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General Food, Dining and Nightlife News - Printable Version

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RE: General Food, Dining and Nightlife News - panamaniac - 02-26-2015

(02-26-2015, 12:39 PM)Markster Wrote: Personally, I like Imbibe's beer enough to look past the service issues, though my wife is another matter.  They had a menu adjustment in the past few months that's made ordering dinner there less appealing.

As for TWH Social, it was certainly a well lit, trendy-feeling, higher-price-tag-than-Rum-Runner kind of place. Ultimately, both my dish and my wife's dish were overly salty, so I'm not feeling compelled to spend that much money on dinner there again.  My wife says it still seems like a reasonable place for drinks, if you want somewhere that has some interesting beer as well as a more complete bar.

Now that you mention RumRunner, what is happening with their new location on Queen St?  It's now a year since they left the Walper and the "Opening Soon" sign has been in the window for a very long time.  There seems to be a problem of some sort. 


RE: General Food, Dining and Nightlife News - Markster - 02-26-2015

(02-26-2015, 12:54 PM)MidTowner Wrote: Markster, how much was beer? I am looking at the beer list, which seems pretty good for most people (myself included), but wondering how much a glass of beer is.

I seem to recall it was in the vicinity of $7. The price point matched the atmosphere.


RE: General Food, Dining and Nightlife News - BuildingScout - 02-26-2015

Are we close to peak beer in town?

Imbibe, Bent Elbow, Boathouse, WH Social, Churchill Arms, Beer Town, Abe Erb, Huether, Innocente, Borealis, Gastropub no. 29, Kickoff, Lancaster Smoke house....

Any others?


RE: General Food, Dining and Nightlife News - panamaniac - 02-26-2015

(02-26-2015, 02:09 PM)BuildingScout Wrote: Are we close to peak beer in town?

Imbibe, Bent Elbow, Boathouse, WH Social, Churchill Arms, Beer Town, Abe Erb, Huether, Innocente, Borealis....

Any others?

Gastropub No. 29!


RE: General Food, Dining and Nightlife News - MidTowner - 02-26-2015

Gastropub No. 29 on Ottawa. I don't think we're close: the ones you listed appeal to different types of people and occasions.

Thanks, Markster, for the info.

Edit: Darn! panamaniac beat me by a minute


RE: General Food, Dining and Nightlife News - Lens - 02-26-2015

(02-26-2015, 01:00 PM)panamaniac Wrote:
(02-26-2015, 12:39 PM)Markster Wrote: Personally, I like Imbibe's beer enough to look past the service issues, though my wife is another matter.  They had a menu adjustment in the past few months that's made ordering dinner there less appealing.

As for TWH Social, it was certainly a well lit, trendy-feeling, higher-price-tag-than-Rum-Runner kind of place. Ultimately, both my dish and my wife's dish were overly salty, so I'm not feeling compelled to spend that much money on dinner there again.  My wife says it still seems like a reasonable place for drinks, if you want somewhere that has some interesting beer as well as a more complete bar.

Now that you mention RumRunner, what is happening with their new location on Queen St?  It's now a year since they left the Walper and the "Opening Soon" sign has been in the window for a very long time.  There seems to be a problem of some sort. 

I wasn't even aware that they grabbed that space, thanks for the heads up!

I would recommend Gastropub 29 to anyone that likes good food in a smaller, quieter venue then something like Beertown. I'm not much of a drinker but they seem to do well in that department too.


RE: General Food, Dining and Nightlife News - jamincan - 02-26-2015

Kickoff's in University Plaza is great too with regularly rotating taps with interesting beers and is not nearly as busy as most of those other places.


RE: General Food, Dining and Nightlife News - zanate - 02-26-2015

(02-26-2015, 10:41 AM)panamaniac Wrote: That's an interesting comment about Imbibe.  I haven't been in quite some time because when I've passed by it seemed too crowded for me to be comfortable (good for them, bad for me).  I have also found, however, that Imbibe sometimes fell a bit short in terms of the service level (not bad, just a bit lackadaisical).  Has it improved in that regard, do you think?

To be honest? Their service has never seemed unusual to me. Neither stellar nor poor. I've found their menu to be lacking in the past, but they've filled it in with a few items that makes up for their lack of a proper grill or fryer. If we're passing up on Imbibe, it's often because we want a better food choice or it's too busy.

The things that keep me going back to Imbibe are partly the location and setting, but mostly the fact that there will be 6 random beers on tap, usually with a couple I've never had before. (And that's saying something: Untappd says I've registered 765 unique beers with it since I started using it in 2012.) Nobody else is doing that in downtown Kitchener. That's not even in the Boathouse's game plan.

I do really like the Bent Elbow as well though. It's probably the only place that matches Imbibe for "I don't know what they'll have when I go in" beer selection (and seriously beats everyone in the region in sheer breadth of beer selection.) I don't make it there as often, though, because location. Especially now that the Elbow is carrying Stone and BrewDog (the best brewers out of the US and UK respectively, in my opinion), it has best beer spot in Waterloo region locked up.


RE: General Food, Dining and Nightlife News - BuildingScout - 02-26-2015

(02-26-2015, 05:39 PM)zanate Wrote: To be honest? Their service has never seemed unusual to me. Neither stellar nor poor. I've found their menu to be lacking in the past, but they've filled it in with a few items that makes up for their lack of a proper grill or fryer. If we're passing up on Imbibe, it's often because we want a better food choice or it's too busy.

The things that keep me going back to Imbibe are partly the location and setting, but mostly the fact that there will be 6 random beers on tap, usually with a couple I've never had before. (And that's saying something: Untappd says I've registered 765 unique beers with it since I started using it in 2012.) Nobody else is doing that in downtown Kitchener. That's not even in the Boathouse's game plan.

I do really like the Bent Elbow as well though. It's probably the only place that matches Imbibe for "I don't know what they'll have when I go in" beer selection (and seriously beats everyone in the region in sheer breadth of beer selection.) I don't make it there as often, though, because location. Especially now that the Elbow is carrying Stone and BrewDog (the best brewers out of the US and UK respectively, in my opinion), it has best beer spot in Waterloo region locked up.

I'm a big fan, but I've always had to walk up to the bar and pay there after waiting for over 20 minutes for the waiter to bring the bill and/or take my money.

Bent Elbow has a horrible location, I'm sad to say.


RE: General Food, Dining and Nightlife News - panamaniac - 02-26-2015

I agree about the location of Bent Elbow - very uninviting exterior as well.

In other random news, I understand that the Ren@41 restaurant has closed.


RE: General Food, Dining and Nightlife News - rangersfan - 02-26-2015

(02-26-2015, 02:33 PM)panamaniac Wrote:
(02-26-2015, 02:09 PM)BuildingScout Wrote: Are we close to peak beer in town?

Imbibe, Bent Elbow, Boathouse, WH Social, Churchill Arms, Beer Town, Abe Erb, Huether, Innocente, Borealis....

Any others?

Gastropub No. 29!

Lancaster Smokehouse as a big craft selection as well.


RE: General Food, Dining and Nightlife News - Smore - 02-26-2015

(02-26-2015, 05:39 PM)zanate Wrote: To be honest? Their service has never seemed unusual to me. Neither stellar nor poor. I've found their menu to be lacking in the past, but they've filled it in with a few items that makes up for their lack of a proper grill or fryer. If we're passing up on Imbibe, it's often because we want a better food choice or it's too busy.

The things that keep me going back to Imbibe are partly the location and setting, but mostly the fact that there will be 6 random beers on tap, usually with a couple I've never had before. (And that's saying something: Untappd says I've registered 765 unique beers with it since I started using it in 2012.) Nobody else is doing that in downtown Kitchener. That's not even in the Boathouse's game plan.

I think I heard Imbibe had shifted some of their menu to Boathouse? I haven't been there in a while.

Also, Imbibe's unique format allows for customer innovations, such as the "Imbibe Challenge" drinking game....


RE: General Food, Dining and Nightlife News - Spokes - 02-27-2015

(02-26-2015, 05:01 PM)Lens Wrote:
(02-26-2015, 01:00 PM)panamaniac Wrote: Now that you mention RumRunner, what is happening with their new location on Queen St?  It's now a year since they left the Walper and the "Opening Soon" sign has been in the window for a very long time.  There seems to be a problem of some sort. 

I wasn't even aware that they grabbed that space, thanks for the heads up!

I would recommend Gastropub 29 to anyone that likes good food in a smaller, quieter venue then something like Beertown. I'm not much of a drinker but they seem to do well in that department too.

I'll echo this.  Great little spot, and the people that work there are fantastic too!


RE: General Food, Dining and Nightlife News - schooner77 - 02-27-2015

I've heard the White Rabbit will have a soft open on Saturday. From what I've heard it will be a quiet, low key whiskey/cocktail bar and restaurant. Should be a nice addition to Uptown.


RE: General Food, Dining and Nightlife News - ookpik - 02-27-2015

Don't forget The Bistro at Perimeter Institute. They're open to the public in the evenings before public lectures and concerts. There's always a decent selection of craft beers on tap.