Edmonton Tourist Questions

[bellagiobob]

Canada does not have edible mexican food by US standards. Most major US cities have a million mexicans making actual mexican food.

It doesn’t take a million Mexicans to make good food, just one. Lots of Mexicans who have chosen to reside in Canada that make fantastic , authentic Mexican food.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Canada does not have edible mexican food by US standards. Most major US cities have a million mexicans making actual mexican food.

Here I agree. what gets passed as Mexican food here is underwhelming and starting with base ingredients. Here in Canada (and nobody else in the world I know does this) we make burritos out of flour. ffs we can't even get that right. Burritos are made out of corn, corn. Not wheat. Basically everywhere you go they have those awful Canadian burritos. You couldn't give them away anywhere else.

Wheat flour based burritos are disgusting. Use Corn burritos or its not authentic.

3 Amigos is one of the few in Edmonton that actually use corn tortillas. They get a pass.

In any case the Mexican food you find here is usually some kind of adaptation from somebody here not Mexican, trying to re-invent the wheel.

 

[AM]

Check out 124th street and do a good / brewery tour.
Odd Company Brewing , Asymetrical Brewing, Gravy Burger and fries, Arcadia Brewing , OEB for brunch .

99 street is where all the breweries are.

 

[AM]

I go to Edmonton once or twice a year, and spent my first 17 years there.

People who live in the city often give the worst advice.

When I moved to Montreal everyone here tried getting me to try the shitty sushi, or their rubbery flavorless steaks. I lived on the west coast for 8 years and nobody here would accept that montreal just has shittier sushi by several magnitudes. Kept recommending shity sushi after shitty sushi. (Not to mention shitty rubbery steak slaughtered from dairy cows - not a dry aged AAA Angus. No amount of blue cheese and butter will make that shit palettable).

So ... I tell Montreallers.. do NOT recommend shitty sushi, no matter how good you might think it is. Its f***ing awful to anyone from the coasts.

Just because you live in Edmonton and you think its good based on your frame of reference doesn't mean someone from New York will think its good, let alone worth travelling for.

Well I grew up in Europe and have travelled extensively. Edmonton is a great city to live in. However, I’m not a food lover. Who comes to Edmonton for fancy food?

 

[mrgnwilliam]

99 street is where all the breweries are.

Incorrect. Odd Company , Asymetrical and Arcadia are situated in and around 124th street. The area offers restaurants and breweries . The area is also much closer to Rogers.

 

[joestevens29]

Canada does not have edible mexican food by US standards. Most major US cities have a million mexicans making actual mexican food.

If it's anything like those Mexicans we had at work I don't want actual mexican food.

Man those guys were crazy. Burned refried beans, a shit ton of hot sauce, and rice. "Don't worry hot sauce kill burnt taste"

 

[PositiveCashFlow]

I know my Rec Center suggestion sounds wierd as f***, but I'm shaking my head at most of these other suggestions.

Are there actual suggestions for restaurants?

New York likely has Michelin star versions which are 10x better versions of whatever you're suggesting. Their restaurants across the board are on a whole other league. Edmonton has 'good for Edmonton'.

Usually I would recommens steak or burgersa, but I've had the best burger in my life in SoHo, and it wasn't even close.

They have the best art galleries on earth. MoMa Guggenheim and Met have like.. the most important modern art pieces ever made.

At least my rec center recommendation is something not available in NY.

It’s ok it gave me a hearty chuckle. I’ve never ever heard someone suggest Terwillegar Rec Centre as a ‘tourist attraction’ before but I may start now

 

[joestevens29]

Oh didn't see it mentioned, but apparently the Mediterranean Chicken pizza and Royal Pizza is a must try.

 

[Sweetpotato]

Hey gang, I will do the usual Rangers fan in peace thing. Looking to visit Edmonton this season.

What are some essential restaurants and things to do besides the mall?

Thanks for any and all suggestions and if a thread already exists that I missed, feel free to merge this.

Downtown is better now, check out Rogers, Jasper Ave and maybe hang out at city center mall. There's a sick movie theater at the top of the mall.

White ave is cool depending on your age and family. There is a world class(I believe it was ranked 7th in the world) pizza place just off white ave call Rosso pizzeria. It's fantastic.

Corn maze west of the city since someone said earlier, correct me if I'm wrong, that you're coming in October.

Rec centers if you have kids was a great suggestion someone mentioned earlier. Terwilliger, Sherwood park, Spruce Grove, etc all have massive Rec centers.

And finally avoid public transit as much as you can unless it's during busy hours.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Here I agree. what gets passed as Mexican food here is underwhelming and starting with base ingredients. Here in Canada (and nobody else in the world I know does this) we make burritos out of flour. ffs we can't even get that right. Burritos are made out of corn, corn. Not wheat. Basically everywhere you go they have those awful Canadian burritos. You couldn't give them away anywhere else.

Wheat flour based burritos are disgusting. Use Corn burritos or its not authentic.

3 Amigos is one of the few in Edmonton that actually use corn tortillas. They get a pass.

In any case the Mexican food you find here is usually some kind of adaptation from somebody here not Mexican, trying to re-invent the wheel.

pure ignorance

somebody has never been to Luna restaurant on 99th and 63rd...

 

[Stoneman89]

Here I agree. what gets passed as Mexican food here is underwhelming and starting with base ingredients. Here in Canada (and nobody else in the world I know does this) we make burritos out of flour. ffs we can't even get that right. Burritos are made out of corn, corn. Not wheat. Basically everywhere you go they have those awful Canadian burritos. You couldn't give them away anywhere else.

Wheat flour based burritos are disgusting. Use Corn burritos or its not authentic.

3 Amigos is one of the few in Edmonton that actually use corn tortillas. They get a pass.

In any case the Mexican food you find here is usually some kind of adaptation from somebody here not Mexican, trying to re-invent the wheel.

From the Three Amigos Edmonton Website. Sounds pretty authentic to me.

The Three Amigos was started on December 1, 2005; it is a family run business owned by three brothers, Ken, Alfredo and Elvis Rosales.
We were excited to introduce the authentic Oaxaca style cuisine that we grew up with and still eat at home. Our ultimate goal was to have a place people could come and indulge not only in the deliciously home made food, but to also have them feel as if they were in
Mexico just by walking through the doors!
Made In-house, Our food is fresh and made to order from the salsas to the handmade tortillas.
Our whole menu keeps your taste buds wanting mas y mas!!!
Thank you to all our loyal Amigos for helping us become such a success in Edmonton, and we hope to continue seeing you and your future generations enjoying at our restaurants!!

Calle Mexican Restaurant and Ristizado are all very good and authentic, owned by Mexican ex-pats, as most of them are.

My favourite is Luna, a small, hole in the wall off Argyll and 99 Street.

Edmonton is doing good with it's authentic Mexican offerings. You need to get out more.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

It doesn’t take a million Mexicans to make good food, just one. Lots of Mexicans who have chosen to reside in Canada that make fantastic , authentic Mexican food.

Imagine a capitalist structure being applied to this.

I'll share my personal experience:

Being a Korean from Edmonton, I lived in a city of 2 Million koreans (LA).
The korean food in LA was WAY better as a whole.

10,000 Koreans owning tens of thousands of korean food restaurants all competing with other koreans for your money.

Well it started off as "Korean Restaurant" and then got segmented into very specific dishes.

Theres hundreds of Korean soft tofu soup shops
hundreds of Korean BBQ
hundreds of Korean Bibimbap
Hundreds of Pusan style seafood restaurants
Hundreds of Jeju style seafood restaurants
hundreds of "Korean fried chicken
hundreds of Korean dumplings
hundreds of korean shaved ice desserts
hundreds of Korean macaroons

All of these restaurants are filled with Koreans patrons.
All competing to be the best at their disciplines. And all competing for your money

A "korean restaurant" in Edmonton that makes everything, can't compete. Especially when they need to "white-wash" their food and experience for local pallettes.

(This is Ali Wong and David Chang talking about it):


So.. yes. you might have mexican food made by mexicans in Edmonton.

But it didn't have to compete against the capitalist gauntlet of millions of Mexicans competing for the attention of other Mexicans to rise to the top. It just had to be the best and most authentic of a small sample size.

 

[Drivesaitl]

From the Three Amigos Edmonton Website. Sounds pretty authentic to me.

The Three Amigos was started on December 1, 2005; it is a family run business owned by three brothers, Ken, Alfredo and Elvis Rosales.
We were excited to introduce the authentic Oaxaca style cuisine that we grew up with and still eat at home. Our ultimate goal was to have a place people could come and indulge not only in the deliciously home made food, but to also have them feel as if they were in
Mexico just by walking through the doors!
Made In-house, Our food is fresh and made to order from the salsas to the handmade tortillas.
Our whole menu keeps your taste buds wanting mas y mas!!!
Thank you to all our loyal Amigos for helping us become such a success in Edmonton, and we hope to continue seeing you and your future generations enjoying at our restaurants!!

Calle Mexican Restaurant and Ristizado are all very good and authentic, owned by Mexican ex-pats, as most of them are.

My favourite is Luna, a small, hole in the wall off Argyll and 99 Street.

Edmonton is doing good with it's authentic Mexican offerings. You need to get out more.

I specifically stated 3 Amigos is good and at least has authentic burritos.

Haven't been to any of the others you mentioned. I'm Celiac so I require non gluten. 3 Amigos is good with providing those options, most places here are not. We did go to Ristizado and looked at menu and walked out. Not our thing. They're closed in any case as are Tres Carnales.

As far as I can tell from menu Calle Mexico has started to use the garbage flour burritos. Too bad, we did go in Leduc years ago and they had more focus on authentic burritos.

Luna looks interesting.

 

[Drivesaitl]

pure ignorance

somebody has never been to Luna restaurant on 99th and 63rd...

For sure I haven't.

It’s ok it gave me a hearty chuckle. I’ve never ever heard someone suggest Terwillegar Rec Centre as a ‘tourist attraction’ before but I may start now

Hey people used to recommend the transit hotel so its anything goes. Its interesting that when the Oilers were shite, people were so cynical here that some of the recommendations would reflect that.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Canada does not have edible mexican food by US standards. Most major US cities have a million mexicans making actual mexican food.

Three Amigos is owned by 2 Mexican brothers and most staff are Mexican. They even have Mexican Coke and Mexican soft drinks. They’ve been operating about 20 years and are full all the time.

It’s as Mexican as you can get without being kidnapped by a cartel.

 

[K1984]

Downtown is better now, check out Rogers, Jasper Ave and maybe hang out at city center mall. There's a sick movie theater at the top of the mall.

White ave is cool depending on your age and family. There is a world class(I believe it was ranked 7th in the world) pizza place just off white ave call Rosso pizzeria. It's fantastic.

Corn maze west of the city since someone said earlier, correct me if I'm wrong, that you're coming in October.

Rec centers if you have kids was a great suggestion someone mentioned earlier. Terwilliger, Sherwood park, Spruce Grove, etc all have massive Rec centers.

And finally avoid public transit as much as you can unless it's during busy hours.

When was the last time you were at City Centre mall? That place is almost as much of a no go zone as public transit at the moment.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Here I agree. what gets passed as Mexican food here is underwhelming and starting with base ingredients. Here in Canada (and nobody else in the world I know does this) we make burritos out of flour. ffs we can't even get that right. Burritos are made out of corn, corn. Not wheat. Basically everywhere you go they have those awful Canadian burritos. You couldn't give them away anywhere else.

Wheat flour based burritos are disgusting. Use Corn burritos or its not authentic.

3 Amigos is one of the few in Edmonton that actually use corn tortillas. They get a pass.

In any case the Mexican food you find here is usually some kind of adaptation from somebody here not Mexican, trying to re-invent the wheel.

They are Mexican and the food is as authentic as it can get.

 

[Drivesaitl]

They are Mexican and the food is as authentic as it can get.

I did mention 3 amigos use authentic Corn Tortillas. There are exceptions. 3 Amigos is a decent recommendation.

That said its true I haven't been out and around enough since Covid. Retirement, catching up on 101 things to do in and around the house (I repair basically anything.) and mega gardening and side carpentry jobs taking up my time. For some reason I just don't enjoy going out much anymore.

 

[Sweetpotato]

When was the last time you were at City Centre mall? That place is almost as much of a no go zone as public transit at the moment.

A couple months ago during the playoffs. I wasn't there for long but it didn't seem that bad. Perhaps earlier in the day it's worse?

 

[Drivesaitl]

Ice District is having an Octoberfest. That would be easy to take in for somebody coming to see an oilers game.

We did like the Alchemy lounge at the Marriot.

 

[bellagiobob]

Three Amigos is owned by 2 Mexican brothers and most staff are Mexican. They even have Mexican Coke and Mexican soft drinks. They’ve been operating about 20 years and are full all the time.

It’s as Mexican as you can get without being kidnapped by a cartel.

Just stop. You’ve been told by multiple people in this thread that have never been there that the food is crap. Stop with the false propaganda.

 

[Senor Catface]

Imagine a capitalist structure being applied to this.

I'll share my personal experience:

Being a Korean from Edmonton, I lived in a city of 2 Million koreans (LA).
The korean food in LA was WAY better as a whole.

10,000 Koreans owning tens of thousands of korean food restaurants all competing with other koreans for your money.

Well it started off as "Korean Restaurant" and then got segmented into very specific dishes.

Theres hundreds of Korean soft tofu soup shops
hundreds of Korean BBQ
hundreds of Korean Bibimbap
Hundreds of Pusan style seafood restaurants
Hundreds of Jeju style seafood restaurants
hundreds of "Korean fried chicken
hundreds of Korean dumplings
hundreds of korean shaved ice desserts
hundreds of Korean macaroons

All of these restaurants are filled with Koreans patrons.
All competing to be the best at their disciplines. And all competing for your money

A "korean restaurant" in Edmonton that makes everything, can't compete. Especially when they need to "white-wash" their food and experience for local pallettes.

(This is Ali Wong and David Chang talking about it):


So.. yes. you might have mexican food made by mexicans in Edmonton.

But it didn't have to compete against the capitalist gauntlet of millions of Mexicans competing for the attention of other Mexicans to rise to the top. It just had to be the best and most authentic of a small sample size.

How are the rec centers in LA though

 

[bellagiobob]

Imagine a capitalist structure being applied to this.

I'll share my personal experience:

Being a Korean from Edmonton, I lived in a city of 2 Million koreans (LA).
The korean food in LA was WAY better as a whole.

10,000 Koreans owning tens of thousands of korean food restaurants all competing with other koreans for your money.

Well it started off as "Korean Restaurant" and then got segmented into very specific dishes.

Theres hundreds of Korean soft tofu soup shops
hundreds of Korean BBQ
hundreds of Korean Bibimbap
Hundreds of Pusan style seafood restaurants
Hundreds of Jeju style seafood restaurants
hundreds of "Korean fried chicken
hundreds of Korean dumplings
hundreds of korean shaved ice desserts
hundreds of Korean macaroons

All of these restaurants are filled with Koreans patrons.
All competing to be the best at their disciplines. And all competing for your money

A "korean restaurant" in Edmonton that makes everything, can't compete. Especially when they need to "white-wash" their food and experience for local pallettes.

(This is Ali Wong and David Chang talking about it):


So.. yes. you might have mexican food made by mexicans in Edmonton.

But it didn't have to compete against the capitalist gauntlet of millions of Mexicans competing for the attention of other Mexicans to rise to the top. It just had to be the best and most authentic of a small sample size.

All we’re trying to do here is give the OP some decent restaurant choices.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Imagine a capitalist structure being applied to this.

I'll share my personal experience:

Being a Korean from Edmonton, I lived in a city of 2 Million koreans (LA).
The korean food in LA was WAY better as a whole.

10,000 Koreans owning tens of thousands of korean food restaurants all competing with other koreans for your money.

Well it started off as "Korean Restaurant" and then got segmented into very specific dishes.

Theres hundreds of Korean soft tofu soup shops
hundreds of Korean BBQ
hundreds of Korean Bibimbap
Hundreds of Pusan style seafood restaurants
Hundreds of Jeju style seafood restaurants
hundreds of "Korean fried chicken
hundreds of Korean dumplings
hundreds of korean shaved ice desserts
hundreds of Korean macaroons

All of these restaurants are filled with Koreans patrons.
All competing to be the best at their disciplines. And all competing for your money

A "korean restaurant" in Edmonton that makes everything, can't compete. Especially when they need to "white-wash" their food and experience for local pallettes.

(This is Ali Wong and David Chang talking about it):


So.. yes. you might have mexican food made by mexicans in Edmonton.

But it didn't have to compete against the capitalist gauntlet of millions of Mexicans competing for the attention of other Mexicans to rise to the top. It just had to be the best and most authentic of a small sample size.

he's not going to LA, or Seoul or Mexico City...he's coming to Edmonton and needs to eat

your ignorance really is astounding...especially from an outsider

 

[Stoneman89]

Imagine a capitalist structure being applied to this.

I'll share my personal experience:

Being a Korean from Edmonton, I lived in a city of 2 Million koreans (LA).
The korean food in LA was WAY better as a whole.

10,000 Koreans owning tens of thousands of korean food restaurants all competing with other koreans for your money.

Well it started off as "Korean Restaurant" and then got segmented into very specific dishes.

Theres hundreds of Korean soft tofu soup shops
hundreds of Korean BBQ
hundreds of Korean Bibimbap
Hundreds of Pusan style seafood restaurants
Hundreds of Jeju style seafood restaurants
hundreds of "Korean fried chicken
hundreds of Korean dumplings
hundreds of korean shaved ice desserts
hundreds of Korean macaroons

All of these restaurants are filled with Koreans patrons.
All competing to be the best at their disciplines. And all competing for your money

A "korean restaurant" in Edmonton that makes everything, can't compete. Especially when they need to "white-wash" their food and experience for local pallettes.

(This is Ali Wong and David Chang talking about it):


So.. yes. you might have mexican food made by mexicans in Edmonton.

But it didn't have to compete against the capitalist gauntlet of millions of Mexicans competing for the attention of other Mexicans to rise to the top. It just had to be the best and most authentic of a small sample size.

Still doesn't dispute the fact that we can have good if not great authentic Mexican (or other nationalities food for that matter) in our city. Will it be one of the best Mexican restaurants in the world? Probably not, but who really cares? Why can't some people just be happy with what we have here, and also enjoy things when they travel? The OP is coming here, not LA, so if he wants some authentic Mexican food, we can offer it to him.