What do you think of this project?

  • I like it a lot

    Votes: 9 34.6%

  • I like it

    Votes: 14 53.8%

  • I neither like nor dislike it

    Votes: 3 11.5%

  • I dislike it

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • I dislike it a lot

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    26
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^ I have designed and project-managed over 80 restaurants in both Canada and the United States. Rooftop restaurants are very difficult to operate successfully -- so they need some key ingredients:
- should have "snob appeal" with a well curated menu that is not too specialized -- steak and seafood fills the bill
- should have a view-centric cocktail lounge with entertainment (again well curated -- singer/songwriters or duets, trios and a mix -- music, comedy, magic -- that can buy into the slow nights. My experience with a restaurant that I owned in Edmonton (65-seat dining room -- converted at 10:00 p.m. into a dance venue with DJ (techno or disco) closed at 3 a.m. with "last call" at 2 a.m.; 65 seat cocktail lounge
- should have a well-landscaped exterior deck for al fresco dining -- your building should be able to handle something of a similar size to this (lounge plus dining plus kitchen plus restrooms plus deck).
- must have a delivery service to area businesses and residential (white glove service) and therefore a professionally developed website
- must have a unified connection with other participating businesses and hospitality venues and a cross--referencing platform (the more you help them the more they will help you)
- parking is a concern and needs to be strategically researched -- nearby businesses that don't need evening accessibility and can "lease out" there parking after 5 pm
- have a split shift on Monday through Thursday (11:30 a.m. -- 2:00 p.m. and then 5:30 -- Midnight) and then full operating hours from 11:30 a.m. until 3:00 a.m. for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
- do not supersede daily patrons for reserved guest bookings ever (unless they are willing to share the restaurant space with walk-in customers or unless you are in the enviable position of being able to book reservations)
- have a doorman/bouncer for the cocktail bar who works from 8:00 p.m. to closing (ideally an off-duty police officer who has force buddies)
- have full height enclosures for restrooms so that they can be unisex stalls with a common area for hand sinks -- you would be surprised how well people are behaved when the sexes commingle
- the cocktail lounge should also have other forms of entertainment -- darts, shuffleboard, bar-top video games and (very popular in my bar) backgammon (under bartender control) -- in the bar we also used to throw off-season parties with sponsorship from beer companies and liquor companies.
- interior design is key to establishing a distinctive aura or presence.
If you cut corners you will have a hard time making it as a roof-top venue. If you want to discuss let me know and I am happy to accommodate.
 
I don't think this is the right location for a rooftop restaurant/bar. A ground level restopub like Dogpatch is what I see succeeding on this lot.
 
Looks like all the windows got chopped in half from what was in the renders. Looks like the fancy bar lights under the balconies turned into pot lighting as well. I feel like they took a plan for a building in Montreal and value engineered it to hell for Edmonton. C'est la vie.
 
^you forgot to mention that absurd amount of brick they are putting up. Ridiculous, way too much brick for Edmonton, ruining a beautiful stucco wall.
 
I'll never understand a condo building with regular doors onto the balconies. Sliding patio doors add so much light. Between that and the tiny windows it just doesn't look particularly livable. We have such long winter darkness, you'd think everyone would want to maximize daylight.
 
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