Vancouver restaurant closure: Bob Likes Thai Food on Main St

After 15 years of serving pineapple fried rice, an array of curries and noodles, and even a riff on Canada’s own poutine, Bob Likes Thai Food has closed its doors.

Chef and owner Tai Keattivanichvily posted a simple sign on the door to his restaurant at 3755 Main St that expresses thanks to Bob Likes Thai Food’s customers, staff, family, and friends for all their support and patronage over the years.

Bob Likes Thai Food opened in 2010 at that location, and though there had been another outpost, it was the original that endured until the start of this month. 

Keattivanichvily did not expand on the reason for the closure in the announcement. 

For all its 15 years, Keattivanichvily took pride in serving up Thai dishes that reminded him of his mother’s own cooking. 

“We work hard to make it as close to authentic as possible,” he told The Westender in 2013.

A fan of the Main Street area where he opened his restaurant, Keattivanichvily had come to being a restaurateur after a career in animation.

So, who was or is the “Bob” in the restaurant’s unusual name?

Keattivanichvily wanted to avoid flowery imagery in the name of his business. Instead, he imagined an expat named Bob who lived in Thailand for years, falling in love with the food. Back in Vancouver, Bob yearned to find a place where he could recapture those memories of amazing symphonies of taste. And he wanted to eat in a restaurant where he could relax from the day’s stresses and feel instantly comfortable. So “Bob Likes Thai Food” it was.

Customers have continued to like – or love – Bob Likes Thai Food. V.I.A. readers named it one of the city’s top three spots for Thai food in our 2025 Stars of Vancouver readers’ choice awards. 

Bob Likes Thai Food closed officially on July 1, 2025.

With files from Martha Perkins

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