Leaving the Station for Good

This won't be news to anyone reading from Edmonton, but for any ex-Edmontonians reading from abroad, I got this in my inbox a few days ago, as I'm still on the Sidetrack Cafe media mail-out list.


Sidetrack Cafe Closes After 26 Years

Due to numerous circumstances, the difficult decision to close the Sidetrack Café was made yesterday February 15, 2007, on its 26th birthday.

We would like to thank all those that have supported the Sidetrack Café in the last 26 years.

The Sidetrack Café was made a special and important venue with the help of amazing performers and a great community that supported the concept of the Sidetrack Café. We would especially like to thank all of our local performers as it has always been your venue first and foremost.

The Sidetrack Café was also blessed with wonderful and committed staff members that brought the Sidetrack Café experience to life on a daily basis.

The Sidetrack Café would like everyone to focus on the positive experiences we all had at this fantastic venue rather than the circumstances that led to its closure.

Thank you for 26 remarkable years!


The Sidetrack Café


It's a shame that the bar/restaurant (it was never really a café) couldn't survive the move from its original location. I hadn't been to its new downtown spot but I'd heard from a lot of folks that it had gone downhill. I seem to recall that the last time I’d been there, a few years ago, the food wasn’t so good. Back in the day, though, it was a great place to sit on the patio on a warm day, get a few pitchers of beer and one of their famous giant plates of nachos. I recall a particularly fun SEE magazine staff party there, and among the best gigs I attended at the Sidetrack, there were Tegan and Sarah, Old Reliable, The Hi-Phoniqs, Holly McNarland and a particularly fantastic Weakerthans show with multiple encores. Plus, it was pretty fun to sit in the actual rail car. I can’t say it was a regular hangout by any means – I was more of a Bronx/Rebar type – but it’s still a bummer to see an Edmonton cultural institution lost to the downtown condo belt.

Anyone else got any memories (fond or otherwise) to share about the Sidetrack?