Calgary Food, coffee, etc.

[Rusty van Reddick]

Fries and Dolls had a great product that was almost impossible to find. They closed year one from September until April- that's just fucking nuts.

Alley Burger is indeed just a case of their being spread too thin.

There have been many new food trucks out there this summer.

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by Jimby

Ed McNally founder of Big Rock has died. R.I.P.

How long does he have to be dead before he can be made a Saint?

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by Rusty van Reddick

Fries and Dolls had a great product that was almost impossible to find. They closed year one from September until April- that's just fucking nuts.

Alley Burger is indeed just a case of their being spread too thin.

There have been many new food trucks out there this summer.

I also think the novelty of working out of a truck quickly wears off. I do miss those Alley Burgers though. They were the reason I started using twitter.

[VIce]

Originally Posted by Rusty van Reddick

I had one of the best burgers of my life today and absolutely the best I've ever had in Calgary at Dragon's Lair Burger Co. in the Westbrook Mall food court. No words.

Will be trying this.

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by VIce

Will be trying this.

It's in the food court so don't expect ambience but so damn good. I got a 1/2 lb burger with cheese and a few among a big choice of toppings. I love that it
was two single patties, not a big baseball of meat that some places try and it dries out. Perfect thickness, juicy yet a little crispy. And she puts a slice of cheese on both patties. My God it as amazing.

Fries were EPIC as well. Double burger fries and a water were like $12. I liked this more than Naina's. And where Naina's took something like 40 minutes to get our burgers, this was fast food style that took maybe five minutes but everything was made in front of me.

[Cage]

Originally Posted by Rusty van Reddick

Fries and Dolls had a great product that was almost impossible to find. They closed year one from September until April- that's just fucking nuts.

Alley Burger is indeed just a case of their being spread too thin.

There have been many new food trucks out there this summer.

I don't know if Alley Burger was a case of spread too thin or whether the chefs just got bored with the concept and realized the food truck experience was not able to satisfy hyper constant creative needs.

Also the Charbar opportunity presented a way better option than continued use of the food truck.

Finally, the second year of Alley burger they went too far into the private catering business and pissed off the it core market. I'm one of their pissed off customers who loved Alley Burger in year one but grew disenchanted with. alley Burger late in year 2 due to them never being out for the lunch crowd.

[woychukb]

Originally Posted by Cage

Finally, the second year of Alley burger they went too far into the private catering business and pissed off the it core market. I'm one of their pissed off customers who loved Alley Burger in year one but grew disenchanted with. alley Burger late in year 2 due to them never being out for the lunch crowd.

Agreed. After the first year they never were out at lunch. Same goes for quite a few of the trucks - they are being used as catering trucks almost exclusively. There have been quite a few weekdays when there are only one or two trucks open for lunch anywhere downtown. I'm also surprised that none of the trucks open by Central Memorial Park or near the Riverwalk on weekends or in the evenings during the summer - those seem like missed opportunities to me.

[jeffwhit]

Originally Posted by Rusty van Reddick

I had one of the best burgers of my life today and absolutely the best I've ever had in Calgary at Dragon's Lair Burger Co. in the Westbrook Mall food court. No words.

Is it like LARP themed or something?

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by jeffwhit

Is it like LARP themed or something?

Not that I can see...

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by jeffwhit

Is it like LARP themed or something?

Not sure if this is LARPing or just D&D, but this always cracks me up.
• Video Link

[stophs]

Originally Posted by Rusty van Reddick

Ambrosia Veggie House: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/15/18751...-House-Calgary

Thanks

[stophs]

Originally Posted by Jimby

A little coffee bar has opened in the Old Y now called the CommunityWise Resource Centre at 223 12 Ave SW.
They use Caffe Rosso beans.
Slacker opening hours of M-F 9 am to 3 pm.


http://www.kaffeeklatsch.ca

I went in the other day. It's basically a nook at the back of the Community Wise building. There's markings on the floor when you get in the building to lead you where it is, I didn't see other signage. A girl named Jessica is running it, really pleasant and made me a good Americano. I'm no coffee expert but I enjoyed it and will go back. I was told I was the first "foreigner" to make an order (someone she didn't know or someone that doesn't work in the building), which made me laugh. It's not setup for take out, doesn't have a station for cream/sugar, it's very small. I borrowed a mug from the building and brought it back before she closed at 3 pm. I don't see it turning into something open later than 3 pm, but I liked it and will go back occasionally.

[stophs]

Originally Posted by fusili

No necessarily lower rents, it could be that volumes are just that much higher. Restaurants can succeed in high rent environments, they definitely cannot succeed in low volume environments. Overhead and waste (food goes bad if you don't sell it right away) are just too high.

Agreed that we need more retail space, but more importantly, we need more flexibility in terms of how we allow spaces to be used. So many spaces in this city can only be used for a few select uses, which restricts the ability of owners to attract tenants.

As for "With the Times" no offence, but running a newsstand is a difficult business in the age of the internet. Regular bookstores are having a tough time making a go, let alone a place that only sells magazines, etc. Interested to see what goes in.

I agree, high streets with very high pedestrian volume clearly do well all over the world. Low rent is not the be all and end all of successful businesses, but it's important when pedestrian volume/flows are low. Calgary still struggles to generate the pedestrian flows that you see in so many other cities, probably the only consistent exception here is Stephen Avenue around noon on reasonably nice days. I've seen towns of 20,000 with better pedestrian flows and more vibrant street life in Calgary so to me it's more a design issue than anything else.

I agree too that we need more flexibility. I like it how Orange Lofts in EV now has more retail/mixed use at its base because it was designed with that flexibility in mind. I would like to see most if not all residential buildings in the core do that.

It's possible that 'With the Times' may not have been with the times (bad joke), but I still see these stores existing in other places with more pedestrian volumes. I guess the frustration is I see lack of retail (space flexibility) as being part of what negatively affects business diversity, leads to higher costs, which affects vibrancy etc... I know economically speaking Calgary has fewer issues than most places, but this is not good for the economy either.

[fusili]

Originally Posted by stophs

I agree, high streets with very high pedestrian volume clearly do well all over the world. Low rent is not the be all and end all of successful businesses, but it's important when pedestrian volume/flows are low. Calgary still struggles to generate the pedestrian flows that you see in so many other cities, probably the only consistent exception here is Stephen Avenue around noon on reasonably nice days. I've seen towns of 20,000 with better pedestrian flows and more vibrant street life in Calgary so to me it's more a design issue than anything else.

I agree too that we need more flexibility. I like it how Orange Lofts in EV now has more retail/mixed use at its base because it was designed with that flexibility in mind. I would like to see most if not all residential buildings in the core do that.

It's possible that 'With the Times' may not have been with the times (bad joke), but I still see these stores existing in other places with more pedestrian volumes. I guess the frustration is I see lack of retail (space flexibility) as being part of what negatively affects business diversity, leads to higher costs, which affects vibrancy etc... I know economically speaking Calgary has fewer issues than most places, but this is not good for the economy either.

Come down to 17th avenue. I live just off of it and walk it nearly every day. It's no Kalvertstraat, but it is pretty consistently busy throughout the week. The area around National and the Ship is always the busiest. It will only grow with time.

[Vascilli]

Originally Posted by jeffwhit

Is it like LARP themed or something?

Their chalk menu has a dragon on it that makes their operation look a little more campy than say... Clive Burger or Lounge Burger or something like that. I guess I'll have to let my mouth be the judge next time. I love a good burger...

[linx]

had a paella at Mimo on 17 ave se. I'd say it beats the one at ox & angela

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by Vascilli

Their chalk menu has a dragon on it that makes their operation look a little more campy than say... Clive Burger or Lounge Burger or something like that. I guess I'll have to let my mouth be the judge next time. I love a good burger...

Campy? Huh? Tons of places use chalk menus. I don't see what's "campy" about it.

[bigcanuck]

So, we thought we'd check out the relatively new Nawab restaurant in Montreaux (not sure, but it may be the same Nawab that was formerly downtown on 5th Ave). With a couple of kids at home, we thought take-out on a Thursday would be appropriate. So my wife calls at about 5:15 last night:

Wife: Hi, we'd like to place an order for take-out.
Nawab: For when?
Wife: For now - for dinner.
Nawab: And you want it for dinner?
Wife: Yes.
Nawab: Sorry - we're too busy.
Wife: You mean you won't do take out?
Nawab: Not now - we have too many tables. (remember, this was at 5:15pm)
Wife: So, I'm going to have to order from somewhere else?
Nawab: Yes.

Needless to say, not an encouraging sign.

So, we ordered from Green Chili on Bow Trail instead and weren't overly impressed. We've ordered from there before and it's been average and this time was no different. Samosas were good but we have a coconut prawn curry that was rather bland and for $17 only had about 8 prawns in it (the rest was sauce that was a bit too runny).

Is it too much to ask to have a decent Indian restaurant serving the West part of the city?

[Innersoul1]

Originally Posted by bigcanuck

So, we thought we'd check out the relatively new Nawab restaurant in Montreaux (not sure, but it may be the same Nawab that was formerly downtown on 5th Ave). With a couple of kids at home, we thought take-out on a Thursday would be appropriate. So my wife calls at about 5:15 last night:

Wife: Hi, we'd like to place an order for take-out.
Nawab: For when?
Wife: For now - for dinner.
Nawab: And you want it for dinner?
Wife: Yes.
Nawab: Sorry - we're too busy.
Wife: You mean you won't do take out?
Nawab: Not now - we have too many tables. (remember, this was at 5:15pm)
Wife: So, I'm going to have to order from somewhere else?
Nawab: Yes.

Needless to say, not an encouraging sign.

So, we ordered from Green Chili on Bow Trail instead and weren't overly impressed. We've ordered from there before and it's been average and this time was no different. Samosas were good but we have a coconut prawn curry that was rather bland and for $17 only had about 8 prawns in it (the rest was sauce that was a bit too runny).

Is it too much to ask to have a decent Indian restaurant serving the West part of the city?

This is the same Nawab that used to be next to the Bow during construction. Living in Aspen we were encouraged to have an Indian restaurant closer to home. However, we have had similar experiences to you. In fact, I have never actually eaten there because they just can't seem to get it done. We also have called and have been told that the wait for takeout is 2+ hours. Additionally, given that we have 2 young kids we have shown up to dine in at 5PM only to find the doors locked. I find it odd that they don't have hours posted on their door. Looking at their menu it's extremely pricey for Indian. But I guess in this neck of the woods people are happy to pay.

There is another Indian restaurant over in Discovery Ridge. We have had some great meals there and its take-out only. Much better than Green Chilli

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by Rusty van Reddick

It's in the food court so don't expect ambience but so damn good. I got a 1/2 lb burger with cheese and a few among a big choice of toppings. I love that it
was two single patties, not a big baseball of meat that some places try and it dries out. Perfect thickness, juicy yet a little crispy. And she puts a slice of cheese on both patties. My God it as amazing.

Fries were EPIC as well. Double burger fries and a water were like $12. I liked this more than Naina's. And where Naina's took something like 40 minutes to get our burgers, this was fast food style that took maybe five minutes but everything was made in front of me.

Gave Dragon's Lair a try. Very good burger, with what could be the best hamburger bun I have ever had, but I wouldn't say it was better than Nania's. You can't beat a bacon cheese burger stuffed with blue cheese and bacon.