Whistler’s long-runners: four restaurants that have outlasted every trend
Araxi, Sushi Village, Rimrock Café and Splitz Grill have been feeding Whistler for decades. Here's what each does now, and how to get a table this fall.
Whistler restaurants open and close at the pace of a ski season, so staying power counts for something. Four Whistler rooms have been serving since before most of today’s lift-line regulars were born, and all four post current hours for the 2026 fall shoulder season. Each one’s age comes from its own published history. None of them is a secret, and none needs to be. They’re simply the places that kept earning repeat business while the village grew up around them.
Araxi Restaurant + Oyster Bar (Village Square)
Araxi is marking 45 years in Whistler and still sits at the centre of the village, on Village Square. Culinary director James Walt builds seasonal menus around locally sourced ingredients, and the restaurant bills itself as an early pioneer of farm-to-table dining in town. Araxi has also published two cookbooks; Araxi: Roots to Shoots took gold in the general cookbook category at the 2017 Taste Canada Awards. Dinner runs from 5 p.m. on weekdays and 4:30 p.m. on weekends, and the site currently lists a four-course prix fixe at $45, the lowest-commitment way in. Its site carries notices about seasonal closures, so check the homepage before a shoulder-season visit.
Sushi Village (Sundial Crescent)
Sushi Village opened in December 1985, the project of three friends who wanted serious sushi in a town that was about to become one of the world’s best-known ski resorts. Forty years on, it opens daily at 5 p.m. for dinner and takeout. The booking policy is the local tell: it takes reservations only for groups of 6 to 14, through Resy, and keeps more than half the room for walk-ins. The menu runs from nigiri and sashimi to house rolls and an agedashi tofu in what the kitchen calls its legendary spicy sauce.
Rimrock Café (Whistler Creekside)
Rimrock Café has called itself Whistler’s place since 1986, and it sits out at Creekside on Whistler Road rather than in the village, which keeps it a destination dinner. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. For the fall shoulder season it’s running a three-course special for $69 a person, Sunday through Thursday, which started Sept. 27. It’s also in the Cornucopia lineup, with “An Evening with Antinori” on Nov. 10. Reservations are online.
Splitz Grill (Main Street)
The youngest of the four is still pushing 30. Splitz Grill has been building custom burgers since 1997 and calls itself Whistler’s original burger joint. You pick the sauces and toppings, and there are plenty of vegan options. The Stacker is its signature. Happy hour runs twice daily, 2 to 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. to close, with $7 draught, Caesars and poutine, per its site. It’s at 4369 Main Street in the Marketplace end of the village, and it does dine-in, takeout and delivery.
What they have in common
Not much on the plate: an oyster bar, a sushi room, a Creekside fine-dining room and a burger counter. What they share is a clear idea of what they are. Araxi has built two cookbooks and a Longtable dinner series around its kitchen. Sushi Village still saves most of its room for people who just walk in. Rimrock still draws diners out of the village to Creekside, and Splitz still lets you build your own burger. That clarity goes a long way toward explaining why they’re still here.
How to use this list
- Big night: Araxi or Rimrock, and book ahead.
- No plan, hungry by 5: Sushi Village if you’re under six people.
- After a bike or ski day, on a budget: Splitz during happy hour.
Fall is when these rooms are easiest to get into. Tourism Whistler’s October roundup notes a stack of seasonal dining deals across the village, and Cornucopia brings 11 days of food and drink events from Nov. 5 to 15. Shoulder-season hours shift, so check each restaurant’s site before you go.
Sources
- Araxi: Araxi: 45 years in Whistler, address, hours, après, James Walt, cookbook awards, seasonal closure notices
- Sushi Village: Sushi Village: opened December 1985 by three friends, daily from 5 p.m., Resy for groups 6–14, walk-in policy, menu
- Sushi Village: Sushi Village street address
- Rimrock Café: Rimrock Café: since 1986, opens 5:30 p.m., fall three-course $69 Sun–Thu from Sept. 27, Cornucopia dinner Nov. 10, address
- Splitz Grill: Splitz Grill: since '97, 'Whistler's original burger joint', happy hour, address
- Tourism Whistler (whistler.com): Fall dining deals across Whistler
- Whistler Cornucopia: Cornucopia 2026: 30th edition, Nov. 5–15
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