Broke & Bougie
Wander The Heights on Hastings
Burnaby's Italian high street: four blocks of delis, a sixty year old bakery, murals, and the North Shore mountains at the end of every cross street.
The Heights, Hastings Street
More infoBroke & Bougie
Burnaby's Italian high street: four blocks of delis, a sixty year old bakery, murals, and the North Shore mountains at the end of every cross street.
The Heights, Hastings Street
More infoThe Heights runs along Hastings between Boundary and Gamma, and it is the closest Burnaby gets to a proper European high street. Cioffi's has been slicing prosciutto at 4142 for decades and is the kind of deli people drive across the region for. Valley Bakery at 4058 has been going since the 1950s and the cookie case is the argument. Between them sit independent cafes, gelato, record and vintage shops and a run of murals painted onto the side walls. The best part is free and accidental: every cross street opens north and drops the mountains straight into the frame.
Start at Willingdon and walk west, because that is the direction with the mountains in it. Cioffi's at 4142 is the anchor stop, a meat counter and Italian grocer people drive across Metro Vancouver for, and Valley Bakery at 4058 has been running since the 1950s with a cookie case to prove it. In between there are cafes, gelato, vintage shops and a handful of murals worth a detour up a side street. Most shops keep daytime hours and close by five or six, so plan around that. Street parking is free but tight on Saturdays. Seventy five minutes covers the strip at a browsing pace.
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