Next review is courtesy of my friends at Mothering Touch baby group, as they helped me find this hidden gem! Here is the review for Hernandez, found in a mall at 734 Yates st.
Access: Excellent! The mall doors have wheelchair push-buttons that allow for easy stroller access. The ramp to the restaurant itself is easy to find. The tables are well-spaced, leaving many places a stroller can fit without being underfoot. We even had four strollers at one table without any trouble!
Food: Delicious! My chicken tacos were messy and superb.
Service: Fast, no-frills.
Cost: Very cheap! My tacos and a bottle of fancy beer came to $12.
Baby-Friendliness: Great. Bright, plastic tablecloths ease my paranoia about my baby spilling/ruining something. Similarly, some dishes (like the tacos) are served not on plates, but on sheets of wax paper... impossible to break by accident! Note that I did not get around to using the washroom there, so I cannot report on whether there's a change table... will update when I know. Lots of space and opportunity to breastfeed, though a nursing cover is a good idea for the more bashful mothers, since the restaurant spans a mall thoroughfare.
Overall Grade: A!
Depending on the verdict with the washroom, this restaurant may yet break the A+ barrier! Stay tuned...
Nevertheless, I've found a new favourite, and I will be back!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Orchard on View Marketplace
Next is the little sandwich joint near the Bay Centre: the Orchard on View Marketplace at 655 View st.
Access: Bad -- the store itself is so small, I had to wait until there were *no* customers in order to get to the cash register. However, there is one little table outside where I was easily able to park the stroller and eat my lunch, so it's only the ordering and paying parts of the lunch process that are not very stroller-accessible.
Food: My ham & avocado sandwich was tasty and full of fresh vegetables, but the bread was dry. The seed cookie was delicious, not too sweet, and with phenomenal texture.
Service: Prompt and very friendly. The clerk saw I'd forgotten napkins, and so she made a special trip to bring some out to my table. :-)
Cost: My pre-made sandwich, cookie and Orangiata came to $11.50, which I think is a bit expensive.
Baby friendly: Space-wise, not so much. But personnel-wise, I was very satisfied with the level of baby-friendliness. The cashier seemed overjoyed to talk to my baby, who was more than happy to flirt back. (Yes, having staff speak kindly to my baby *does* count towards this grade.)
Overall Grade: D+
The tasty food and friendly service save this somewhat expensive and not-easily-accessible restaurant from a failing grade.
Access: Bad -- the store itself is so small, I had to wait until there were *no* customers in order to get to the cash register. However, there is one little table outside where I was easily able to park the stroller and eat my lunch, so it's only the ordering and paying parts of the lunch process that are not very stroller-accessible.
Food: My ham & avocado sandwich was tasty and full of fresh vegetables, but the bread was dry. The seed cookie was delicious, not too sweet, and with phenomenal texture.
Service: Prompt and very friendly. The clerk saw I'd forgotten napkins, and so she made a special trip to bring some out to my table. :-)
Cost: My pre-made sandwich, cookie and Orangiata came to $11.50, which I think is a bit expensive.
Baby friendly: Space-wise, not so much. But personnel-wise, I was very satisfied with the level of baby-friendliness. The cashier seemed overjoyed to talk to my baby, who was more than happy to flirt back. (Yes, having staff speak kindly to my baby *does* count towards this grade.)
Overall Grade: D+
The tasty food and friendly service save this somewhat expensive and not-easily-accessible restaurant from a failing grade.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Ric's Grill
Next is Ric's Grill on 910 Government st, and it has the dubious honour of being this blogs' first EPIC FAIL. How so? Read on.
So I arrive at the restaurant, eager for the burger I'd been dreaming about all day, and a lady coming out of the door stops to tell me how great the food is there. I can't wait! :-D
Then I notice that inside the main doors are many, many stairs. Drat. After looking around, I see a sign saying there's an accessible entrance off Broughton, so I head there.
The first sign of trouble came when I got to Broughton -- there was only a small sign for Ric's Grill, and it wasn't clear where I was supposed to enter the building. Eventually I found a dark, hidden, sunken door to a nondescript government building, and went in. Inside said building there were NO SIGNS WHATSOEVER to lead me to the restaurant, or even the elevators.
Meanwhile, well-meaning passersby kept stopping me and trying to redirect me to the restaurant's main entrance, which I had to repeatedly explain I could NOT enter, due to having a stroller. I would see the penny drop, and had to retain my patience despite having had this conversation half a dozen times within the space of 15 minutes. And of course no one had any idea about where to find the accessible entrance -- some didn't even know where to find the elevators! Sigh.
So eventually I find the elevators, fend off MORE would-be-redirectors, and finally arrive at a hidden, ill-marked door with a tiny sign, "Ric's Grill Accessible Entrance". Success!
And then I pull the handle. It's locked. It's business hours, and it's locked.
I bang on the door with my loudest, most police-like knock. No answer. I knock again, even louder. Nothing. Nor is there any doorbell to ring, or even the phone number for the restaurant posted, so that I may call them on my celphone.
No, instead I am left, alone and hungry, in the middle of some awful and confusing government building. Apparently Ric's Grill has no interest in spontaneous patronage from stroller-mums or even the disabled.
In the interests of fairness, however, I later phoned them to ask for an explanation. I spoke to a very kind lady named Liz, who is just taking over as a new manager. Apparently, the usual way it works is that customers requiring that entrance make arrangements in advance. I replied that with an unpredictable baby, keeping schedules is almost impossible. A mum herself, she apologized profusely for the inconvenience and assured me that she will talk to the building managers to install some sort of notification system (doorbell, buzzer) and/or just leave the door open.
So, we'll see whether that actually happens -- but until it does, Ric's Grill gets an EPIC FAIL for stroller access. And since access is key for me being able to rate the place, total inaccessibility is met with a TOTAL FAIL on all counts.
Overall Grade: F
So I arrive at the restaurant, eager for the burger I'd been dreaming about all day, and a lady coming out of the door stops to tell me how great the food is there. I can't wait! :-D
Then I notice that inside the main doors are many, many stairs. Drat. After looking around, I see a sign saying there's an accessible entrance off Broughton, so I head there.
The first sign of trouble came when I got to Broughton -- there was only a small sign for Ric's Grill, and it wasn't clear where I was supposed to enter the building. Eventually I found a dark, hidden, sunken door to a nondescript government building, and went in. Inside said building there were NO SIGNS WHATSOEVER to lead me to the restaurant, or even the elevators.
Meanwhile, well-meaning passersby kept stopping me and trying to redirect me to the restaurant's main entrance, which I had to repeatedly explain I could NOT enter, due to having a stroller. I would see the penny drop, and had to retain my patience despite having had this conversation half a dozen times within the space of 15 minutes. And of course no one had any idea about where to find the accessible entrance -- some didn't even know where to find the elevators! Sigh.
So eventually I find the elevators, fend off MORE would-be-redirectors, and finally arrive at a hidden, ill-marked door with a tiny sign, "Ric's Grill Accessible Entrance". Success!
And then I pull the handle. It's locked. It's business hours, and it's locked.
I bang on the door with my loudest, most police-like knock. No answer. I knock again, even louder. Nothing. Nor is there any doorbell to ring, or even the phone number for the restaurant posted, so that I may call them on my celphone.
No, instead I am left, alone and hungry, in the middle of some awful and confusing government building. Apparently Ric's Grill has no interest in spontaneous patronage from stroller-mums or even the disabled.
In the interests of fairness, however, I later phoned them to ask for an explanation. I spoke to a very kind lady named Liz, who is just taking over as a new manager. Apparently, the usual way it works is that customers requiring that entrance make arrangements in advance. I replied that with an unpredictable baby, keeping schedules is almost impossible. A mum herself, she apologized profusely for the inconvenience and assured me that she will talk to the building managers to install some sort of notification system (doorbell, buzzer) and/or just leave the door open.
So, we'll see whether that actually happens -- but until it does, Ric's Grill gets an EPIC FAIL for stroller access. And since access is key for me being able to rate the place, total inaccessibility is met with a TOTAL FAIL on all counts.
Overall Grade: F
Monday, October 18, 2010
Pink Sugar Cupcakery
Next is Pink Sugar Cupcakery! They are located at 773 Fort st, and their website is here.
Access: Getting in and out the door is tricky with a stroller, but once in, there is lots of room to move around. Parking a stroller next to a table is very easy.
Food: As you'd expect, Pink Sugar Cupcakery solely sells cupcakes, though there are many varieties and two sizes to choose from. The Peanut Butter cupcake is, in my opinion, sheer heaven! Will definitely be back.
Service: Prompt, efficient, to the point. Would prefer a bit more warmth, but that's just me.
Cost: $3 per regular-sized cupcake is an appropriate price for a tasty indulgence.
Baby-friendliness: Like Il Posto Pizzeria, Pink Sugar Cupcakery overlooks a busy street, and therefore most baby noises fit in well with the hustle and bustle of the traffic. No place to breastfeed, change a diaper, etc, as it is more of a retail-cafe than a restaurant-cafe.
Overall Grade: B
Note that I will upgrade this to a B+ if they left the door open (at least on nice days)... the door was by far the biggest downside to the baby-friendliness of Pink Sugar Cupcakery. Otherwise, I recommend it! :-)
Access: Getting in and out the door is tricky with a stroller, but once in, there is lots of room to move around. Parking a stroller next to a table is very easy.
Food: As you'd expect, Pink Sugar Cupcakery solely sells cupcakes, though there are many varieties and two sizes to choose from. The Peanut Butter cupcake is, in my opinion, sheer heaven! Will definitely be back.
Service: Prompt, efficient, to the point. Would prefer a bit more warmth, but that's just me.
Cost: $3 per regular-sized cupcake is an appropriate price for a tasty indulgence.
Baby-friendliness: Like Il Posto Pizzeria, Pink Sugar Cupcakery overlooks a busy street, and therefore most baby noises fit in well with the hustle and bustle of the traffic. No place to breastfeed, change a diaper, etc, as it is more of a retail-cafe than a restaurant-cafe.
Overall Grade: B
Note that I will upgrade this to a B+ if they left the door open (at least on nice days)... the door was by far the biggest downside to the baby-friendliness of Pink Sugar Cupcakery. Otherwise, I recommend it! :-)
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Il Posto Pizzeria
Here goes my first stroller-friendly review!
Where: Il Posto Pizzeria at 1001 Douglas, across the street from the Bay Centre.
Access: Easy to get through the door, but narrow to maneuver in the restaurant. Would have been impossible had there been more people.
Food: Tasty enough, but nothing to write home about. The broccoli, feta and cranberry salad (WAY less healthy than it sounds) was a delightful surprise, and the highlight of the meal. The pizza was tough.
Service: Very prompt, friendly enough, and generally no-frills.
Cost: Cheap -- a slice of pizza, a reasonable helping of salad, and a soft drink came to less than $10. I left satisfied.
Baby-friendliness: Not great, but not bad. The restaurant overlooks a very busy street with lots of ambient buzz from all the cars and people walking by. Also, a rock radio station was playing Guns N Roses. Hence, the noise level was appropriate to bring a babbling baby into. There was, however, no place to breastfeed discreetly, nor could the stroller easily make it to the bathroom (to see whether there was a change table/surface).
Overall Grade: C+
Thanks for reading -- another review should be up within the next day or two! :-)
Where: Il Posto Pizzeria at 1001 Douglas, across the street from the Bay Centre.
Access: Easy to get through the door, but narrow to maneuver in the restaurant. Would have been impossible had there been more people.
Food: Tasty enough, but nothing to write home about. The broccoli, feta and cranberry salad (WAY less healthy than it sounds) was a delightful surprise, and the highlight of the meal. The pizza was tough.
Service: Very prompt, friendly enough, and generally no-frills.
Cost: Cheap -- a slice of pizza, a reasonable helping of salad, and a soft drink came to less than $10. I left satisfied.
Baby-friendliness: Not great, but not bad. The restaurant overlooks a very busy street with lots of ambient buzz from all the cars and people walking by. Also, a rock radio station was playing Guns N Roses. Hence, the noise level was appropriate to bring a babbling baby into. There was, however, no place to breastfeed discreetly, nor could the stroller easily make it to the bathroom (to see whether there was a change table/surface).
Overall Grade: C+
Thanks for reading -- another review should be up within the next day or two! :-)
Friday, October 8, 2010
Welcome to Stroller Friendly City!
I love restaurants. I've always loved restaurants. I love trying new restaurants, and occasionally discovering a hidden gem.
And then I had a baby.
Suddenly, my judgement criteria shifted. While I still love tasty food and good service, I now also incorporate some other factors in my gauge of restaurant quality.
Can I fit my stroller somewhere? Do they have a change table? Is the noise level lively enough for other tables to not be bothered by a loudly babbling baby?
Then I thought, maybe other mums are searching for the same thing! So, I'm launching #strollerfriendlyyyj, a multi-pronged social-media project that will distribute baby-oriented reviews of restaurants in downtown Victoria (=YYJ), where I live.
The synopsis and final mark will be disseminated via Facebook and Twitter (@Karla_HH), whereas the detailed review will be found on this blog.
Specifically, the rating will focus on these aspects:
Anyhow, if you have any questions, or want to do a #strollerfriendly for your own city, I'd love to hear about it! In the meantime, stay tuned for the reviews for my first four restaurants. I'm hoping to get to two this week.
Bon appetit!
And then I had a baby.
Suddenly, my judgement criteria shifted. While I still love tasty food and good service, I now also incorporate some other factors in my gauge of restaurant quality.
Can I fit my stroller somewhere? Do they have a change table? Is the noise level lively enough for other tables to not be bothered by a loudly babbling baby?
Then I thought, maybe other mums are searching for the same thing! So, I'm launching #strollerfriendlyyyj, a multi-pronged social-media project that will distribute baby-oriented reviews of restaurants in downtown Victoria (=YYJ), where I live.
The synopsis and final mark will be disseminated via Facebook and Twitter (@Karla_HH), whereas the detailed review will be found on this blog.
Specifically, the rating will focus on these aspects:
- Access -- ability to enter the establishment with a stroller, ease of maneuvering, sufficient space (somewhere!) to park one stroller.
- Food -- how good is it? Bonus points for the availability of items that can be eaten one-handed, in the event of a fussy baby.
- Service -- Fast service takes on a wholly new level of importance when you've got a (metaphorical) time bomb on your hands. How long do I actually have before the next crying jag? It could be minutes, or it could be hours. Either way, a speedy lunch is a very good thing. Friendly service is also important, as my poor, sleep-deprived soul always appreciates a kind smile.
- Cost -- Now that we're living on a single income, splashy and overpriced lunches are (for now) a thing of the past. What kind of bang-for-the-buck does this place give?
- Baby-Friendliness -- Are there change tables? A spot to breastfeed discreetly? Was the noise level compatible with the occasional loud baby babble? Were the staff and other patrons mostly kind, or were they noticeably annoyed with the presence of a baby?
- Overall grade -- A for excellent, B for good, C for satisfactory, D for barely passable and F for godawful.
Anyhow, if you have any questions, or want to do a #strollerfriendly for your own city, I'd love to hear about it! In the meantime, stay tuned for the reviews for my first four restaurants. I'm hoping to get to two this week.
Bon appetit!
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