Cafe Verde 1503 Mayor Magrath Drive

Well it was a great day to try out Cafe Verde. I ordered a burrito with bbq pork. It was great, loved it. I've always loved tacos, burritos fresh pico de gallo and stuff like that. If you've ever tried a "Cafe Rio", this place is pretty similar to that. It has a real simple menu and its easy to order, you get to choose what type of beans, sauces. and sides you want. It was a dang good lunch for around $10 including the drink. I'll be back again for sure. Oh ya, you're definitely not going to leave hungry either.
"M"









Twice in one week was not too much. I came tuesday with my wife and then today with the Nomads. I had a burrito tuesday and tried the enchiladas today. Both times I was very pleased and very full. My enchiladas were more like mini burritos than enchiladas, but they were good and I was able to order two with different meats and sauces so I had a great mix of flavors. This place has only been open less than a week and already today we have run into people that have eaten here two and three times. Including me I guess. I have a feeling Cafe Verde is here to stay.  "J"

Cafe Verde is open

This isn't an official "Nomad" post but I wanted everyone to know that after months of planning, Lethbridges newest Mexican restaurant has opened. Fashioned after the Cafe Rio chain of restaurants in the USA it offers a casual fast food atmosphere. My wife & I gave it a shot tonight and yes the burritos are just as big as those at Cafe Rio. Julio has created some great flavors in the meats and salsas with his personal spice blends, I'm sure you'll love it. Congratulations to Doug and Julio, and the unknown partner. You've done a great job.

Oh ya, it's over by Fatburger on Mayor Magrath Drive. Once the Nomads have officially eaten there we'll give you more to read.   "J"

Fish Tacos

I know fish tacos do not sound very appetizing to some people but I just love them. I can remember the first time I heard of them I thought they would be gross. Needless to say I tried them and loved them. This week the "Nomads" were unable again to do an official lunch so I am going to give you some of my own views. This past thursday "M" and I attended a business lunch at Moxies and tonight my wife and I ate at State & Main. Both places serve fish tacos and so I am going to tell you about them. Fish tacos two days in a row, what a lucky guy I am. I have eaten the fish tacos at Moxies before and loved them. They follow the traditional style of a soft tortilla filled with a cole slaw, topped with the breaded and fried fish. Most of the flavor comes from the fish and the spices used on it. Of course there are the required condiments of hot sauce, salsa and limes to add for extra flavor. Tonight at State & Main they served their fish tacos slightly different. A soft wheat tortilla to start, filled with shredded lettuce, a couple of grape tomatos and then topped with the fish. Both places were really good but if I had to choose one I would say I preferred Moxies.  I really liked their whole wheat tortillas (not very mexican tho') and the fish had more flavor. Well, maybe it wasn't that the fish had more flavor but there was more fish to taste. Much larger pieces. It seemed the tacos at S&M were a little light on the fish side and therefore lacked that explosion of flavor in every bite.  If you have never tried fish tacos you must go to one of these restaurants and give them a try. Don't let the fish part scare you. They don't taste fishy at all. S&M uses Mahi Mahi which is a very mild white fish. Other places use cod or tilapia or other mild tasting fish. Be brave, give them a try. You won't be sorry.  "J"

Red Dog Diner 525 4 Ave. S.

We heard that the "Dog" had just re-opened after their fire and so we decided to give it a try. I have tried their poutine before and was pleased with it so today I tried the Montreal Smoked Meat sandwich. I love pastrami and corned beef so I was looking forward to this. The flavor was great! could have used a little hot mustard instead of the regular kind BUT the bread was soggy by the time I had my first bite. It really should have had a good rye bread or something else more substantial to hold that hot meat together. It ended up being a little messy to eat because it fell apart.  It was busy today and so people have heard that it is open. I'm sure it will do well with this location.     "J"

Ok for ME personally today's lunch wasn't great. I ordered the same thing as J. I thought the "Red Dog Diner" was kind of "known" for this Montreal smoked meat sandwich. What the heck? Seriously. I guess the flavour was fine, but the bread was 10 times to cheap and light. What would have made it good would be a really heavy dense rye. I'm not sure if this was even rye bread. I picked up my second half and the bread was not just a little soggy, it was wet. Gross. Who wants that. Yes there was a pickle on my plate which I should have moved but still, not good enough bread. So, we paid $10 for these combos so we ate up. The fries were not too bad. We put vinegar on them and they ended up pretty good.  J says "you ready? Bringing your  pop?" Me:  "No, its flat and disgusting" Back to work, undecided if I'll be back for lunch again.  Maybe I will if the hamburgers  are so amazing or something like that. What's with giving a tiny little pop with the combo's and "No Free Refills? Fountain pop is the cheapest thing on the planet, but Red Dog is catching up. "M"

Taj 312 2 Ave S

We are still here, and we aren't going anywhere. There was a couple of weeks in there when one or two or all of us were away and we couldn't "Nomad" like we wanted. True, we have felt like we've "run-low" on places to try. We are very much still here, and the blog will continue. This week we decided to go back to the first place we went to as "Nomads" the Taj. It was as good as always, the buffet had not changed at all from the last time. I thought the food was really good, tons of flavour just as before. I know for sure I didn't just hit them up on a "good" day because it was consistent quality almost a year later. Thanks again for the good lunch. I'm sure we'll be back again. Taj is a nice change from the ordinary lunches out there. "M"

Guesthouse Restaurant 110 W.T. Hill Boulevard South

It was time to try the Guesthouse. Its been talked about for a couple of weeks now and we finally went for it. I was impressed with the buffet today. I`ve always been unsure if it was something I wanted to try or not. They had such a good variety today. You can try a little bit of everything and it ends up being a really good lunch. There`s everything from salad to meatballs, basa, chow mein, fruits, veggies, you name it. I didn`t go crazy today, I don`t like to eat too much at a buffet, but I left happy with our choice. I was most impressed with the service, the staff at Guesthouse are comitted to making sure you are happy with the food and that it meets your expectations. Thank you Guesthouse for the good food and great service. If you`ve never been here or its been a long time since you`ve been here, give it a try. I thought it was great.  I`ll be back again soon
``M``

 "C" said he would join us today if we went where he could eat a ton of food, so off to the Guesthouse we went. I've only eaten here once before. It was for supper and we caught the tail end of the buffet. This time we arrived shortly after noon and the buffet looked great. Lots of salads, veggies, fruit and there must have been at least ten hot items including lasagne, mashed potatos, spatzli, chinese noodles, meatballs, pork, basa and more that I can't remember. I tried to take a little of most things and even with that my plate was pretty full. I went back for more fruit and basa, and then finally had to try a dessert. Overall I was very pleased with my lunch today. Great variety and good quality. I loved the basa and would come back just for that. I really wanted to try the bread they had sitting out (I love bread) but I wanted to save room for other things. I would rather not spend $14 + tip for lunch but when I am feeling like a bigger lunch I will be back here again.   "J"

Luigis Pizza & Steak 306-13 St. N

What a completely different experience from the "other" Luigis. From the moment we stepped in the front door we were greeted and welcomed. Not only did our server seem to care about us, but other staff also would ask us how everything was as they passed by. It almost seemed they knew who we were because of all the attention we got, yet they did the same to everyone in the restaurant. I was impressed. This place must have a great manager that really cares about the customer. As we were paying our bill when leaving "M" commented on all the bank card terminals they had. The young man assisting us replied that their priority was to get the lunch crowd back to work on time. I was even more impressed. Just as an experiment I ordered the same thing I ordered on Feb. 9th Steak & spaghetti. Let me say this, compare the photos (as bad as they may be) and I don't need to say anything more. It was great. Thanks Luigis North.  "J"

Today's experience was awesome. I ordered liver and onions, which I know most people hate but I love it. It was so so good. The service was great today also. We were treated very well, everyone was friendly to us. Before we left we were chatting with the guy at the front, I think he was the manager, what a nice guy. I would say we had the opposite experience from our last visit to Luigi's. I guess it's hard to blog about an experience when liver and onions was ordered because most people don't know how to relate to it. My salad today was fresh and tasty, the veggies were pretty good. (plus as a bonus J gave me his mushrooms) and the liver and onions was some of the best I've had in Lethbridge. I was tempted to order pizza because its always good at Luigi's but I was happy with my choice and I will be back again very soon. Thanks again Luigi's.
"M"