Local Restaurant Thread

[Flabbibulin]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

We ordered Native Tongues today
Even delivered its outstanding

Little surprised they hold together given how much sauce is involved, but good to know.

Wasn't so impressed with Dragon's Lair for delivery- way too much grease and fat involved for it to sit that long

I had a recent experience with door dash in which our driver arrived at the restaurant for our pick up, found out it wasn't quite ready for another 5 minutes, so went and and made another pick up and delivery, all while his status was on "waiting at restaurant for pick up". Not sure how common a practice this is, but delivery time ended up being 90 minutes, twice as long as estimated.

[troutman]

Bridgette Roasted Chicken - Roasted Chicken Sausage, Dill Gravy.
Vegetarian Option - Pomegranate Glazed King Oyster Mushrooms
Potato Purée Carmelized Cauliflower - Salsa Verde, Breadcrumbs.Bridgette Garlic Bread
Salt & Vinegar Popcorn Caramel Pudding - Whipped Crème Fraiche & Biscotti Crunch.

Bridgette Bar menu this week was a hit for us, and a nice added touch - they provide a link to a curated playlist on Spotify to accompany your meal.

[troutman]

Brasserie is closing, but reopening soon with a new concept.

Hello friends,
Today is a big day for us! It is with mixed emotions that we announce Brasserie Kensington is closing its doors. The decision was not an easy one, but we were hungry for a change and felt you were too! So we will not be closing the doors for very long.
We are excited to pivot and offer Calgarians something truly different in Kensington! Get excited and stay tuned for more about our reopening with a refreshed look, new vibe, and fun menu. All we can say right now is expect the unexpected!
Saturday will be our final service as Brasserie Kensington. As an ode to an amazing ten years, we have some classic French dishes on this weekend’s takeout menu. We hope you will join in our excitement of new things to come and celebrating 10 years of great memories while you dine at home this weekend.
❤️ Cam + Jacq

- Facebook

[troutman]

The space formerly known as Abruzzo and Intenso, is now Yemeni Village:


https://www.yemenivillage.ca/?fbclid...7rz6jj3w4xINOs

[you&me]

Originally Posted by troutman

Brasserie is closing, but reopening soon with a new concept.


- Facebook

That's sad... I freakin' love Brasserie

I've never had Yemeni food, but I guess now's my chance!

[Flames0910]

Originally Posted by troutman

The space formerly known as Abruzzo and Intenso, is now Yemeni Village:


https://www.yemenivillage.ca/?fbclid...7rz6jj3w4xINOs

Hm. New ownership?
I always figured that place was a drug front

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by troutman

Brasserie is closing, but reopening soon with a new concept.


- Facebook

Sad, but excited for their next concept.

But what of Container Bar? I hope it stays.

[troutman]

Restaurants want fees capped on Skip the Dishes and other delivery apps

https://calgarysun.com/business/loca...box=1589936485

At Calgary’s Modern Steak, owner Stephen Deere said he has spent $72,000 on delivery fees since mid-March, money that otherwise could have been spent on advertising, recalling laid-off staff or buying new equipment.

According to a report released in February by Dalhousie University, Canadians ordered $1.5 billion worth of meals by using food delivery apps in 2019. The researchers said that because of COVID-19, they expect food delivery apps will generate well over $2.5 billion by the end of 2020.

[Calgary14]

I do feel bad for the locally owned restaurants that are charged 25-30% by Skip/Door Dash etc but not sure if government should get involved in that

[Boblobla]

Originally Posted by troutman

Restaurants want fees capped on Skip the Dishes and other delivery apps


https://calgarysun.com/business/loca...box=1589936485

While I agree it sucks that these delivery apps charge a lot for the service, there are piles of restaurants who I would love to call and order pick-up from but their websites are so freaking horrible or non-existent I am not able to.

A donair place I get skip from close to my house doesn't even answer their phone so I can order and go pick up. I have seen this with many other restaurants. They don't want to spend the money on the app but then also don't want to spend the money on any sort of reasonable website.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

While I agree it sucks that these delivery apps charge a lot for the service, there are piles of restaurants who I would love to call and order pick-up from but their websites are so freaking horrible or non-existent I am not able to.

A donair place I get skip from close to my house doesn't even answer their phone so I can order and go pick up. I have seen this with many other restaurants. They don't want to spend the money on the app but then also don't want to spend the money on any sort of reasonable website.

They don't even need to be good sites. Contact info, hours and a link to a PDF of your menu. Done.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

I do feel bad for the locally owned restaurants that are charged 25-30% by Skip/Door Dash etc but not sure if government should get involved in that

They can save their money and hire their own drivers, and make their website appealing, and advertise... But they won't. Just complain a service they choose to use is too expensive.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Weitz

They can save their money and hire their own drivers, and make their website appealing, and advertise... But they won't. Just complain a service they choose to use is too expensive.

Yeah my local, Blackbird Pub uses Skip I think.


This is a place that survives on locals during normal times. I can't believe that if they went to curb pick up they would see much a reduction in sales overall, and might actually see better margins.

[troutman]

Spicy Amigos reopening May 26th:

This Tuesday, May 26th we will be opening our doors once again to the public. Our restaurant hours will be from 12:00 PM to 7:00 PM from Monday to Saturday. The health and safety of our staff and customers is our priority, which is why we will maintain our restaurant clean and social distancing rules will be in place.

Come down and enjoy some of your favourite Mexican food.

@thespicyamigos on Facebook

[GGG]

Originally Posted by troutman

Restaurants want fees capped on Skip the Dishes and other delivery apps

https://calgarysun.com/business/loca...box=1589936485

Alternatively the article could read Canadian created company enables Calgary restaurant to earn $210,000 in revenue despite being closed for Covid.

I’d skip didn’t exist the restaurant is potentially worse off. They could have chosen to to a curbside pick up like Bridgette Bar but even then you are still paying for the web based point of sale and website development.

The existence of skip is positive for restaurants in this Covid time period. I’d skip increased fees during Covid then I would be in favour of regulation.

[Fire]

Originally Posted by Weitz

They can save their money and hire their own drivers, and make their website appealing, and advertise... But they won't. Just complain a service they choose to use is too expensive.

Yeah no kidding. Decide to use an optional service with clearly defined fees and then bitch about it afterwards makes no sense.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by GGG

Alternatively the article could read Canadian created company enables Calgary restaurant to earn $210,000 in revenue despite being closed for Covid.

Gross revenue, but what is the net? Margins on food are very thin, and when you aren’t selling booze and beverages, it must be tough.

[DownInFlames]

A lot of restaurants signed up for Skip as a bit of a gimmick. Sit-down dining is their bread and butter, but they might get some people who discover them on the app so they don’t mind selling a few meals at a loss in hopes those people come in to eat.

Now that the dining room is closed they reply on delivery to survive and giving up a percentage is killing them. So they’re asking for a break. I don’t see that as unreasonable.

Why does Skip have to charge a percentage anyway? It doesn’t cost them more to facilitate a $100 deliver than a $20 one. It’s not like they pay their drivers out of that.

I own a courier company and I’ve shopped for services that can run my online presence. None of them charge a percentage. It’s a flat fee per delivery or a monthly charge. They seem to do ok. Why can’t Skip? Probably because they’re advertising like crazy and Jon Hamm ain’t cheap. The other services can’t compete because Skip is the de facto food delivery service in Canada thanks to those ads so they’ve got restaurants by the balls.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by troutman

Gross revenue, but what is the net? Margins on food are very thin, and when you aren’t selling booze and beverages, it must be tough.

That’s not an optional Apps problem though.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by troutman

Gross revenue, but what is the net? Margins on food are very thin, and when you aren’t selling booze and beverages, it must be tough.

There choices are 0 without skip, X by building their own system, or $210 with skip. I agree that this has been tough on restaurants but it’s wired to target the service that was able to help them expand online ordering instantly when dine in disappeared.

When you read that article by Prarie Dog Brewing you quickly see restaurants are pretty screwed no matter what because there overhead for rent crushed them when the space is unproductive and the non-linear staffing costs at low volumes doesn’t help either.