Browns Restaurant

With 23 locations across the Lower Mainland, Vancouver-based Browns Socialhouse is a popular choice among local chain dining restaurant options.

To learn about Browns, continue reading. To see how it compares with venues like the Keg, Cactus Club and other similar places, see our article about Vancouver’s Premium Casual Restaurants.

In this article you’ll find the following information about Browns:

Lower Mainland Locations | Menu | How Does Browns Compare? | Other Information

Browns Restaurants in Vancouver

Browns Socialhouse is a Canadian premium-casual chain of restaurants. It has over 60 locations in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.

Browns Restaurant Group also owns other popular dining establishments including Liberty Kitchen (with a location in South Surrey and another in Greater Victoria) and Browns Crafthouse (in Vancouver at UBC, Main Street and West Pender as well as one each in Victoria and Fort St. John).

The company’s other chain, Scotty Browns, operates just across the border, in the State of Washington in the United States.

Lower Mainland Browns Restaurants

There are 23 Browns Socialhouse restaurants in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Some of their locations are listed below.

We ate at the Lynn Valley location in North Vancouver recently. The same as other Browns’ venues, it has a fabulous outdoor patio. Some of the tables were under canopies, some had umbrellas, and others were just out in the open. We sat at a table with metal chairs which were satisfactorily comfortable. Some of the other tables had sofas with cushions that looked exceptionally comfortable. We’ll try to get one of those next time!

Below are some of Browns’ locations in Vancouver and surrounding municipalities.

Downtown Vancouver

Queen Elizabeth Theatre – at 675 Cambie Street
Point Grey – at 3651 West 10th Avenue

North Vancouver

Upper Lonsdale – at 1764 Lonsdale Avenue
Lower Lonsdale – at 103 West 2nd Street (not far from Lonsdale Quay)
Lynn Valley – at 1255 Lynn Valley Road (by the public library)

Coquitlam

Town Centre – at 2950 Glen Drive (just north of Coquitlam Centre Mall)
Schoolhouse – at 1329 Lougheed Highway (just west of Mackin Park)

Surrey

Surrey Centre – 9666 King George Boulevard (near King George and the Fraser Highway)
Semiahmoo – at 1601 152nd Street (near White Rock)
Panorama – at 15260 56th Avenue
Guildford – at 15146 100th Avenue (just south of Guildford Centre)
Grandview Corners – at 16030 24th Avenue

Delta

Sunshine Hills – at 6485 120th Street
Tsawwassen – at 1665 56th Street (which is seven kilometres from the BC Ferries Terminal)

Langley

Walnut Grove – at 20159 88th Avenue (near 200th Street and the Trans-Canada Highway)
Langley Centre – at 20065 Langley Bypass

There are also Browns restaurants in New Westminster (in the Brewery District), Port Moody, Burnaby, Maple Ridge (at 20490 Lougheed Highway), Chilliwack, Mission and Abbotsford.

Browns Socialhouse Menu

The menu at Browns features classic pub-style dishes along with a few Asian-inspired options. There is also a brunch-specific menu as well as deals for the chain’s Social Hour.

Classic chain dining meals served at most Browns restaurants include nachos, calamari, hot wings, burgers, fettuccine alfredo, steak, tacos, and fish and chips. Notably absent from the menu when we last checked were barbecued ribs. They had dry ribs as an appetizer, but no pork ribs as a main course.

Browns is not a steakhouse. It’s more of a burger/pub-style place with an Asian influence. It has steak on the menu, but not to the extent of other places like the Keg, Cactus Club or other comparable chain restaurants in the same category. When we last checked the restaurant had steak frites and steak and pasta, but that was it.

What Browns does have a fair selection of is “bowls.” Expect to see five or so options including rice bowls with chicken or fish, plus some kind of noodle bowl. Other Asian-style dishes include sushi and ramen. There is also likely a butter chicken curry dish.

Brunch is served on weekends at select locations. Expect to find staples like waffles, eggs benedict, bacon and egg sandwiches, and steak and eggs.

When we last went to Browns our group had the sesame ginger gyoza to start and then the Butchers Block burger, Baja fish tacos and ahi tuna poke. The gyoza had a kick and was so good that we ordered a second plate of it. The burger came with bacon, cheese and a giant thick onion ring on top. It was delicious! Maybe because of the crispy onion ring, it was a great burger!

The fish tacos were also really good. For us, the ahi tuna poke was just okay. It was a salad, so very healthy, with sushi-like ingredients and a few small cubes of sashimi tuna on top. It was a nice option to have, and we love sushi, but next time we’ll likely stick to the burgers.

Social Hour at Browns Socialhouse

Instead of Happy Hour, Browns Socialhouse restaurants refer to its special discounted times as Social Hours. Similar to most other chain establishments, Social Hour at Browns usually runs from 3:00 pm until 6:00 pm and then again from 9:00 pm to close every day.

The chain offers discounts on both food and drinks. The food options for Social Hour include appetizers such as chips and guacamole, fried chicken and pickles, and sushi. As of the initial writing of this article, all of the food options on the Social Hour menu were around $12, which we think is a pretty good deal. There are also timed discounts offered on beer, wine and cider.

Secret Kids Menu

Browns does not have a kids menu available online. However, when you visit its physical locations the restaurant offers a “Secret Kids Menu” for guests under the age of 11. Children can choose from four different items all priced at $13.50.

Food on the kids menu includes classics such as chicken strips, quesadillas and fettuccine alfredo. There is also a dish called “Lil Dragon” for more adventurous eaters. The Dragon dish seems to be a chicken teriyaki-style dish with chicken, rice, edamame and broccoli.

How Does Browns Compare?

Browns is quite similar to the other premium-casual chain dining establishments in Vancouver. It’s especially comparable to Cactus Club, which is expected given that the restaurant brand was started by two former Cactus Club employees.

Food options at Browns and Cactus Club are quite similar. Both feature West Coast-inspired dishes and some Asian flavours. Menu options are also comparable in price. Meanwhile, Browns is noticeably cheaper than the Keg although it does not have nearly as many steak options (there is only one steak on the Browns menu).

The Browns restaurant we visited recently was quiet and relaxed. We visited the Lower Lonsdale location on a Monday at around 6:00 pm and were pleasantly surprised. There was no loud music playing and we got a table right away (though this could have been due to the fact that Mondays are generally a quieter day to go out to eat).

Other Information

For more details about the restaurant chain visit, the official Browns Socialhouse website. For exact menu details for a place near you, select your location on the company’s website.

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