I'm visiting Calgary next month and would like some suggestions on good restaurants (casual, not too upscale). In particular.. mexican, italian dining but all suggestions welcome! (please, no steakhouses as I'm vegetarian ). I do have some websites on hand but would love to hear personal experiences. <BR>Also, does Calgary have a &quot;Little Italy&quot;? <BR><BR><BR>

No Calgary doen't have a little Italy but I can recommend an excelent Italian Restaurant. It is &quot;Fiore&quot; located at 638 17th Ave. SW. It is small and intimate with great food, service and prices. Calgarians voted it to be one of their favourite restaurants. I can't think of a good Mexican place.

DS, you mention casual restaurants that are not &quot;too upscale&quot;. Is that a question on price or atmosphere? I ask because most Calgary restuarants have a very relaxed atmosphere, in fact I can only think of a handfull which may have a &quot;silent&quot; dress code.<BR><BR>If you are looking for casual restaurants with good food (price is in the high moderate range) I would recommend: <BR>River Cafe on Princess Island Park. Great atmosphere in the middle of a park. Prices are a bit high but the menu is varried enough to find something for everyone. <BR><BR>Juans Mexican Restaurant in downtown for Mexican cooked by Mexicans. The menu is not extensive but what is there is well prepared. It has a very casual atmosphere. There is also a Mexican restuarant called &quot;Salt + Pepper&quot; that gets good reviews, unfortunately I have not had any personal experience with it.<BR><BR>Cilantro on 17th Avenue SW is perhaps a bit on the upscale side for price but the atmosphere is relaxed and the food always well prepared. They have a clay pizza oven and make a wonderful variety of very thin crust pizzas. My favorite is a gorgonzola cheese with pear and pine nuts -- divine!<BR><BR>As for Italian I would have to disagree with Janie regarding Fiore. In my opinion I would call Fiore a &quot;chain-style&quot; italian restuarant who's claim to fame is $8.99 Pasta nights. For Italian cuisine you might want to try La Luna Rossa, Bion Giorgno (sp?), La Brezza, or La Dolce Vita. <BR><BR>Calgary does have an area where there is a large concentration of people with Italian heritage. It is called Bridgeland and it is across the river from Downtown. However it is mostly a residential neighbourhood without a strong commercial core. If you do go you will find a wonderful Italian grocery store (called &quot;The Italian Market&quot run by the same family for over 30 years and across the street a wine store selling only Italian wines. The store is a wonderful place to walk through with a wide variety of Italian products. <BR><BR>Enjoy!

DS, here are some of my favourites:<BR><BR>Italian: La Dolce Vita, La Brezza (both recommended by Hydra), or my favourite, Osteria de Medici.<BR><BR>Mexican: Although Calgary has far too few Mexican restaurants for my liking, in my opinion the best - hands down - is El Sombrero on 17th Ave SW. You'll need to make reservations a few days in advance.<BR><BR>As Hydra said, even the most upscale of Calgary restaurants still have a relaxed dress code. You're got to remember that this is a city built on oil, so you can usually get away with a nice pair of jeans in even the most expensive restaurant.<BR><BR>In terms of restauants with varied cuisines, I would recommend Wildwood and Murietta's. Teatro and the River Cafe are good, but not as good as the hype they have around them.<BR><BR>Lastly, if you like Chinese food, there is an all-vegetarian Chinese restaurant called Buddha's Veggie. They can recreate almost any Chinese dish using veggies and tofu.

Thanks all of you for your wonderful suggestions!! That's excellent.. I love to be prepared when visiting a city especially for outside dining! <BR><BR>hydra, I mentioned &quot;not too upscale&quot; in terms of price as well as atmosphere (coz I just assumed they go hand in hand). But it's great to hear that a lot of restaurants have a relaxed atmosphere. <BR><BR>on another note, what's the weather like towards April end? I'm guessing (and hoping) *at least* mid teens. <BR><BR>Thanks much.

DS, the saying goes . . . if you don't like the weather in Calgary wait five minutes and it will change. Chances are you will get &quot;low teens&quot; for weather in late April and you may be pleasantly suprised and get high teens. But at the same time we could get a late spring snow storm and you will be trudging through snow. The trees do not begin to bud in Calgary until late April ar early May at the earliest . . . however, we have had a very mild winter so spring may suprise us and come early.<BR><BR>I guess this is my round about way of saying come prepared -- whatever the daytime temperature, it will be chilly at night.

DS,<BR><BR>To reiterate what Hydra said, but in less eloquent terms, the weather in Calgary is goofy. Yesterday it was plus 19, and by Wednesday it is going to be minus 5 with snow. Bring shorts - bring a ski jacket - if you're here for more than 24 hours, you'll probably need both.<BR><BR>By the way, I thought of two more restaurants for you - De Paulo (Italian) on 17 Ave SW and a great new Mexican place I tried on the weekend, Senor Carlos (although it is on the far south end of the city).<BR><BR>I also saw on the weekend that the vegetarian Chinese restaurant I mentioned has moved closer to downtown, so if you plan on trying it, you should phone them to get their new address.

Thanks again Terrance and Hydra! This is much appreciated. <BR>While we're talking about restaurants, any Thai places you Calgarians recommend? (I've tried Thai-Saon..) <BR>I will keep in mind what uve mentioned about the weather. I was there over XMas and even then it was beautiful one day and a foot of snow the next! Definitely, unpredictable. <BR>I was also wondering- I'm aware that there's an outlet mall in Calgary. What kind of stores can I find.. Gap? Roots? and are the prices really the outlet/wholesale kind? <BR>

DS,<BR><BR>in my opinion Thai Sai On offers the best Thai food in Calgary. You could try The King and I but I have found the food to not be as good.<BR><BR>Are you referring to the &quot;Outlet Mall&quot; up in Signal Hill. If you are I have shopped there a few times and found what I thought were a few bargins. If you are shopping for bargins go there but Calgary also has some wonderful shops that are not chains. If you are looking for unique &quot;things&quot; I would suggest you search outside of the malls. If you are interested in a list of my favorites post again and I will reply.

No problem - I'm happy to help.<BR><BR>I agree with Hydra that Thai-Sa-On is the best Thai food in the city, however there was an article in the Calgary Herald on Saturday or Sunday about how half of the family members who own TSO have just opened up another Thai restaurant, which has a different style Thai menu than TSO. I'm sure if you called TSO, they could give you directions to the new restaurant.<BR><BR>In terms of the outlet mall, I would guess that you are thinking of the Deerfoot Mall, up past the airport. I've never been there, but I understand that it is not an outlet mall in the true sense of what you think it would be - i.e., they have no &quot;big name&quot; stores other than a Sears. <BR><BR>In the last five years or so, like most major cities, a number of &quot;power centres&quot; have been developed which have &quot;outlet like&quot; stores in them. As Hydra mentioned, there is one in West Hills (in the far West), and they are also located in Shawnessy (in the deep south), Crowfoot (in the far north west), and there may be one in the north east.

DS - Just saw this posting and thought I'd add my two cents. I live in Calgary as well and want to say that both Terrence and Hydra have given you great advice.<BR>There are a few more Italian restaurants that deserve mention - Stromboli's, Abbruzzo, and Il Sogno. The first two are more casual but the food is very well prepared (Neither are chains and both are family owned/operated). The latter is in the high moderate price range (it's on par with La Dolce Vita) but the flavours are absolutely amazing - Guiseppe, the chef, works wonders with all the dishes and gives traditional dishes a modern twist. Personally, I find the staff at La Dolce Vita pretentious.<BR>Have a great trip!