The Naam has everything going for it: great food, good service, insane hours (24/7 - rare in Vancouver!). The only thing you need to know before going to The Naam is that it serves a wide range of customers and this is reflected in the menu. So besides vegetarians, The Naam also caters to health food junkies, the raw food crowd, and so on. The few people I've met who have disliked The Naam invariably made the mistake of trying the most experimental, far-out thing on the menu and then complaining that it didn't taste like anything they'd had before. Please don't get me wrong: I'm all for taking chances, but if you don't like beets and carrots then don't order a veggie burger made from beets and carrots! Some items I can definitely recommend: the Vegan Breakfast (served before 11 a.m. if memory serves me), the Thai Noodles, the Deep Fried Tofu, the various Burritos, the Blueberry Soy Shake (even if you're not a "soy person"), and anything with their Miso Gravy. Drop by anytime but be prepared for a long line-up: The Naam has many loyal customers!

Luckily we arrived at the restaurant, at 6pm, just before the multitude of crowds arrived, I guess for the live entertainment. Around 6.45 there was a large line of people outside the restaurant.

The food was very good and imaginative, quite a lot on the plate, and could only eat half of it! I had one of their veggie burgers and it was pretty good with loads of stuff on the side, the sauce was the most memorable. The amount of food did put me off a little bit.

There was certainly a lively atmosphere in the restaurant, quite noisy. I had some problem hearing the waitress. The service was good, our waitress was a little power house and fell of energy, very quick.

The one negative thing in this place was the heat, it felt very humid in there and was starting to get a headache.

The live entertainment had problems kicking off at 7pm because there was some problems with the equipment. When he finally got going 15 minutes later, 5 minutes before we left, we couldn't hear the act because it was actually too noisy in the restaurant.

I would likely go again...every now and again, not too restaurant.

I went to the Naam with my vegetarian partner who found it a refreshing change opening a menu and not having to skip over most items to find the two or three veggie things on there! In fact, for the first time we have eaten out, she took longer to decide what to eat than I did! There is a lot of variety to suit your mood - burgers, tofudogs, Mexican, Thai, traditional appys with a twist, salads, soup, light bites and more. Prices pretty decent too, and excellent portion sizes, we both took leftovers! My dish could have had more flavour, teriyaki sauce a bit boring. Lots of people mentioned wait time, ours was around 20mins, but young boy kept our water glasses filled up so we weren't complaining, plus at least that means the food is freshly cooked not microwaved! Will definitely visit again.

When I lived in Vancouver and found the Naam, I knew everything would be ok.

What happened next was seemingly endless trips for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late night snacks (they're open 24 hours!). One night, we got the last bus from downtown to Kits, at at the Naam and then walked home.

One of our binges lasted for several weeks. We spent over $3000 there on blueberry milk shakes, fries with miso gravy, Thai noodles, grilled cheese sandwiches, buckwheat pancakes, and on and on...

Always left full and satiated. Highly recommend.

Post Script: If you get queebed out around hippies you should probably stay away.

The first time i went to Naam i was pleasantly surprised, I ordered a bowl and it was quite good and filled with veggies, the sauce i chose complimented the bowl nicely and the portions were bigger than i thought. And the friendly vibe of the place with the live music is nice. It was good enough that i went again about a week later...

This time I ordered something else and so did the rest of my family, but unfortunately it all tasted the same. Comparing one of our bowls with the Thai noodles, we could obviously see that most of the ingredients were the same. Along with that we could taste that the sauce for one of our dishes was the same as the one in the bowl we had previously. If we hadn't been there so recently it would have been more enjoyable, the food was still good, just not different.

Like many veggie restaurants, the Naam uses many of the same things to create different dishes, but many of their dishes are pretty delicious. So i'd say the Naam is a pretty good vegetarian restaurant to frequent, just make sure not to frequent too often or else you'll get bored.

I've been to Naam at least 3 times. The food is super delicious for Vegetarian. Very healthy. They have great salads and so many varieties! The service is great. However, if you're hungry, you may want to go somewhere else because typically you have to wait 20mins at the door. Once you're seated, you have to wait another half an hour or more before the food arrives. This place is ALWAYS packed and is definitely worth the wait. Again, just don't be too hungry when you arrive and anticipate that you'll have a long wait time.

Almost everything on the menu is delicious. They have different foods for breakfast and lunch. I don't know if this place is good for dinner but definitely awesome for brunch and breakfast! Healthy and hearty!

Went to Naam a little before midnight April 19. Waited 15 minutes before the waiter took our order. We waited for a long time. My daughter went to ask the waiter at the counter, when would the food be coming. (just a very normal question). Half a minute later, the same waiter marched toward me at the table and talked down to us that the order was taken only 24 minutes ago, they were very busy with all the people coming to the restaurant from Leonard Cohen concert. Asked the other waitress if the waiter was manager or owner, she just kept repeating that they were very busy. Well, clearly too busy for my business. Too bad, the food is decent, I I will not go there again.

We have been to the Naam numerous times since we moved to Kitsilano 3 years ago, and always liked the food. The Naam has a lot to offer, even for NON-vegetarians.

The Naam offers incredible value. Open 24/7 with quite a big menu and one of the nicest interiors in Kitsilano, this place is one where you instantly feel at home whatever the time of the day (or night).

Last time we went there on an early Sunday afternoon. The restaurant was packed, but we got a table. We have been waiting a little too long and had to show the waiter that, yes, there was a free table in the main restaurant. Other than this, the service was excellent this time, although it is not consistent, depending on when you come. We ordered and had our meal after 20 minutes (I looked at the watch because I wanted to have a solid data point about waiting time).

My partner had enchilada with cashews and avocado and I had my personal favorite - the Thai dragon bowl. Our little one wanted the grilled cheese bread (which was quite good for this kind of 'dish', as the bread used was excellent), but ended up trading it for the tofu of my dragon bowl in the end. All the food was excellent! Proves that if you have the right spices, you won't need any meat.

We ended up with a bill under 40 dollars. This is incredible value! What I liked in particular was that they offer organic apple juice for the little ones at an unbeatable price of $2 a glass.

Go there and enjoy, it is really worth it!

it's always fun coming here when you have at least two hours to kill. it's not their fault that there's always a line up out the door; i've actually come to enjoy the wait, getting hungrier and excited for the food. the selection is good and they even have a binder full of every ingredient in every single dish, great for those of us with food allergies.
the service has been really bad every time, but once or twice, and i've gone tens of tens of times. the last time i was there, the service was incredible though! we couldn't believe this guy, he was so great. i think we tipped him double just because the standard there is so low to start with.
so yes, go there, it's fun and the food is pretty good, but don't make strict plans around the timing of your meal.

Maybe vegetarianism is not so big in Vancouver, but some of your reviewers do not appreciate the treasure that the Naam is. The food is excellent, not haute cuisine, but definitely medicine food. It is affordable and the staff are friendly but not fawning. I guess the menu might be a little intimidating to non-veggies, but for me it is heaven. I know it may sound a little soppy but it is a large part of the tapestry which draws me and my partner to Vancouver and in particular Kitsilano each year. Maybe it’s just us, but even queuing up can be fun. I have seen people becoming impatient, but the Naam definitely adheres to the values of the slow food movement, if not exactly by design. It is funny just sitting in the restaurant and people-watching. There are definitely people who, like me love every bit of it and those for whom it just doesn’t work. Like the way Tofino exists on ‘Tofino Time’, The Naam requires of you the ability to relax into its space. If you are a veggie, then I cannot commend the Naam highly enough – and you might fall in love with it like we did.

Joe toussaint