Lucille’s West Side restaurant opens in old Heirloom space

The final days of Heirloom in South Granville have been among the many previously vegetarian restaurant’s most vibrant. Now, its homeowners have launched into a brand new enterprise with a brand new idea in the identical location, referred to as Lucille’s West Side.

After saying its impending and “unavoidable” closure in mid-January, Heirloom remained open via April amidst a flurry of eyebrow-raising exchanges with the general public on social media and some curious moves by its homeowners. The extended closure adopted a 2023 court ruling that discovered Heirloom’s homeowners ordered to pay a former worker over $27,000 because of discrimination.

Heirloom embraced then moved away from identification as “vegetarian”

Heirloom began in 2012 at 1509 W twelfth Ave to provide Vancouver locals and guests alike a more healthy eating possibility. The restaurant wound up leaning into its vegetarian and vegan menu choices, in the end turning into often known as “Heirloom Vegetarian” and made fashionable for its brunch dishes.

Throughout its tenure, Heirloom branched out so as to add a close-by juice store on Granville Road and a short-lived West Vancouver Heirloom location at Ambleside (now home to OEB Breakfast). Heirloom Juice Co. closed in the summertime of 2023 and Heirloom – the restaurant – dropped “Vegetarian” from its identify (although, to at the present time, phrases like “veg” or “Vegetarian” stay tied to its branding and identify utilization on-line).

The strain was exacerbated into 2024 as Heirloom lobbed back at some online detractors who posted unfavourable critiques. A former patron named Deborah grew to become the face of Heirloom’s closing marketing campaign, as her on-line suggestions impressed operators to seemingly lay the blame on her for his or her closure, utilizing her identify in signage and on their web site. “Heirloom is now closed completely. Thanks quite a bit Deborah. You lil’ rascal.” declares Heirloom’s website. The “contact” data is given as merely “@Deborah” with none hyperlinks.

As Heirloom shuttered following the Easter lengthy weekend, operators hinted they have been at work on one thing new:  “Preserve a watch out for one thing within the close to future,” they stated on-line.

Certain sufficient, the Heirloom social handles and bodily restaurant quickly took on a brand new – and pink – identification as Lucille’s West Aspect. All the content material, together with the wars of phrases within the feedback, was scrubbed from the @heirloomvan Instagram, with only one picture of a martini glass posted on Might 17 with the caption: “Discover the classics you’ve been lacking @lucilleswestside.”

Lucille’s West Aspect opens with dishes from Heirloom’s brunch and dinner menus

Lucille’s opened up with no fanfare past the announcement on Heirloom’s Instagram and a few indicators exterior the South Granville restaurant. 

Diners can look forward to finding most of the identical choices as Heirloom in a calmly revamped area. 

Initially, based mostly on a June 12 go to, the brunch menu was just about similar to Heirloom’s with some small modifications. It featured a number of vegetarian and vegan choices in addition to dishes with meat, just like the burger. Lucille’s, as Heirloom did, calls it a smashburger; the patty is simply too thick to satisfy the usual definition of a smashburger, however it’s an pleasing burger, served with fries and house-made ketchup. There was additionally the Truffle Mushroom Benny, the pancakes with raspberry and lemon, the Kale Caesar, and the Massive Sur Sandwich. 

Nevertheless, menus posted on-line in mid-June by the restaurant present some modifications already from what was being served throughout Lucille’s preliminary opening weeks.

The up to date opening brunch menu reveals a few of the identical gadgets with some recent additions to the roster, just like the Cubano-style Key West Sandwich. The Ratatouille Hash bought a brand new identify (“Provencal”) and there is not any extra Truffle Mushroom Benny although the Forager’s Breakfast has some related elements (truffle, mushrooms, poached eggs). The favored pancakes with raspberry and lemon are nonetheless on provide although the menu not signifies they’re “vegan pancakes.” 

The dinner menu has a number of modifications and a few returning Heirloom dishes. Lucille’s has Coconut Shrimp, Prawn Cocktail, and Rooster Satay, and reworked variations of the pappardelle pasta with braised beef and mushrooms (renamed the Forager’s Pappardelle) and the schnitzel alongside different dishes which might be the identical.

The restaurant has espresso and tea drinks in addition to cocktails however doesn’t have some other tender drinks (i.e. iced tea or pop) out there. Service on my go to was pleasant and heat and the tempo of the meal was on level. 

Lucille’s web site signifies the restaurant is open Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to three p.m. and is closed Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday are presently unaccounted for, although I did go to them on a Wednesday for a noon brunch so diners could want to test with the restaurant to substantiate hours or preserve a watch out for additional updates as Lucille’s launch continues. 

V.I.A. reached out to Lucille’s West Aspect in Might and June to be taught extra concerning the change of idea and didn’t obtain a response to any inquiry on any platform.

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