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| - A few days ago we drove by the old Chestermere Landing restaurant and noticed lots of cars in the parking lot. Turns out the place has finally reopened, after being closed for a few years. Its new incarnation, the Dockside Bar & Grill has a totally redone interior with modern finishings and furniture. I stopped in yesterday for a brief drink and appetizer to get a feel for the new place. While the layout appears to be largely the same as before, they really did a nice job updating it.
There were a few other people there in addition to myself on a Sunday afternoon. It's a self seating kinda place, so I planted myself at the bar. They have a few different beers on tap, plus many more in the bottle. I was pleasantly surprised to see Village Brewery Blacksmith IPA on tap, so had the bartender pour me one of those to get started. Their menu has a tasty sounding variety of appetizers, salads and mains on it, but since I was just looking for a snack this visit I opted for the pint of bacon! Bacon and an IPA....sounded like a good combo to me. While I was expecting the bacon to come out in a pint glass, instead it arrived in short order on a nice while rectangular plate on top of some mixed greens, with a side of creamy chipotle dressing. The bacon (8-9 pieces I think) was done perfectly to my liking, crispy on the edges but still a bit meaty and chewy. While I not sure the dressing is really needed, it was nice to dip the bacon in it for a tangy little bite. It got me to thinking however....what would go good with bacon? For me at least, a nice little cup of creamy mac and cheese sounded good, so maybe next time I go in I'll ask if they can do that as I recall seeing a mac and cheese entrée on the menu.
Overall I thought the service and food was good. I will definitely go again and try other food options so I have a better sense of the place. But It's nice to have this option available again in Chestermere and so far I think it's definitely worth a stop. The location is great....right on the lake and I'm sure next summer when the patio opens they will be doing great business, so long as the service and quality is there. They are also planning on opening another portion of the building as the Dockside Diner, which will be a family venue, which is a nice option for those wishing to go there with their kids. One other thing to note - their Facebook page notes that they kept the recipes and pizza oven for the pizza place that was formerly in the building (Jovan's), and they offer a full range of pizza's as part of the menu. As I recall, Jovan's Pizza was really good, so hopefully this carries through in the new Dockside restaurants.
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