Comments on: Eating Out(SIDE) in Winnipeg

By: charly

charly — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 20:20:34 +0000

Your reviews and comments posted are ok, but where is the food??!!! Cookers??!!! Chefs???!!! You can count with one hand places where you can eat an average meal, Tomato Pie & Co, Homers, a grill on Pembina, what else? Ah, that old restaurant in the 5th floor of The Bay.All the other places serve industrial food tossed with lettuce, c’mon. Winnipegers don’t have palate/taste, they eat whatever you put on the table, don’t care and don’t demand better quality. Burgers and fries, simple salads, chip & fish, those are not meals to eat in a restaurant.And the Italians!!! All the sauces taste the same, the one on the pizza, with caneloni, ravioli, all same taste, all come from the same industrial-prepared sauce can!!! The other thing is the closing time. What on earth are the owners thinking when they close the venue at 10:00 PM !!!! You wanders on Osborne after 9:00 and is more likely that you cannot find anything open. and one last thing, don’t you feel incarcerated when you enter those places without a window? Or those places where the better view is a parking lot? Like Macnally at Polo Park.

By: Emma

Emma — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:50:51 +0000

Ryan, we were surprised when the CBC sent us there, too! You’re absolutely right, Cousins is definitely not the first place we think of for patios, now that we’ve been there. But we’ve been dreaming about the veggie burger ever since, so we’ll have to make a night of it sometime while it’s still summer-ish.

By: ryan s

ryan s — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:10:29 +0000

Hilarious that you included Cousins on a PATIO list. My favorite place to enjoy a glass or two, certainly, but probably the worst patio of all time: the rickety plastic tables not only encourage, but guarantee your beer will end up all over said tables. However, this is part of the appeal (as well as the rush of drinking on what is essentially a cordoned-off sidewalk, rubbing shoulders with pedestrians and local stray dogs alike, all included for free!), its obscurity the reason it is full most nights of the week.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 17:18:36 +0000

Ooh, Heather – Terrace 55 does sound good! I think the spinach and chickpea salad would be amazing. And you said the magic word: Sangria! Awesome.

By: Heather

Heather — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 16:34:53 +0000

The best kept patio secret is Terrace 55 at Assiniboine Park. It is quiet, beautiful, easy to park near, the service and food are wonderful. Don’t think that you have to spend a lot of money to enjoy this amazing space. Have a glass of Sangria, try the wonderful spinach and chickpea salad salad or the corn chowder with seafood. Non drinkers try the prickly pear tea – so good. It doesn’t get any better than this.

By: mrchristian

mrchristian — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 20:37:23 +0000

A patio I just discovered: Deen’s on Marion. It’s very casual, more like being at a bbq in someone’s back yard ! Live music, fire pit and good eats !

By: Aaron

Aaron — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:37:35 +0000

Ryan – TVs are something we didn’t consider on our patio reviewing visits. Another factor we didn’t rate was music…and come to think of it nowhere stood out as having either really good or really terrible music playing on the patio. I’m not a football fan, and although I do like watching hockey you probably wouldn’t do this on a patio in Winnipeg!

JB – I lament the loss of Basil’s, too. I had the great fortune of eating there years and years ago, and I have a personal family connection to the restaurant as well. It’s a beautiful spot that had a magical ambience. Certainly would have made it to the top of our list had the restaurant still been open. Also…thanks for the information regarding their satisfying sangria – it gives me a great idea!

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:43:52 +0000

One thing I find our patios lack in Winnipeg are TVs. On a warm summer night I would love to sit on a patio, enjoy the warm weather, and watch the Blue Bombers on TV.

By: JB

JB — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:21:08 +0000

I lament the loss of the patio at Basil’s (formerly Tap and Grill) in Osborne Village. It was tucked away in a court-yard style space behind the restaurant and not on the street. This might have been a draw-back when considering people-watching, but the patrons were diverse and interesting enough for some visual entertainment. They had plenty of trees back there to provide some luscious mottled shade, and the environment overall was very comfortable and intimate. Where I really judge the value of a good patio is on the quality of its sangria – a cold glass on a patio matches perfectly with summer. Basil’s did have a satisfying sangria.

Does anyone else have a recommendation as to where to find good sangria?

I went to Saffron’s recently, and the sangria (and by extension the patio) lacked character.

By: TG

TG — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:56:56 +0000

I second the earlier post about Cousin’s atmosphere – it’s all about the people there, not how it looks inside or out. Great music, great staff – always enjoy myself there.it’s a great place with an authenticity unmatched by many other watering holes in the Peg.

Also, as a side note – it’s affectionately called “Scuzzins” by the regulars.