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General Food & Dining Thread

Gronk! said:
www.edmontondowntown.com

Cheap Eats That Won't Break The Bank - Edmonton Downtown

Looking for a cheap lunch under $15? There's something for everyone from tandoori chicken to bottomless noodles
www.edmontondowntown.com
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Bunch of my favourites on that list. CQ Noodles is great if you like spice. Rocky Mountain Ice House is one of the few places that keeps its patio open outside of summer. A&G Burgers is basically an off-brand Burger Baron and run by a rather wonderful family. I got hooked on Filistix when they were just a little food trailer in the main quad of U of A. Misoya might be a chain, but given their origins in Japan, they seem to do a pretty decent job of actually replicating Japanese ramen in Edmonton (though no one really seems to do the sorts of thick, buttery textured chashu I would get over there).
 
Airboy said:
Heard this weekend that L'oco in Sherwood Park is hemorrhaging money and has slowed their expansion to St Albert. But 142 st is still going forward but without the restaurant.
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Interesting. Any more details on why? Slow sales? Overly bullish on high end items/appeal? A certain part of the business not working?
 
thommyjo said:
Interesting. Any more details on why? Slow sales? Overly bullish on high end items/appeal? A certain part of the business not working?
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I'm not very surprised honestly. It's a great concept, but being located in Sherwood Park (or any of the communities surrounding the city) is the wrong location for this in my opinion. Having grown up in Sherwood Park, it's a different kind of wealthy people than Glenora or the other wealthy parts of the city. The people who live in Sherwood Park are willing to pay a lot of money for things like big trucks or bigger houses, but I wouldn't say in my experience they are the type to pay more for a higher quality grocery product. Most people I know in Sherwood Park value getting a good deal on staples like clothes and food. That's how they end up in Sherwood Park where you can get your 4-bedroom house with a garage in a cul-de-sac for less than it would cost in a fancier neighbourhood in the city. They're more Costco or Superstore shoppers than people looking for these kinds of specific high-end products. I could be wrong, but when I visited I definitely thought it was a great concept in the wrong location.
 
Yeah, I work with a lot of Sherwood Park people. 80% are blue collar suburbanites that hate cities, and city things. Trying to drag one of them to somewhere like Bar Bricco would get me called slurs.
 
Yup, they should switch spots :)
Freeson Brothers has a subpar cheese and deli meats selection imo and focused on meat. That would have worked better in Sherwood park and as a fancy big city boy I want my French cheese and prosciutto di Parma!
 
What I heard from my kid who works at Pyro since it opened said the contrary. Pyro is killing it and has actually exceeded their expectations. Oro - the fancy Italian joint is underachieving and they have started a "lunch" program there when there was none. Additionally they have tried on some nights to turn it into a Cactus Club'esque night club on weekends. They have also parted ways with their celebrity chef who was overpaid and did nothing apparently - Top Chef Canada guy.

142 St never had a restaurant in its plans from day 1.....but she's heard St.Albert is still going with their restaurants.....
 
I have been to bot
MacLac said:
What I heard from my kid who works at Pyro since it opened said the contrary. Pyro is killing it and has actually exceeded their expectations. Oro - the fancy Italian joint is underachieving and they have started a "lunch" program there when there was none. Additionally they have tried on some nights to turn it into a Cactus Club'esque night club on weekends. They have also parted ways with their celebrity chef who was overpaid and did nothing apparently - Top Chef Canada guy.

142 St never had a restaurant in its plans from day 1.....but she's heard St.Albert is still going with their restaurants.....
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h Oro and Pyro. And can see Pyro working. it was full. Oro was higher end dining and may not be what was needed. The concept would have done better in St Albert first.The grocery store was ok but not spectacular.
 
Airboy said:
Heard this weekend that L'oco in Sherwood Park is hemorrhaging money and has slowed their expansion to St Albert. But 142 st is still going forward but without the restaurant.
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Also hard to compete as people might be more loyal to Italian centre shop?
 
Airboy said:
Heard this weekend that L'oco in Sherwood Park is hemorrhaging money and has slowed their expansion to St Albert. But 142 st is still going forward but without the restaurant.
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A shame, but it was certainly ambitious and reminded me of other ventures that tried to do too much, with too high-end of an offering that had HUGE costs and challenged a very cost conscious world these days for products such as that. Remember with Sobeys 104st had fresh lobster, 4 red seal chefs and 9 mushroom varieties... along with an oyster bar.
 
Urban Fare was to high concept but the ones I hit in Van after they closed here were somewhat more conservative. It may have worked here if they tried that approach. I believe there is a market for that here. Not in Sherwood park.
St Alberta has Mercato so I cannot see Loco cutting into the market there yet. Still to small of population. But we could use a Frenson
 
YegMark said:
I'm not very surprised honestly. It's a great concept, but being located in Sherwood Park (or any of the communities surrounding the city) is the wrong location for this in my opinion. Having grown up in Sherwood Park, it's a different kind of wealthy people than Glenora or the other wealthy parts of the city. The people who live in Sherwood Park are willing to pay a lot of money for things like big trucks or bigger houses, but I wouldn't say in my experience they are the type to pay more for a higher quality grocery product. Most people I know in Sherwood Park value getting a good deal on staples like clothes and food. That's how they end up in Sherwood Park where you can get your 4-bedroom house with a garage in a cul-de-sac for less than it would cost in a fancier neighbourhood in the city. They're more Costco or Superstore shoppers than people looking for these kinds of specific high-end products. I could be wrong, but when I visited I definitely thought it was a great concept in the wrong location.
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I am a bit wary of generalizations, but I think this is mostly correct. It is the wrong market for this.

I think the initial mistake some often make is focusing to much on income levels, then making assumptions from this about demand for upscale things, rather than trying to understand the community better. .
 
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