41 replies to this topic

[VicHockeyFan]

Mac's Coffee on Gorge Rd. was 24 hours, no? Isn't that the Romeo's now?

Same location, not the same building. Yup, hard to figure why the downturn despite the population increase. I guess there are a few more 24hr 7-11s etc, and they did not have coffee/food you could microwave back in the day.

[Caramia]

I miss the Day and Night every time I walk down Yates Street.
That place was pure, concentrated Victoria underbelly.
I loved it there.

[spanky123]

Problem is labour costs. It doesn't pay to keep a restaurant open unless you have a certain volume of traffic.

[VicHockeyFan]

Problem is labour costs. It doesn't pay to keep a restaurant open unless you have a certain volume of traffic.

...but has the volume of traffic gone down in the last 20 years?

[sebberry]

...but has the volume of traffic gone down in the last 20 years?

The increasing numbers of unsavory people residing on downtown streets certainly doesn't help attract patrons of 24 hr eateries.

Toss in what the little pizza place downtown has gone through with being blamed for rowdy crowds and there is little wonder why all night eateries are a think of the past.

[G-Man]

No you are all wrong it is the decrease in shift workers in the downown core.

[Phil McAvity]

^huh?

I forgot all about coffee mac's! VHF is right, coffee mac's got razed completely and is now a fenced yard for cars. Romeo's is next door.

I expect homelessness/panhandling is a factor as is more 24 hr convenience stores. While Alzu's is close, it just amazes me that there isn't one 24 hr eatery downtown now when in the 1990's there were four.

[Bernard]

When I was at UVic in the 80s, I spent many hours at Scott's and Coffee Mac's. They were all reasonably busy. I had wondered about this in the back of my head - why were there so few 24 hour places and what happened to the Coffee Mac's building?

[Ms. B. Havin]

No you are all wrong it is the decrease in shift workers in the downown core.

Interesting...

Are you thinking of shift workers from pulp & paper mills, industrial jobs, etc.? Would that also include shift workers from tourism/ hospitality? But has that sector gone down, too?

Kind of interesting to think that a reduction in diversity (in terms of available sectors for employment) would have this kind of "ripple effect"...

[Caramia]

Actually now that you mention it... after night shift doing the MLS listings (back when we used glue stick before we were replaced by computers) we'd all go out for food and coffee at about 4am when we got off our shift.

[Bernard]

Actually now that you mention it... after night shift doing the MLS listings (back when we used glue stick before we were replaced by computers) we'd all go out for food and coffee at about 4am when we got off our shift.

Did you do that at Monday and with the photographer DJ?

[yodsaker]

Years ago in Montreal you could always depend on a half-dozen or so 24/7 taxi driver hangouts scattered around the city. They were all the same (all night brekkie, coffee refills) but all different in their own ways with individual owners usually behind the counter.
Where do Vic cabbies go?

[Ms. B. Havin]

Where do Vic cabbies go?

Back to the pumpkin patch? (I've heard it's really hard to get a cab in Victoria late at night/ early in the morning...)

[Phil McAvity]

Years ago in Montreal you could always depend on a half-dozen or so 24/7 taxi driver hangouts scattered around the city. They were all the same (all night brekkie, coffee refills) but all different in their own ways with individual owners usually behind the counter.
Where do Vic cabbies go?

I drove cab nightshift for many years and some of us would meet at Paul's at ungodly hours. The only problem was, most of the guys that I knew were tighter than a bull's ass at flytime and would order very little, if any food and want 18 coffee refills. Some of that crowd ended up at Denny's.

[P.Schilling]

I use to work in the area of coffee mac's and the story I heard was that it was tied into mcmillan blowdell or what have you and was created as a place for their shift workers to go after their shifts at some of the local mills.

I believe it was Doug McMillan who owns the VCW that told me this.

[VicHockeyFan]

Back to the pumpkin patch? (I've heard it's really hard to get a cab in Victoria late at night/ early in the morning...)

A week or so ago, I waited at Cook and Fairfield waiting almost 20 minutes for a cab at about 4am, and my phone was dead so I couldn't call one. Not one cab came by and eventually a police cruiser pulled up, the officer recognized me from my job, and drove me home. That was kinda cool.

I guess there are more 7-11's etc. than many years ago, and they have some type of heatable food to go.

[yodsaker]

A week or so ago, I waited at Cook and Fairfield waiting almost 20 minutes for a cab at about 4am, and my phone was dead so I couldn't call one. Not one cab came by and eventually a police cruiser pulled up, the officer recognized me from my job, and drove me home. That was kinda cool.

I guess there are more 7-11's etc. than many years ago, and they have some type of heatable food to go.

Scuzzy hot dogs and microwavable noodles. Yuk!
That stuff has killed honest greasy spoons where the owner and clientele had character.

[weirdie]

A week or so ago, I waited at Cook and Fairfield waiting almost 20 minutes for a cab at about 4am, and my phone was dead so I couldn't call one.

I've noticed lately that it's hard to even get them to pick up the phone at 2 or 3 AM.

[Mike K.]

There are two huge signs on the windows of the Douglas/View McDonald's advertising 24 hour service. There's no drivethru, and unless they have a service window I assume they'll keep their doors open.

[Phil McAvity]

^I noticed that too and immediately thought, that isn't going to last long. They've tried running 24 hours a day before and failed.

I've noticed lately that it's hard to even get them to pick up the phone at 2 or 3 AM.

Yeah, bar rush on Friday and Saturday night (and to a lesser extent, Thursday) is always chaotic for cab companies and it's hard to get someone to come into work for just that one hour.