Been here before, however, tonight, it missed expectations, which was unfortunate as I bought a date there. Everything seemed slow tonight, from the service and especially the food. Not sure if they were understaffed or something. Took a while to get our starter order and they were fine, albeit a little slow to come out. The main course took much too long to come out, I think it took over 30m to 40m. When they did come out, my date's Ceviche was really good, however, my M/MR New York came out over-cooked to MW to well done and it was impossible to finish. It was hard to eat and dry. Since I was hungry I went through half of it and the server never came to check to see how it was and I had to wave him down to comment about it. Afterwards, I commented that it was the first time in over 5+ years that I didn't finish a steak. They did look at the steak and agreed that it was much over cooked. They did offer to make a new one, however, I didn't want to wait again based on how long it took the first time and would have been rude of me to make my date wait. We thought about dessert and decided against it. They gave 10% off the steak on the bill, however, since I didn't even finish it to begin with, I felt things from the beginning to end was lacking.
The staff were kind and respectful. We shared a steak dinner and it was delicious but I didn't think paying for the side was a great idea. There should be a side that comes with the steak.
Yummy Yyc
We really like how the restaurant looks inside! We tried their lunch special for the YYC Food & Drinks Exp for $35. I really liked the salad. It was my first time trying beef fat fries and it does have a certain aftertaste. But if you eat it with ketchup it’s not that noticeable. Added a little bit of salt on the steak and it was very good!For more food content follow me @yummy.yyc on Instagram and TikTok!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Steak
DanS
My wife and I went to Charbar for a date night. We like to have a selection of small plates to share, and Charbar nailed it. We ordered the fire grilled octopus, clams, lamb ribs, sweet breads, table side ceviche, and grilled argentine shrimp. I honestly can't pick a favourite, they were all so delicious. We will be back again, with friends.
Juliet
We went here for the YYC Eat & Drink Experience menu - it was $35 but I wouldn't say the food we recieved was worth it, considering it is supposed to be a discounted price as a promotion for that event, I was a bit bummed. I will say everything was fresh and the ingredients were high quality, but the "parfait" was a teaspoon of dulce and a tablespoon of yogurt with a few small pieces of fruit and the potatoes were weridly sweet. I've been here a few times and are generally underwhelmed, but it's not BAD.
analicia toge
Service can often make or break your experience. Mark at Charbar is the epitome of excellent service. Great personality, engaging, friendly, professional….everything you could want in a server. The restaurant has a nice vibe and the food is okay as well. Thanks Mark, continue to provide your excellent service!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Double Stacked Gaucho Burger
Helen Ngo
Had a disappointing experience and felt mislead coming to charbar today. It took over 10 minutes from after we were seated to be given water which should have been the first red flag. We came for the "Lunch" menu for the YYC EXP but they told us that lunch does not start until 3:00PM which was not disclosed on any of their socials (website or instagram). Since we already made the trip, we decided to give it a chance and go ahead with the $35 brunch menu but I honestly wish we would have just left. We did not get our main dish for over an hour, our reservation was at noon and we did not see our main dish until 1:07PM. It felt like the business offered an appealing lunch menu to attract people to book a reservation to be served a low cost brunch instead (they just gave us some yogurt with fruit/granola, benedict with paper thin ham with a whole bunch of potato wedges and dessert was an overly sweet chocolate brownie thing smaller than two fingers with 3 raspberries). I felt that the server was too embarrassed to even ask how our experience was because she was silent when she handed us the bill. Good bye $86!
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 2
bpwill
A beautiful spot along the river with a great rooftop and great dining area. The service was incredible and the waiter knew every drink to help us along. We had a few appetizers and every one of them was delicious. Highly recommend the ceviche.
MichaelSiervo
Great spot in East Village Calgary. On a sunny day when weather is great the view of the river from the rooftop is spectacular. There recently, and tried some of their shareable plates. Although the cocktails are spot on the serving for the octopus could have been bigger for the price. we only received one large piece and two smaller ones. The sautéed prawns on the other hand were big and came with a serving of six. I would still recommend this place. However, it's best to order a full sized meal to get your moneys worth.
Sunday brunch 12:30 and place was pretty busy but unfortunately service was poor. It took over an hour to get our food and our server was not in a good mood. We won't be back. From reading other recent reviews it seems that we weren't the only table having issues that Sunday brunch. Very disappointing as it's a beautiful space and the food is decent but management needs to work on their service. There are so many other great brunch places in downtown Calgary I'd rather give my business to.
We went for Sunday brunch at 12:30 and ordered the YYC EXP menu. The restaurant was busy but tables in the section next to us were being served and had their food before our server even came to take our order and we had to ask the busboy to find her! Thankfully the manager had taken our drink orders right after we were seated and brought our drinks. The first course of the yogurt parfait came out and was tasty but very small serving. We waited for our second course of Eggs Benedict for over an hour when meanwhile the table next to us (who had the other server) had their's despite sitting down about 30 minutes after us. We couldn't see our server and eventually asked the busboy to again find her. This time the manager came by and explained there was “an error in the system” despite others in adjacent section having no trouble being served. The Eggs Benedict arrived and were cooked correctly and decent portion. We had asked for our third course (dessert and again small portion) and bill to come when our Eggs Benedict arrived. We did see our server pass several time after we got our mains but she never again looked at us, acknowledged us or apologized for the delay. We had not been rude or loud in voicing our concerns. The manager comped one meal of three from the total bill so that was something. As we were waiting to pay the couple behind us stopped by our table as they were leaving and told us they waited an hour and half for their food and wouldn't be returning. So in summary the section beside us turned over tables in time it took to get our food (some sat an hour after us and had their main course before us). It was obviously a problem with our server vs the system. Food was just OK and first and third course were small. The majority of the clientele seemed to be ordering off the set menu vs regular brunch menu so thought things would have run more smoothly. Not worth the $35 and while we will return to Char Cut we will not be returning to Char Bar.
Mariya Otten-Andrew
Always a delicious experience.Lamb shanks to die for, and the desserts - can't go wrong.Tonight, we were served by Solheil, and that turned a good dining experience into an exceptional evening.Thank you! ?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Bryan Birn
Great food, Awesome service. A bit pricey
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
RedDawn
Food was amazing, service was sub par. Had to keep asking for drinks , water etc rather than offered. Had to keep flagging down the waitress. Wasn't that busy in the restaurant.
PatriciaM
I was actually very disappointed with the quality and prices of the food! It had nothing to do with food from Argentina. My husband is Argentinian and I am from Uruguay. Trust me, the place has nothing to do with Argentina.Overpriced, my pork was undercooked. Baked potatoes were spicy; my husband's steak that was supposed to be out of this world was not tender at all and it was $67 for a little piece of hard meat. The place was nice but tables are so close together that you can actually hear everyone talking beside you. Our server was very polite, we got a free champagne drink because we were celebrating our anniversary
Been here before, however, tonight, it missed expectations, which was unfortunate as I bought a date there. Everything seemed slow tonight, from the service and especially the food. Not sure if they were understaffed or something. Took a while to get our starter order and they were fine, albeit a little slow to come out. The main course took much too long to come out, I think it took over 30m to 40m. When they did come out, my date's Ceviche was really good, however, my M/MR New York came out over-cooked to MW to well done and it was impossible to finish. It was hard to eat and dry. Since I was hungry I went through half of it and the server never came to check to see how it was and I had to wave him down to comment about it. Afterwards, I commented that it was the first time in over 5+ years that I didn't finish a steak. They did look at the steak and agreed that it was much over cooked. They did offer to make a new one, however, I didn't want to wait again based on how long it took the first time and would have been rude of me to make my date wait. We thought about dessert and decided against it. They gave 10% off the steak on the bill, however, since I didn't even finish it to begin with, I felt things from the beginning to end was lacking.
The staff were kind and respectful. We shared a steak dinner and it was delicious but I didn't think paying for the side was a great idea. There should be a side that comes with the steak.
We really like how the restaurant looks inside! We tried their lunch special for the YYC Food & Drinks Exp for $35. I really liked the salad. It was my first time trying beef fat fries and it does have a certain aftertaste. But if you eat it with ketchup it’s not that noticeable. Added a little bit of salt on the steak and it was very good!For more food content follow me @yummy.yyc on Instagram and TikTok!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Steak
My wife and I went to Charbar for a date night. We like to have a selection of small plates to share, and Charbar nailed it. We ordered the fire grilled octopus, clams, lamb ribs, sweet breads, table side ceviche, and grilled argentine shrimp. I honestly can't pick a favourite, they were all so delicious. We will be back again, with friends.
We went here for the YYC Eat & Drink Experience menu - it was $35 but I wouldn't say the food we recieved was worth it, considering it is supposed to be a discounted price as a promotion for that event, I was a bit bummed. I will say everything was fresh and the ingredients were high quality, but the "parfait" was a teaspoon of dulce and a tablespoon of yogurt with a few small pieces of fruit and the potatoes were weridly sweet. I've been here a few times and are generally underwhelmed, but it's not BAD.
Service can often make or break your experience. Mark at Charbar is the epitome of excellent service. Great personality, engaging, friendly, professional….everything you could want in a server. The restaurant has a nice vibe and the food is okay as well. Thanks Mark, continue to provide your excellent service!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Double Stacked Gaucho Burger
Had a disappointing experience and felt mislead coming to charbar today. It took over 10 minutes from after we were seated to be given water which should have been the first red flag. We came for the "Lunch" menu for the YYC EXP but they told us that lunch does not start until 3:00PM which was not disclosed on any of their socials (website or instagram). Since we already made the trip, we decided to give it a chance and go ahead with the $35 brunch menu but I honestly wish we would have just left. We did not get our main dish for over an hour, our reservation was at noon and we did not see our main dish until 1:07PM. It felt like the business offered an appealing lunch menu to attract people to book a reservation to be served a low cost brunch instead (they just gave us some yogurt with fruit/granola, benedict with paper thin ham with a whole bunch of potato wedges and dessert was an overly sweet chocolate brownie thing smaller than two fingers with 3 raspberries). I felt that the server was too embarrassed to even ask how our experience was because she was silent when she handed us the bill. Good bye $86!
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 2
A beautiful spot along the river with a great rooftop and great dining area. The service was incredible and the waiter knew every drink to help us along. We had a few appetizers and every one of them was delicious. Highly recommend the ceviche.
Great spot in East Village Calgary. On a sunny day when weather is great the view of the river from the rooftop is spectacular. There recently, and tried some of their shareable plates. Although the cocktails are spot on the serving for the octopus could have been bigger for the price. we only received one large piece and two smaller ones. The sautéed prawns on the other hand were big and came with a serving of six. I would still recommend this place. However, it's best to order a full sized meal to get your moneys worth.
Sunday brunch 12:30 and place was pretty busy but unfortunately service was poor. It took over an hour to get our food and our server was not in a good mood. We won't be back. From reading other recent reviews it seems that we weren't the only table having issues that Sunday brunch. Very disappointing as it's a beautiful space and the food is decent but management needs to work on their service. There are so many other great brunch places in downtown Calgary I'd rather give my business to.
Restaurantji Recommends
We went for Sunday brunch at 12:30 and ordered the YYC EXP menu. The restaurant was busy but tables in the section next to us were being served and had their food before our server even came to take our order and we had to ask the busboy to find her! Thankfully the manager had taken our drink orders right after we were seated and brought our drinks. The first course of the yogurt parfait came out and was tasty but very small serving. We waited for our second course of Eggs Benedict for over an hour when meanwhile the table next to us (who had the other server) had their's despite sitting down about 30 minutes after us. We couldn't see our server and eventually asked the busboy to again find her. This time the manager came by and explained there was “an error in the system” despite others in adjacent section having no trouble being served. The Eggs Benedict arrived and were cooked correctly and decent portion. We had asked for our third course (dessert and again small portion) and bill to come when our Eggs Benedict arrived. We did see our server pass several time after we got our mains but she never again looked at us, acknowledged us or apologized for the delay. We had not been rude or loud in voicing our concerns. The manager comped one meal of three from the total bill so that was something. As we were waiting to pay the couple behind us stopped by our table as they were leaving and told us they waited an hour and half for their food and wouldn't be returning. So in summary the section beside us turned over tables in time it took to get our food (some sat an hour after us and had their main course before us). It was obviously a problem with our server vs the system. Food was just OK and first and third course were small. The majority of the clientele seemed to be ordering off the set menu vs regular brunch menu so thought things would have run more smoothly. Not worth the $35 and while we will return to Char Cut we will not be returning to Char Bar.
Always a delicious experience.Lamb shanks to die for, and the desserts - can't go wrong.Tonight, we were served by Solheil, and that turned a good dining experience into an exceptional evening.Thank you! ?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great food, Awesome service. A bit pricey
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Food was amazing, service was sub par. Had to keep asking for drinks , water etc rather than offered. Had to keep flagging down the waitress. Wasn't that busy in the restaurant.
I was actually very disappointed with the quality and prices of the food! It had nothing to do with food from Argentina. My husband is Argentinian and I am from Uruguay. Trust me, the place has nothing to do with Argentina.Overpriced, my pork was undercooked. Baked potatoes were spicy; my husband's steak that was supposed to be out of this world was not tender at all and it was $67 for a little piece of hard meat. The place was nice but tables are so close together that you can actually hear everyone talking beside you. Our server was very polite, we got a free champagne drink because we were celebrating our anniversary