The Templeton

The Templeton Restaurant at 1087 Granville Street is one of the last retro styled diners in downtown Vancouver. The building it's in dates from 1909 and the place has been an eatery for many decades under different names. It's just a tiny place with only 30 seats. The interior is 50's retro with a long counter with stools and all the booths have a small jukebox. When I was downtown in the fall of 2016 I noticed the storefront had a bit of a makeover and their old hanging style sign was gone. Since then it's been replaced by a nice little neon sign that's on the front of the building with a spiffy new awning as well.

This is a cropped version of an old photo from the Vancouver archives (CVA 772-702). It's a bit soft but you can see back in the late 80's the space was home to the Top Top Restaurant. Granville Street was much rougher around the edges back then. The street got a bit of a makeover before the arrival of the 2010 Winter Olympics as many of the old XXX stores moved out. But today there are still a few empty storefronts as the more trendy retail shops seem to be having a hard time keeping a foothold on Granville Street.

This is an old photo from 2011 which shows the Templeton's old sign. At that time they used to have a bit more neon in the window as well. After doing a little searching I found the restaurant had changed hands back in 2015. A search of the City Directories found it was home to Adelle's Cafe back in 1952. With the Smile Diner property on Pender Street facing redeveloped here's hoping the Templeton will be around for many more years to come.