What I Thought of It

Huckleberry’s Family Restaurant
205 Laurier St
Invermere BC
Phone: 250 342 3800
www.huckleberrysrestaurant.com

While on a little road trip we had to stop in Invermere for lunch. After driving around to scope out the food territory, we were drawn to try Huckleberry’s Family Restaurant.

To find this family restaurant in Invermere, just take the main road into town and look on your left. Huckleberry’s Restaurant looks like a big log cabin inside and out. On entering you’re greeted by a large ice cream counter. On a warm day, people can pop in to buy a cold treat and enjoy it outside on the picnic tables (also crafted from logs). On this day we opted for a sit-down meal inside. The dining room is split in two, on either side of the ice cream counter. Both sides are sparsely decorated, and the tables and chairs could have been chosen with more thought to complement the cozy log-cabin setting.

Huckleberry’s has an extensive menu bursting with choices. The menu itself is very busy and colorful, thus somewhat hard to read. I went for the Schnitzel Burger while my companion picked the Seafood Omelette with Huckleberry Pancakes.

Our food arrived shortly. The Schnitzel Burger looked good: a nicely breaded piece of meat on a fresh bun. It was the first time I’d had schnitzel in a burger. The schnitzel was cooked right and a perfect fit with the bun. The fries were crispy and tasted great.

The Seafood Omelette looked quite plain at first but proved to be full of tasty stuffing. It paired well with the Huckleberry Pancakes (it normally comes with plain pancakes). The pancakes were dotted with pieces of huckleberry and heavenly with the house-made huckleberry syrup.

Our server was very friendly and entertained all my questions about huckleberries. He even gave us ideas for things to see while in Invermere. A server who is fully engaged with his customers is a rare treat these days.

Last thoughts: Huckleberry’s Family Restaurant is a must-go and must-return. The food is super, the decor unique, and the service exemplary. If you’re going anywhere near Invermere, eat at Huckleberry’s and you will leave happy.

Food ++++
Service +++++
Ambiance ++++
Washrooms ++++

Maybe you’ve seen Shoes Under on one of those TV infomercials. I haven’t, but this “As Seen On TV” product did look interesting when I saw it in a store. I bought two Shoes Under units, expecting to organize my shoes neatly under the bed.

For those who’ve never heard of it, Shoes Under is a nylon box. Granted, it’s floppy - not rigid - but it’s best described as a box. The box has a see-thru top that zips open, and the interior has 12 compartments supposedly for 12 pairs of shoes. Shoes Under does not come up very high, making it perfect to slide under the bed. It seems like the ideal way to store your off-season shoes.

That was the product description; now here’s the reality. When unfolded from the packaging box, Shoes Under is much smaller than the picture would suggest. The nylon fabric seems strong and durable, but you’ll really doubt how many shoes will fit in one unit. The compartments are too small! For instance, a pair of running shoes (for average-sized feet) will take up two compartments, one for each shoe. A pair of flip-flops or flatter shoes could actually fit in one compartment, but my dress shoes won’t. I concluded that except for my one pair of flip-flops, none of my other shoes would fit “one pair per pocket”, meaning that I would need four units (twice as much space) to hold all my footwear. Though I only paid $4 for each Shoes Under unit, it’s not the ideal way to store my shoes.

Last thoughts: Shoes Under seems perfect at first, then proves to be impractical when you try to use it. With the pockets/compartments being so small, it’s not what I was looking for. Mine will be going back to the store. I think a couple of under-bed plastic storage boxes would be much more useful and versatile.

So what have we learned today? Don’t believe everything you see on TV or even on the outside of a box.

Quality +++
Design & Features ++
Functionality +
Style ++
Price ++++