What I Thought of It

Thai Tai Vietnamese Sub
303 Centre St SW (see map)
Calgary AB  T2E 1Y2
Phone: 403 269 9380
www.thaitaisub.com

Thai Tai is a chain of Vietnamese restaurants in Calgary. The one I visited is on Centre Street, in the heart of Calgary’s Chinatown.

Thai Tai has the ambiance of a modern eatery, with fresh decor and lots of natural light.

In food terms, Thai Tai offers a wide range of subs, soups, spring rolls, and more. I frequent this location of Thai Tai Sub for the Chicken Wings deal. After 5 pm, wings are 25 cents each Sunday to Thursday and 35 cents each Friday and Saturday, with the purchase of at least one bubble tea drink per party. It makes for a quick, tasty, and filling meal that’s light on the wallet.

The wings are in the top 3 of my favorite cheap wings in Calgary. They are served piping hot, crisp, and most times pretty big. There have been a couple of times when the wings were small-ish and the sauce not so great, but the track record at Thai Tai is good enough to make me a regular. Lately the wings are even served on a bed of shredded lettuce.

Thai Tai is also a pro at bubble tea. On my last visit I had the Raspberry Mango bubble tea, which was blended to perfection and tasted super.

The staff at Thai Tai are not warm and fuzzy, but they are polite and not averse to chatting briefly about the weather.

I do have some bones to pick with this Thai Tai restaurant. First, the food is always served in Styrofoam boxes, even when you’re eating in. If it’s not takeout, there’s no need to add another piece of nasty material to the landfills. How about a reusable plate or basket? Now, due to this choice of serving container, the garbage bins (small to begin with) are always overflowing with trash. The tables could use a good wipe-down, too. They’re often sticky from previous usage and cleaning neglect.

Finally - and admittedly this will be hard to change - Thai Tai does not have its own washrooms. The closest washrooms are in the little mall behind the restaurant. After getting the key, you need to walk all the way to the back of the mall.

Last thoughts: Thai Tai Vietnamese Sub on Centre Street is like a fast-food restaurant. I will keep going back because I’m a big fan of their wings and bubble tea, but the place really should be a lot cleaner.

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

Find Thai Tai Vietnamese Sub on the map.

Q Lounge
2359 Banff Trail NW (inside the Quality Inn)
Calgary AB  T2M 4L2
Phone: 403 289 1973

The Q Lounge is the pub inside the Quality Inn Motel, one of the motels in Banff Trail’s Motel Village.

As soon as you enter the Q Lounge you feel like something is missing. The place is basically a room with a bar and 15 Video Lottery machines, 2 pool tables, and some tables and chairs. There is no atmosphere to speak of. If you were to put all this stuff in your basement, den, or garage, you would probably end up with a more pleasant hangout than this lounge.

The staff do nothing to help the ambiance. They are friendly but not really (their smiles are more like smirks), and they don’t really listen. I got ice in my drink after requesting no ice.

Thursday is Wings Night at the Q Lounge. Chicken wings are only 20 cents each and there is no minimum order of each flavor. You can choose from a long list: barbecue, honey garlic, teriyaki, lemon pepper, mild, medium, hot, etc. The wings are pretty good and very meaty, better than most cheap wings elsewhere that cost 25 cents per wing. The wings even come with ranch dip, something you’d normally pay extra for. The dip went really well with the barbecue and honey garlic flavors.

The server asked if I wanted another drink, but it was not a free refill. I was charged for 2 drinks on my bill.

Last thoughts: The Q Lounge probably gets most of its business from motel guests who come to kill time on the gambling machines. The wings were actually great, but with such a bland atmosphere this place will not see me back anytime soon.

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