Five restaurants on Vancouver Island have received a delicious distinction after being listed among the best places to eat in Canada for 2021.
The list was published by the popular review site after it collected “thousands of suggestions” from the Yelp community, the first time it’s relied on user submissions.
B.C. is well-represented on the list, with Vancouver eatery Manoush’eh coming in at second place, behind only Damas, a restaurant in Montreal that took home top honours.
But not far behind at number 13 is a homegrown diner that will be familiar to most on Vancouver Island: Shirley Delicious Cafe, which was the top-ranking restaurant on the island.
Owner Sheena Mercer said she was overjoyed to hear about the ranking Thursday morning.
“I had no idea that we would even be there, this is an absolute shock, we’re just here doing our thing,” she said. “I think first and foremost it’s the people here. We have incredible staff and they are here for the customers.”
With an average rankiing of five stars and 78 reviews, the cafe on Sheringham Point Road in Shirley, just west of Sooke, has no shortage of glowing write-ups on its Yelp page.
“Glad to see this local business open and looking after their customers with take out,” wrote one reviewer. “Good menu and super friendly service. Well worth the stop while maintaining social distancing.”
Another said: “It’s a unique place – loud music, artwork for sale and small. Such a Gem; if you are driving through make sure you stop here!”
Shirley wasn’t the only island eatery in the top 100, though. Also coming in on the list were four Victoria restaurants:
Yelp said for its rankings, it requested submissions from the user community first, asking them which places to eat they couldn’t wait to come back to in 2021.
Rankings were then determined by submissions, ratings and number of reviews, and consideration was given to provide geographic representation across the country.
Jeff Lawrence
