Food & Drink
Near Wonderment 2024 Venues
Commercial activity (vendors and concession) isn’t allowed in many of the parks we use, and early on we made the conscious choice to extend that to all the parks we use. In part inspired by the Burning Man pack-it-in, pack-it-out ethos, we came to realize that Wonderment can do more for the local economy by encouraging the patronage of the many amazing restaurants and cafes around the locations we use.
IMPORTANT: PLEASE BRING WATER AND SUNSCREEN!
If you are visiting Victoria from out-of-town, here’s a guide to the food and beverage options you can find around our park venues and downtown night venues…
AUGUST 3
Songhees Park Plaza is the plateau on the water at the southwest corner of the Johnson Street Bridge.
On the Bridge Side: If you walk down the pathway along the water, there are three fantastic waterfront restaurants: Lure at the Delta Hotel, Boom + Batten, and Spinnakers.
Across the Bridge at Market Square (bounded by Johnson, Pandora, Store and Government Streets), you’ll find The Drake eatery, Cafe Mexico (Western Canada’s largest tequila and mescal selection), Green Cuisine (vegan), and Artemis Whiskey Bar (if you are a whiskey aficionado, sit at the bar for the full experience).
Across the bridge on the north side on the downtown side of the bridge you can find Nubo Japanese Fusion, Bray’s West Coast Tapas, Swan’s Brewpub and Virtuous Pie (vegan pizza).
AUGUST 4
Just north of Beacon Hill Park at 810 Humboldt Street you’ll find Parkside Tre Fantastico, which has fantastic coffee, pastries, small plates and craft beer and cider.
Just down Douglas Street (toward the water) you’ll find The Beacon Hill Drive-In with local Islands Farms soft serve ice cream and diner fare.
About a 10 minute walk east of Beacon Hill Park will land you in the Cook Street Village, where you’ll find Prima Strada Pizza, Sushi Jiro (Japanese and Korean food), two grocery stores, and around 323 Cook Street you’ll find an alley with food trucks and at the back of that there’s a building with Columbian, Ethiopian and Mexican Food.
About a 10 minute walk west of Beacon Hill Park will land you on Menzies Street in James Bay, where you’ll find Discovery Coffee and Yonni’s Donuts, the Red Barn Market, Floyd’s Diner, The Bent Mast pub and tucked away behind the Thrifty Foods grocery store is the Heron Rock Bistro (Sunday Night Prime Rib might get a little busy so call ahead).
AUGUST 5
Across the street from Banfield Park you’ll find the Spiral Cafe, and walking west down Craigflower in the 800 block you’ll find Thai Green Elephant and Ay Mi Mexico.
If you walk along the water beyond the kids playground and up the hill, you’ll come down on the other side next to the Selkirk Trestle Bridge. If you cross that and hang a right, keeping to the water, you’ll come upon Glo Restaurant, which has a fabulous waterside patio and menu.
If you don’t cross that trestle bridge and keep going down the bike trail towards downtown, you’ll come across the Harbour Road location of the Fantastico Bar-Deli.
A little tucked away but only three blocks away is the Vic West Market Garden at 810 Catherine Street, a boutique market / deli and urban farm.
If you have a bike or car, a little further afield on Esquimalt Road you’ll find the most legit poutine in BC at La Belle Patate, and Syriana Middle Eastern food at 1258 Esquimalt Road.
DOWNTOWN:
There are SO MANY options to explore downtown, so we will only touch upon the highlights here…
Boomtown Beer Garden & Burritos
Zambri’s (Italian)
See also the “Across the Bridge” options for the Aug 3 event above. Victoria Event Centre is a 5-10 minute walk from Songhees Park Plaza.
The good coffee can be had at 2% Jazz, Cafe Fantastico, Discovery Coffee, Fernwood Coffee, Habit and Shatterbox.
Breakfast spots… Blue Fox, Crust Bakery, Floyd’s Diner, Jam, Nourish…
We will try to add to the list – but it really is endless exploration for foodies in Victoria!
