Mama's Gone! (Calgary)

[dpeacey]

Just thought I'd post that Mama's on 16th Ave is gone -- it is to be a sushi place. Mama's has been there FOREVER. Not that I ate there often -- not a good value for my money, but I favor the cheap eats.

Still looking for a good neighbourhood (Renfrew/Bridgeland) pizza place that we can bring the kids since it is IMPOSSIBLE to get into Sandro's these days without a reservation.

[dpeacey]

Thanks, everyone, I will try Pimentos. We tried to slip into Bocavino -- alas, children are not allowed. (Because it is licensed as a bar? Not sure exactly. Maybe they just didn't like the look of Thing 1 and Thing 2?)

Tried the Virgin Olive about a month ago -- wretched! About 2 circles of hell below Chiantis on 32nd Ave. NE. (My mother's favorite place, LOL).

[sweeterpea]

Bocavino is technically a lounge I think. Too bad :o(

[maplesugar]

LOL at least Chiantis on 32Av NE is kid-friendly. The food isn't, ahem, the best, but the staff is friendly and drawing on the paper placemats is encouraged :)

[hsk]

Wow - I think Mamma's was one of the first restaurants I ever went to in Calgary (in '82, I think), it wasn't new then! I considered it pretty posh, used to go there all the time for a special dinner, but then other italian places opened up south of the river and it was just a lot more convenient to go to places closer to home. I think quite a few of the career servers/owners in the newer italian restaurants worked there at one time or another. Sigh - another sign of time marching on.

[Hart50]

Claudio and Manuel at Il Gallo Nero come to mind. As you may know, after they left Mama's with Paulo they ran Da Paulo's for many years.,

[Jigga]

If you don't mind take out, both Urban Baker (Renfrew) and Pimento (Bridgeland) do excellent pizza.

[John Manzo]

Urban Baker is definitely in Bridgeland, on Edmonton Trail; Renfrew is further north.

The place next door to Lina's (owned by the Lina's people too) is reputed to have good pizza.

I second Pimento- we've had takeout from there and it's a nice thin-crust pizza.

[sweeterpea]

The restaurant next door to Lina's is called Bocavino; they have good food at reasonable prices and their pizza is quite good. It's more of a bar/lounge, so the decor is a little lacking, but a great place for a casual meal, plus friendly service.

[maplesugar]

I've never tried Pimento's but I intend to ...I drive by a fair bit since it's down the street from DD's school. I quite like Urban Baker's pizza too.

(I believe 8th Avenue is the dividing line (in parts) between Bridgeland and Renfrew (further east 7th Av is used) and Urban Baker is at 802 Edmonton Tr. so lets just call it a draw.)

[John Manzo]

I have to confess my ignorance then! I thought Renfrew was quite a bit further up the hill but am happy to be corrected.

[maplesugar]

I only know where the boundary is because Bridgeland/Renfrew is one of the areas we were considering moving to in order to be closer to DD's school and DH's work. Urban Baker would be in Bridgeland if it were on the south side of 8th Ave John so I think you can be forgiven ;)

[feuerzeug]

According to the community newsletters we receive in the mail, we live in Bridgeland AND Renfrew, and we're on 7 Ave. Regal Terrace is apparently in the mix somehow as well...

[maplesugar]

I've always heard of the area (in mls.ca terms) referred to as Renfrew/Regal Terrace (I think Regal Terrace is at the far east end by Deerfoot??) I checked calgaryarea.com and the Bridgeland and Renfrew community associations both claim 7th Av...I'm thinking maybe it switches where 7th Av does that jog north at 6th Street NE.. or maybe where 7th Av meets Bridge Crescent is the Bridgeland part.... either way your neighbourhood has some fantastic eats :)