Tag: Review

By Peter Hemminger

The Night Gallery is the antithesis of the Cowboys/Coyotes approach, as far removed from those soulless meat markets as possible within the confines of “places to get drunk and dance.” It’s tiny, essentially a converted apartment block (though renovations are underway to add another floor). It’s dark enough that you can’t really see that stranger… Continue reading Delicious, deliberate, dark

By Natalie Sit

The Hop in Brew sits between two extremes on 12 Ave. To the west, are hookers and others promising “a good time.” To the east is the poser-zone of 1 St., littered with 16-year-olds with fake IDs and others with fake tattoos. But, nestled in the middle is the Hop. The pub is a converted… Continue reading Jump to the Hop in Brew

By Jeff Kubik

There are some bars bound to remain legendary in any city’s nightlife. They’re large and they’re popular, the kind of place where you’re bound to run into any number of long-lost friends and regular drinking buddies on any given night. In Calgary, if straight-up nightclubs aren’t your scene, you’re eventually bound for the Ship and… Continue reading The Ship sails another day

By Jeff Kubik

They’re always loud, that’s a certainty. Certain too are the random flashing lights in scattered sections throughout the bar, shining on glistening skin covered in sweat and spilled alcohol. They’re built for dancing, drinking and sex and don’t make any pretensions about being anything else. So huzzah for the capital “C” Club, huzzah for the… Continue reading It came from the back alley

By Chris Tait

With its home brewery providing many original beers on tap, the Brew Brothers Taproom, attached to the restaurant of the same name, is the place to be for anyone even remotely interested in beer.Highly recommended comes the award-winning Prairie Steamer, with a seemingly unmatchable smoothness. Also recommended is the Black Pilsner, which adds a slightly… Continue reading Sibling love

By Rob Scherf

As the maxim goes, if you’ve seen one Irish pub, you’ve seen ’em all. There’s always something familiar about walking into an “O’Gready’s” or “Goodtime McDonnel’s”, probably having to do with the standard-issue deep, dark wood furniture and Guinness on tap. It seems that these sickeningly congruent places are everywhere one turns these days, with… Continue reading Kilkenny has curse of the irish

By Chris Tait

Crunchy, crunchy peanuts. They’re enough to make a bar experience in themselves, served in ceaseless wicker baskets and crunched haphazardly under stumbling student feet. Keep them coming and keep them free, at the venerable Moose McGuire’s. Named posthumously after a courageous fire fighter, and less than fifteen minutes south of campus at the Stadium Shopping… Continue reading Moose and elephant?

By Chris Tait

We are a rock music bar.” Provided by our lovely waitress Elyse, this description fits the Rusty Cage perfectly, right down to the guy wearing the Coor’s shirt with the sleeves ripped off and the patron passed out in a corner. A first impression of the Cage would render images of the things that provided… Continue reading No holds barred Cage

By Rob Scherf

As we enter Aussie Rules on Dueling Pianos night I’m not nearly as drunk as I should be, but as soon as I step into the bar something definitely feels altered. I’d never heard so much noise in one place before, nor had I ever heard a crowd roar so indescriminately. These people were going… Continue reading Dueling with pianos

By Chris Tait

There are few places that have shared the infamy of the Cowboys Dance Hall. This always full mega-bar has been described by many critics with such phrases as “meat market”, “shallow”, and “hootchy”. But everyone agrees: it is a successful venue. Thousands of patrons a week and millions of dollars a year denote this fact.… Continue reading Cowboys still the place for ridin’