Eeeek! Creepy!

Now that the Christmas hubbub has ebbed, it is time to get back to more Stroller Friendly reviews! This time, my random selection was a strange one...

Stain Internet Cafe, at 609 Yates st, is oddly listed as a restaurant/cafe on Google. Weird.

No, that is not a fake name. In case you were wondering. To add to the ick-factor, all the windows are blacked out from the outside... what exactly is going on in there?

But hey, my random selection selected it, so I was gonna try it out! Who knows, maybe it might be a new favourite haunt...?

Access: Entering the door was not super-easy due to a slight incline and a narrow doorway. Still, though, entering was not more difficult than a hundred other doors I've already dealt with; I was able to enter without making a spectacle of myself. Which is why I was surprised by...

...EVERYONE IN THE ESTABLISHMENT turning away from their computers to simultaneously stare at me. It was like stumbling into a horror movie. Picture a dark, dark room with stale, smelly air containing an all-male clientele, their faces lit only by their computer monitors, silently and intently peering at newcomers to their domain.

EEEEEEEEEEK!!! I couldn't get outta there fast enough.

So yeah, the moral of the story is that Stain Internet Cafe is decidedly NOT baby friendly!

Stroller Friendly FAIL!

Wall of Shame has Two More Entries!

Today, we have two more restaurants to add to the WALL OF SHAME -- Devour and Chef Suzi.

I take little joy in this designation, as they both look like good restaurants. However, due to stairs, narrow entryways, sharp turns and tight spaces, these places are simply impossible to access by stroller. Sorry guys!

Sumeria Caffe Bar To Go

Next up is Sumeria Caffe Bar To Go, at 1329 Cook st (at Johnson). This is a tiny take-out coffee bar, and so will be judged according to retail standards (not restaurant).

Access: Fantastic -- Walk-up window style service means NO doors to wrestle with!

Food: My egg nog latte was delicious, though a bit sweeter than Starbuck's version.

Service: Excellent. I was having a rotten day, and the clerk was kind, sympathetic, and even gave me a chocolate. I don't know if the chocolate is, in fact, distributed with every coffee, but at that moment, a tasty token of kindness was exactly what my waning sanity needed. Thank you, Sumeria Caffe!

Cost: Not cheap, but egg nog lattes rarely are. It was a good size, and I paid about $4.50.

Baby-Friendliness: Good. Lovely staff, easy access, and plenty of little tables I could have easily pulled a stroller up to, if I'd wanted to stop for a moment.

Overall Grade: A

Delicious coffee (with great service) that does *not* require wrestling with doors? Sign me up!

Next up, more names to be added to the WALL OF SHAME. Who will it be? Stay tuned to find out!

Italian Food Import

Next up for #StrollerFriendly review is Italian Food Import at 1114 Blanshard!

(*Note that this is a retail-type establishment, and therefore I am applying the retail standards, rather than restaurant standards.)

Access: Not bad. There is a slight incline next to their door, which makes getting in and out a bit tricky. However, once in, there is just enough space to move around. When I went, the place was fairly crowded, and I had no space trouble.

Food: Stellar! I had the Rocky Balboa toasted sandwich, and it was just the right combination of spicy, fresh, salty, savoury, and a little bit greasy (in the good way). LOVE that sandwich.

Service: Great. Fast, hard-working counter staff processed the long line in no time. Very friendly, even when the baby started getting really fussy.

Cost: Great -- my sandwich (not huge, but filling and tasty) plus an Orangiata came to under $8.

Baby-Friendliness: Very good. Bustling atmosphere, friendly clientele who were eager to help with doors and chairs, and who were very kind when baby started freaking out while I was midway through my sandwich.

Overall Grade: A

An easier door would catapult this retail-food jewel into A+ territory.

Next up -- a cafe that saved my sanity! Stay tuned for the whole story...

Beirut Express Lebanese Food

As a bit of background, I am unsure about how to remain unbiased in my reviews of any Lebanese or Vietnamese restaurants I come across. The reason for this bias is that I once lived in Ottawa, which is deliciously overrun with top-quality shawarma and pho spots. Hence, I have been spoiled.

However, my random selections have inevitably led me to a Lebanese restaurant, and I will try to be fair in my evaluation of the food at...
Beirut Express Lebanese Food at 787 Fort st!


Access: Ok. Getting in the (sans-wheelchair-button) door was no more difficult nor easier than anywhere else. Navigating in the restaurant was tight, and getting to the till involved minorly disrupting other patrons. There was also only one table at which a stroller could be comfortably pulled up -- luckily, that one table was open.

Food: Not great. The falafel was a bit dry, and the sauces and veggies packed no punch. Even the normally-zesty pickled turnip was bland.

Service: Good. Fast, efficient, and friendly.

Cost: Ok-- A big (and filling) falafel shawarma and an Orangiata soda was just under $10.

Baby-Friendliness: Ok. Bustling atmosphere of busy street is good, and the staff was kind. Lack of places to park a stroller wasn't great, though. Also, I am unsure whether there was a washroom, and did not check about a change space. No obvious, comfortable spots to breastfeed.

Overall Grade: C-

The good service and relative stroller accessibility save Beirut Express from a D grade. Next up, another Mexican restaurant! Stay tuned...

Happy One-Month Birthday, #StrollerFriendly!

To celebrate, I'll go through a few questions I've gotten about the website, and a few modifications that will be coming in the future.

Comments
I've opened up the comments section to allow for discussion and feedback, and I invite anyone to respond.

Also, I wholeheartedly invite anyone in any city to do a #StrollerFriendly review of their own -- just be sure to address all categories in a sentence or two, and be sure to let me know what city you're hailing from. I would love to publish your review! :-)


Breastfeeding Clarification
Someone once asked me what I'd meant, when I said I was looking for a place to breastfeed discreetly. Was I requiring a comfy chair in a large, private washroom, or would a spacious booth in a secluded section of the restaurant suffice?

Basically, having a comfy chair in a washroom is ideal, and will fetch extra points for the restaurant being reviewed. I am looking forward to reviewing The Cactus Club, as it does indeed have this feature. However, I will settle for any secluded and moderately comfortable spot to breastfeed, and restaurants only start losing points when there is nowhere that is both suitable and accessible.

Note that booth seating is not always a sure thing for discreet breastfeeding, as the sometimes-immoveable booth tables can often be too close to the seat to fit both mom and baby.


Coming Soon: Restaurant vs. Retail
Lastly, I was reflecting on the standards I've been holding all restaurants up to, and realized that there is a problem with holding a food-retail-type establishment (such as Pink Sugar Cupcakery) to the same standard as a restaurant-type establishment (Nautical Nellie's).

While access, service, cost and food are equally important in both categories, a retail establishment should not be expected to offer the same amenities (change tables, comfy place to breastfeed, etc) as a sit-down-and-take-your-time restaurant. Therefore, any retail-type places I review henceforth will only take into account basic Baby-Friendliness (noise level, staff attitude) and not the presence of amenities.

The distinction between retail and restaurant-style food establishments will be as follows:

• Restaurants serve food that is assumed to be eaten on premises; Retail is mostly a take-out operation with limited seating for the rare on-premises-eaters.
• If there is an onsite washroom available to the clientele, it's a restaurant. If not, it's retail.
• Restaurants offer availability and variety of both food and drink; retail is more limited, often specializing in a very specific food.

Naturally, there are places that are clearly restaurant or clearly retail, but there will doubtlessly be others whose classification will be unclear. When in doubt, I will err to restaurant standards.

So, that's it for the one-month writeup! Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for our next review!

No Spontaneous Lunches for You!

I have since uncovered two more restaurants which are, apparently, uninterested in spontaneous patronage by strollermums. Why can I say this, you ask? Because, while they all HAVE wheelchair-accessible entrances, NONE have any means by which these entrances can, indeed, be ACCESSED at the clients' timing.

All require advance warning and/or sending an able-bodied companion to notify staff of your presence.

So, if you're on your own with a stroller, looking for a quick bite while the baby naps, these restaurants are not for you!

Milestones at 812 Wharf st
Japanese Village Restaurant at 734 Broughton st.

...and as previously mentioned, Ric's Grill on 910 Government st.

These entries fall into a newly-dubbed category: THE WALL OF SHAME. Who will be the next entry to The Wall? Stay tuned to find out!