Village Pints at Britannia Brewing Ladner

A 1933 heritage house in Fort Langley with a flower-framed patio, live music on Thursdays, and contemporary Canadian cooking worth the drive.

Maple Ridge's only room actually on the Fraser: two seasonal patios, a heated covered one for the other nine months, and water from every seat.

The cult Belgian brewery on Thunderbird Crescent where national-medal sours and golden tripels await anyone clever enough to find it.

Brewers Row's biggest patio, where free arcade games, a Dreamboat Hazy IPA, and a food truck conspire against whatever you had planned next.

Four breweries on one walkable block in Port Moody: start hoppy at Yellow Dog, end by the fire pit at Brave.

Hop-forward Brewers Row craft beer, a Space Armadillo DIPA, and an al pastor taco menu that nobody expected but everybody needs.

German, Austrian and South Tyrolean cooking in a wood-panelled Lonsdale room that kept its original decor and its 125-year-old piano.

Chef Hawksworth's two-storey heritage hall for wood-fired pizza, buttermilk fried chicken, and the share-everything format that actually works.

PoCo's smokehouse and brewhouse on one address: ribs, pulled pork, craft beer and a gin list that no one saw coming.

A reservation-taking, sit-down burger room in Mount Pleasant: exposed brick, Edison bulbs, leather booths and an open kitchen turning out award-winning halal Angus burgers.

A South Langley farm cidery with apples literally out back, bone-dry and elderflower flights, brick-oven pizza, and a grassy field built for lingering.

The only Ladner table actually over the water: chowder, coconut prawns and the fishing fleet sliding past the deck.

Fort Langley's homegrown brewery pours its own beer beside a Fraser Valley seasonal menu and a turfed, dog-friendly patio.

West Coast seafood and a marina-view patio at the toe of Horseshoe Bay, two minutes from the ferry ramp.