Latest news with #BlueCactus
USA Today
2 days ago
- Lifestyle
- USA Today
The Amazon-exclusive Stanley West collection is rodeo-ready ✔️
The Amazon-exclusive Stanley West collection is rodeo-ready ✔️ Shop Stanley tumblers in exclusive Lupine, Sienna and Blue Cactus colors. Stanley fans, saddle up because there's a new collection in town. After getting an early glimpse at the epic Stanley x Post Malone collection (officially available on Monday, June 16), the Stanley West collection feels like the perfect thing to shop right now. Available exclusively at Amazon, the new drop brings a rugged, desert-inspired twist to the brand's cult-favorite tumblers and drinkware. Featuring three new colorways (Exclusive Lupine, Exclusive Sienna and Exclusive Blue Cactus), this limited-edition drop is perfect for summer adventures, road trips or simply sipping in style! Amazon's Stanley West collection includes the brand's most popular styles: Each piece in the Stanley West collection features Stanley's signature double-wall vacuum insulation, keeping drinks cold for hours, even in the blistering summer heat. These exclusive hues are only available while supplies last, and if Stanley's past drops are any indication, they won't be around for long! Whether you're drawn to the earthy tones of Sienna, the soft lavender of Lupine, or the cool desert vibe of Blue Cactus, now's the time to grab your favorite at Amazon before it sells out. More: 🥤 Stanley tumblers are as little as $15 at this crazy summer sale Shop Amazon's Stanley West collection Sign up for Amazon Prime How much does Amazon Prime cost? New members can try one week of Amazon Prime benefits for just $1.99. After that, Prime costs $14.99 per month or $139 per year. The annual plan will save you about $40 total compared to paying monthly. More: Is an Amazon Prime membership worth it? Here's what you need to know
Vancouver Sun
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Vancouver Sun
Hum: Grey's Social Eatery serves familiar, well-made fare in attractive surroundings
Grey's Social Eatery 2 ByWard Market Sq., 613-416-2212, Open: Weekdays 4 p.m. to late, Weekends 11 a.m. to late Prices: appetizers $12 to $33, mains $25 to $85 Access: no steps to front door or washrooms Abbis Mahmoud knows how to build attractive restaurants. Exhibit A was Med Supper Club , the lavish, high-volume eatery that Mahmoud, the founder and operator of the Dreammind Group of Ottawa restaurants and bars, opened in Lansdowne Park in late 2023. Med is filled with marble-topped tables, plush seating, a central, eye-catching bar, extravagant wall units and even a 16-foot-tall artificial olive tree. It's as if a Vegas-resort-style restaurant made for seeing and being seen had been transported to Ottawa. The ambience arguably trumps the food at Med, given that in my summer 2024 review, I wrote that its expensive fare was also uneven . Discover the best of B.C.'s recipes, restaurants and wine. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of West Coast Table will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Exhibit B for Mahmoud's way with decor is Grey's Social Eatery. It opened on one of the ByWard Market's prime corners on April 11, enlarging Dreammind's footprint downtown. A little more than three months earlier, its predecessor, the veteran Tex-Mex-inspired eatery Blue Cactus Bar and Grill, was having its last hurrah, serving its final fajitas and Margaritas on New Year's Eve. Like Med, Grey's is an eye-catching, massive restaurant. Seating 170 downstairs, 70 more upstairs in a space meant for private events, and 90 on its patio, it holds even more people than Med does. And Mahmoud has done his best to make it beautiful with custom-made furniture and fittings, lighting it with wagon-wheel chandeliers and filling it with brass-ringed tables, deep-red banquettes and cow-hide barstools. Like Med, Grey's boasts a bar that is large and inviting. Its woodiness, wallpaper and framed art allude to yesteryear in general and sometimes — John A. Macdonald's portrait, a vintage Ottawa Citizen page — to old-time Ottawa in particular. 'I tried to make it feel like it's new, but it's also been here for a long time,' Mahmoud told me. At a minimum, he's banished any ghosts that the Blue Cactus might have left behind. One of the few intersection points between Grey's and Blue Cactus is that fish tacos are also on the Grey's menu. On the whole, the menu pitches Grey's somewhere between the casual affordability of Blue Cactus and the caviar-enhanced extravagance of Med. It's probably closer to the former, with a wide range of familiar dishes, appetizers mostly in the $12 to $25 range and larger plates including sushi, burgers and mains by and large between $20 and $30, unless you want a steak. Items including spaghetti, a smash burger, halibut and chips, chicken tenders and a bavette steak come in kid-sized and kid-priced ($14) portions. Before Mahmoud opened Grey's, he told me that he hoped to serve its guests 'amazing food, cooked fresh and made with love, that's very accessible.' After dining there late last month, I'd say 'amazing' is definitely not warranted. But the description of Grey's offerings on its website — 'our thoughtfully curated, value-priced menu will celebrate international and Canadian classic feel-good dishes' — is accurate. Cynics might want to snub Grey's as a tourist trap. But I and my out-of-town friends found its food to be better than that. We enjoyed dishes from a something-for-everyone menu that has since been revised. Fish- and seafood-based items that did not disappoint. Tuna maki, fish tacos and halibut fish and chips were all well-crafted and tasty, if not exceptional. A single-serving red Thai curry starring shrimp was another flavourful dish. Crispy calamari, which around Ottawa can range anywhere from foul-tasting disasters to simple triumphs, was happily closer to the latter. Venturing up the food chain, we split among us the 12-ounce striploin steak frites, which was better than I expected in terms of all of its components. I should note that I was definitely recognized as a likely on-duty restaurant critic, and you can assume from that the kitchen and our friendly server were on their best behaviour. We tried all the desserts, including a lemon meringue pie served in an oversized martini glass (too kitschy, if you ask me), fine strawberry sorbet and a rustic but satisfying pudding chomeur. The menu's 10 cocktails dispensed from Grey's long, classy bar are familiar crowd-pleasers with a small tweak here and there, and they range in price from $14 to $18. Seven beers, from Budweiser to Mill St. Organic to Guinness, are on tap and three mocktails are available. On the Grey's website, Mahmoud says his vision is 'to create something truly special for the city… (and) reignite excitement in the Market with a world-class restaurant.' As laudable as this goal is, it doesn't get more hyperbolic than calling Grey's 'world-class.' But that doesn't mean that it doesn't deserve to be popular, especially among people, be they local or out-of-towners, seeking reasonably priced, well-made, familiar food in attractive surroundings. phum@
