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  #61  
Old Posted Oct 23, 2018, 6:15 PM
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Originally Posted by lio45 View Post
??? What "mall" was that? Hours in Quebec are nearly universally 8-21 M-F and 9-17 Sat-Sun.

Unless you're talking specialized shop or mom & pop store. Those may be closed on weeknights and weekends.
This was Carrefour de l'Estrie, the mall containing Toys R Us (why I was visiting it) and other major chains. In New Brunswick a similar mall would be open till 21, 6 days a week easily; but as the website proudly shows, its hours are 9:30 to 17:30, M-W, 9:30 to 21 Th-F, 9-17 Sat and 10-17 on Sundays.
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  #62  
Old Posted Oct 23, 2018, 6:17 PM
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In Europe, the thing that I always have trouble adjusting to is the pace of a restaurant meal. In North America my expectation is that, after being seated, you wait less than a minute for somebody to come by with the menu, about 5 minutes for your order to be taken, and then about 10-20 minutes for your food. When you ask for the bill, it comes out in about two minutes. In Northern Europe you double these numbers and in Southern Europe you often have to triple them. Also, I like the idea of having free tap water and the option of taking food home with you. I think these things are worth having a tipping culture for.
And this is what I prefer in Montréal, a restaurant should be an activity to enjoy and not something that is rushed. There's fast food outlets for a reason... Meals at a real restaurant usually lasts 3-4 hours.
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  #63  
Old Posted Oct 23, 2018, 8:38 PM
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Most restaurants here want to fill that table as many times as possible, people lingering and slow service is bad for business.
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  #64  
Old Posted Oct 23, 2018, 8:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Taeolas View Post
Quebec really surprised me this past summer. I was in Sherbrook/Waterville area for a funeral, and went to the mall on a Wednesday evening, and was shocked to discover they were closing around 6pm I think (maybe 5pm). Even New Brunswick has had 9-9 Weekday (and Saturday) retail for most of its major malls for years now; so I was expecting something similar when I was in la belle province.

A few years before that, I was in Scotland (for a different funeral), and in Edinburgh, it did feel like things closed up relatively early, but there still felt like a lot of stuff going on in the evenings as well. (Granted I was in walking distance of a cinema and casino complex which were open later evenings). The smaller shops tended to have 9-5 hours, but the bigger places tended to be open hours I was used to (9-9 type hours).

So in that respect, I think I found Edinburgh more familiar convenience wise than Quebec was.
In Australia the late night shopping is on Thursday, malls stay open till 9 pm. I was at a mall on a friday and everything was closing up at 5 pm. Some of the downtown stores had stayed open till 9 on the high streets but not all, just the dept stores and grocery stores really. There was a mall in Melbourne which was open till 9 pm on a saturday but about 1/3 of the stores, most of the ones I wanted to check out had closed at 6 pm, it was kinda weird that the mall lets them close early.
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  #65  
Old Posted Oct 23, 2018, 8:46 PM
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Most restaurants here want to fill that table as many times as possible, people lingering and slow service is bad for business.
I am with d_jeffrey when it comes to dining. If it's a reasonably nice place I don't want to be rushed unless *I* tell the server I am in a rush. No dine and dash for me.
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  #66  
Old Posted Oct 23, 2018, 9:01 PM
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If I had my way, no store would close before 11pm. It's a hastle to rush to get to a store that's closing after work if you want to travel at a relaxed pace.
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  #67  
Old Posted Oct 23, 2018, 9:02 PM
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Originally Posted by Acajack View Post
I am with d_jeffrey when it comes to dining. If it's a reasonably nice place I don't want to be rushed unless *I* tell the server I am in a rush. No dine and dash for me.

The meal should be slow, but I don't want to be left waiting around for 20 minutes before they so much as bring me water & a menu. That's not pleasant & relaxed, it's just slow service.
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  #68  
Old Posted Oct 23, 2018, 9:02 PM
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One inconvenience about some of the other provinces I've lived in... buying beer. Canada's liquor laws are a bit pearl-clutching.

In Nova Scotia I remember usually having to go to a government-run store. In Ontario I remember having to go to a literal Beer Store. In Manitoba I often had to go behind a hotel? In any event, it always invovled a drive and a special store that didn't really sell anything else.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, you can buy singles and 6/12-beer cases basically anywhere that has a cash register - groceries, superettes, gas stations, etc. We still have government-run stores, usually attached to groceries, and that's where you go if you want anything good... but anywhere can sell locally-brewed beer. That's mostly the local branding for the normal Canadian macros (here they're Dominion, India, Jockey Club, Blue Star, and Blackhorse - but I'm sure the actual recipes used are the same as Coors, Canadian, etc.



Some places will sell super-local macro (Quidi Vidi) and craft (Storm, etc.) beers but for the most part the Labatt/Molson local brands are all you can get without going to a grocery. But still, that's convenient if you just want a 6-pack on a Tuesday night.

*****

And on the flip-side, something inconvenient about here... bureaucracy. It was a life-changing experience when I moved to Manitoba and had to register my car, get a driver's license, and insurance. I was coming from Ontario at the time. I stopped in Beausejour, Manitoba and saw an AUTOPAC or whatever sign on some store (one of four such stores in the little town of a few thousand). I went in, a few minutes of paper work, and I had all three things. And my monthly bill was about 1/2 of what I had been paying in Ontario, and like 1/4 of what I was paying in Newfoundland. 10-15 minutes and I was DONE.

Meanwhile, here... it's three separate stops, and if you mess anything up it could be more than once visiting each of those three. "You can't get X without Y.", "We can't give you Y without X." Etc. And there's is ONE SINGLE DMV for the entire Avalon Peninsula - 250,000 people. One office. Manitoba had four in a town of a few thousand.

That's the most offensive, over-the-top example, but just about everything works better on the mainland than it does here. Getting my parking permit for my downtown residence, for example. Always takes at least a couple of business-hours trips to City Hall.
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  #69  
Old Posted Oct 23, 2018, 9:06 PM
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Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin View Post
The meal should be slow, but I don't want to be left waiting around for 20 minutes before they so much as bring me water & a menu. That's not pleasant & relaxed, it's just slow service.
Agreed, but I don't think that's what we were talking about.
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  #70  
Old Posted Oct 23, 2018, 9:08 PM
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Originally Posted by Acajack View Post
I am with d_jeffrey when it comes to dining. If it's a reasonably nice place I don't want to be rushed unless *I* tell the server I am in a rush. No dine and dash for me.
Something that drives me up the wall is a new ramen place we have in Ottawa.

It only seats maybe 20 people and there's constantly a line out the door waiting to get in. The entire point of ramen is to get seated, eat as quickly as possible, and then leave ASAP so that you're not taking up space for people waiting.

Despite this it never ceases to amaze me how people can sit at a table for 20+ minutes with a bill as people are getting rained-on outside the door within sight of their table. Serve staff need to be quicker in cycling people in and out.
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  #71  
Old Posted Oct 23, 2018, 10:58 PM
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Speaking of convenience, here's a 2.5 minute long video explaining how to navigate the bureaucratic requirements necessary to drive from Hong Kong to Macao over a bridge:

Video Link
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  #72  
Old Posted Oct 23, 2018, 11:15 PM
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Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker View Post
One inconvenience about some of the other provinces I've lived in... buying beer. Canada's liquor laws are a bit pearl-clutching.

...
Canadian provinces vary and have restrictions in ridiculous ways, yet I find that most people relish the power of the provinces, and the result is incongruity.

In Vancouver you can buy any normal alcohol at a private liquor store until 11PM, 7 days a week. The hours in govt. stores vary from 11PM, and some close at 9PM, 6 on Sunday. It wasn't always that way, liquor stores used to be closed on Sundays.

Most restaurants here don't rush you, except for the super trendy ones which typically have line ups waiting, and I find that you just pay extra for the slow service in a high end restaurant.
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  #73  
Old Posted Oct 23, 2018, 11:16 PM
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In Vancouver you can buy any normal alcohol at a private liquor store until 11PM, 7 days a week. The hours in govt. stores vary from 11PM, and some close at 9PM, 6 on Sunday. It wasn't always that way, liquor stores used to be closed on Sundays.

Most restaurants here don't rush you, except for the super trendy ones which typically have line ups waiting, and I find that you just pay extra for the slow service in a high end restaurant.
I don't know when they stop selling here (I assume 3 a.m. maybe, when the bars close?), but they cannot sell before 9 a.m.
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  #74  
Old Posted Oct 23, 2018, 11:41 PM
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Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker View Post
I don't know when they stop selling here (I assume 3 a.m. maybe, when the bars close?), but they cannot sell before 9 a.m.
3AM seems a bit late for many reasons, however I noticed, touring around NL a couple of years ago that in towns too small for a govt. store, there was typically a liquor store located inside a gas station, or small town grocery stores. I was told that this was a convenience that existed only in the small towns. How does that work in the rest of Canada?
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  #75  
Old Posted Oct 23, 2018, 11:49 PM
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Originally Posted by Architype View Post
3AM seems a bit late for many reasons, however I noticed, touring around NL a couple of years ago that in towns too small for a govt. store, there was typically a liquor store located inside a gas station, or small town grocery stores. I was told that this was a convenience that existed only in the small towns. How does that work in the rest of Canada?
That is the same as small town rural BC. For example in Little Fort the gas station is also a liquor store.
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  #76  
Old Posted Oct 24, 2018, 12:01 AM
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Originally Posted by Architype View Post
3AM seems a bit late for many reasons, however I noticed, touring around NL a couple of years ago that in towns too small for a govt. store, there was typically a liquor store located inside a gas station, or small town grocery stores. I was told that this was a convenience that existed only in the small towns. How does that work in the rest of Canada?
Same in Ontario. Many small town general stores have LCBO and or beer store outlet.
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  #77  
Old Posted Oct 24, 2018, 1:02 AM
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Agreed, but I don't think that's what we were talking about.
That was what I was talking about in my original post.

Anyway, I don't find Montreal any slower than Toronto in terms of service. I don't find the US to be any better, either. Just more talkative with the expectation of a higher tip.

Regardless of whether you're in Toronto or Montreal, if you want to stick around at a table for 4 hours, you do the same thing: keep ordering food or drinks. I don't think a busy restaurant in either city would be too pleased if a group at a table hangs around for hours after finishing without ordering anything.
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  #78  
Old Posted Oct 24, 2018, 4:44 AM
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Originally Posted by lio45 View Post
??? What "mall" was that? Hours in Quebec are nearly universally 8-21 M-F and 9-17 Sat-Sun.

Unless you're talking specialized shop or mom & pop store. Those may be closed on weeknights and weekends.
Wasn't Quebec one of the first places in Canada to have late shopping hours and Sunday shopping? This is a very old data point, but when I moved to Ontario in 1988, I was shocked that even Toronto stores typically closed evenings M-W and on Sunday (even grocery stores were closed). The subway didn't open until some ridiculous time like 7 AM on Sat and 9 AM on Sun. I visited friends in Montreal and distinctly remember the newly opened Place Montreal Trust and most of Ste-Catherine being open late and on Sunday.

Alberta gained Sunday shopping in 1981 when West Edmomt Mall opened. Its violation of provincial laws proved so popular that the laws soon changed. WEM would open illegally on Sundays and even financially penalized store operators who failed to open.
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  #79  
Old Posted Oct 24, 2018, 10:48 AM
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Originally Posted by acottawa View Post
Same in Ontario. Many small town general stores have LCBO and or beer store outlet.
Same - only difference here anywhere can sell beer, so these small town general stores and gas stations are also selling wine, spirits, etc.
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  #80  
Old Posted Oct 24, 2018, 12:10 PM
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Originally Posted by Doug View Post
Wasn't Quebec one of the first places in Canada to have late shopping hours and Sunday shopping? This is a very old data point, but when I moved to Ontario in 1988, I was shocked that even Toronto stores typically closed evenings M-W and on Sunday (even grocery stores were closed). The subway didn't open until some ridiculous time like 7 AM on Sat and 9 AM on Sun. I visited friends in Montreal and distinctly remember the newly opened Place Montreal Trust and most of Ste-Catherine being open late and on Sunday.

Alberta gained Sunday shopping in 1981 when West Edmomt Mall opened. Its violation of provincial laws proved so popular that the laws soon changed. WEM would open illegally on Sundays and even financially penalized store operators who failed to open.
Store hours are a provincial law in Québec, exceptions are DT Montréal areas, hence why some malls are open later.
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