Dinner at Nicli Antica Pizzeria in Vancouver

May 10, 2026

Mother's Day Weekend Brunch at The Garrison

Two mouthwatering brunch dishes from The Garrison in Ballard. For Mother's Day weekend, my family and I dined at The Garrison . This is a locally owned Oyster and Seafood house located in Ballard. I started with a Sunset Espresso Martini. This had Amaro, Licor 43, Cold Brew, and Boomsma Herbal. I didn't really enjoy their version of the drink, and I should have known by reading the ingredients it would be different than the classic cocktail made with espresso. Unfortunately, we didn't really care for my husband's drink, an Almond Croissant Sidecar either. This had a bunch of ingredients and featured Cognac, but we didn't find it very tasty. He did however order a Manhattan later in the meal, and this classic martini was much better. My sons shared the Chicken and Waffles. This was a pretty standard version of the classic brunch dish. It was made with Cornmeal Waffles and came with hot sauce, syrup, and honey butter. The chicken was seasoned nicely and was nice a...

For our first night in Vancouver we had dinner at Nicli Antica Pizzeria in Gastown. I made reservations and I'm glad we did since we were seated right away and it was pretty busy. I chose this restaurant because of the authentic Neapolitan style pizza. They also give you your own scissors to cut your pizza. This is the only pizza place I've seen that does this. That way, you can slice your pie however you wish.

I started with an Aperol Spritz, an Italian cocktail with Prosecco, Aperol, and a splash of soda water. Then we shared a Mista salad with local greens, heirloom cherry tomatoes, seasonal vegetables, and a Latticello dressing.

For pizza, we ordered the Margherita and the Bianca. The Margherita is my husband's go to pizza since he doesn't like a lot of cheese. I would have liked more cheese, though, and the crust was a little too crisp for me. The Bianca pizza was interesting because the caramelized onions were cooked down so much, they were mushy. I asked to not have them on the pizza, but they forgot. I really liked the flavor of the smoked Gorgonzola and felt that saved the pizza.

For dessert, we ordered some Tiramisu to take back to our hotel room. We loved the flavors and how soft it was.

Overall, I liked the cocktails and the fun aspect of cutting your own pizza.