Smooth, hardwood floors. Dimly lit ambient lighting. Ample seating at booths, tables or at the bar. A large chandelier hangs from the ceiling on the upper level.
Ambiance, that's one aspect I think Firewater's gotten right from the start. They're relatively new to Calgary (they opened in the last couple of years), and seemed to have a bit of a turnover in staff when they first started out. Now, though, now it feels like they're on the move to get things right.
Our server this evening was Nika. Fun, bubbly and friendly, she's set a good standard for service. Her timing on visiting the table throughout the night was spot on. It wasn't busy, often times that means a table is visited too often, or not regularly enough. But like baby bear's porridge, she got it just right.
The menu contains all of your typical pub-ish style food. Appys, burgers and sandwiches, some entrees too. Their calamari and their chicken fingers, from what I remember, were my favourite appys. This evening I indulged in the Chicken Burrito with poutine. I wouldn't call it authentic Mexican cuisine, but it was a neatly rolled tortilla filled with tasty cheese and chicken and served with salsa and sour cream. The poutine was a nice mound of french fries, gravy and cheese (though not cheese curds).
Drinkwise, I splurged on the banana split martini. I thought the price tag was a little steep at $9.50, but man oh man was it ever tasty.