So goodbye Lido Cafe where the dogs of Sunnyside howl
You can't plant me in your condo
I'm going back to my plough
Back to the howling old owl in the woods
Hunting the horny back toad
Oh, I've finally decided my future lies
Beyond the Kensington Road
That's what I think, too. Kensington is a great place to go, but it could be so much more. There really is a severe lack of good restaurants and a defining cultural institution in there - an new, intimate performance hall (seating for 500 or so) for local bands and other acts would be amazing in that area. Same with a jazz bar.
I don't disagree with the sentiment but do disagree with the lack of good restaurants comment. There's a pretty solid variety and I don't know where you'd find a better selection other than beltline. Vero is an awesome spot that rivals some of the best in the city for quality, though it's tiny. Chef's Table at Riverside Inn and Muse on 10A st. are also good to great in the high-end band.
Then at the middle range you have the Brasserie, which is a favourite of mine personally, as well as Pulcinella, which I rank with WOP and UNA, perhaps slightly below but still very good pizza. Ethnic cuisine wise there's a decent vietnamese place and two decent sushi places plus globefish on 14th.
Lower down there are a couple of decent pub options; yardhouse and bottlehouse aren't bad. I haven't been in the new OJ's there but it looks nice enough inside. And there's always Molly's and the place next to it with the pool tables, not as big a fan but they're additional options. And I probably shouldn't reveal this but the shwarma place next to KWM is one of my favourites in the city. Couple of great coffee shops in roasterie and higher ground.
So I actually think there's a decent array of restaurants. The one thing I think is wasted is Julio's. It has its place but the food is really bad and it just happens to be taking up an absolutely primo location there, which just feels wasted on a joint whose only real virtue is their bulldog gimmick.
Last edited by 19Yzerman19; 04-17-2014 at 04:51 PM.
So goodbye Lido Cafe where the dogs of Sunnyside howl
You can't plant me in your condo
I'm going back to my plough
Back to the howling old owl in the woods
Hunting the horny back toad
Oh, I've finally decided my future lies
Beyond the Kensington Road
That's what I think, too. Kensington is a great place to go, but it could be so much more. There really is a severe lack of good restaurants and a defining cultural institution in there - an new, intimate performance hall (seating for 500 or so) for local bands and other acts would be amazing in that area. Same with a jazz bar.
Don't hold your breath guys. I was talking to a local business owner that leases in the block between Osteria and Carpenters Hall about the rumoured development. They said "rent is already as high as we can afford" and if it redevelops their only chance of staying is "negotiating lower than market rent because of the value of the business to the community".
Gentrification all at once isn't always a good thing. Trendy districts thrive from low rent in run down buildings allowing small business owners an affordable place to open shop. There is nothing wrong with smart redevelopment but be careful what you wish for.
It'll be a sad day when Lido, Osteria, Carpenters, Tandori and anything else in the queue are all brand new mixed used buildings and The Roasterie becomes a Starbucks, Ridley's becomes a Sport Chek, Vero becomes a Moxies and the candy store becomes a 7-11.
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It'll be a sad day when Lido, Osteria, Carpenters, Tandori and anything else in the queue are all brand new mixed used buildings and The Roasterie becomes a Starbucks, Ridley's becomes a Sport Chek, Vero becomes a Moxies and the candy store becomes a 7-11.
Don't forget Subway, Shoppers Drug Mart, Tim Hortons, TD Bank, Jugo Juice, a new old "Irish" pub, a faceless liquor store, an upscale wine store, and another bank.
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How do you guys think that new spin studio will do?
I really hate to use the parking excuse I think there's plenty in area (you just have to pay for it), but for that demographic it could be the reason that kills it. Then again, the Real Housewives of Hillhurst demographic they should be targetting for the daytime should easily be able to afford $2 for parking.
I was talking to a local business owner there, and will second the notion that the greedy landlords in the area are asking for astronomical rent, grinding out most of the independant merchants. The three unit BMO monstrosity goes for an eye watering amount. That said, there is a ton of commercial leasing going on as they try and lock up existing retailers in some of these new buildings about to come on line...
Last edited by I-Hate-Hulse; 04-18-2014 at 02:47 PM.
Don't hold your breath guys. I was talking to a local business owner that leases in the block between Osteria and Carpenters Hall about the rumoured development. They said "rent is already as high as we can afford" and if it redevelops their only chance of staying is "negotiating lower than market rent because of the value of the business to the community".
Gentrification all at once isn't always a good thing. Trendy districts thrive from low rent in run down buildings allowing small business owners an affordable place to open shop. There is nothing wrong with smart redevelopment but be careful what you wish for.
It'll be a sad day when Lido, Osteria, Carpenters, Tandori and anything else in the queue are all brand new mixed used buildings and The Roasterie becomes a Starbucks, Ridley's becomes a Sport Chek, Vero becomes a Moxies and the candy store becomes a 7-11.
Kensington and other inner city communities need more density. In older cities like New York or Chicago you can have cheap trendy areas that are vibrant and have a lot going on. With Calgary just starting to build more density its a problem because nobody is going to build new dense developments on the cheap. Nobody is going to buy land in Kensington and not build a baller top of the dollar range development. If Kensington already had rows of brownstones and walk-ups that were 100-200 years old with businesses on the ground floor it would be fine. But now you have all this wasted space because everything is single level. So now we finally start to build but its going to price a lot of people out of the market and I agree that sucks but there is no way around it. None.
My dad used to take me there on weekends when we lived in Sunnyside. We always used to go in through the back door, I felt like a big wheel when we did that. Although I haven't been there in a million years I'll miss seeing it.
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We may curse our bad luck that it's sounds like its; who's sounds like whose; they're sounds like their (and there); and you're sounds like your. But if we are grown-ups who have been through full-time education, we have no excuse for muddling them up.
We do breakfast too, which is really popular. They have the choice of bacon, sausage or ham, and it comes with two eggs with hashbrowns and toast. It [has cost] $6.38 for over 10 years — we try to keep the price really low to keep the customer happy. We also have a big breakfast that’s sausage, ham, bacon and three eggs with hashbrowns and toast, and that one only sells for $9.95.
