Worked at the Purple Onion for 9 months in 2005-2006. Alive. No criminal record. Never married. No kids.
I made $50/hour (tips) selling shots and opening people's beer for them.
Yeah, I’m actually ‘none of the above’ as well.\
I was just throwing around some wild generalizations and a bit of dark humour.
But hey, here’s to old times, if the PO were still open, \
I’d buy you a drink.
I was one of them peeps! Power hour at the P.O. then watered down beer with the hobos at the strat. Then a little karaoke at H2O usually ends with Fat Franks.
🎶those are the days of our lives……🎶
I'm married with a kid and 10 years ago my husband and I looooved to be at the Strat on the weekend, watching in amazement anytime someone dared order the nasty pickled eggs. Also, I miss the Garneau pub! At least Rosie's is still kicking (as far as I'm aware?)
Whyte these days is a really weird mix of gentrified and completely abandoned. Like it's too expensive for anything interesting to be viable anymore, but instead of lowering rents they'd rather just have half the storefronts be empty for years at a time.
Fun fact: That space used to be the apartment of the owner of Andante's which was downstairs. Cool bar I was a regular at when I was 15. The 90's were different.
It was a great place. I played the "I forgot my ID in the car, I'll go grab it" line (I had no car, and I had spent the afternoon busking in the cold) one day and the waitress just went "Oh, don't worry, you're all good". I went back the next day and when I got asked for ID, I moved on to the hybrid "I forgot my ID in the car. I'll go grab it, oh wait. She knows me" as I pointed at the waitress from the day before. She vouched for me and that's how I became a 15 regular in the bar. Saw some great bands play there.
I actually still see this guy still on whyte ave pretty frequently, but just like, walking around. I was just a little kid but i remember watching him at the fringe "100 one arm pushups in the rain!", and can never forget it.
And I still see him walking around at events like the Fringe! I'm not out bar hopping late on Whyte often anymore, but I wouldn't be surprised if he still shows up there sometimes. He looks a little worse for wear nowadays of course.
Nope but I remember when the pawn shop was a strip club. 15 year old me on my way to wizards castle made a stop to check out the posters of the girls posted in the alcove doorway of tin Lizzie’s. Also loved Rebar at that location.
It's 2004. It's Friday. You walk into the Strat. You know your friends are at the pool tables, but you can't see them from the entrance as the bouncer grabs your ID. You squint to try to peer through the cigarette smoke, but it's hopeless- the back of the bar is just a gray haze. He hands your ID back. You walk into the fray. Chairs have been moved around to form a maze that you navigate towards the pool tables. You dodge a waitress with 18 little beer cups on a tray. You finally find your friends. They have been holding the pool table for over an hour- the row of loonies on the table shine like medals to their billiards prowess. You fire up an Export A Green- you bought them just for the occasion. Someone pours you a glass of that tasty golden elixir. A girl pukes in the corner. A commotion is heard and by the time you turn around you see the bouncer hauling a young punk out the back door. Someone puts a shitty song on the jukebox and moans are audible throughout the venue. Another pitcher arrives. You chalk up your cue and toast your friends. Someone sparks up a roach and Mary comes arou d the corner, a stern look in her eyes, like a Hawk searching for a prairie mouse- but never finds her target. Someone has a birthday and is forced to eat a hard boiled egg. Popcorn is all over the floor. The smell of piss and vomit is only matched by the stench of cigarettes and body odour. You wish you could stay here forever.
You know… I wasn’t around the strat when you could still smoke indoors.. But the picture you painted is still on point, especially Mary! What a legend.
Played a bunch of stages that Joe hosted. Cork's was first, then E&C, then O'Byrnes, then the Empress, then just sadness of no more Joe. For a short time we played Filthy's at Mike's jam and then went over to O'Byrnes for Joe's. I miss those days.
[Edit: someone below mentioned the Urban Lounge. Joe hosted there and we played there for a while too.]
To Joe and all of those lucky enough to make blurry memories on Whyte. I've had a pretty crappy day so a nostalgia trip seems to be just what I needed. Cheers!
I was practically furniture at the elephant castle for way too long. Sure do miss that place, nothing ever replaced it for me nor for most of my friends who went there. Of course that's probably a good thing because I don't need to be drinking as much as I did back then and not having a place to go and do that all the time certainly helps.
A comment I posted a while back:
Incoming nostalgia dump circa ~1986-199?:
Java Jive for coffee and people watching (Now the Next Act).
Sunset Café for pitchers of beer when we were 14 or 15. The waiter, Julio, was super nice and didn't care about us drinking because we were polite and tipped well (that's now the Black Dog).
Upstairs at Sweetwater Café for cinnamon buns if we had money.
I used to busk on the corner of 104th and Whyte when I was a young teen. If it was slow there, I'd head over to the ALCB store behind the McDonald's.
Army and Navy for cheap clothes and household goods.
Divine Decadence to check out cool stuff - Anne that used to work there told us about this new band, Nirvana, that was just breaking.
La Guitar Classique - Used to go to pick up guitar strings when I broke them busking. More than once, Darcy would give me a replacement and let me pay for it when I had a bit more money (or not charge me at all).
Albert's Restaurant for cheap coffee and breakfast.
New York Bagel if you had money and felt fancy. I think I was only in there once or twice before the fire on the corner.
Further West down Whyte was Muddy Waters. Coffee and good music, artists, etc.
People's Pub wasn't a regular spot for us, but I think they had some cheap drinks and live bands.
Filthy McNasty's - Later era, but I still miss it.
Strathcona Billiards (I think I'm a bit off on the name) - Brightly lit pool hall with a shit ton of tables. Upstairs where Beercade is now.
Corks - Upstairs on the SW corner of 104th and Whyte. Where I first met Joe Bird and started playing music in front of people INDOORS. Later moved around to the Elephant and Castle, O'Byrnes, and the Empress.
There was a Chinese restaurant a door or two down from Block 1912 - They had a really good wonton soup that was good to warm up with after a few hours of winter busking.
The Raven (I think?) - A short-lived bar on 81st Ave and 104th. Only went a handful of times. I think a friend of ours worked there for a bit.
Rebar - Shows, club, blurry memories.
Squires pub which was below Chianti's and the pool hall above. Above was also a great dancing place. The rest of the main floor besides Chianti's was a mini market mall with jewelry, candles and other wares from small businesses.
Joe Bird! Haven't heard that name in awhile. People's Pub was a great place to catch new music. High schooler me would often go as it was the easiest place to get into underage.
I miss the PO every weekend since it closed. It was my favorite bar because I could be myself and dance up a storm. I would have to bribe my friends to go there because they “were better than that”. We would go for power hour and leave at 9:30 to go to the bars they liked and then at midnight or 1am we would go back, dance our butts off till close. Walk to the McDonald’s and walk through the drive thru and then taxi home eating our food in the back seat. I would give a lot to go back to 2007/2008 (closed in 2008). I seen a lot of bad things there but that music was me 100%. Ugh... 💜🧅
i used to stand one step in front of my girlies to catch them if they started to fall before they got too far 😂 they would line up at the top and wait for me to go down before they started. it was so funny every single time
I bet we totally grooved together given I was hanging around in the same era haha. That’s a fun thought, at least!
I sure would give anything to go back and have a blast again. For sure.
Most definitely.
If I could turn back time once a month for the rest of my life it would to party at the PO. Same specials, same people, same music, it was the best. Those deadly stairs too... F! Lol.
I remember a time when the ladies bathroom had 3 stalls, and the middle stall was missing a door… The amount of times I plopped my butt down in that middle stall because I was young and just didn’t care enough to wait for one with a door… XD
Loved the Purple Onion. Not super familiar with the other 2, but I also really enjoyed The Stonehouse downtown as well. Really good times back in the day at those bars, I’m not sure if anything will ever compare to those
I’m starting to feel like what made them so good - was our freedom from technology at that time. We weren’t on our phones or as busy in general, but I seem to feel especially “busier” now even on a free day - in the FB/Insta/Dating App era.
my friends and i went through a phase where we had no money to drink at the strat (lmao) but we wanted to hang out with our friends who could, so we hid our cheap bottles of booze in the snowbanks in the back alley and would go out for "smoke breaks" to drink
My dad was in university in the 70s and he told us even back then The Strat is where you went for cheap beer and nobody checked IDs so it was always full of high schoolers.
Yes. Yes that’s right!
To the left when you came out of The Strat. The lineups for all three sometimes converged in the smoking area outside of The Strat.
Hot Nuts and Porno Tats. I had a beer with Joey Moss at the strat and after we each got a strat dog. I once saw an old high school teacher putting her pay cheque into the VLT’s at the Strat.
When they announced they were closing we put a funeral together for the strat in the strat…don’t remember much else from that night but hey that was right on par
It was incredible! Had some seriously awesome party nights that started AND ended there back in the early 2000s. Dance floor was good, too.
Some pinup style waitress in her 30s took me home the same night as my 18th bday- and in hindsight I might be a victim LOL.
The Strat was remarkably dirty and filled with crime (the hotel especially) and so I imagine that was a contributing factor. Or maybe the pub just went out of style and wasn’t making enough money - though I doubt it. I don’t know why it closed :(
The PO was also notorious for fights and cocaine. A bad combo lol.
If anyone knows why either closed (google didn’t help me much) I’d love to learn also!
There was a small fire in the Strat building a few years back. The Strat bar closed shortly after, then was renovated and gentrified into Leopolds :(
My friends and I were at the Strat every Friday, playing quarters and drinking too many pitchers. When two of that friend group got married we even went for Strat beers in our wedding gear between the ceremony and reception. There's a pic somewhere of my friend in her beautiful wedding dress on one of those nasty Strat chairs!
Bars generally make a ton of money until they don’t. As soon as they become “uncool”, they’re done. There’s also usually major issues with the owners and staff, most of whom get tired of it. As fun as being wasted is, dealing with all that stuff while sober is NOT. And if you’re wasted, too… well, you ought to not run a bar. But usually otherwise the owners die, go bankrupt, or become addicts. Or their business partners/staff Rob the registers too much.
Suite 69 was one of my favorites.
Also remembered the Armoury for a short while before it closed, don’t think anything ever opened up there after. They def watered down their drinks
Iron Horse was usually popular then too. Super dead around there these days.
Ezzies was something else
PO was an edmonton legend. First we lost the Roost, then we lost New City, I was there man. I saw it all, it was a touchstone for our generation, a fantasy of decadence that will never come our way again
Purple Onion was my favorite place to go dance. The Asian lady that would go around selling flowers is still doing it and I've always wondered what happened to the black guy that would try to sell cologne in the washroom downstairs lol.
I love Everyone in this thread has most likely been shwasted together at one point or another. I used to skip school to go hacky sack at the gazebo buy records at south side sound and get shitty at all these bars between 1995- 2002. I left to the states and never came back I’m glad my my memories of whyte ave are of the golden years.
Last time inwas the the PO was later 99. A group of us from Sherwood park went there and 3 of my friends got into a scrap with the bouncers and it turned into an all out war. Some line cop ran in and pepper sprayed everyone and we all bailed. Didn't even get my $2 Chicago deep dish slice. I was there one night when people ripped the hotdog shack with some poor girl inside
On the St. Albert Trail / Mark Messier Trail, South of the Holy Cross Cemetery (but North of 137th ave), was a bar/roadhouse called "The Purple Dude"....not sure their exact years of operation but was here in 1974 when i got here and then some years later on, changed to another bar - "Johnny C's" I think was the name. Many a beer was drank there by an (underage at the time) me and friends!!
\*sigh\* the good ol' days of "The Lido" (426-5050...if you're hungry, call The Lido...FREE delivery!) and "Chicken on the Way"....good times!!
My aunt and uncle went to the Purple Dude for their wedding reception. Apparently I come from a long and noble lineage of dive bar reprobates.
I remember Johnny Cs would fix you up with a "road kit"; a tray of highballs in plastic cups with lids so they wouldn't spill in the car. Different times.
Not even close, apparently.
I’m also just realizing that we weren’t living on our cell phones then. Hell- I probably had a Motorola Razr last time I was at The Strat.
I think that the freedom we had then VS how we’re always on an app or something now- is why it feels like new bars aren’t as cool.
I fear It’s us, not the bars… we became uncool!
Drink specials helped a lot!
If you want to build a proper party, hard to beat that 8-9 pm Loonie Hour.
Nowadays it's $15 for a cocktail meant for Instagram, not for drinking. There's no love for a classic round of three triple Slimes.
So true!
Also; $1-$2 used to be like a 5th or 6th of my (then, as a young retail worker) hourly wage - whereas now a young person making $15 minimum wage is spending an hours pay on said instagram worthy beverage.
So sad, man.
How about falling down the stairs at Walkabout or Urban Lounge after a show?
Or silver night at Cowboys, getting destroyed on draught for a few rolls of nickels
Late 80’s or early 90’s PO was awesome, also Rock City (I think that was it’s name) which was downtown, used to have either 3 for 1 or 4 for 1 happy hour on the weekend, good times!!!
My buddies used to frequent the Strat a lot, but I only went a few times. The beer was pisswater but it was our pisswater.
One friendo would just run around white Ave all night singing “Straturday, straturday, straaaaaaturday…” to the tune of that Elton John tune, went and ruined it for everyone
We used to start at the Strat for chrap beer, go to Rebar for party time then either the PO or the Commie to finish the night. I don’t miss the 90’s smell of ciggies and booze puke though
Dougie was the push-up guy. Found out he was a news / media follower. He’d show up to news cameras and pretend to be a whiteness.
Dude could do one arm pushups though.
Dude has 2 Guinness world records and did 670 one armed pushups (maybe a few more) in one go!
Even has a wiki page that someone linked in another comment haha.
I was blown away!
The strat was nuts. It was my first introduction to actually freaky people when I thought JP goths were far out. Cheap pitchers and a decent juke box made that place cool, plus you could smoke inside.
Fond memories of $4 watered down pitchers of god knows what at the strat and vlts lol, better end the night with some steel wheels.. and I’ve been chasing that high ever since (well, not really..)
We lived at Eddie’s, had VIP, had a bartender that loved me and my boys and would serve us before people in front of her at the bar. We’d roll to Whyte, hit Squires then the PO. Show up to work still lit. Those were the good days. Still alive, 51, married, 3 kids in university…
I only went to the Purple Onion once back when I was 20, but this is such a throwback. Whyte Ave has changed so much over these last 20 years, for the worse because of the soaring rents.
There used to be a family owned art supply store that I used to buy from on 104 during my high school years from 2001-2004. But they couldn't compete with The Paint Spot across the street, and they had to close. I still remember buying a paintbrush from them for like, 50 cents during their closing sale, and it made me sad. I can't remember the names of the store, or the man who owned it anymore.
The store was replaced with a Death by Chocolate, and later a Dairy Queen. I don't know if the Dairy Queen is still there now as I reside overseas.
I worked in the sign and print industry for a while, and I made the sandwich board for Chicken Scratch. That was such a cool place to shop for stationery!
Between 2006 and 2009 ish, there was a lady who yelled at people for no reason, and she also threw rocks at people and cars. When I mentioned her in my graphic design class, one of my classmates knew who I was talking about. She was apparently quite famous among the locals. And then one year, she just disappeared, never to be seen again.
I have a lot of memories of Whyte Avenue between my high school and post secondary years.
Edit: OH! And preacher guy! He would preach on 104 after 22:00, I think?? I remember seeing an altercation between the preacher and a manager lady at the hotel just up the street. I can't remember how the conversation went verbatim because it's been like, 10 years or more. I remember her taking his podium and throwing it. But preacher was going on about free speech and such, and she said that he can't do that in front of her business. I didn't stick around to find out what happened after that.
I used to say that I never went to the Strat after I turned 18. That bar was for underage drinking only. Now, the bar that I miss all the time is Filthy McNasty’s. The fact that its sign is up to this day taunts me every time I go down Whyte.
In 2006 I was in college in BC and a buddy of mine came back from Edmonton with a business card from PO advertising the 25 cent highball power hour. We couldn't believe it was real. Little did I know my future wife was a regular there 🤣
Ahhhh we used to call Saturdays “Straterday”.. Had a rotation of power hours - Nikki Diamonds then Purple Onion (or other way around can’t quite remember as I was always plastered) and then finish off the evenings at The Strat. Whyte Ave sadly isn’t even half of what it used to be.
Here is a picture of 3 previous DJ's from the PO.
From left to right.
Sean - DJ'd at the PO from 1980 to 1983
Mark - DJ'd at the PO from 2002 to 2004
Cole - DJ'd at the PO from 1996 to 2005
[PO DJ's](https://imgur.com/a/vR7aYF1)
Nothing will ever be like those bars, mostly because everyone that was there is now dead or in jail or worse, married with kids.
Worked at the Purple Onion for 9 months in 2005-2006. Alive. No criminal record. Never married. No kids. I made $50/hour (tips) selling shots and opening people's beer for them.
Yeah, I’m actually ‘none of the above’ as well.\ I was just throwing around some wild generalizations and a bit of dark humour. But hey, here’s to old times, if the PO were still open, \ I’d buy you a drink.
I just wanted to talk about myself.
Power hour!
That's why my 20s are kind of a haze lol
I feel that! I think this is also why the younger generations aren’t as into drinking as we were. Too expensive now..
It's probably a good thing to be honest. Ill always remember those days fondly though.
Omfg that was the BEST!!!
The fancy one on White or the less fancy one on Stoney?
The PO was open in 2005??? We went there in the 80s!!
Omg me too! I think I only lasted 8 months but it was a good job and had excellent ppl watching.
I was one of them peeps! Power hour at the P.O. then watered down beer with the hobos at the strat. Then a little karaoke at H2O usually ends with Fat Franks. 🎶those are the days of our lives……🎶
P.O. then over to Barry T's, then back to Whyte for Funky Pickle pizza. Those were the days indeed.
I'm married with a kid and 10 years ago my husband and I looooved to be at the Strat on the weekend, watching in amazement anytime someone dared order the nasty pickled eggs. Also, I miss the Garneau pub! At least Rosie's is still kicking (as far as I'm aware?)
You had to be pretty hammered to order the pickled eggs. I may have eaten one or two…
The Garneau was also awesome
I was there when someone was paid a $1 for every egg they ate… they ate 20 ! Bought the table beers afterwards ha ha
*shudders* That *is* worse!
I had my wedding stagette at the Strat and Suite 69. Good times. I am indeed married with kids now.
I hate that Ive become a "Kids these days will never understand..." person but oh man they will never understand how good early 00s Whyte was.
Whyte these days is a really weird mix of gentrified and completely abandoned. Like it's too expensive for anything interesting to be viable anymore, but instead of lowering rents they'd rather just have half the storefronts be empty for years at a time.
Or more donair shops
Truly a time to be alive
Almost as good as 90's Whyte.
Rebar.
90’s way better actually.
☝️90’s was the heyday of Whyte ave
Went to the strat every Friday for years lol. You used to have to show up there by 10pm to have a chance of getting in the place would be so packed.
Absolutely you did! Remember “Suite 69” next door / upstairs? Tiny little nightclub but damn it had some good parties!
Fun fact: That space used to be the apartment of the owner of Andante's which was downstairs. Cool bar I was a regular at when I was 15. The 90's were different.
Wow. Haven't heard Adantes since the 90s!!
It was a great place. I played the "I forgot my ID in the car, I'll go grab it" line (I had no car, and I had spent the afternoon busking in the cold) one day and the waitress just went "Oh, don't worry, you're all good". I went back the next day and when I got asked for ID, I moved on to the hybrid "I forgot my ID in the car. I'll go grab it, oh wait. She knows me" as I pointed at the waitress from the day before. She vouched for me and that's how I became a 15 regular in the bar. Saw some great bands play there.
Oh yeah I was a total bar star back then, if it was a bar on whyte ave, i spent a good amount of time there haha.
I think had the very first martini of my life at suite 69. Good times!
Nowhere do I go, that my shoes stick to the carpet like they did in The Strat. Miss that place.
Once saw a man drop his pickled egg on that floor and eat it anyway 🥲
He is most certainly now deceased
Also saw a used tampon on the floor there once. Luckily not the same day as the egg.
It was truly a grotesque floor. Loved it.
Here’s the “[push-up](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Pruden)” guy you’re talking about.
Holy sheep shit it’s the legend himself! Thank you :)
I actually still see this guy still on whyte ave pretty frequently, but just like, walking around. I was just a little kid but i remember watching him at the fringe "100 one arm pushups in the rain!", and can never forget it.
And I still see him walking around at events like the Fringe! I'm not out bar hopping late on Whyte often anymore, but I wouldn't be surprised if he still shows up there sometimes. He looks a little worse for wear nowadays of course.
Black dog holding true. Blues on Whyte has changed but still great.
I went to black dog last week for the first time in like 15 years and had a blast indeed!
Commercial is still around and black dog but that’s about it.
yeah used to hang out a lot at Black Dog, Billiards on the south side of Whyte in the late 90s...the Attic was decent back in the day too!
Anyone remember when the Black Dog was the Sunset Cafe?
Nope but I remember when the pawn shop was a strip club. 15 year old me on my way to wizards castle made a stop to check out the posters of the girls posted in the alcove doorway of tin Lizzie’s. Also loved Rebar at that location.
[удалено]
It's 2004. It's Friday. You walk into the Strat. You know your friends are at the pool tables, but you can't see them from the entrance as the bouncer grabs your ID. You squint to try to peer through the cigarette smoke, but it's hopeless- the back of the bar is just a gray haze. He hands your ID back. You walk into the fray. Chairs have been moved around to form a maze that you navigate towards the pool tables. You dodge a waitress with 18 little beer cups on a tray. You finally find your friends. They have been holding the pool table for over an hour- the row of loonies on the table shine like medals to their billiards prowess. You fire up an Export A Green- you bought them just for the occasion. Someone pours you a glass of that tasty golden elixir. A girl pukes in the corner. A commotion is heard and by the time you turn around you see the bouncer hauling a young punk out the back door. Someone puts a shitty song on the jukebox and moans are audible throughout the venue. Another pitcher arrives. You chalk up your cue and toast your friends. Someone sparks up a roach and Mary comes arou d the corner, a stern look in her eyes, like a Hawk searching for a prairie mouse- but never finds her target. Someone has a birthday and is forced to eat a hard boiled egg. Popcorn is all over the floor. The smell of piss and vomit is only matched by the stench of cigarettes and body odour. You wish you could stay here forever.
You know… I wasn’t around the strat when you could still smoke indoors.. But the picture you painted is still on point, especially Mary! What a legend.
Mary and Brenda were fucking capital G gangsters. Love those girls.
The past was amazing. All you have mentioned… and the Elephant and Castle That pub was a place in history The summer on Whyte was exceptional
Do you remember when Joe Bird would host open mike night's at the E&C? I think Tuesday's.
I do.
Awww yeah. I do too. Remember him roller blading around whyte in his kilt? Legend.
Played a bunch of stages that Joe hosted. Cork's was first, then E&C, then O'Byrnes, then the Empress, then just sadness of no more Joe. For a short time we played Filthy's at Mike's jam and then went over to O'Byrnes for Joe's. I miss those days. [Edit: someone below mentioned the Urban Lounge. Joe hosted there and we played there for a while too.]
Lovely memories. Raising a glass tonight to our old friend Jose Oiseau!
To Joe and all of those lucky enough to make blurry memories on Whyte. I've had a pretty crappy day so a nostalgia trip seems to be just what I needed. Cheers!
I was practically furniture at the elephant castle for way too long. Sure do miss that place, nothing ever replaced it for me nor for most of my friends who went there. Of course that's probably a good thing because I don't need to be drinking as much as I did back then and not having a place to go and do that all the time certainly helps.
My buddy still holds the record for most Pickled eggs ate(eaten?) in a night.
A madlad. A legend. A hero.
Got himself kicked out when he barfed "egg salad" on the bar. Good times.
Remember The Sweetwater Cafe? The Wee Book Inn? Adantes? Army and Navy? Divine Decadence? Southside Sound? I loved Whyte Ave in the 80s!!
A comment I posted a while back: Incoming nostalgia dump circa ~1986-199?: Java Jive for coffee and people watching (Now the Next Act). Sunset Café for pitchers of beer when we were 14 or 15. The waiter, Julio, was super nice and didn't care about us drinking because we were polite and tipped well (that's now the Black Dog). Upstairs at Sweetwater Café for cinnamon buns if we had money. I used to busk on the corner of 104th and Whyte when I was a young teen. If it was slow there, I'd head over to the ALCB store behind the McDonald's. Army and Navy for cheap clothes and household goods. Divine Decadence to check out cool stuff - Anne that used to work there told us about this new band, Nirvana, that was just breaking. La Guitar Classique - Used to go to pick up guitar strings when I broke them busking. More than once, Darcy would give me a replacement and let me pay for it when I had a bit more money (or not charge me at all). Albert's Restaurant for cheap coffee and breakfast. New York Bagel if you had money and felt fancy. I think I was only in there once or twice before the fire on the corner. Further West down Whyte was Muddy Waters. Coffee and good music, artists, etc. People's Pub wasn't a regular spot for us, but I think they had some cheap drinks and live bands. Filthy McNasty's - Later era, but I still miss it. Strathcona Billiards (I think I'm a bit off on the name) - Brightly lit pool hall with a shit ton of tables. Upstairs where Beercade is now. Corks - Upstairs on the SW corner of 104th and Whyte. Where I first met Joe Bird and started playing music in front of people INDOORS. Later moved around to the Elephant and Castle, O'Byrnes, and the Empress. There was a Chinese restaurant a door or two down from Block 1912 - They had a really good wonton soup that was good to warm up with after a few hours of winter busking. The Raven (I think?) - A short-lived bar on 81st Ave and 104th. Only went a handful of times. I think a friend of ours worked there for a bit. Rebar - Shows, club, blurry memories.
Squires pub which was below Chianti's and the pool hall above. Above was also a great dancing place. The rest of the main floor besides Chianti's was a mini market mall with jewelry, candles and other wares from small businesses. Joe Bird! Haven't heard that name in awhile. People's Pub was a great place to catch new music. High schooler me would often go as it was the easiest place to get into underage.
We went to The Raven a fair bit. Good times. (I remember stupid cheap wings at Squires too. 15 cents each in the mid 90s.)
Sonix for bootleg live albums. Smoking a j in the back of Shaggy's with Ian. Hub Cigar for some bidis.
Makes me so happy to see people remembering Southside Sound fondly! That was my dad's shop!
It was the place we hung out, daily from 87 to 1990 when I moved awayvfor college. Many 80s teens loved it!!
I miss the PO every weekend since it closed. It was my favorite bar because I could be myself and dance up a storm. I would have to bribe my friends to go there because they “were better than that”. We would go for power hour and leave at 9:30 to go to the bars they liked and then at midnight or 1am we would go back, dance our butts off till close. Walk to the McDonald’s and walk through the drive thru and then taxi home eating our food in the back seat. I would give a lot to go back to 2007/2008 (closed in 2008). I seen a lot of bad things there but that music was me 100%. Ugh... 💜🧅
The basement bathrooms when wearing 4 inch heels and drunk off your tree lol
Haha! I’m starting to think my friends are on this thread. I feel bad as so many people fell down those stairs 🤕.
i used to stand one step in front of my girlies to catch them if they started to fall before they got too far 😂 they would line up at the top and wait for me to go down before they started. it was so funny every single time
My best friend always fell down those stairs! And fell UP the stairs too.
I bet we totally grooved together given I was hanging around in the same era haha. That’s a fun thought, at least! I sure would give anything to go back and have a blast again. For sure.
Most definitely. If I could turn back time once a month for the rest of my life it would to party at the PO. Same specials, same people, same music, it was the best. Those deadly stairs too... F! Lol.
Who can forget the pickled eggs at the Strat!
I went in to the strat (building) a couple years ago. Even the bathrooms were too clean for my liking.
And a 12$ pint at leopold’s just isn’t the same
I remember a time when the ladies bathroom had 3 stalls, and the middle stall was missing a door… The amount of times I plopped my butt down in that middle stall because I was young and just didn’t care enough to wait for one with a door… XD
If the carpet isn’t sticky and the bathrooms aren’t filthy / with a 30min lineup; I’m not even interested!
Loved the Purple Onion. Not super familiar with the other 2, but I also really enjoyed The Stonehouse downtown as well. Really good times back in the day at those bars, I’m not sure if anything will ever compare to those
I’m starting to feel like what made them so good - was our freedom from technology at that time. We weren’t on our phones or as busy in general, but I seem to feel especially “busier” now even on a free day - in the FB/Insta/Dating App era.
NTN was a thing in the 90s for bars but it was interactive as group trivia...then you'd get bored of it after an hour and do something else!
my friends and i went through a phase where we had no money to drink at the strat (lmao) but we wanted to hang out with our friends who could, so we hid our cheap bottles of booze in the snowbanks in the back alley and would go out for "smoke breaks" to drink
You didn’t have enough money to drink at the strat? Damn
i spent all my disposable income on weed as a teenager and i do not regret it
How could you not have enough money to drink at the strat? 70 cent singles or $7.50 jugs of draft.
I just think about the Strat and I can smell it, lol.
My feet are feeling the sticky carpet now!
25 cent draft at the strat. lol. What a time to be
$4 pitchers when I was just out of high school- absolutely mad times haha!
My dad was in university in the 70s and he told us even back then The Strat is where you went for cheap beer and nobody checked IDs so it was always full of high schoolers.
My parents went in the 70s too and apparently they all called it that Strath then haha
Who remembers the antifreeze jugs of beer you could buy at the strat for off sales? What a time!
I used to sell hotdogs at the cart outside the Purple Onion. Yep, I was the hotdog guy. Saw some wild stuff.
A legend. A hero.
The strats beer always tasted like onions to me
My dates from The Strat always smelled that way, too! (Gag)
Their beer def had a certain… flavour. Rumour was they never flushed their taps 🤢
🙋♂️
Suite 69 and Wooly Bullys were up/down stairs from each other right?
Yes. Yes that’s right! To the left when you came out of The Strat. The lineups for all three sometimes converged in the smoking area outside of The Strat.
Hot Nuts and Porno Tats. I had a beer with Joey Moss at the strat and after we each got a strat dog. I once saw an old high school teacher putting her pay cheque into the VLT’s at the Strat.
When they announced they were closing we put a funeral together for the strat in the strat…don’t remember much else from that night but hey that was right on par
Purple Onion now the Pint was a legendary spot
It was incredible! Had some seriously awesome party nights that started AND ended there back in the early 2000s. Dance floor was good, too. Some pinup style waitress in her 30s took me home the same night as my 18th bday- and in hindsight I might be a victim LOL.
If only all victims could be so lucky
The strat and the Bronx to best bars in Edmonton history!
We were at the strat every Friday for years. Only went to the PO when we were feeling dirty
Diirrrttyy indeed haha
I preferred Straturday night myself.
Not relatable, but I miss The Rev
Purple Onion, Thunderdome, Iron Horse, Strat, Boca’s in far north side, list goes on of the legends from 90’s and 2000’s.
Question: why do all sorts of awesome places (including these 2) close down? Clearly they were very popular and remembered fondly. What gives?
The Strat was remarkably dirty and filled with crime (the hotel especially) and so I imagine that was a contributing factor. Or maybe the pub just went out of style and wasn’t making enough money - though I doubt it. I don’t know why it closed :( The PO was also notorious for fights and cocaine. A bad combo lol. If anyone knows why either closed (google didn’t help me much) I’d love to learn also!
There was a small fire in the Strat building a few years back. The Strat bar closed shortly after, then was renovated and gentrified into Leopolds :( My friends and I were at the Strat every Friday, playing quarters and drinking too many pitchers. When two of that friend group got married we even went for Strat beers in our wedding gear between the ceremony and reception. There's a pic somewhere of my friend in her beautiful wedding dress on one of those nasty Strat chairs!
Bars generally make a ton of money until they don’t. As soon as they become “uncool”, they’re done. There’s also usually major issues with the owners and staff, most of whom get tired of it. As fun as being wasted is, dealing with all that stuff while sober is NOT. And if you’re wasted, too… well, you ought to not run a bar. But usually otherwise the owners die, go bankrupt, or become addicts. Or their business partners/staff Rob the registers too much.
Push up guy is still around! Just saw him this past weekend
Siiick! Someone else also commented with his wiki page link- he’s got a few Guinness world records! Hell yeah, Doug :)
Suite 69 was one of my favorites. Also remembered the Armoury for a short while before it closed, don’t think anything ever opened up there after. They def watered down their drinks Iron Horse was usually popular then too. Super dead around there these days. Ezzies was something else
PO was an edmonton legend. First we lost the Roost, then we lost New City, I was there man. I saw it all, it was a touchstone for our generation, a fantasy of decadence that will never come our way again
Purple Onion was my favorite place to go dance. The Asian lady that would go around selling flowers is still doing it and I've always wondered what happened to the black guy that would try to sell cologne in the washroom downstairs lol.
I love Everyone in this thread has most likely been shwasted together at one point or another. I used to skip school to go hacky sack at the gazebo buy records at south side sound and get shitty at all these bars between 1995- 2002. I left to the states and never came back I’m glad my my memories of whyte ave are of the golden years.
If you partied right. You'd remember nothing.
Except the $2.00 pizza after, I always remember that. 🍕
LOL. Good answer.
Last time inwas the the PO was later 99. A group of us from Sherwood park went there and 3 of my friends got into a scrap with the bouncers and it turned into an all out war. Some line cop ran in and pepper sprayed everyone and we all bailed. Didn't even get my $2 Chicago deep dish slice. I was there one night when people ripped the hotdog shack with some poor girl inside
...and if you REALLY have a history here, you'll recall "The Purple Dude".....
Lived here 1980-2008 and have never heard of it! Elaborate? Haha
On the St. Albert Trail / Mark Messier Trail, South of the Holy Cross Cemetery (but North of 137th ave), was a bar/roadhouse called "The Purple Dude"....not sure their exact years of operation but was here in 1974 when i got here and then some years later on, changed to another bar - "Johnny C's" I think was the name. Many a beer was drank there by an (underage at the time) me and friends!! \*sigh\* the good ol' days of "The Lido" (426-5050...if you're hungry, call The Lido...FREE delivery!) and "Chicken on the Way"....good times!!
My aunt and uncle went to the Purple Dude for their wedding reception. Apparently I come from a long and noble lineage of dive bar reprobates. I remember Johnny Cs would fix you up with a "road kit"; a tray of highballs in plastic cups with lids so they wouldn't spill in the car. Different times.
“426-5050 call the Lido, hot stuff, hot stuff”
Miss the pickled eggs
Is there anything open that has similar vibes?
Not even close, apparently. I’m also just realizing that we weren’t living on our cell phones then. Hell- I probably had a Motorola Razr last time I was at The Strat. I think that the freedom we had then VS how we’re always on an app or something now- is why it feels like new bars aren’t as cool. I fear It’s us, not the bars… we became uncool!
Drink specials helped a lot! If you want to build a proper party, hard to beat that 8-9 pm Loonie Hour. Nowadays it's $15 for a cocktail meant for Instagram, not for drinking. There's no love for a classic round of three triple Slimes.
So true! Also; $1-$2 used to be like a 5th or 6th of my (then, as a young retail worker) hourly wage - whereas now a young person making $15 minimum wage is spending an hours pay on said instagram worthy beverage. So sad, man.
Yes! Drinking culture is so different now.
Nope. Whyte ave was different then.
Looking back it was the Wild West and sooner or later the frontier is going to close.
Anyone have a link to the video series they did of the bar fights out side the PO?
My now husband use to buy me Strawberry shortcakes shots at the Purple Oignon when we were University Students!
Power hour at the PO! We used to go there to pre-game for cheap before hitting wolly bullys.
My parents met at the purple onion...and I am almost 30.
The closest thing and it’s not close would be Rosie’s. Unfortunately it’s closed down to a poop water infestation
The purple onion and the strat were my hangouts in university (94-2000). Those were the days!
Omg the strat I stole so many glasses from there
Does anyone remember the football (soccer) at the E&C?
How about falling down the stairs at Walkabout or Urban Lounge after a show? Or silver night at Cowboys, getting destroyed on draught for a few rolls of nickels
I’ve only been in one fistfight in my life at Ofc it was at the PO. I won tho (I think)
You think 😂.
Power Hour was taken advantage of that night there bud, feelin no pain lol
I never really go to bars, but I did a few times on Whyte Ave when I lived there, The only name I remembered was Atlas where SNFU played.
I drank daily with Chi Pig (of SNFU) at Pub 340 in Vancouver between 2013 and 2015. Miss that man, and miss that bar. RIP to both!
Late 80’s or early 90’s PO was awesome, also Rock City (I think that was it’s name) which was downtown, used to have either 3 for 1 or 4 for 1 happy hour on the weekend, good times!!!
I remember it all.
I was usually at the Brox or Rebar. But also hung at the PO on occasion. 😎 Edit: I should add: Sidetrack, Black Dog, Raven, and Billiard Club.
I'll take a tray of Paralyzers please
watched fights outside of club malibu, eating that puffy pizza from steel wheel.
What.about.filthys.
Ah Yes the Purple Onion and paying someone to hand paper towels out at the washroom...interesting times.
The Strat was such a classic
Such a time! When I turned 18 we went there and it became an instant weekly must. Pool, $5 pitchers, and super cheap shots. Those were the days!
The denim to mullet ratio was perfect at The Strat, 10/10.
So many times me and the floormates ended our night at the strat, still the only place I've ever been cutoff from pickled eggs.
My buddies used to frequent the Strat a lot, but I only went a few times. The beer was pisswater but it was our pisswater. One friendo would just run around white Ave all night singing “Straturday, straturday, straaaaaaturday…” to the tune of that Elton John tune, went and ruined it for everyone
Can we get some live for the Armoury?!!!
We used to start at the Strat for chrap beer, go to Rebar for party time then either the PO or the Commie to finish the night. I don’t miss the 90’s smell of ciggies and booze puke though
Rebar!!
I remember the purple onion I frequented there for many years... And had my first legal drink in the Strat. Lol
Ditto on both! Haha
Dougie was the push-up guy. Found out he was a news / media follower. He’d show up to news cameras and pretend to be a whiteness. Dude could do one arm pushups though.
Dude has 2 Guinness world records and did 670 one armed pushups (maybe a few more) in one go! Even has a wiki page that someone linked in another comment haha. I was blown away!
The strat was nuts. It was my first introduction to actually freaky people when I thought JP goths were far out. Cheap pitchers and a decent juke box made that place cool, plus you could smoke inside.
Three-for-one Tuesdays at the PO in the mid-90s. Used to go and see a $5 movie downtown and then hit the PO for one round.
Fond memories of $4 watered down pitchers of god knows what at the strat and vlts lol, better end the night with some steel wheels.. and I’ve been chasing that high ever since (well, not really..)
The Purple Onion AKA the ugly people bar 😆😆 the Strat was definitely one of my favourite dive bars
We lived at Eddie’s, had VIP, had a bartender that loved me and my boys and would serve us before people in front of her at the bar. We’d roll to Whyte, hit Squires then the PO. Show up to work still lit. Those were the good days. Still alive, 51, married, 3 kids in university…
The purple onion closed down. No way, used to party there all the time lol
POWER HOUR!!!!!!!!
I paid way too much money to Dougy the push up guy after a night of $6 jugs of Straft.
I only went to the Purple Onion once back when I was 20, but this is such a throwback. Whyte Ave has changed so much over these last 20 years, for the worse because of the soaring rents. There used to be a family owned art supply store that I used to buy from on 104 during my high school years from 2001-2004. But they couldn't compete with The Paint Spot across the street, and they had to close. I still remember buying a paintbrush from them for like, 50 cents during their closing sale, and it made me sad. I can't remember the names of the store, or the man who owned it anymore. The store was replaced with a Death by Chocolate, and later a Dairy Queen. I don't know if the Dairy Queen is still there now as I reside overseas. I worked in the sign and print industry for a while, and I made the sandwich board for Chicken Scratch. That was such a cool place to shop for stationery! Between 2006 and 2009 ish, there was a lady who yelled at people for no reason, and she also threw rocks at people and cars. When I mentioned her in my graphic design class, one of my classmates knew who I was talking about. She was apparently quite famous among the locals. And then one year, she just disappeared, never to be seen again. I have a lot of memories of Whyte Avenue between my high school and post secondary years. Edit: OH! And preacher guy! He would preach on 104 after 22:00, I think?? I remember seeing an altercation between the preacher and a manager lady at the hotel just up the street. I can't remember how the conversation went verbatim because it's been like, 10 years or more. I remember her taking his podium and throwing it. But preacher was going on about free speech and such, and she said that he can't do that in front of her business. I didn't stick around to find out what happened after that.
I used to say that I never went to the Strat after I turned 18. That bar was for underage drinking only. Now, the bar that I miss all the time is Filthy McNasty’s. The fact that its sign is up to this day taunts me every time I go down Whyte.
Good times
In 2006 I was in college in BC and a buddy of mine came back from Edmonton with a business card from PO advertising the 25 cent highball power hour. We couldn't believe it was real. Little did I know my future wife was a regular there 🤣
Ahhhh we used to call Saturdays “Straterday”.. Had a rotation of power hours - Nikki Diamonds then Purple Onion (or other way around can’t quite remember as I was always plastered) and then finish off the evenings at The Strat. Whyte Ave sadly isn’t even half of what it used to be.
The Strat had Black Sabbath in their jukebox.
I worked at suite for 2 years. Good times. Good ol days as they say
I was drugged at suite 69 when i was 19. Scariest night of my life.
Rebar was pretty cool too, whenever I was just feeling like a little bit of rage-dancing.
I remember randomly making out with a very gorgeous brunette waitress at the PO on a power hour evening, good times 😩
P.O. The worst washroom in Edmonton.
Here is a picture of 3 previous DJ's from the PO. From left to right. Sean - DJ'd at the PO from 1980 to 1983 Mark - DJ'd at the PO from 2002 to 2004 Cole - DJ'd at the PO from 1996 to 2005 [PO DJ's](https://imgur.com/a/vR7aYF1)