Winnipeg | Restaurants

[wardlow]

I don't even know why I'm replying to the notion that Stella's circa 2017 is some kind of hipster mecca. Maybe I'm out of it because I haven't been to any Stella's location in a few years, but as I remember it, they had largely been overtaken by white middle class moms and grandmothers. Like, does anyone honestly think there are enough hipsters in Winnipeg to consistently fill up--what is it now?--6-7 locations?

I don't know how one local restaurant chain can so consistently undercook hash browns, or in this day and age serve such awful coffee, but I get why Stella's remains a draw: it's safe, predictable, and kind of cool without making anyone feel unwelcome. It's like Starbucks that way. And despite the aforementioned complaints, they have a number of good things on their menu.

[esquire]

You guys make it sound like Stella's is only about image. Believe it or not, food is part of the draw... even after all these years it's still a breath of fresh air from the traditional breakfast hotspots in Winnipeg like Perkins, Pancake House and Sal's. You can get food there that most people couldn't whip up in 2 minutes at home... it generally looks and tastes good.

I'm by no means a Stella's regular, I average maybe 2 or 3 visits a year. But I always enjoy going.

[drew]

^ I agree.

I respect establishments that take an effort to actually create the majority of their dishes from scratch.

Stella's is good, simple food.

And they one up'd the from-scratch game by operating a cool little bakery that supplies all of their restaurants on a great street right near my house. Full marks in my books.

Also, their coffee is definitely above average for it's class of restaurant (not great, but above average).

I don't expect the dusty-lingering-aftertaste-(insert espresso based coffee beverage name here)-offering that is ubiquitous to many of the upstart hipster coffee joints.

Just satisfying drip coffee.

[wardlow]

Originally Posted by drew

^ I agree.

I respect establishments that take an effort to actually create the majority of their dishes from scratch.

Stella's is good, simple food.

And they one up'd the from-scratch game by operating a cool little bakery that supplies all of their restaurants on a great street right near my house. Full marks in my books.

Also, their coffee is definitely above average for it's class of restaurant (not great, but above average).

I don't expect the dusty-lingering-aftertaste-(insert espresso based coffee beverage name here)-offering that is ubiquitous to many of the upstart hipster coffee joints.

Just satisfying drip coffee.

Fair enough. And while I still think their coffee isn't that great (and I do prefer a good strong drip coffee), this whole this discussion has got me daydreaming of Stella's Mexican breakfast...

[Wolf13]

Originally Posted by CoryB

Sal's is for baby boomers, Stella's is for Millennials. Other than being newer and with a different menu they are both average at best restaurants. Even with things like curry on the menu Stella's is still fairly boring place to go. Just wait until the Millenial group has children that are young adult aged and you will see the comments about Stella's being old, out of style, etc just like there is for Sal's today. It is sort of sad that with so many better choices out there people's highlights of Winnipeg come down to these two and the complete trash that is Santa Lucia.

Baby Boomers aren't doing shit for the restaurant industry, whereas millenials prop up all of our successful restaurants, whether Stella's to Deer and Almond, and tons in between, with perhaps Hy's, 529 etc being driven by older, wealthier people (though millenials participate).

As far as here or there, not quite... Stella's sausages, eggs, and ironically, Burgers are FAR superior to Sals. I've said it 20x but nobody has realized that Stella's makes a better burger. That has to sink in.

Originally Posted by Tacheguy

I took people from Edmonton to Sal's a couple years ago and they liked the nips. they taste good.

oh yeah..Stella's sucks.

You simply can't say that a slightly above avg place (Stella's) sucks and that a crappy one is good. It's patently incorrect.

Originally Posted by optimusREIM

Why is it that we insist on shitting on the one semi decent food Winnipeg success story at the moment? I'm really starting to understand why we've never achieved our potential.

This is one of the reasons why I'm so irrationally outraged in this thread. And I'm assuming you're talking about Stella's. Should Sals innovate, then they can re-enter the equation.

Sals, atleast not in the last 20 years, was never a success story. It just didn't die.

Stella's has grown admirably.

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

I don't think anyone's highlights of Winnipeg are Sal's or Stella's and neither will ever feature in an airline magazine, but I do like Sal's nips and they do have a good weekly special. I like the fact that Winnipeg has its very own local chain of diners. This city punches well above its weight in terms of restaurant variety and quality, and excepting those specializing in South, East and Southeast Asian cuisines, I would argue that Winnipeg has a better food scene than Vancouver. With respect to Asian restaurants, Vancouver has a clear advantage due to the sheer number and the competition results in not only better food, but considerably better prices as well.

Vancouver has a great scene, but friends of mine from there who frequent the good places speak very highly of Winnipeg. They're the ones that complimented Stellas and shat on Sals, but obviously reserved their biggest praise for 529, Peasant, Maque or Deseo before it, etc...

Me personally, I'm probably swayed to Vancouver because I love that city, but some of my favourite spots are definitely there. Still, not sure I've had a better steak in Van than 529 though.

Originally Posted by esquire

You guys make it sound like Stella's is only about image. Believe it or not, food is part of the draw... even after all these years it's still a breath of fresh air from the traditional breakfast hotspots in Winnipeg like Perkins, Pancake House and Sal's. You can get food there that most people couldn't whip up in 2 minutes at home... it generally looks and tastes good.

I'm by no means a Stella's regular, I average maybe 2 or 3 visits a year. But I always enjoy going.

This. I don't know why the animosity against it. It was never supposed to be Micheline starred. The reason I shit on Sals is because its reputation far precedes its food.

[Authentic_City]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Oh no, that's too bad. I've had some great Cheesesteaks. The real McCoys should be made from sliced ribeye with lots of gooey provolone .

Actually, from what I was told, the cheeze whiz is more traditional, but provolone is widely served as an alternative. I was told that what I ate was sliced ribeye, but it seemed a bit lower grade than that. I opted to go with whiz because that's what many locals swear by ("a whiz with"...). In retrospect, I would have the provolone the next time. The cheese fries were disappointing because I'm not a huge processed cheese guy. I ate at Pat’s King of Steaks, which is supposed to be the originator of the concept.

[Authentic_City]

Originally Posted by Riverman

Did you have one of those giant pretzels people sell by wandering through stopped traffic?

No, I didn't actually see any when I was there. Are they supposed to be a big deal? Had a New York pretzel from a street vendor in Central Park and was quite disappointed though.

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by Authentic_City

No, I didn't actually see any when I was there. Are they supposed to be a big deal? Had a New York pretzel from a street vendor in Central Park and was quite disappointed though.

They seem to be a big deal, a lot of people were buying them. Too long ago to remember where it was exactly. I used to visit the USN facility at 700 Robbins Ave. so somewhere near there.

[Riverman]

Went to a place like this in Mesa last year. Bloody terrific.

http://accesswinnipeg.com/2017/12/the-captains-boil-winnipeg-will-open-on-saturday-december-23/

[wags_in_the_peg]

Originally Posted by Riverman

Went to a place like this in Mesa last year. Bloody terrific.

http://accesswinnipeg.com/2017/12/the-captains-boil-winnipeg-will-open-on-saturday-december-23/

I went to one in phooenix too, super good (and messy)

[Authentic_City]

Originally Posted by Riverman

Went to a place like this in Mesa last year. Bloody terrific.

http://accesswinnipeg.com/2017/12/the-captains-boil-winnipeg-will-open-on-saturday-december-23/

That name still cracks me up.

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by Wolf13

Baby Boomers aren't doing shit for the restaurant industry, whereas millenials prop up all of our successful restaurants, whether Stella's to Deer and Almond, and tons in between, with perhaps Hy's, 529 etc being driven by older, wealthier people (though millenials participate).

As far as here or there, not quite... Stella's sausages, eggs, and ironically, Burgers are FAR superior to Sals. I've said it 20x but nobody has realized that Stella's makes a better burger. That has to sink in.



You simply can't say that a slightly above avg place (Stella's) sucks and that a crappy one is good. It's patently incorrect.

This is one of the reasons why I'm so irrationally outraged in this thread. And I'm assuming you're talking about Stella's. Should Sals innovate, then they can re-enter the equation.

Sals, atleast not in the last 20 years, was never a success story. It just didn't die.

Stella's has grown admirably.

Vancouver has a great scene, but friends of mine from there who frequent the good places speak very highly of Winnipeg. They're the ones that complimented Stellas and shat on Sals, but obviously reserved their biggest praise for 529, Peasant, Maque or Deseo before it, etc...

Me personally, I'm probably swayed to Vancouver because I love that city, but some of my favourite spots are definitely there. Still, not sure I've had a better steak in Van than 529 though.



This. I don't know why the animosity against it. It was never supposed to be Micheline starred. The reason I shit on Sals is because its reputation far precedes its food.

Agree with everything above.

Millennials and Gen Z are supporting the food boom here – everyone wants to Instagram their food and let people know they're at cool spots, most boomers aren't doing this. It's a trend being seen around the world

Visitors here are always blown away by the restaurants, especially in Downtown/Exchange. We're never going to have the numbers Vancouver does, but we hold up very well – and the best thing about the food scene here is you can get an incredible, world-class meal for prices that you won't regret after, where in big cities your wallet will be hurting after.

One thing I think is a positive for Winnipeg is the size – because we're small and most people know of all the hotspots, chefs are getting very creative and always want to stand out. Compare that to a place like Van (or other big cities) and there's probably 20 similar restaurants of any given type, so you may not need to "stand out" as much since you can rely on your surrounding area. Whenever I travel I don't hold back on food – and I have to say the creativity in the Winnipeg food scene is astounding. I think you can honestly thank Mandel at Deer + Almond for inspiring this.

Stella's is a great place with good, consistent, from-scratch food, that is leaps and bounds above anything like Cora's or some other big chain. Not every place can be Clementine, and shouldn't be. It might not blow you away, but it's always going to be good.

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

I went to one in phooenix too, super good (and messy)

Angry Crab?

[Jeff]

pete's place restaurant from north main street is taking over the old barely brothers location by polo park. good to see a successful local business moving on up!

[esquire]

^ That seems like an odd fit for a local diner kind of joint like Pete's.

[LilZebra]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Maybe it's just the location and the times that I have been, but I have found that Stella's customer base is not so much Millenials, but Gen X women who wish to be trendy.

Gen X women who work in offices, trying to emulate Baby Boomer women ca. 1986-87-88. They called it "power dressing" back then.

[Tacheguy]

I am going to rethink my eating habits in the new year. Why have Memphis ribs at the Heights when I could be eating wild boar bacon with fermented cranberries in a black truffle reduction in the exchange?
Kidding..I enjoy both types of events.

Fun fact..a few months ago we had dinner for four at Gotham's in Vancouver and the bill (with a nice tip and good wine) was over 1400. The meal itself was in no way better than Hy's here in town in my opinion.

[LilZebra]

Originally Posted by Tacheguy

Fun fact..a few months ago we had dinner for four at Gotham's in Vancouver and the bill (with a nice tip and good wine) was over 1400. The meal itself was in no way better than Hy's here in town in my opinion.

For a place that charged ~$350 per plate, they sure have a sucky website...White text on red background ... separated by lots and lots and lots of white space. No pics of product (steak). Maybe it's "optimized" for Chrome which I no longer use.

http://www.gothamsteakhouse.com/

Hy's website is great.

[Tacheguy]

well, the take away for me was to drink fancy scotch at home in the future lol. Hy's is great I find. I cant say I like 529 as much..

[Glenn99]

Originally Posted by Riverman

Went to a place like this in Mesa last year. Bloody terrific.

http://accesswinnipeg.com/2017/12/the-captains-boil-winnipeg-will-open-on-saturday-december-23/

And it is opening up in an old Sals location. Bazinga!