Paulies.

I had seen this place in Yaletown a few times, and it just looked so European and lovely. It is called 'Paulies' on Mainland Street.

VanCityBuzz

Jose and I went there on Friday night for dinner. I made a reservation for 7.30, and by the time we arrived there, it was pretty much packed.



We got a cute little table on the patio. They have really cozy lights/lanterns hanging from the ceiling, beautiful tiles everywhere and rustic Italian looking things on the walls. I have to say, it had a bit more of a 'chain' restaurant feel to it inside than I was expecting. We weren't entirely sure what sort of food it would be, or the price point... exciting stuff right? Anyway, they serve Italian food... although maybe an Italian would disagree. They have quite a few appetizers, so we shared the stuffed mushrooms - stuffed with what I don't know but they were bloody lovely!

As for main courses, you can choose meatballs, flatbreads/sandwiches, pastas or meats. We chose fettucini pasta with pesto, and a flatbread with pork sausage  The pasta was nice... it tasted liked pasta with pesto, not much to say about that. The flatbread was thin and crispy and had some sausage and tomatoes on it, by 'some' I want to emphasize not a lot, but still tasty.

 For dessert, Jose ordered ice cream with olive oil, which was oddly quite nice, and I had Cannolis.

The menus are kind of a good idea, but not so environmentally friendly. You have to check off what you want and then give it to the server, kind of like ordering tacos in Mexico.

However, sometimes do you feel that service is too quick... like, 'we just make a big batch of this stuff and then heat it when you order'?? #firstworldproblems much?
When we ordered the stuffed mushrooms, she said it would take probably 15 minutes, but that they would be well worth the wait... they came out in literally 5 minutes...
As for drinks, I think their cocktails are the stars of the place. I especially liked the drinks they had 'borrowed' from restaurants around the world.

A New York Sour and A French 70 something.... small but really good.

Overall, I'd say this is a good place for decent Italian food, friendly service, beautiful plates and a nice patio. The prices definitely matched the quality of the food. I'd give it 7/10.