Went here with some friends a few nights ago and ordered a pizza - think grease, with extra cheese, and some oil. The service is ok, the ambiance is about what you'd expect, but I'd say it has poor value. The rest of the dishes looked to be about the same value - cactus club or earls does a much better job.

Went to the Browns Test Kitchen Restaurant(Cats Socialhouse) for lunch. The service was decent and the waitress seemed fairly new to the trade but I give her points for trying. The food was typical of the overpriced plate of art that you get these days(I have a few places that I can go where the $16.00 lunch plate I had would give me 3 filling meals) and what I really thought was a ripoff was the $4 extra I paid for 4 triangles of cooked tofu on the salad. The meal was tasty enough until I took a bite of the flatbread(pita) on the side. It was so salty it totally killed what I had just eaten. I literally scraped off 1/4 teaspoon of salt on the pieces that were left. Now being a test kitchen I would give them marks if they are trying to get people to drink more, but seriously do these so-called chefs read about health and what society really needs and wants in their diet.
One other small point when I asked for a refill of my non-alcoholic drink which I came with a lime first time, another plate carrier(could not call her a waitress) brought a ungarnished drink and plunked it down like I was insulting the place by not ordering an alcoholic drink.
When are some of these places going to stop hiring these attitude girls who are too high on themselves.

Once in awhile a bunch of us from work will head here for Friday night drinks. Since my review last year, things have really improved.

I like the new drink menu--shots can be ordered in 4's, mojitos by the pitcher, and the wine list is much better than it used to be. The beer is still overpriced by the pitcher, but it just tastes so darned good.

The interior is much more chic but still has the eclecticism of the original Cats, so hats off to Browns for not making this place too generic.

Appy menu isn't bad--I like the salt and pepper ribs. Meal-wise, the pizza offerings are exceptional and I love their linguine.

Servers are the same, minus some of the attitude. Sometimes it's hard to get someone's attention, but I've found this varies quite a bit from server to server.

Will be heading back soon.

Working close to Granville Island, we oftene nd up here for work functions. About 6 months ago, to our demise, this company (Brown's) decided to get fancy and change their menu. What they once had right has now gone terribly awry. The favourites on their menu we used to have are no more. They have been replaced by over-priced, small portions.

I'm a bit of a stickler for service and if you expect anything half decent, do not come here. I've been here a few times but most notably with a party of 10 and a party of 25. Party of 10 outing was disappointing. Not one person enjoyed their food. It took forever and our waitress was just ok. Not too bad but then came the party of 25 outing. What a nightmare. We had a reservation so they knew we were coming but we were only given 1 server. She could not keep up. I asked for a drink refill, and after about 25 minutes and almost choking/ having a dry mouth and requiring a beverage, I kindly reminded her again about it. She snapped, "it's coming, I'm doing the best I can". I was jus shocked. A simple lunch was almost a 3 hour ordeal and the food wasn't that great. The terrible service and wait time is enough for me to never go back.

Came here for a birthday dinner and it was through and through an exhaustive meal.

Reservations were made but we still had to loiter in the parking lot for a solid 40 minutes before our table cleared. It was packed that evening and we couldn't even maneuvre through people going sideways. Our table was horribly cramped and any space available to loosen the gap between us and the table was denied as we'd be bumped by people walking by. Need to step away from the table? Better play telephone with the diners in your row so they can clear a path for you to get out.

Our entire menu consisted of a mish mash of burgers, pastas, salads and a steak/fish entree or two. The food was good and of chain enterprise quality. Safe but nothing that screamed.

Service was especially slow. The completely bogged down kitchen slowed everything down the line but the servers themselves who seemed a stone's throw away took forever to fulfill requests. Their uniforms were more playboy bunny-like, with cute faces to match but that's about all the attraction. No service is no service, therefore no good.

The decor was, politely said, eclectic. It looked like a collage of castoffs from someone's attic, complete with dustmites.

Now with the merger to Browns, hopefully they'll clean up their act.

Planned for a 30 person birthday party at Cats Socialhouse. I had a great contact in the general manager, who was incredibly available and willing to answer my questions. They set up the upstairs loungey area for us, away from most of the hustle and bustle of the kitchen and main dining area, which was incredible.

We had two or three servers to ourselves, who were very nice. We weren't really there to eat food, but to drink and socialize, but I was not incredibly impressed with the food (which was also quite expensive, for what it was).

The drink special was pretty good. Would head there again, but for a drinks/socialize party, probably not for the food.

I'll say that since I am nearly on Granville island everyday due to both school and work, I see this place often. It's not packed except maybe during it's wednesdays where beer and pizza are on special (that's from what i remember the last time i visited but they change it often). on other days, cat's meow is modestly busy. dinner time is when this place normally shines especially the norm of fri-sunday.

first of, this place's food is nothing to rave about. simple dishes are offered at an above average price. i normally come here for their pizzas and beers because, economically speaking, those give me the best value. at $15 (including tip) i can have a full dinner of pizza and beer when i'm modestly hungry. although when i am actually hungry, it costs me at least 23$ and these are on specials night. so as you can see, this place's value is decent but not at the fair mark as i would like to put it - than again granville island's rents are expensive so i don't blame them.

service is your regular upscale western style racy and sexy waitresses in black. young and soft, most have no experience other than to show off their breasts alwmost falling out of their low v-curve top. as i would like to say again, most of us these days only care about sex hmmm? even when eating we need sex ya?...right

cleanliness, this place is not too bad - and i have nothing more to add to this part lol...

the location is cozy yet also serene. the restaurant is good for small parties of 4 or less and for those who like casualty. restaurant is quite big but the way they stack together the tables and exterior / interior seating arrangements, 4 or less is best for optimum comfort.

the best things here, in my opinion, are their desserts.

Terrible food, terrible ambiance, mediocre service. Yikes! I ordered a dish and asked them to go easy on the dressing and leave out one specific ingredient. When my food finally arrived, it had too much dressing (slimey), too much salt and lots of the ingredient I asked for them to leave out. This dish cost me $15 and was very small. The food took so long to come out that I was starving and ate it anyways, fearful that it could be much longer if I returned it. It was noisy and the decor looks like someone's garage / part of the house they didn't finish. Anyways, don't go there to really eat. Just go there to have drinks and snacks and you have no plans anywhere else. I definitely will not be going back there again.

Last night was my first Dine Out experience, and if they all turn our as well as the Cat's Meow, I will definitely become a devotee. After making a reservation for 30, which became 20, which became 10, the restaurant was really relaxed and understanding about the diminishing number of people. When we all arrived, we had a great table on the top floor, and were promptly served by the lovely wait staff. Some of us did the Dine Out menu, and others didn't. I felt the DO menu was a great deal for the amount and quality of food that we received. The yam fries were a huge portion, and perfectly cooked. The brie was FANTASTIC, and the sauce that it came with complemented it perfectly. The ahi tuna was good, but I felt the sauce was a bit heavy for the fish, but the chicken was great. Dessert was beautiful and tasty, and we got a free Apple shot at the end! All in all, I was throroughly impressed with the quality of food and service. The ambiance is nice, but I feel the TVs take away from it a bit.
Great 1st impression, I will be back!

A lot of the reviews here are very hit and miss. That more or less sums up my experience at the Cat's Meow. It boasts an incredible location and a very cool dim-but-not-dark decor. In writing, the menu looks very tempting, but that's where the experience comes to a grinding halt.

Despite the restaurant being nearly empty upon arrival, the service was sluggish. We first ordered a water and a beer, were served, and didn't see the waitress again for another 15 minutes. We then ordered appetizers, which were served about 20 minutes after that, and our entrees did not arrive for another hour afterwards.

The quality of the food wasn't what I would call poor, but it certainly wasn't outstanding by any stretch. The calamari was straight from the frozen food section of Safeway, and the Thai curried stirfry tasted like they used minute rice while being remarkably void of much curry or coconut milk flavour. For the time it took to prepare our dishes, I was expecting something much, much better. Even more-so when I received the bill.

To their credit, the service, while slow, was friendly - and as others have said - easy on the eyes.

Given its location, decor, and attractive menu, the Cat's Meow had a real opportunity to wow me. It's unfortunate that those qualities couldn't substitute for just-ok food and slow service.

If you're looking for an over-priced mediocre meal at a faux-fancy restaurant, I recommend Joey's or Earl's. At least there disappointment is diminished by knowing what to expect.