| rev:text
| - This is definitely the place to go to if you like your country music loud while drinking beer in a large crowded bar. We were visiting Canada for the first time to attend the 2012 Stampede. Unfortunately, for our first dinner in Calgary we picked this place out of a local magazine highlighting local dining establishments. I have no idea why it was listed in there, and the description was entirely misleading. I was expecting something akin to a German beer hall, where we could sit and have food brought to us as we listened to the music and enjoyed the atmosphere. However, after a long taxi ride from downtown and a $15 cover charge (each), we walked into a large bar where we had to fend for ourselves. There are actually several bars in connected rooms of various sizes and layouts, with two right off the dance floor. The food is sold solely at different buffet set-ups tucked away in different corners, so once you track down the correct person at the correct bar in the correct room to buy food tickets, you can get through a pantomime with her (the loud music never stops) and she will direct you to the correct buffet to get the food you want. The most annoying factor is that the seating is woefully inadequate for the crowd they attract, and we had a devil of a time finding an unclaimed surface large enough to set our plates in order to try to eat the food we bought. We finally claimed the corner of a table that was only vacant because one of their party had stepped away, so we promised to eat fast. I have no idea what I ate, it was barbecue something. I think it was tasty but I was unable to really enjoy eating it. We did make the best of things and enjoyed several beers. I would have expected a place like this to have a larger selection, but being from another country we found Kokanee and Pilsner to be sufficiently exotic. Between the multiple TV screens, the mechanical bull, the loud music, and the large crowd, it is a perfect atmosphere for enjoying a few beers. And after such a disappointing ordeal just to get dinner, I needed a drink or two.
|