Commercial Drive

Where to begin with describing the Drive? It's brash. It's got opinions. The pedestrians are anything but and will walk into the street as if every day is Car Free Day. Located in Vancouver's east side, the neighbourhood officially known as Grandview-Woodland has been the nexus of a wide variety of different ethnic and cultural groups since its heyday as a Vancouver's counter-culture scene. Since then it has seen waves of first Italian, then Portuguese, Latin American and East Asian immigrants settling and making the neighbourhood home. It's not so much a melting pot and more of a Jackson Pollock painting with each blob of paint be it Chinese, Ethiopian, lesbian, or crust-punk adding its own unique voice and presence to a larger whole.

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La Grotta del Formaggio

Address
1791 Commercial Drive
Website
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This charming old-world deli is typical of Commercial Drive's distinctly Italian flavour. It's got delicious cheeses, both imported and local, cured meats and just about anything you'd want serve up on a rustic slab of wood to your dinner guests. But perhaps what L.G.d.F. is best known for, and creates line ups out their door, is their made to order panini (yes, that's already a plural). Thick stacks of meat, cheese and veggies held together by your choice of bread and always served with a dollop of continental sass from the staff behind the counter (I once asked which cheese had the least fat and got the response I deserved).

La Grotta del Formaggio
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La Grotta del Formaggio
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La Grotta del Formaggio
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La Grotta del Formaggio
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La Grotta del Formaggio
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La Grotta del Formaggio
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Grandview Park

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