Gronk!
Senior Member
My first stop at Downtown Dining Week. I enjoyed the breakfast sammich and cappuccino from Sharon Yeo's favorite eatery, Rosewood.
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General Food & Dining Thread
- Thread starter Daveography
- Start date
Gronk!
Senior Member
My Downtown Dining Week adventure continued at Dorinku Osaka. Good eats (especially the chicken karaage and the shaka shaka fries), nice staff, and lovely decor. The only blemish was the hot sake, which should have been served hot instead of warm.
MacLac
Senior Member
Curious that PCL has only started working on this as I’ve been told yet Ellis Don has the rest of the resorts’ expansion. Might be able to post some sneak peek pics before hand.Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen, set to be the first in Canada, will now open at the River Cree Resort and Casino in Summer 2026, a slight pushback from its initial goal of an early 2026 opening announced last June.
Canada's first Hell's Kitchen location near Edmonton pushes its opening date | Food & Drink
Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen will be opening at the River Cree Resort and Casino, and it's now slated to welcome customers in Summer 2026.dailyhive.com
Wonder how many millions the band paid Ramsay for this…..I know a ton of YYC’ers are losing their mind that we’re getting one before them, my response, “the ‘Tina’s just haven’t offered as much money as Enoch’s have.”
constance_chlore
Senior Member
Dining Week impressions so far:
The Common—I got the mushroom ragu and my friend got the pulled pork. I enjoyed all three courses, but it felt a little meager for $35.
Eleven Eleven—a soup/salad and personal pizza for $15 is a steal. The pizza was better than I was expecting for what's essentially a sports bar.
Bar Oro—you get a cookie/cream puff, a non-alcoholic drink, and a pizza/pinsa. The cookie (a large macaron) and drink (a latte) were phenomenal as always. The pinsa was fine. I got the boscaiola and it had a bit too much of a fake truffle sort of aroma for me to fully enjoy. Also, the total cost of my items at their normal prices was less than the Dining Week price, which I only realized after the fact!
The Common—I got the mushroom ragu and my friend got the pulled pork. I enjoyed all three courses, but it felt a little meager for $35.
Eleven Eleven—a soup/salad and personal pizza for $15 is a steal. The pizza was better than I was expecting for what's essentially a sports bar.
Bar Oro—you get a cookie/cream puff, a non-alcoholic drink, and a pizza/pinsa. The cookie (a large macaron) and drink (a latte) were phenomenal as always. The pinsa was fine. I got the boscaiola and it had a bit too much of a fake truffle sort of aroma for me to fully enjoy. Also, the total cost of my items at their normal prices was less than the Dining Week price, which I only realized after the fact!
ADob
Active Member
Eleven Eleven has surprisingly good food. I honestly don't know why they went with the sticky-floor smoke-stained bar esthetic given the quality of their kitchen.
Greenspace
Senior Member
DTDW so far:
- Buok all-day $15 Bibimbap, pork mandu and kimchi. Hands down best bibimbap in the city. Highly recommended
.- Old Spaghetti Factory $15 3-course lunch is a DTDW must-do. Probably the best deal of the week, I go every year. Caesar salad and loaf of bread to start, manicotti main, and spumoni ice cream for desert! Plus you get to stare at the fake streetcar while you dine.
- Braven $25 2-course lunch. 3 different options for each. I had the potato soup starter and salmon with root vegetables for my main. My partner had the garden salad starter and the caesar chicken salad wrap with fries. All were very tasty. I would never pay full price for any of them but this was quite a deal. About a dozen tables on Saturday to take in the specials.
- Buok all-day $15 Bibimbap, pork mandu and kimchi. Hands down best bibimbap in the city. Highly recommended
.- Old Spaghetti Factory $15 3-course lunch is a DTDW must-do. Probably the best deal of the week, I go every year. Caesar salad and loaf of bread to start, manicotti main, and spumoni ice cream for desert! Plus you get to stare at the fake streetcar while you dine.
- Braven $25 2-course lunch. 3 different options for each. I had the potato soup starter and salmon with root vegetables for my main. My partner had the garden salad starter and the caesar chicken salad wrap with fries. All were very tasty. I would never pay full price for any of them but this was quite a deal. About a dozen tables on Saturday to take in the specials.
IanO
Superstar
'Also, the total cost of my items at their normal prices was less than the Dining Week price, which I only realized after the fact!'
I'd share that with the EDBA as that's a violation of the rules and certainly not in the spirit of things.
The WHOLE idea was off menu items and value deals to entice folks, not just putting a menu appy, main and can of pop or the like.
I'd share that with the EDBA as that's a violation of the rules and certainly not in the spirit of things.
The WHOLE idea was off menu items and value deals to entice folks, not just putting a menu appy, main and can of pop or the like.
davcocom
Active Member
I can confirm this. We were there for the Hockey Olympics finale, and the food was surprisingly good!
policyenthusiast
Senior Member
Seconding Old Spaghetti Factory. Their prices are super low, year round, including drinks. You can get a massive bellini, made double, for $7. Overflowing platter of mussels in a white wine gorgonzola sauce for $10.
Unfortunately with their footprint, traffic, and prices, don't be surprised when OSF doesn't exist anymore in 5 years.
policyenthusiast
Senior Member
Brilliant spreadsheet from Kory deGroot, showing all DTDW participants, if they accept DT gift cards, and the pricing of their offerings:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet..._cid=2264d75de5&gid=1077861592#gid=1077861592
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet..._cid=2264d75de5&gid=1077861592#gid=1077861592
MacLac
Senior Member
On the conta
On the contrary! OSF has been in that location for decades, at least since the 80’s or when I can remember going to Bones and The Creperie as a wee lad. Regardless, they are masters of controlling labor and food cost. They do not need Joey like sales to be profitable. As a side note, I did a small’ish part of my internship at UNLV opening the brand new OSF in Henderson, NV (Las Vegas) there their food cost in the late 90’s was a mere &1.05 on a dinner that retailed for $5.95. Sure they did over a 1000 covers a day but man oh man they ran the tightest restaurant ship that I’ve ever been a part of…..
David A
Senior Member
Yes, they have been there a long time. Some places have it figured out. It probably helps that they have been around for along time, so are known and seem to be able to accommodate both larger groups and smaller ones.
As well as decent prices and fairly prompt service, they also have hours that accommodate people eating later. I am sure over the years it is has become a go to place for many people visiting downtown.
Gronk!
Senior Member
The Keg should be taking notes from the Old Spaghetti Factory. After all, if OSF is able to make it work in a downtown historical building then why not The Keg?
David A
Senior Member
There are probably enough visitors to downtown Edmonton to also support something like the Keg, if they had a location close to Ice District. Gee I wonder if there are any historic buildings with space available nearby?
However, they are one of those chains that for whatever reason has seemed allergic to ever having a location in downtown Edmonton. I can't remember them ever having one.
Unfortunately, I don't think anyone staying in a hotel downtown is going to make the trek all the way to South Edmonton Common or 137 Ave to go to the Keg. Heck I suspect those of us who live here in more central areas wont.
degrandprix
Active Member
AFAIK it's pretty much the only sit-down place downtown where you can get a decent meal for less than $50/person. It was packed last time I was there and it wasn't a special event night or anything, I hope it sticks around!