British Columbia·NewA large seafood restaurant, known for hosting banquets in Vancouver’s Chinatown, has closed with the city posting a lease termination notice on its door.Floata, located in a city-owned mall on Keefer Street, was known for banquetsChad Pawson · CBC News · Posted: Oct 30, 2025 9:33 PM EDT | Last Updated: 21 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe interior of the 1,000-seat Floata Seafood Restaurant at 180 Keefer St. in Vancouver. The Chinatown seafood restaurant has received a lease termination notice. (Floata Seafood Restaurant)A large seafood restaurant, known for hosting banquets in Vancouver’s Chinatown, has closed with the city posting a lease termination notice on its door.Floata Seafood Restaurant, located in a city-owned mall at 180 Keefer St., features a large open space with up to 1,000 seats, according to its website. The city letter posted at the restaurant is dated Oct. 24, and instructs the business to “vacate the possession of the premises to the landlord immediately.”The city said in a statement Thursday that Floata’s lease expired on Sept. 30 and had been extended to allow time for the tenant to continue operating.”Despite multiple efforts to engage and clarify the [tenant’s] willingness to meet obligations under a new lease, the tenant did not provide a clear plan for future operations and ultimately vacated the premises,” the city said.It added the restaurant “accrued significant rent arrears, including unpaid COVID-era rental support.” “Given these factors, the City has formally ended the lease.”CBC News has reached out to the business for comment.’Quite an anchor,’ councillor saysVancouver Coun. Pete Fry said he has attended dozens of banquets a year at the restaurant.“It is the largest restaurant of its kind and certainly the only one in Chinatown,” he said. “So it is quite an anchor for a lot of the experiences of Chinatown.”After 30 years, Vancouver Chinatown’s storied 1000 seat Floata Restaurant is closed. The last great big dining halls in Chinatown shutters. The restaurant has been a community hub for so many gatherings…celebrations, fundraisers, weddings, anniversaries, dim sum & dinners. pic.twitter.com/yjKqtvNHeQ—FredAboutTown”The last great big dining [hall] in Chinatown shutters,” Vancouver columnist Fred Lee wrote on X.He described the restaurant, which opened in 1995, as a “community hub.”Coun. Pete Fry said he’s expecting work to be undertaken to fill the space with another operator. (Ben Nelms/CBC)Fry said that, without the restaurant, it would be a challenge in the city to host large events like Lunar New Year.He’s expecting work to be undertaken to fill the space with another operator as the city also looks to improve the operation of the mall.“I understand there’s a significant amount of tenant improvements that are going to be necessary with any new operator so that’s going add to the lull in activity in this space,” he said.“We are looking at how we can really enhance the entire mall experience.”The city said it plans to lease the space to a new tenant and it is currently in discussions with “a number of potential operators.”ABOUT THE AUTHORChad Pawson is a CBC News reporter in Vancouver. Please contact him at chad.pawson@cbc.ca.With files from Lauren Vanderdeen
City of Vancouver terminates Floata restaurant’s lease after 30 years in Chinatown
