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Hip Hotel (Toronto, Ontario) matches up Solo Travelers for City AdventuresThis innovative hotel wants your business!
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THE How-to Booklet of Solo Dining Tips & Strategies:
The Art and Satisfaction of Dining Alone — REVEALED!
is now available for purchase in PDF format!
Coyotes - Deli & Grill — (403) 762-3963; 206 Caribou Street, Banff, Alberta, Canada
Amenities: If you're among the fortunate planning a visit to Banff and its spectacular neighbors — Athabasca
Falls, Columbia Icefield, Lake Louise, etc. — you'll need serious sustenance.
Coyotes serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. A dandy dining counter, seating six, that overlooks an open kitchen, is THE place for solos. According to Owner Kathryn Wilson, it draws an equal number of out-of-towners and locals AND dinner is "the most appreciated meal."
Cuisine: Southwest Mediterranean Fusion (Buzzword: "blue cornmeal"!)
Prices: Dinner Entrees — $15-28 Canadian
Neighborhood: Center of downtown
The Belvedere — (403) 265-9595; 107 Eighth Avenue, SW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Amenities: The local petroleum trade has discovered this gem and turned their out-of-town visitors on to
it; hence, this restaurant is accustomed to hearty numbers of solos, especially at dinner.
Though solo diners are offered a choice of whatever is available in the way of seating, a scant 18 tables calls for creativity and a bit of coddling if you plan to enjoy a meal here. When you call to make a reservation, consider offering to share your table with another solo diner.
Cuisine: North American Contemporary with a French flair
Prices: Dinner — Prix fixe three course - $55 (18 wines by the glass)
Neighborhood: Heart of downtown
Centro Grill & Wine Bar — (416) 483-2211; 724 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Amenities: "Everyone should be spoiled" is the philosophy that's kept business booming at Centro
Grill for 16 years (More restaurants should follow their lead!) — a philosophy that embraces solo diners.
Early in the week, and early in the evening, both male and female solo business travelers (A recent addition to the mix — a soap opera actress, filming on location.) are a staple.
"Regulars" have discovered Centro provides, "one stop shopping." They have a choice of upstairs elegant dining (where they will be seated "in the middle of the action." Management doesn't want anyone to "feel out of place.") or the more casual lower level where lighter fare, like pizza and salad, (full menu, too) is available, plus a best kept secret: live music, including R&B, blues and jazz.
Cuisine: European Continental
Prices: Dinner Entrees — $30-38 Canadian
Neighborhood: Uptown
Dipamo's Barbecue — (416) 483-4227; 514 Eglinton Avenue West; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Amenities: You can't miss it! Their communal table, 24' by 28" and crafted of Indian hardwood, is located
in the middle of the restaurant. "Exciting and fun — it's packed; truly elbow-to elbow," according to
co-owner Douglas Fisher, "There's never an empty seat; singles load it up all the time!"
Solos come from "uptown" and nearby residential neighborhoods. The majority — both males and females — are primarily executive-types; however, solo customers also include a substantial number of people whose spouses are away traveling on business. Another group well represented is the "mature" set. Widows and widowers — 70 years and older — relish the opportunity to enrich a meal with companionship.
The conviviality of this rib place doesn't stop at the communal table. Throughout the restaurant are stands displaying barbecue sauce and rubs. To partake requires, well, "rubbing shoulders," which often results in an exchange of pleasantries.
P.S. As a gesture of thanks for their patronage, guests receive a fudgesicle upon leaving the restaurant — nice touch!
Cuisine: Barbecue
Price Range: $7-22 (Ribs — Memphis-style dry or wet basted with barbecue sauce: small — $16; regular — $22; besides sandwiches of brisket, etc., other favorites are: home-made sausage links, chicken and Atlantic Salmon Fillet.)
Neighborhood: North Toronto — Forest Hills
Brix Restaurant & Wine Bar — (604) 915-9463; 1138 Homer Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Amenities: Tapas (We counted 13 on the menu!), small plate dining, a perfect choice for any solo who craves
array-of-tastes dining; 60 wines by the glass; reading materials, including The Wine Spectator and Saveur;
dining at the lounge/bar (nine seats at the latter; comfy backs and cushions per the latter seating).
These solo dining attractions and more have been available for the past 3 1/2 years; nevertheless, solo diners have yet to discover Brix. SoloDining.com is pleased to help get the word out!
Cuisine: Modern American — Progressive West Coast (High end with 3/4 level prices)
Prices: Dinner Entrees —$18-29 (Tapas — $6-9)
Neighborhood: Yaletown — Warehouse area
Bridges' Bistro — (604) 687-4400; 1696 Duranleau Street, #200, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Amenities: A landmark overlooking water, mountain and city views for over 25 years, Bridges' offers several
dining options with windows galore: fine dining, the bistro and the bar.
However the dock, a large patio on the water with seating for 300 and skads of small tables, is the big draw for solo diners. Solo locals and visitors, ages 20-50, pack this area throughout the day, especially between lunch and dinner.
Cuisine: Seafood, pasta and burgers (20 wines by the glass; no reservations)
Prices: Dinner Entrees — $14-25 Canadian
Neighborhood: Water's edge off Granville Island, just five minutes from downtown.
"Teagan," the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel Wheaton Terrier
Have you heard about hotels that offer guests loaner goldfish for the duration of their stay? "Bowl-bound" companions, "strokable" is not part of their job description. But for Teagan, it's the basis of his appeal — and guests lap it up!
The Fairmont Waterfront prides itself in creating the ultimate guest experience (as do its local sister Fairmont Hotels).
(And "that" experience includes solo dining; more on that later!)
Here's how the Fairmount Waterfront describes this guest amenity:
Herons Restaurant and Lounge — The Fairmont Waterfront — (604) 691-1818; 900 Canada Place Way; Vancouver,
V6C 3L5, British Columbia, Canada.
Amenities: Solos are usually seated at one of the tables close to floor-to-ceiling windows with a view of
Vancouver's scenic inner harbour. From their tables, guests can see the lush Stanley Park, the Lion's Gate Bridge,
cruise ships gliding into shore and the North Shore Mountains.
Their personable servers are used to solo diners because many hotel guests are traveling on business alone.
Additional particulars:
· Roughly 60 percent of their solo diners are men and 40 percent are women.
· 80 percent of solo diners are hotel guests; 20 percent are based elsewhere.
· 30 wines available by the glass.(Sommelier, Coreen Marquez, is on hand to suggest the perfect half-liter
of BC wine, to accompany whatever dish you choose.)
· The Fairmont Waterfront does communal seating for special events in tables of 8 or10. Roughly 10 per
cent of diners at their special events are solo and roughly 90 per cent from from outside the hotel.
Cuisine: Regional
Dinner Entrees: $18-$52 Canadian
Ouest — (604) 738-8938; 2881 Granville Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Amenities: Solo diners have distinct preferences at Ouest. They prefer: (1) the bar (10 seats) for lunch
and (2) table-seating (several smaller tables for two with views of the restaurant and the kitchen) at dinner.
That said, most solo diners appear on weekdays for dinner and on weekends for lunch.
Who are they? Solo diners include locals — primarily male walk-ins — and females sent by hotel concierges.
Cuisine: Contemporary Regional — the best of what the region has to offer.
Prices: Dinner Entrees — $19-34 (5:30-6:00pm three course prix fixe — $28)
Neighborhood: South Granville
Leméac — (514) 270-0999; 1045 Laurier Ouest Avenue, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Amenities: This European-style brasserie attracts professionals, politicians — and a goodly number of solo
diners.
The award-winning architecture, featuring corner windows and colorful terrazzo flooring, is part of the draw. So
is dining at the 18-seat bar, though many solos reserve table seating for both lunch and dinner.
Cuisine: Bistro-type (The chef is fond of reviving traditional dishes and transforming them into "new
classics"; e.g. Calf Liver Pavé — prepared 1 1/2" thick.)
Prices: Dinner Entrees — $15-29 (Special 10:00pm "after theater" menu — $20)
Neighborhood: Near the University of Montreal
Les Remparts at L'Auberge du Vieux-Port — (514) 392-1649; 93 de la Commune Street East, Montreal, Quebec,
Canada
Amenities: Built of old stone walls and massive wooden beams, this restaurant is historically located on
the site of the old wall, which long ago encircled the city of Ville-Marie.
Long on history and splendidly appointed, it's short on seating — 50 seats and 10-15 of them are claimed by solos
every evening! (60% are business women)
Many of the restaurant's solo guests are gregarious; they commonly strike up conversations with diners at adjoining tables. Hence, don't just hope to discover such conviviality after you're seated. Take the initiative beforehand when you make a reservation.
Thrill management by offering to share your table with another solo diner. (If you're fortunate enough to be in Montreal from the end of June through the end of July, you'll truly desire company. Roof top seating, spanning 7pm-10pm includes a view of the old port, a "roof top menu"and a fireworks display twice a week.)
Cuisine: Seasonal French, with emphasis on local purveyors.
Prices: Dinner Entrees — $30-40 Canadian
Neighborhood: Old Montreal
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