I met up with a friend for lunch here at his request as it was a place worth checking out for myself. It's a small hole-in-the-wall joint that's about as minimum as it can be with its cramped quarters, subpar cleanliness and dreary surroundings overall. Luckily, the food speaks for itself.

Both of us opted for the house special beef with thick noodle, my friend a large regular and me a small spicy with a side of beef pancake. Very good, light broth with fantastic tender pieces of beef with some fatty bits left on. The thick noodles appeared handmade and were cooked perfectly, and alongside a garnish of pickled condiments on top it was a rather fulfilling bowl of noodles. The pancake was wrapped with thinly sliced beef and green onions, a little on the greasy and heavy side but a great side dish to the soup. The difference between my friend's large and my small appears mostly in excess broth, rather than the rest of the good stuff.

Don't come here for the service as it is mostly arbitrary, but our server was friendly if not a little lacking in basic table service refinement.

Good find.

I remember reading good reviews about this place so I decided to take my parents there on our weekly lunch excursions. We arrived to an almost empty restaurant (my usual reaction would be to go elsewhere) but my dad (probably responding to hunger pangs) suggested we just try it since we were there at the door already. We ordered the 'signature' beef noodles, XLB (xiao long bao - steamed pork dumplings), Taiwanese fried noodles, and deep fried porkribs. We were advised that the XLB will take 15 minutes. We got excited thinking that they must make the dumplings fresh if it takes that long - until I saw the waitress in the back reaching into the freezer to retrieve the frozen dumplings - STRIKE 1.

The first dish to arrive was the Taiwanese fried noodles. Hmm...how should I describe the dish? Like pig slop. No exaggeration...The noodles were tossed with some sauce and the veggies and meat were laid on top. No frying here, that's for sure! I wish I had taken a picture of the dish. It was the saddest dish of food I've seen ever served at a restaurant. And there was barely enough on the little side plate it came on to feed my 2 year old nephew! - STRIKE 2.

Then came the deep fried porkribs. It was one half-fried pork chop (the other half was soggy) cut up with scissors into bite size pieces. - STRIKE 3.

The beef noodles came next. They're signature - you can't screw this up! And they didn't...but how they can call the beef noodles their signature is the first question to be answered. Noodles faintly tasted of dish detergent (?), beef was, well, it was beef, soup was, well, soup.

Finally, the XLB arrived with a VERY conservative dish of black vinegar (I won't even mention the missing ginger slivers - oh, I just did). When I asked the waitress for some more vinegar, she returned with a bottle containing a clear liquid. I pointed to the black vinegar on our table and explained that I wanted BLACK vinegar, not white. And she matter-of-factly told us that they 'make' their own black vinegar with the white vinegar. HUH? My parents are from Hong Kong and though I was born in YVR, I am very well-versed in Asian cuisine, and none of us have ever heard such nonsense before. Why (and how) would anyone 'mix' their own black vinegar when you can just buy a bottle of the stuff from any Chinese grocery? Absurd! - YOU'RE OUT!!!

My parents have rated this restaurant "The worse food I've had in Vancouver in the almost 40 years we've been here"... How many stars is that?

Well, what can I say my sister and I have dined at Tony's a couple of times before, great prices great food but not so great service. Well, firstly I've noticed alot of the customers are Asians either Taiwanese, Chinese, or Cantonese not too many Caucasians or other nationalities dine here - probably due to language barrier? Its alot easier to order in Mandarin, because its the server's mother tongue and it makes it that much faster and easier,better (service). However, this could have an effect on the customers, which can't speak mandarin or even Cantonese. Food is traditional Taiwanese cuisine they have some pretty exotic authentic Taiwanese dishes like: marinated tripe and beef intestine, and yummy fried kelp. My sister and I usually order the spicy thick beef noodle with some tripe sometimes with some nice side dishes. Some of the menus dishes are quite tasty, just like the shanghai dumplings which are fried and the bubble tea. The servers will take your order faster if you can speak mandarin unfortunately it works this way -- due to easier communication thus faster service. If you cannot speak Chinese (Canto, Mandarin) speak to one of the younger servers there, trust me. Its much easier talking to them, than the owner which can barely speak English at all. Its never a problem for my sister to order, and it shouldn't be for you unless you bring outside food or drink. They will ask you to throw it away or to not drink it. They are just cash only, don't worry though their is a CIBC just a couple doors down with an ATM convenient bank machine. Great prices, Good food , okay service:)

I'm a total Tony's Beef Noodle addict, frequenting this restaurant with my husband at least once per week. I would go so far as to call it MY FAVOURITE restaurant. Couldn't believe NOBODY had reviewed this restaurant on DineHere before me, because this restaurant is an absolute diamond in the rough.

At $5.50 for a hearty bowl of noodle soup, Taiwanese style, with chunks of melt-in-your-mouth stewed brisket, the thickest wheat noodles you've ever had, and deep coloured, aromatic soup, I would call this THE BEST VALUE IN VANCOUVER, beating out even your favourite Pho' restaurant. I would also say that it beats out Wang's Beef Noodle (Granville and ~70th) by a couple hundred percent in quality and taste. A great option for those nights when you just can't bear to cook another meal.

Sure Bets on the menu:
#A1: Beef and Noodle in Soup (with choice of "sick or sin noodle" - chinese accented english for "thick or thin noodle"...cracks me up every time! I always order an extra little dish of pickled vegetables with my soup...it's free)
#C12: Crispy Salt and Peppery Chicken (boneless chunks of chicken deep fried in a delicate batter, served with deep fried thai basil leaves. Yum-O!)

Service: Don't expect the waiter/waitress to check up on you. If you want something, don't be shy about raising your hand and flagging them down. I think it's a cultural thing. There may be a little bit of a language barrier, but I've always ordered in English without too much trouble.

Ambience: None to speak of. It's a very basic restaurant, diner style. But a GREAT place for good food and conversation with a few friends. Not pretentious at all!

Washroom: Uh, the single washroom at the back of this storefront restaurant is the size of a closet, and rather dirty in the corners. They always have toilet paper though. If you're squeamish about this, head over to Oakridge Mall across the road.

There's ample free street parking along 41st avenue, Cambie Street, and on some of the small streets around 41st avenue. Help support another business on Cambie Street during the Canada Line skytrain construction, because this is one little restaurant I would hate to see go under.

Hours of Operation:
11am-9pm Monday to Saturday
Closed Sunday

Definitely a restaurant worth making regular visits to, if only for the food, because in that respect, it can't be beat!

I have a feeling that Tony's Beef Noodle's ownership has changed.

First, many of the friendly staff - including the female servers who would fuss over their customers - are gone and replaced by rather indifferent young male servers who seem like they can't wait until quitting time so they can go home and play their X-Box's rather than serving their customers.

Second, the food is still the same but the portions seem to have gotten skimpy. A large bowl of noodles used to really be large. Now it's like the same amount as a small but with more soup stock. It's hard to get full on their rice dishes because those portions seem rather cincy now too.

You can't even get complimentary tea anymore. Instead they serve you a mug of warm water so bring your own tea leaves if you plan on eating there.

With all the well priced Taiwanese cafes popping up, Tony's Beef Noodle's service and portions better improve or they're going to be losing business. In fact, they already have as their crowds have thinned out over the past year.