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The Cottage Picnic + Play | Victoria | 3111 Cedar Hill Rd. at Lang | Closed in 2017


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#41 sdwright.vic

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Posted 17 July 2017 - 06:49 AM

Pizza (delivery) would work there. Something that is taken to people, not gave to go to this awkward location.
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#42 Rob Randall

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Posted 17 July 2017 - 06:58 AM

I note they spent several months renovating before opening, prime summer revenue time. Compared to the Mexican joint in the old Rathskeller--a fresh coat of paint a nd some chairs--bam, they're open in two weeks.

I'm not convinced location was a major ingredient here. There are other restaurants in far-flung locales where customers are lined up out the door. If it is good, people will come.

#43 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 17 July 2017 - 07:05 AM

I'm not convinced location was a major ingredient here. There are other restaurants in far-flung locales where customers are lined up out the door. If it is good, people will come.

 

Ya, either am I.


<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>

#44 jonny

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Posted 17 July 2017 - 07:23 AM

McRae's is in an odd location. Seems to do fine. Maude Hunter's too.



#45 lanforod

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Posted 17 July 2017 - 07:46 AM

^ both of those are on a major street, and they cater to the pub crowd. There is probably room for more pubs in Saanich.

 

A mom restaurant could work, but I really don't see it happening there. That location has challenges with parking. It also had bad reviews, as we saw earlier in this thread. 

 

I don't think location is the sole reason it didn't work, but it did contribute somewhat.

 

A Chuck E Cheese or something by Uptown would probably hit it out of the park.


Edited by lanforod, 17 July 2017 - 07:49 AM.

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#46 jonny

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Posted 17 July 2017 - 07:56 AM

and they cater to the pub crowd

 

We can stop talking about the Cottage now as lanforod's analysis just about covers why this place failed.



#47 Nparker

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Posted 17 July 2017 - 07:59 AM

We can stop talking about the Cottage now as lanforod's analysis just about covers why this place failed.

I'd like to hear more about Chuck E. Cheese. As a kid I'd get p-o'ed when I saw the ads on TV and knew we'd never likely see one in Victoria.



#48 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 17 July 2017 - 08:19 AM

I'd like to hear more about Chuck E. Cheese. As a kid I'd get p-o'ed when I saw the ads on TV and knew we'd never likely see one in Victoria.

 

Nolan Kay Bushnell (born February 5, 1943) is an American electrical engineer and businessman. He established Atari, Inc. and the Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre chain. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.../Nolan_Bushnell

 

He rented Atari games to places.  Then he said screw this, these places are raking up cash due to my game rental.  I should just open a place and get all the money.

 

Then he realized he opened too many.  The average family only went as a treat, once every 3 or 4 months.

 

I think we did have one, at Quadra and Hillside circa 1984-7.


Edited by VicHockeyFan, 17 July 2017 - 08:23 AM.

<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>

#49 lanforod

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Posted 17 July 2017 - 09:13 AM

There IS a dearth of real family friendly restaurants in Victoria. I'm always looking, we get bored of White Spot, Red Robin and Boston Pizza after a while. There isn't a full on 'kid' restaurant like Chuck E Cheese that I'm aware of. The Cottage tried to fill that void, but implementation was bad.


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#50 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 17 July 2017 - 09:16 AM

Some McDonalds has play places, kids seem to like those.
<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>

#51 lanforod

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Posted 17 July 2017 - 09:58 AM

Fast food is fine, sometimes we don't want that :).



#52 Mike K.

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Posted 17 July 2017 - 10:38 AM

There IS a dearth of real family friendly restaurants in Victoria. I'm always looking, we get bored of White Spot, Red Robin and Boston Pizza after a while. There isn't a full on 'kid' restaurant like Chuck E Cheese that I'm aware of. The Cottage tried to fill that void, but implementation was bad.

 

There's that play place thingy along Langford Parkway near Westhills. Kids can run around the jungle gyms and eat greasy food.


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#53 lanforod

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Posted 17 July 2017 - 11:16 AM

That's in the boonies. Getting there for kids dinner time means going through the Colwood crawl.


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#54 cfbnp200e

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Posted 18 July 2017 - 09:48 AM

When this "bad" location was La Collina Bakery and they expanded to host pasta & pizza nights - it was packed (and they're doing the same again, years later, at Mosi...)



#55 G-Man

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Posted 30 July 2017 - 08:27 AM

Pub would do well here.
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#56 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 30 July 2017 - 08:49 AM

Pub would do well here.

 

Or "pub-style".  Rules have been relaxed a bit lately.  As long as you have food service available all operating hours, you can pretty much be a pub.  And let kids in.


Edited by VicHockeyFan, 30 July 2017 - 08:49 AM.

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<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>

#57 Awaiting Juno

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Posted 01 August 2017 - 11:06 AM

I'm sad to see it go as there is an unmet need, but somewhere in the execution it didn't quite hit the mark.  The food was good, and it was nice to have an alternative to McDonald's but the play space was a bit underwhelming.  So far the best child theme restaurant/playspace I've come across has been "The Great Escape" in Langley - it's got a lot of things similar to chuck-e-cheese (video games and tokens) but also has more play space for kids to run around in.  The food was okay too and the price point seemed reasonable.  Have also been to McMenamin's in Hillsboro - and that was great, basically fields to run in with a pub style eatery pool tables and games.   To make it work though - there needs to be space and a good amount of it, otherwise the noise can be overstimulating and it can be hazardous with the number of little people running around.  Ultimately, I don't think there was enough space to make it work well and that really limited the volume of customers that could be handled effectively.   


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#58 dirtydeeds

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Posted 30 December 2017 - 08:10 AM

Looks like work is happening at this location, over the last two weeks it looks like tarped off and vans in for likely asbestos removal. Anyone know the future for this restaurant graveyard?
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