Calgary Food, coffee, etc.

[MalcolmTucker]

From my limited and now dated experience in commercial leasing, other restaurants like A&W are pretty aggressive about securing spots and 'burger exclusivity' in food courts.

I do remember there being a McD in Marketmall in the past decade however.

[Vascilli]

Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker

From my limited and now dated experience in commercial leasing, other restaurants like A&W are pretty aggressive about securing spots and 'burger exclusivity' in food courts.

I do remember there being a McD in Marketmall in the past decade however.

Hmm that does bring back some vague memories. (Also of a pretzel place in the same mall.)

[Jimby]

39 McDonald's in Calgary according to Urbanspoon!

[freeweed]

McDonald's outlets are rarely in food courts compared to most other fastfood/burger joints. I think it has something to do with how they franchise their locations (I remember reading about this 15 years ago or more). They just don't seem to care about food court space and prefer standalone drive-thrus combined with the Wal-Mart presence.

You used to be able to find the odd one in a food court but it's fairly rare now - I'm surprised to hear that Toronto has so many. Even in the US they're not very common from my experience, but I've only seen about 1/2 of the country so who knows.

It may depend on regional franchise agreements if you notice vast differences between cities. It's certainly not because they're unpopular anywhere.

[MichaelS]

Does West Edmonton Mall still have 3? I think they still have 2 for sure.

[bigcanuck]

Most mall food courts won't be open early enough to satisfy the McDonalds breakfast crowd.

[Bigtime]

I definitely remember the McD's in Market Mall, it was up in the corner next to Mrs. Vanelli's. I haven't been to the food court there in years, so not too sure what replaced it.

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

I definitely remember the McD's in Market Mall, it was up in the corner next to Mrs. Vanelli's. I haven't been to the food court there in years, so not too sure what replaced it.

I used to get free meals from that McD's, good times.

[tsumetai]

Yup, it was there when they still had McPizza and when Market Mall still had a movie theatre. I think I watched Disney Aladdin there.



Since this is a food tread I thought i'd offer three peices of opinion:

1) Went to Vero in Kensington on Tuesday. It was a charming little spot with good food but a little pricey. I definitely feel Kensington has the potential to expand into a mini 17-th ave if they continue to expand westward towards Crowchild. To me, Kensington seems to have developed at a snails pace compared to say Stephen Ave. I especially like Higher Ground and Pulcinella's in that area.

2) Went to the (new) Farmers Market. Haven't been there since it was at Currie Barracks. Pretty nice place.

3) I wish food courts had different options other than the same franchised chain outlets. Every food court is the same and it gets boring really quick. Maybe it's the leasing structure of malls that prevents independents from opening shop...but i can only tolerate so much Opa, Arby's, token chinese/japanese fast food place, token sub place, every time i go to the mall. I wish typical mall food was more like the Farmer Market's food court.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by tsumetai

i can only tolerate so much Opa, Arby's, token chinese/japanese fast food place, token sub place

Oh pish posh, there's also an A&W and a Taco Time at every food court. Plenty of choice!

I kid, I've gone on this exact same rant in this exact thread. There are some interesting choices popping up lately however - The Core has one or two places that seem unique (at least in my experience). Rusty has mentioned a few others that I wasn't aware of or just skipped my attention.

[tsumetai]

Originally Posted by freeweed

Oh pish posh, there's also an A&W and a Taco Time at every food court. Plenty of choice!

I kid, I've gone on this exact same rant in this exact thread. There are some interesting choices popping up lately however - The Core has one or two places that seem unique (at least in my experience). Rusty has mentioned a few others that I wasn't aware of or just skipped my attention.

I agree, CORE does have some interesting variety & that food court is definitely always packed.

The +15 in general has alot of independent food choices as well but food quality and choice was extremely random.

There was a time one winter, when I was new to dt Calgary, where I just randomly walked in the +15's to try different lunchtime fare. Lately I've been making the walk to ~10th ave area to explore lunch opportunities.

[DizzyEdge]

My fave food court stops are Villa Medina and Thai Express, although for Villa Medina try the one in Marlborough mall vs the Core for better value.

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by tsumetai

Yup, it was there when they still had McPizza and when Market Mall still had a movie theatre. I think I watched Disney Aladdin there.



Since this is a food tread I thought i'd offer three peices of opinion:

1) Went to Vero in Kensington on Tuesday. It was a charming little spot with good food but a little pricey. I definitely feel Kensington has the potential to expand into a mini 17-th ave if they continue to expand westward towards Crowchild. To me, Kensington seems to have developed at a snails pace compared to say Stephen Ave. I especially like Higher Ground and Pulcinella's in that area.

2) Went to the (new) Farmers Market. Haven't been there since it was at Currie Barracks. Pretty nice place.

3) I wish food courts had different options other than the same franchised chain outlets. Every food court is the same and it gets boring really quick. Maybe it's the leasing structure of malls that prevents independents from opening shop...but i can only tolerate so much Opa, Arby's, token chinese/japanese fast food place, token sub place, every time i go to the mall. I wish typical mall food was more like the Farmer Market's food court.

The malls tend to favour chains and shun independents. Case in point, back when it was still called Eaton's Center, there was a small place that served Philly Cheesesteaks. Awesome Philly Cheesesteaks. They lost their lease when the food court was renovated because they weren't part of a franchise.

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by Ramsayfarian

The malls tend to favour chains and shun independents. Case in point, back when it was still called Eaton's Center, there was a small place that served Philly Cheesesteaks. Awesome Philly Cheesesteaks. They lost their lease when the food court was renovated because they weren't part of a franchise.

I LOVED that cheesesteak place and the Touch of Ginger next to it! But I also recall that the food court was otherwise pretty spare. Lots more choice now- and with Thai Express, Sukiyaki (for the shrimp wonton soup, an amazing bowl of food) and Koryo I can't say it's worse now- there's also a new Froshberg Gelato that is (so far) excellent.

tsunmetai- best coffee in Kensington is at The House. Head barista is a serious coffee geek; they serve top-shelf Fratello there and it's actually amazing. Higher Ground serves industrial park shit (Canterbury, which is to coffee what, say, Labatt's is to beer), BUT I had a nice convo with a Fratello sales rep who used to run the too-short-lived 9 Bar coffee kiosk on the LRT platform in front of Quincy's, and he's leaning hard on the owner of Higher Ground to up his coffee program (finally), and one thing they're going to try is a pourover bar like what they have at the Calgary Farmers' Market. We'll see how the crowds used to Higher Ground's gas station quality coffee take to it.

Even with The House, which some people can't support as it's owned by and supports Alliance Church (I've ceased to have a problem with it) and to a lesser extent the efforts they're making to improve the coffee (also served by Fratello) at Red Bush across the street, Kensington is sorely lacking in a really good coffee place. And no, Vendome is not there- at all. What's tragic is that the folks who own Insomnia were looking hard at opening their second location at what's now the BMO. That would have been so amazing for Kensington and they ended up with a damn bank.

[Jimby]

I wonder why Hy's never came back to town. I thought they were going to open up in Jamieson Place.

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by Jimby

I wonder why Hy's never came back to town. I thought they were going to open up in Jamieson Place.

They sorta did- Hy's owns Ki Modern Japanese.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by Rusty van Reddick

They sorta did- Hy's owns Ki Modern Japanese.

That place is really good, though it's hella expensive!

I thought the Keg owned Ki for some reason.

[Jimby]

I think Wax is Wurst's ad agency. Funny!



Wurst by LUMIN8, on Flickr

[Innersoul1]

Just found out the Pegasus has reopened in Marda Loop. Honestly was pretty sad when it closed it's location at 12th ave and 14th St. SW. I like traditional Greek food and loath the influx of white-tablecloth Greek a la Broken Plate.

Guess it has opened in Marda Loop 16th Street and 48th Ave when the Alexis Bistro used to be. Will have to check it out.

[kw5150]

I have recently re-discovered the Bear and Kilt for good pub food. Always have a good pub night there.