Calgary Food, coffee, etc.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by ZeDgE

Speaking of chicken, been meaning to try out this place in Saddleridge. People at work raving about it.

http://www.fritouchickenpizza.com/
.

tried it (fried chicken) a year or more ago (memory is fuzzy) at lunch time and it took FOREVER for my friend and I to get our food. It was decent but definitely not worth the wait. hopefully they have staffing issues figured out by now.

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by CorporateWhore

Shame to hear about the Fish and Chip place...but I can't say it ever looked that inviting. I'm not sure the "generic restaurant done on the cheap" works in inner-city Calgary anymore. You have to put some effort into it. Look at Gaga, there is so much love put into that restaurant.

I tried to explain this to them- that their all things for all people menu might work in Strathmore but it will send folks here running in the other direction. It was initially hard to even find the fish and chips on the menu until they made it a feature but then there are four pages of everything under the sun. I posted this to their FB page and they deleted my comment, which I wrote as constructive criticism- very insulting.

You have fish and chippie, you focus on fish and chips, dammit.

Partner and I had lunch at Farm today- burger was perfect as per usual. Love that place so much.

[Riise]

Originally Posted by Rusty van Reddick

I tried to explain this to them- that their all things for all people menu might work in Strathmore but it will send folks here running in the other direction. It was initially hard to even find the fish and chips on the menu until they made it a feature but then there are four pages of everything under the sun. I posted this to their FB page and they deleted my comment, which I wrote as constructive criticism- very insulting.

What all did they have on their menu? Please don't tell me they threw pub grub on there as well.

[DizzyEdge]

Judging by some of the facebook comments that Fish and Chips place didn't pay a bunch of their 17th ave staff.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by Riise

What all did they have on their menu? Please don't tell me they threw pub grub on there as well.

I'm guessing it might have been something like this
skip to ~3:30

• Video Link

[DizzyEdge]

[Wigs]

no wonder they failed. did they confuse Calgary with the Southeastern United States?

[Fuzz]

That seams like one of theose menu's Gordon Ramsey would look at and say "WTF is that? Butter Chicken, Fish and Chips...pick a specialty!"

[CorporateWhore]

Having watched several Kitchen Nightmare episodes, I consider myself an expert in running a restaurant.

Seeing a gargantuan menu like that is probably the most obvious sign of a restaurant that's bound to fail. There's no way that a place can have that many options and give you good fresh food while turning a profit. It's going to be frozen, reheated crap, and you'll have to charge a ton just to keep it all stocked.

The funny thing is that the Calgary diner has more than shown that they will pay top dollar for a good focused product. This city is aching for a great fish and chip place! All they had to do was make some kick-ass fish and chips, offer 5-6 quality sides, maybe some specialty English beers, in a space that felt loved... and they would've been golden.

If they don't have the imagination on their own, just look at places that work and borrow from them. I remember a place I used to go to in NY that was perfect. Had a catchy name (A Salt And Battery) and a nicely designed logo/space, offered a limited menu of a fish with some quality sides....and their little extra special something was them doing deep-fried candy bars as their desert. That place was hopping day and night.

[Riise]

*Shakes Head*

A Fish and Chip shop can have more than just fish but it should only have what you would find in a successful chippy.

Fried Chicken, yup.
Simple burgers, yep.
Donairs, maybe.
Currywurst, you're pushing it.
Pizza, if you weren't located so close to a place like Gaga's, sure!
Everything else on a pub menu, hell no!

Chippies generally aren't sit down place so it is important for their owners to pick locations where they'll get a lot of traffic. The high traffic should provide loads of customers over the course of the day or in large masses that could be served quickly. I think we're talking about the place that was on 12th Avenue and even with the Arsenal pub being down the street, that wasn't a great location for a chippy. I'd place it closer to a high school, rapid transit stop, or bunch of late-night drinking establishments.

[Wigs]

I heard there's one good fish n' chip place in town run by Brits but it's in the deep deep deep South

[CorporateWhore]

Originally Posted by Riise

Chippies generally aren't sit down place so it is important for their owners to pick locations where they'll get a lot of traffic. The high traffic should provide loads of customers over the course of the day or in large masses that could be served quickly. I think we're talking about the place that was on 12th Avenue and even with the Arsenal pub being down the street, that wasn't a great location for a chippy. I'd place it closer to a high school, rapid transit stop, or bunch of late-night drinking establishments.

That whole side of the block is a bit of a black hole. There's lots of car traffic, but you don't really get a lot of foot traffic except for transients hanging outside of the liquor shop, and the occasional drunk woo girl/guy waiting for the bus. Drunk people and fish and chips is not necessarily a bad match, but what you get on that block is not really what a restaurant covets.

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

That seams like one of theose menu's Gordon Ramsey would look at and say "WTF is that? Butter Chicken, Fish and Chips...pick a specialty!"

Their specialty was STAKE NIGHT.

[Wigs]

just saw this on twitter
https://twitter.com/yycfoodtrucks/st...943680/photo/1

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by WIGS

just saw this on twitter
https://twitter.com/yycfoodtrucks/st...943680/photo/1

eats of asia is AMAZING. at Kingsland- look for big, big things from these guys.

[CorporateWhore]

Just an FYI, Black Pig Bistro in Bridgeland had a sneak-peak event yesterday/today, so they must be getting pretty close to opening.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by Rusty van Reddick

eats of asia is AMAZING. at Kingsland- look for big, big things from these guys.

noted

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Riise

*Shakes Head*

A Fish and Chip shop can have more than just fish but it should only have what you would find in a successful chippy.

Fried Chicken, yup.
Simple burgers, yep.
Donairs, maybe.
Currywurst, you're pushing it.
Pizza, if you weren't located so close to a place like Gaga's, sure!
Everything else on a pub menu, hell no!

Chippies generally aren't sit down place so it is important for their owners to pick locations where they'll get a lot of traffic. The high traffic should provide loads of customers over the course of the day or in large masses that could be served quickly. I think we're talking about the place that was on 12th Avenue and even with the Arsenal pub being down the street, that wasn't a great location for a chippy. I'd place it closer to a high school, rapid transit stop, or bunch of late-night drinking establishments.

When I lived in Brighton, I'd go to some chippy's. A few of them had things like beef pies, sausage rolls, pigs in a blanket etc for people who didn't want fish. That's what I'd expect at a good chippy, not poached salmon with holandais sauce. One place had this awesome chile(more a sauce than a chili) that you'd get with chips stuffed in a pita, or on a bap(bun). It was the awesomest 3am food you could buy. Yes, better than the 3am donairs.

[artvandelay]

I'm not a fish and chip connoisseur by any means, but I thought Sea Fish & Chips in McKenzie Towne was quite good. It's a shame that there isn't a place in the core… I feel like my office alone could support one with the amount of limeys we have.

[Jimby]

I like C-Lovers in the Vancouver area for fish and chips. I have only been to the one in Horseshoe Bay, but I'm sure the other locations would be similar.
The menu is small and they don't even offer dessert. The open kitchen gleams it looks so clean.
I think they would do well in the Calgary market.

c-lovers.com