around it. If a structured multi-course format is what you want, Published on Main runs a more deliberately composed tasting experience — Elisa is better suited to diners who want to direct their own order around a centrepiece cut.
For a wood-fired steakhouse with a Michelin Plate, a 700-bottle wine list holding a World of Fine Wine 2-Star Accreditation, and access to wagyu alongside Canadian and US Prime cuts, the $$$$ pricing is in the right range for what's on the plate. Where Elisa earns its price more clearly than most Vancouver steakhouses is the wine programme: corkage is $35 and the list has genuine depth in California and France. If steak is the format you want, this is where to spend the money in Vancouver.
For a completely different format at a similar price, Kissa Tanto runs an Italian-Japanese tasting menu in Chinatown and is a stronger call if you want a chef-driven narrative rather than a cut-focused meal. AnnaLena in Kitsilano offers a more relaxed room with creative Canadian cooking at a lower price point. If the wine list is the main draw at Elisa, Published on Main has comparable ambition on the beverage side with a more contemporary tasting menu. Masayoshi is the pick if you want precision Japanese omakase instead of red meat.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
