Mountain Man
Senior Member
Didn't there used to be an Elephant & Castle in the basement of the Core mall off 4St? Turned into a Double Zero and I think that space is empty now. Wonder if it's the same group...
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Calgary Restaurant Thread
- Thread starter Surrealplaces
- Start date
crabapple
New Member
That Double Zero has now been turned into a Gym for several of the office buildings around the Core.
There also used to be one in West Ed Mall years ago.
Elephant & Castle
With cozy English charm, a well-rounded menu of food and bevvies, and cheery staff, Elephant & Castle is the place to get your Brit on.
www.elephantcastle.com
MichaelS
Senior Member
zagox
Active Member
Formerly Mazaj Lounge, which closed after people kept getting murdered in their parking lot.
I've tried Chick-fil-a a couple of times in the US and was underwhelmed. Maybe I'm ordering the wrong thing off the menu, but it didn't seem anything special, still the place was full of customers, so idk.
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Mountain Man
Senior Member
There's one in the Airport, tastes like Popeyes or any other chicken place.
Colinfill
Active Member
The one at the airport closed a few years ago.
I think the only thing worth trying is the sweet tea. Everything else is pretty meh.
Colinfill
Active Member
It's been interesting that some of these new restaurant chains have all chosen to open their first locations in the burbs or outside of the city (Chipotle, Earl of Sandwich, Uncle Tetsu, Paris Baguette, Crumbl, and now Chick-fil-A).
Is this just due to lower rent costs when testing out the market before expanding? I just really wish some of these places were more accessible within the city centre.
Is this just due to lower rent costs when testing out the market before expanding? I just really wish some of these places were more accessible within the city centre.
Cowtown
Senior Member
It’s due to two things. The cost of Innercity space would be more expensive for sure, and the other being that those chains cater a lot to the automobile crowd.
In saying that, McDonald’s, and A&W, and Tim Hortons for example, have walk-in locations downtown, and also have locations with drive-through some parking lots in the inner city, so financially, it probably should be doable, but who knows.
Tim's does good business with the walk in locations right in the core because of the high volume and small footprint. Mcdonald's has the one location on Stephen Ave, but outside of that they don't have any other inner city locations that aren't drive through locations. I think a chain like Chipotle or Chick filet would do okay on Stephen ave or in The Core, but they are definitely chains that do better for the automobile crowd.
Colinfill
Active Member
That makes a lot of sense and explains why Starbucks largely vacated a lot of its urban locations and Indigo concessions, which lack a drive-through
artvandelay
Active Member
McDonald's at University District and the one at crack Mac's are also sans drive-thru.
I forgot about the one at crack Mac's. IIRC they have some in some mall or Walmart locations also, but in the inner city just the two non-drive thru locations. I'm not an expert on the restaurant business, but it seems like fast food chains that don't have a drive through struggle, and I can see why. I will go to Mcdonald's or other fast food places when I need to get something for my children, or just need something quick on the way home. They're the last place I'd want to sit down and eat at and with inner city land being a higher costs, walk in ones are probably a tough go.
trtcttc
Active Member
They're also downsizing their stores, moving to smaller CRUs which offer mostly takeout service. In Toronto, they also started opening in higher end grocery stores - Loblaws and Longos
For Calgary, there's probably only a few spots in the city with the density and walkability to support a non-drive through location.
Mountain Man
Senior Member
Went past the repainted Rose & Crown (Elephant & Castle if the rumours are true), I kinda like the white paint job, the old place looked quite dingy.