Ongoing Calgary and area restuarant recommendation/review thread

[YYC in LAX]

80th and Ivy on 17th ave

[GreenLantern]

I have noticed a lot of the restaurants opening up around here are going for that wide open concept, the dinner party feel I think they call it now.

I don't want to have dinner with the people beside me, however I do enjoy smaller venues and it seems like many of those listed in here are of that type. I appreciate all the suggestions so far.. I think District, Raw Bar and Taste have stood out the most for me so far.

One thing that drives me nuts about a restaurant is not having a webpage.. I like to be able to view the menu online to see if there is anything that catches my eye, most importantly though I want to know that they serve good beer. It has been and probably will be in this case, a deal breaker.

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

One thing that drives me nuts about a restaurant is not having a webpage.. I like to be able to view the menu online to see if there is anything that catches my eye, most importantly though I want to know that they serve good beer. It has been and probably will be in this case, a deal breaker.

I have a bad tendency to quote Oatmeal for a lot of stuff, but this reminds me of one of my favs, because it's so true:

Spoiler!

[me_dennis]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

I have noticed a lot of the restaurants opening up around here are going for that wide open concept, the dinner party feel I think they call it now.

I don't want to have dinner with the people beside me, however I do enjoy smaller venues and it seems like many of those listed in here are of that type. I appreciate all the suggestions so far.. I think District, Raw Bar and Taste have stood out the most for me so far.

One thing that drives me nuts about a restaurant is not having a webpage.. I like to be able to view the menu online to see if there is anything that catches my eye, most importantly though I want to know that they serve good beer. It has been and probably will be in this case, a deal breaker.

if you're a beer snob and want some fancy beer, check out Charcut. They've got some pretty pricey beers ($40/pint) and some unique ones.

If you're into charcuterie and rustic food, charcut is for you.

[Komskies]

I went to Charcut in August. While the food was tasty enough, the portions were ridiculously small. Don't go there and expect to leave full without spending a ridiculous amount of money. I left unsatisfied. The butcher steak for instance was like 6 little slices of a steak.

[AR_Six]

I always think for the "reasonably high standard food but pretty casual and not too pricey" option you want to split a pizza and another dish at UNA or Pulcinella. Getting a pizza and the caprese at Pulcinella is instant win for two.

[kermitology]

My coworker's brother owns Downtown Food on 8th Ave and 6th Street and I have been majorly impressed with the food there. It's not super expensive, but you get some majorly tasty stuff. It's basically farm to table source of food, everything is local, and often things are prepared with an asian flair.

I went there for dinner on NYE and everything that we were served from a 6 course meal was pretty much amazing, I've since been for lunch as well and also had a great meal.

It's apparently one of the favourite restaurants of Connie and John (from Charcut) and is getting some pretty rave reviews around town.

http://www.yelp.ca/biz/downtown-food-calgary

[GreenLantern]

Another quick question, how is the zoo in the winter time? Are all the animals still around but inside now? Not nearly as fun as the summer?

[crazy_eoj]

Have to give a shout out to Blue Star Diner in bridgeland. Eveything is locally sourced and the place focuses on breakfast but does a mean burger or taco's in the evening. A little bit outside of downtown so usually quiet on a Saturday night.

http://bluestardiner.ca/

[Minnie]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

Another quick question, how is the zoo in the winter time? Are all the animals still around but inside now? Not nearly as fun as the summer?

I've never been in the winter but we're considering going just to see the penguin walk - M, W, S @ 11 am. If you go with plans to see that, might want to phone before you go to see if they're doing the walk that day - penguin walks will be held when the temperature is between a comfortable -25C and 10C - also, if the penguins refuse to go for a waddle, they don't force them, so even if the weather cooperates, the penguins might not.

[J Diddy]

No Nellies recommendation yet? You're getting old and slow CP.

[Komskies]

Originally Posted by Komskies

I'm going to Cibo for a dinner later this week. I will post my takes in this thread.

Had my dinner at Cibo last night. Overall it was a really great meal. My first thought when entering the restaurant was "Holy crap this place is huge". If you're looking for a more intimate setting, maybe this isn't the place for a Valentines dinner. The food though was really top notch. I had some ravioli with a beef pork and mushroom ragu, and a creamy gorgonzola cream sauce, topped with truffle oil. Really good. A few at the table ordered pizzas, and they looked really nice. A nice airy crust and interesting toppings like wild boar bacon. The best part was they had Grandville Island Winter Ale on tap for $4.95 "pints". Love that stuff. I put the pints in quotes because they were probably only 14 oz glasses.

8.5/10, would bang again

[rotten42]

Was at Ruth Chris again last night....never had a bad meal there.

[Komskies]

Originally Posted by rotten42

Was at Ruth Chris again last night....never had a bad meal there.

I'm a big fan. Those Lyonnaise potatoes... don't even!

[troutman]

Ruth's Chris

What is Ruth doing with Chris? Why the possessive?

[habernac]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

Another quick question, how is the zoo in the winter time? Are all the animals still around but inside now? Not nearly as fun as the summer?

I find the animals are actually more active in the winter.

[Komskies]

A lady named Ruth Fertel bought a steakhouse named Chris Steak House, then renamed it Ruth's Chris.

[GreenLantern]

Originally Posted by Komskies

Had my dinner at Cibo last night. Overall it was a really great meal. My first thought when entering the restaurant was "Holy crap this place is huge". If you're looking for a more intimate setting, maybe this isn't the place for a Valentines dinner. The food though was really top notch. I had some ravioli with a beef pork and mushroom ragu, and a creamy gorgonzola cream sauce, topped with truffle oil. Really good. A few at the table ordered pizzas, and they looked really nice. A nice airy crust and interesting toppings like wild boar bacon. The best part was they had Grandville Island Winter Ale on tap for $4.95 "pints". Love that stuff. I put the pints in quotes because they were probably only 14 oz glasses.

8.5/10, would bang again

Yea I call those Calgary Pints, not quite a pint but not quite a glass.. somewhere in the middle, but usually for more money.

Thanks for the review, appreciate it.

[Komskies]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

Yea I call those Calgary Pints, not quite a pint but not quite a glass.. somewhere in the middle, but usually for more money.

Thanks for the review, appreciate it.

My friend's Scottish dad constantly gets in arguments with bartenders when he tells them the pint of beer they just poured him isn't a pint.

[GreenLantern]

Originally Posted by Komskies

My friend's Scottish dad constantly gets in arguments with bartenders when he tells them the pint of beer they just poured him isn't a pint.

I had my first Calgary Pint experience at Craft. The server brought me a Calgary Pint, I asked what this was, she said read the fine print. It says in the fine print that their pints are classified as less than an actual pint (I think it is 0.4 L, or 0.84 of a pint). So I imagine they had been accused of this many, many times prior.