[Edmontonian]

Thanks for all the photos @Gronk! I hope you had a fun night out

I wanted to quickly point out that they fixed the Rogers Place screen it no longer has those blacked out pixels all over it which makes it look about 100x better.

 

[IanO]

Didn’t get any great photos, but checked out the ice house and Banquet last night Ice House is massive and quite nice, bur Banquet really shines. So many people having fun, playing arcade games, bowling, etc. seems it will be a really happening place. All around quite impressed

Looking forward to checking it out and reporting back in the very near future.

 

[tkoe_]

"Sub-zero vodka room"

Very interesting...

 

[CplKlinger]

All I have to say is that this isn't their first rodeo, so hearsay is just that.

Thar she blows, more hearsay incoming.

Some of the person's coworkers went there to drink yesterday, and said the staff seemed to be doing very well. This person's store had a very busy night by their standards, and made over $20,000 yesterday. Meanwhile, the Icehouse made over $60,000. I'm impressed by how the staff rose to the challenge, and am very excited to see how these two new places help change the dynamic in that area—both on game nights and on regular nights.

And yes, I completely understand that what I said before was just hearsay, and I wasn't trying to imply that I was expecting them to fail. I just thought folks would be interested to hear from someone who was on the inside.

 

[Mattyeg]

Worked in restaurants from 15 years old to 34(ish) and any openings I was ever involved with always had a soft opening or family/friends night. Issue was never usually service staff basics, but rather getting a large volume of people in and out quickly. I was also shocked they chose Saturday night battle of Alberta for the opening. Wonder how many people were late for puck drop lol.

I was one of maybe 2 or 3 male servers around when Hundred opened on rice Howard . Another large and anticipated downtown restaurant. We had two family/friend nights if I remember correctly. I wonder if icehouse and banquet are following that old fashion female only server ”rule”.

 

[Gronk!]

Early afternoon at The Banquet and the Canadian Icehouse

 

[IanO]

Yesterday we headed over to the Icehouse for a pre-game:

1. Tons of staff, many still learning the system (and basics), but were friendly enough
2. The entrance, reservations vs. walk-ins and efficiency need to be fine tuned as there was confusion, a demarcated line-up area and was quite slow
3. The place is huge, a bit hard to navigate and odd circulation; cavernous to say the least
4. Burger and fries were ok, maybe a bit above average fare and the beer was cold and decently priced
5. It's really nice to have a large sports bar there
6. Disappointing to be a pre-Oilers game and they turned off the NHL game in favour of UFC

 

[Gronk!]

I visited the Ice District around 6:30 PM this evening. This was after happy hour when the Oilers have the night off.
Icehouse was fairly quiet.
Banquet was a tad busier but no games were being played.
Rogers Place was dead.
Grand Villa Casino was fairly quiet but at least the pedway entrance was open.
BP in COE Tower was not bad.
Needless to say, I didn't stick around.

 

[Edmontonian]

Expected for nights the Oilers aren't playing. I hope in the summer it can stay busy though.

 

[archited]

Don't forget concerts, rodeos and Oil King game nights

 

[IanO]

It's going to take all of that and more given the size of the spots, but they are good additions and could become a true entertainment destination for the area.

 

[Gronk!]

Loblaw City Market opens in a couple of weeks so I'll wait and see what happens.

 

[KreationYEG]

 

[IanO]

I look forward to the day...year that we don't have fencing or hoarding that place.

 

[strata]

#BankDistrict