Alberta Beef has apparently done an amazing job of marketing in Alberta. People blindly believe our beef is superior, but basically no one elsewhere in the world shares that belief.
By biggest issue with Alberta Beef, and actually Canadian beef as a whole, is the lack of a good grading system. What can be considered top tier here is crap compared to something like a USDA prime.
There's nothing wrong with Alberta beef, but lacking that real top notch cut is what I hate. Buy a prime or AAA cut here and sometimes it's great, then other times it's crap. Any chef worth their salt knows consistency is key and Canadian beef lacks it.
Honestly believe this is a test by Earls's so see how sensitive they are to the impacts of higher minimum wage in Alberta.
Yeah I think this is it.
Wage costs are going up 30%+. This lets them count money their customers were already paying and their staff was getting anyway.
Don't know if it's exactly the right solution or if it will succeed but I think it's at least worth trying. As a consumer I'd rather this than higher prices or reduced staff.
By biggest issue with Alberta Beef, and actually Canadian beef as a whole, is the lack of a good grading system. What can be considered top tier here is crap compared to something like a USDA prime.
There's nothing wrong with Alberta beef, but lacking that real top notch cut is what I hate. Buy a prime or AAA cut here and sometimes it's great, then other times it's crap. Any chef worth their salt knows consistency is key and Canadian beef lacks it.
It's true. I'm a butcher and sometimes we get stuff labeled AA or AAA and it's got barely any marbling in it.
Combine this with the obscene amount of exterior fat that comes on some of these cuts, the hacking and slashing that happens and all the purge (when blood comes out of the meat). We pay for everything by the weight so when you get cuts like that It's nearly impossible to turn a profit.
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On the subject of their beef, what's interesting from a quality perspective is that before their marketing shot themselves in the foot with all the humane nonsense, they were making pretty good moves when it came to their beef. Earls recognized the lack of that top tier grade, so they kind of made one themselves. About 12 or so years ago they worked out a deal with their supplier, which was Certified Angus Beef (, a US brand), to have their own guy come in and select which cuts went out to their restaurants. They claim that what they were selecting was just the top 2% of AAA. How much of that is marketing, I don't know, but you did notice the difference in quality and consistency. This actually annoyed me when I had my restaurant, when I was trying to lock down a good beef supplier I did use CAB for a while, but was basically fighting over Earls' scraps along with Moxies and a bunch of smaller businesses. But that's a story for a different day.
Nowadays, they use a completely different supplier. I've only tried it twice since, but the quality just isn't there anymore. My best guess is they burned their bridge with CAB and are now stuck receiving any old AAA beef that comes in. But hey, as long as it's humane, right? So now, not only is their beef a much lower quality than the US stuff they were getting, it's also lower than the Alberta beef they were receiving before all that happened. Smooth move Earls.
A little off topic, but for their sake, hopefully their mandatory tipping experiment works out for them a lot more than the humane beef fiasco
I would assume going to a standard 16% would actually hurt the servers. I generally tip more than that for good service and I'd imagine a lot of people do. I would imagine the amount of people that would now be tipping 16% wouldn't make up for the loss of people who already tipped more. Also, as someone said, if Earl's is administering this, these servers are now going to get taxed on 100% of their tips. I would assume Earl's will need to add it to their T4s.
I would assume going to a standard 16% would actually hurt the servers. I generally tip more than that for good service and I'd imagine a lot of people do. I would imagine the amount of people that would now be tipping 16% wouldn't make up for the loss of people who already tipped more. Also, as someone said, if Earl's is administering this, these servers are now going to get taxed on 100% of their tips. I would assume Earl's will need to add it to their T4s.
If you are generally providing more than 16% now would you pay the mandatory 16% plus leave a few extra bucks?
Aside from the tax aspect, which will probably be pretty significant, I think that the amount of tips paid won't really decrease because customers will still pitch in a few extra bucks for exceptional service.
If you are generally providing more than 16% now would you pay the mandatory 16% plus leave a few extra bucks?
Aside from the tax aspect, which will probably be pretty significant, I think that the amount of tips paid won't really decrease because customers will still pitch in a few extra bucks for exceptional service.
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Alberta Beef has apparently done an amazing job of marketing in Alberta. People blindly believe our beef is superior, but basically no one elsewhere in the world shares that belief.
I disagree. I don't exactly go for $50 steaks, but for most things I've had at your Earls-level restaurants around the US and London, I'd take Canadian beef almost every time.
I disagree. I don't exactly go for $50 steaks, but for most things I've had at your Earls-level restaurants around the US and London, I'd take Canadian beef almost every time.
I agree, at that level Canadian beef wins. But in Canada there's really no point in going for a really high-end steak because of the consistency. In the U.S. it's a lot more worth it to go to a high-end steakhouse because you're guaranteed it will be of outstanding quality.
In Canada, I've never found any sort of difference between mid-level and high-end steak to the point where I've stopped going out for steak in Canada. It's just not worth it.
Fun fact, Earl's is the majority owner of both Cactus Club Cafe and Joeys
This is actually pretty shocking. Cactus Club is by far superior to both those restaurants so it has to be a matter of time before they just turn them all into Cactus club restaurants.
I dont think this is a coincidence that it occured at the start of stampede.
Its a brand new (effectively) restaurant. This is the policy from the get go. Location @ Bankers has been closed a year for renos and is opening as a new location.
So yes, they rushed to get the restaurant open for Stampede, Calgary's busiest time.
, a US brand), to have their own guy come in and select which cuts went out to their restaurants. They claim that what they were selecting was just the top 2% of AAA. How much of that is marketing, I don't know, but you did notice the difference in quality and consistency. This actually annoyed me when I had my restaurant, when I was trying to lock down a good beef supplier I did use CAB for a while, but was basically fighting over Earls' scraps along with Moxies and a bunch of smaller businesses. But that's a story for a different day.
So now, not only is their beef a much lower quality than the US stuff they were getting, it's also lower than the Alberta beef they were receiving before all that happened. Smooth move Earls.
