During a time of uncertainty for many Vancouver restaurants, a stretch of eateries along East Broadway is hurting more than most due to ongoing construction that has shut down the road in front of their restaurants.
But for places like Fable Diner, the impacts of this construction have been felt long before.
“This closure right now is just crazy, insane,” said Ron MacGillivray, owner of Fable Diner, when Dished stopped by to chat with him about the effect the Broadway Subway construction has had on his business.
In October 2025, the provincial government announced that the busy one-block stretch of East Broadway between Main Street and Quebec Street would be closed to all vehicles for four months. The closure is required to allow construction crews to remove the temporary four-lane road deck bridge spanning the block, which was completed in April 2022 to accommodate the underground construction of Mount Pleasant Station for the Broadway extension of SkyTrain’s Millennium Line, a project whose completion date has been pushed back multiple times.
At the time, an official date for the four-month closure had yet to be announced. However, MacGillivray shared that he wasn’t given notice until 48 hours before the province planned to shut down the block, and that there has been very little support for his business amid the closure.
“The only thing they [helped with was] putting up signs around saying that businesses are still open [and] have people on the street like cops, police and construction people directing people around, but as far as compensation or helping us with advertising, nothing,” said MacGillivray.
Marco Ovies/Dished
“The first day it happened, I was driving through here just to see what it’s like and on the radio, [the government] paid for a radio spot that came out that basically said, ‘If you’re not going to the area, don’t come to the area. There’s construction going on on Main and Broadway; these streets are closed.”
MacGillivray said that after he had complained about the ad discouraging folks from coming to the area, it was changed. However, the wording of the new ad still implied that people should avoid the area.
The impacts date further back
Interior of Fable Diner (Marco Ovies/Dished)
While the current block closure has definitely not helped business, the impacts of this construction go even further back for Fable Diner.
“A lot of the stuff that happened before they started doing construction started affecting us right away,” said MacGillivray.
MacGillivray shared that during COVID, like many restaurants, the team had to pivot to focus on delivery and takeout options, with Fable Diner offering drive-through on the side alley. However, that had to stop after the alley was blocked due to construction.
“Our takeout kind of dried off because it was hard for people to get here, and for deliveries to get here,” said MacGillivray.
Since then, the restaurant has only been down when it comes to guest count and revenue.
“We opened in 2016, and at the time we were seeing an increase every year up until COVID, and then COVID, those two years just affected everyone. But after COVID in the last three years, we’ve been down 50% in guest count and 45% in revenue. And that’s three years in a row. That compares the last three years to the three years leading up to pre-construction.”
As for how long the restaurant can sustain these numbers, MacGillivray said that it’s anywhere from six months to a year.
“I sold my house in 2022, thinking, ‘okay, we’ve got three years, maybe three and a half years of getting through this.’ But right now it’s already past that point, and then it could be another year or two years.”
He also shared that he has had the space currently listed for sale for over a year, and no one has come to look at the location due to the construction.
Fable Diner and MacGillivray are not the only ones who have suffered due to the Broadway Subway construction, either, with other eateries like The Greek’s Broadway location and Heritage Asian Eatery both citing the ongoing construction as the reason for closing their locations.
A restaurant in need of support
MacGillivray said he believes that there should be more support for restaurants like his from the government, such as in the form of a bridge loan similar to what happened during COVID and the recent floods in Abbotsford for businesses facing economic hardship that wasn’t their own fault.
“If I knew that they were building it and coming in, I probably wouldn’t have opened the restaurant. I probably wouldn’t have put as much money into renovating it right from the ground up,” said MacGillivray. “So I think some form of bridge loan, interest-free, that we wouldn’t have to pay back until a year after they complete.”
He also said that he feels like he’s operating a “zombie business” where he’s just operating for the government.
“They’re getting their full GST, their full PST. I’m paying source deductions. Minimum wage is going up every year, and the employee health tax is also increasing. Once this construction is done, there’s going to be no one left for people to visit.
As for how patrons wanting to support can help, it’s as simple as just showing up.
“If you haven’t been in for a while, just come in. You can even have a coffee, have a small bite to eat, and if you have been in or if you’ve heard about us, just tell a friend or tell someone to come on in and check it out. Check out what’s going on in Maine and Broadway. It’s going to be amazing when it’s done. “
Address: 151 E. Broadway, Vancouver
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