Stopped in for lunch after driving from Edmonton. A waitress took our order and we sat for 45 mins while everyone who arrived after us was served their food. Called a server over as no one preparing any food in the kitchen and he disappeared and did not return to update us. Decided to leave as clearly we had been forgotten. Very poor communication. read more

I've been angry all day thinking about my meal last night. Porterhouse steak says "for two - $49" on the menu. It turns out they charge $49 per person for it. Now I'm wishing I had complained - because the meat was so tough and old tasting I'm furious I wasted $100 when we didn't even eat it. Wine was unpleasant - $75/bottle. Music was so loud I had to shout into my date's ears to be heard. Dessert was $10 for a bowl of cheap ice cream with a cheap supermarket cone artistically turned upside down in it. The server told us not to bother with the peach dessert - it's just canned peaches. Tripe chips are tasteless. Cooked eggplant was tasteless. Something came with a dipping sauce that was crunchy and unchewable. Not one item we ordered was edible. $350 for two people. F*** this place. read more

Nice place, great atmosphere! Some of the food was excellent! I was there with a group of 6 so got to try a few things. The cocktails were exceptional, although a couple folks waited an excessive amount of time for theirs to not have them discounted or comped. All our appetizers were awesome, the dinner entrees and sides were good. The most disappointing part was having to trim the porterhouse. The taste of this dry aged steak was awesome but having to work to get there was disappointing. read more

Although the rooftop patio was awesome, the service and the food were anything but impressive. We sat for 15 minutes before we even had a menu to look at and the drinks and later on the food took a long time to be served. I ordered a burger and specifically asked how it was going to be done. I was told it would be medium rare, but what I receives was at best medium well! The burger was served with bacon on top, promised to be crispy, but in my case burnt. When I complained about it, I was told that this had been an isolated case and I would receive another one. However, the second one came with burnt bacon as well. At that point, I asked for one without any bacon and all I did was to remove the bacon from that sandwich and returned it to me. Even without the burnt bacon, the burger was one of the worst! At the end, our server told me that I should not have to pay for the burger, but she could not find the manager and I should go find him and ask to remove the burger from my bill!!! Overall, you should go there if you want to just have a drink on a nice patio and you can tolerate slow service, but stay away from ordering food. read more

For the price you pay the food was pretty lacklustre but what really knocked my socks off was the incredible service and atmosphere. I don't think I'd go back for dinner but I would definitely go back for the amazing cocktails! read more

We came here for the Big Taste so my review will be more about the experience. I really enjoyed the ambience here, the open space, giant windows, and feeling of community with the various businesses thay occupy the space. Our server was attentive and my steak and frites meal was tasty. I had a really nice cocktail as well. They were accommodating to my infant and overalll I enjoyed the visit. The food was flavourful and my steak was done perfectly. Will try to come again to try the regular menu. read more

All the hype ruined it for me. I tried to use Open Table to make a reservation for 7 pm, nothing was available until 8:30 pm. We called and got a spot and when we arrived there were lots of empty tables and spots at the bars. We had a great server. We looked at the drink menu and were baffled by a bunch of the ingredients. They made me a custom lemon drink, unfortunately they did not have limoncello. Food wise, I like a simpler menu. We shared a cabbage salad and the crab legs - they were ok, We went somewhere else for coffee and dessert. And it's pricey. read more

The food is great, the view is fantastic on the patio.... but we had TERRIBLE service from Brad. If the patio was busy I could understand, but it wasn't, we tried to order food 3 times before he finally took the order. My drink order he took after i sat waiting for about 1/2 hour as my girlfriend had almost finished hers before he came back to ask what I wanted to drink. Our food sat under the warmer for a while before making it's way to us, my bread for the avocado bruschetta was SO HARD you could only eat the middle really. He never asked us how the food was or if we wanted a second drink... Generally he was slow and grumpy and abrasive, and we went to Charbar so excited as we had such a great time at the Yelp event we just had to go back..... Now we are perhaps going to try our hand in the restaurant (as the food is great) and not the patio as he had us turned off which is such a shame as its a beautiful space. read more

Myself, partner and new baby recently visited Charbar. It was a Friday afternoon and we went for an early dinner, it wasn't too busy and so we were seated easily, even with a stroller. The staff were friendly and accommodating. We decided to try the empanadas and calamari to start. The empanadas arrived at the table very quickly, but when we looked at them and turned them over they were black. 100% over cooked / burnt! Made me think if they were sitting ready and just heated up for us. We made a complaint, got a new portion sent to us and also the dish was removed from the bill. For the main we had the beef burger and chicken sandwich both equally delicious. Apart from the small issue with the starter, the rest of the meal was fab. We will return for another meal! read more

Atrocious experience. Seated promptly for 9 pm reservation. Service was prompt to take our drink and appetizer order. Drinks came quickly and were excellent. That was the high point. Waited an hour and 15 minutes for apps. Server brought our wine order but food never arrived. Limited communication from server. Cancelled balance of order due to wait time. Manager comped entire order, but too little too late. The kitchen here is terrible and unprofessional. Decent service, nice space. Far too large for capacity and scale of kitchen. Not recommended. Went to Pigeonhole for late night small plates. Happy with that choice. Charbar will be out of business in 3 months. read more

Char Bar has a great atmosphere and great service however, we were disappointed to hear they ran out of pizza dough so we choose a few appetizers to be shared and I was not impressed. The eggplant and quinoa was overly fried and very, very salty even though I like salty foods. The cheese appetizer was sub par and did not have a lot of flavour and the bruschetta was pretty much the same- very bland. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I would go back. read more

Canned peaches and apples in the fruit and yogurt in August? Really? Maybe in the dead of winter. They need to go look at the all the fresh peaches, blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries that are currently readily available in Calgary. Granted, there were 5 blackberries. read more

We went to Charbar for brunch and I asked for Eggs Benedict, hard poached The server said they would only do soft poached eggs. She suggested substituting a fried egg instead. Are you kidding? Your cooks can't hard poach an egg?? I reluctantly agreed and asked for the sauce in the side. My "benedict" came smothered in sauce (thanks for accompanying my request .not). They also use toasted dry French bread instead of an English muffin and the bacon (dried bacon jerky) is not part of the "benedict" but on the side. It amounted to less than 1/2 a slice. It was the worst eggs benedict I have ever had. Just a fried egg on dry white bread. For those considering Charbar for brunch...Go somewhere else. read more

worst service ever..had a table for 4 -told they could not accommodate 6-yet saw at least 5 empty tables..were seated and promptly ignored for 10 minutes. no waiter came over, no water provided-it was hot -no nothing, saw a table seated after us get water, order..us nothing...they were not busy as saw lots of staff milling about...so we left, Advised the hostess at the top area and received the blankest millennial look ever-with no verbal response -just a dull blank look- the host downstairs was not much better...when restaurants close or fail , customer service is key, and you failed..miserably.. will never go again and will share to all i know not to go read more

I would love to write a review for Charbar but sadly when we got there the hostess let us know that the wait time was 1.5 hours. We asked if our party of 6 could put our name on the list and we were told no! They apparently don't have a list... Wtf?!? So we left. read more

I expected the food to be better for the price. Very bland food...way better restaurants out there

We had a wonderful meal last night, with our foodie friends, everyone for the most part, came away very happy and satisfied. The only compliant was the lack of beverage knowledge and ingredients for speciality coffees. But other then that service was great, company was excellent, food and presentation was fantastic. My one friend did make a comment on the 98 dollar porterhouse us 3 men shared, that for that kind of price "he's had the meat trimmed better with no fats or gristle". I believe it was 32 Oz. But 5 to 7 Oz's of fat and bone. And for the length of time they profess to hang their meat, it should have been more tender. We really enjoyed the room and atmosphere, very vibrant and continuously moving. But not intrusive. Overall a great small group dining experience(3 couples). Definitely will be coming back to try some other, what appeared to be, wonderful dishes. This east village, along the Bow and pathway, is a fantastic hidden gem, in my mind. read more

A really cool place to get a bite. Charbar gets creative, reasonable price, lunch-crowd pleasing lunches right (4-5 star). But it simply repeats the formula for dinner at twice the price, and executes it less well in my experience (burnt, overcooked, poor flavours, pretentious portions). Little pride and quality control. The Arctic char was the worst offender - a terrible dish of miniature proportions for $35+! The sausage dish: two normal-sized and tasty sausages for $20! Nothing to accompany them. $20! The pizza had completely charred-through meat. The only hit: the sundae. For 1/2 the price you'll eat twice as well at Earls. Stick to lunch at Charbar - their forte. read more

I hosted my wedding reception at CharBar in September 2021. The venue is amazing and the food received nothing but rave reviews. I would caution other brides before booking because the events staff lacks communication and requires a lot of follow up. It was a disappointing experience and if you are wanting communication and to feel like a priority I would consider booking elsewhere or hiring an external day of coordinator. I unfortunately had issues throughout the planning process and when they were brought up to the team I was met with resistance and feeling like a burden. Getting clear answers on most things took about a week and numerous emails. I was also passed back and fourth between team member which only added to the confusion and feeling of uncertainty. Our final numbers were not confirmed and our day of schedule was not requested. I had no contact with the venue leading up to the reception which was concerning. Our day of coordinator through CharBar was off leading up to our reception and we did not have any contact from any other event team members. If you are wanting to feel confident before your event I would recommend hiring an external planner or another venue. Through the evening when issues such as dirty bathrooms were brought up we were told they'd be looked into but were not resolved. This is just one example of some of the hiccups that we had. Overall our guests had an amazing time but the stress and the way we were treated leading up might not have been worth it. read more

Super disappointed with Charbar. I went with the expectation that Charbar would be following in the footsteps of Charcut.. I was wrong. Our server was very sweet but didn't know anything about the menu or wine list. My friend ordered his steak medium rare and it came out well done (it was $38 so he sent it back), when the second steak arrived it was blue rare. He was frustrated at this point and decided to just help the rest of us eat our meals. We ordered the eggplant which came out as a grey tasteless entire eggplant. We voiced our frustration with our server and the management came over to apologize. The manager offered us free dessert as an apology for our experience and we accepted one of each of the three choices. One dessert was a bowl of melted soft serve with some canned peaches, the second was also a bowl of melted soft serve with chocolate sauce, nuts and a sugar cone sticking out of it, and the third was a crepe (by far the best of the 3). Overall the experience wasn't great for the price point, the food was poorly executed and the service was sloppy. We did appreciate the efforts made by the management, but it didn't really do much to improve our dining experience. They certainly have big shoes to fill with Charcut having the reputation it has. I hope they are able to get it together soon. read more

Great atmosphere, friendly service and amazing food make charbar a standout spot in the upcoming east village area. Make sure to check in to enjoy the chefs gift (at the time we went the checkin gift was fried French toast that was beyond amazing) there's great cocktails on the menu so be sure to enjoy at least one on your visit. I recommend the bourbon sour. read more

Charbar - I recommend the bourbon sour. - Argentine Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

I came here for lunch as it is close to my work and I found the food to be quite good although it took a while for it to arrive. The location is nice and you get a good view of the river depending on where you are seated. I'm told their dinner menu is quite a bit better so I can't wait to try it. read more

After coming to this restaurant and having a rather disappointing meal, I posted my review about my lackluster experience. Almost immediately the owner of the restaurant had replied to my review on here and vowed to "make things right." I had contacted the owner as requested but was ignored and have not heard back from them. Mediocre food, disorganized service and poor customer service made me change my review to 1 star. read more

If I was blindfolded I might've guessed I was at Denny's. The patio views are amazing but as soon as you look down it all falls apart. poor service (I think the server was hired off the sidewalk that night), Ordered three drinks from the menu before I finally picked one they had in stock (a beer. I just wanted a beer). The burger patty was flat and boring but it had some kind of tasty sauce (see, I'm trying to be positive), comes with a side of chips... chips... $18 for $0.53 worth of bagged potato chips. If this place put even slightly more effort into their patio I would LITERALLY spend my life up there. This was the biggest disappointment of 2015's new restaurants. read more

We went to Charbar for lunch on Canada Day. First off, their lunch menu is pretty small. Not saying that's a bad thing, in fact, their burger was pretty good. Just the options were pretty limited. We ordered 2 burgers and the deconstructed empanada pizza special and lastly the snow crab sharing platter to share. Pizza was pretty doughy, burgers were good and snow crab salad was "meh!". Drinks were good, Spanish Estrella beer and their cranberry chamomile soda special. Overall the decor on the main level was pretty good, it was a pretty happening place with the bakery and Phil and Sebastians. We were seated on the second floor and there was a presentation happening on one side. It was pretty annoying that their speakers had a lot of feedback when they were switching between audio sources. Not anything specific to the food, but was just a minor annoyance. Other than that, the second floor is not super special, but I'd like to try the patio eventually. Rainy weather and clouds prevented us from doing so this time. Also, I imagine their dinner menu would be a little more elaborate. So my recommendation would be to have dinner on the patio if possible, also make a reservation if you can, they were turning people away for lunch. read more

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Excellent. Burger was sooooo good. Staff professional. BIG thanks to Sebastian for the great service. Wonderful view. Give the place a go for sure! read more

Came here with a friend yesterday on a beautiful, warm sunny evening for the patio. We were seated on the edge with prime views of the river and that pretty much won us over. We ordered the crushed avocado with plantain and tortilla chips which was a light and delicious appy, and shared one of the flatbread pizzas which cheese and yellow tomatoes on it - so simple but so good! Would love to come back after a nice bike on the river pathway. read more

Charbar - Crushed avocado with plantain and tortilla chips and a delicious flatbread pizza! - Argentine Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

I was so excited to try char bar and was super disappointed for several reasons. First, I went for lunch with a group of 7 others and the place was only moderately busy. Everyone's food was brought out at the same time except for mine, which came about 10 minutes later, in pieces (here's your steak and salad, fries came 3 minutes later). The rest of my table was basically finished their food when I got all of mine. I asked for my steak medium rare and it came blue rare so I only ate about half of it. Considering how long it took to get to the table, I at least expected it to be cooked properly, so I'm pretty sure they forgot about my order originally. The steak came pre-sliced but they are in large pieces so I asked for a steak knife, only to be told they don't have steak knives. I'm sorry. You serve giant steaks and want me to?? Knaw on it like a dog?? Ridiculous. The meal I ordered also came with a brownie to go which I had to remind them of twice. I just don't get it. This place had such good ratings and it was horrible from start to finish. Definitely not recommended. :( read more

Beautiful space and energy when I went on day one after opening for breakfast. The French Toast bites melt in your mouth, the egg and avocado dish was fresh and flavourful. Coffee a little slow coming but sound. Amazing for having just opened doors. Pre or post walk along the river and you have a quintessential Calgary good time in store. read more

We went here for our anniversary. I was expecting kinks as it has only been open a short time, but there were none. Everything was just delicious. We had the chicken, and ordered extra chimmichurri sauce on the side (red). We also shared the French fries and roasted broccoli. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. This is probably my favorite restaurant in the city right now. Service was excellent and decor was great too. Fabulous location. read more

This restaurant is amazing! My mom's family is Argentine, and so having I have been waiting for an Argentine restaurant to open in Calgary for basically forever. So when I heard about Charbar opening, and the story behind it (Chef and part owner Jessica Pelland, who used to work in the kitchen at Charcut, and worked her way up the ranks, and who also won on Chopped Canada, was invited by John Jackson and Connie De Sousa to be the executive chef at a new resaurant (Charbar), and then worked in Buenos Aires at a few different restaurants to learn how the Argetines do things) I was really excited, and it definitely did not disappoint! Although the menu may look daunting at first glance, the food really speaks for itself, and to truly get the full dining experience, make sure to be ready to share dishes at the table, as the menu is really designed to be eaten in the Argentine dining tradition (which is really all about sharing and family-style meals). Also, ask your server for suggestions, as their food knowledge is amazing, and it really helps to get a feel for what you might like. My fiance and I went for my Birthday dinner and had an incredible experience. We were seated next to the open kitchen, and could see the wood-fired parilla (grill) from our table. Our server was Jaimie, and she was very knowledgeable and friendly, and even helped with an awesome wine pairing for our meal (specifically the 3 Locations AR, which is an Argentine red blend (Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Tannat) and which is exclusive to the restaurant). Rachael, one of the managers also came to visit our table to check on how things were going, which was much appreciated. Before we ordered, Chef Jessica came by the table to introduce herself, and to make some food suggestions, which were awesome, and I'll get into the right away. We started with a couple of cocktails (which were prepared by Andrew at the bar, and were fantastic! We had both the Aerolineas and the Creciente) and the picante chorizo, which is a dry preparation of chorizo (sausage) with picante aioli and pickled vegetables. We then moved onto the jamón crudo, which is a 23-month aged Spanish ham cured only with salt which is sliced to order, and the blistered proveleta, which is a dry aged cheese that is cooked on the parilla, to get it all melty, yet crispy, and delicious, and is finished with some dried oregano, and served with some of the Sidewalk Citizen sourdough bread (which I might add is also toasted on the wood-fired parilla). For our main course we shared the Porterhouse, which is ultra-dry aged in house for between 30 and 100 days (when we had it, it had been dry aged for ~75 days)....and omg...if you have never had ultra dry aged beef, do yourself a favour, and make a reservation here ASAP so that you can experience it first hand (Also of note, all of the beef served at Charbar is local, grass-fed, longhorn cattle from 7K ranch). With the main course we ordered the fried romanesco broccoli (which is served with grated cheese and picante aioli, and I'm pretty sure is a dish that can make even the most staunch broccoli hater like broccoli), the vegetable ceviche (which is a gazpacho base with heirloom tomatoes, cucumber, and grilled onions finished with cilantro, cancha (a Peruvian-style corn nut) and cascabel chiles, and is super awesome, even for a hardcore carnivore), as well as all three of the chimichurris (green (traditional with parsley, cilantro, mint, oregano sherry vinegar, olive oil, and garlic), white (an amazing "new" style chimi made with almonds, whose nuttiness pair amazingly with the ultra dry aged beef), and red (which is a spicier version with aji peppers)). And finally, for dessert, along with two cups of espresso from Phil & Sebastian, we finished with the Chocolate Dip, which is a decadent bowl filled with in house made soft serve ice cream, topped with chocolate, dulce de leche (a caramel sauce made from sweetened condensed milk), a touch of salt, and marcona almonds. Needless to say, this was an incredible dining experience, and a restaurant I will return to often, and will make sure to bring friends! If you are looking for a truly authentic Argentine restaurant, without the price of a plane ticket to Buenos Aires, make sure to check out Charbar! You won't be disappointed. read more

We had a great time there. The atmosphere is great, staff are friendly and interior design is very trendy. Make sure to try the special (ceviche). We will definitely go back. read more

Cool spot, great ambiance. Everything we ordered was delicious. Our service was above and beyond, the waitress went out of her way to make out experience fit for a foodie and anyone aspiring to be a foodie from time to time. Downfalls: I left not entirely full but I broke the bank anyway. Definitely worth a try though! read more

Not impressed at all with our corporate experience. We hosted our company retreat at Charbar. Firstly, there were no proper tables/seats provided for our private party of 20+ despite this being a carving station event (meat cuts, large heavy plates, cutlery). When asked about it, they told us that people get by and figure it out. Secondly, there were unauthorized charges on our corporate account. When we disputed this to the manager, we were told that we were bound by contract to accept these charges and they would not do anything about it. The food may be good, but the service and follow up are lousy and untrustworthy. As a medium sized organization, we understand business and service excellence. If you're looking for service excellence for a corporate social setting, do NOT go to Charbar! read more

Went when they were newly opened and they didn't have a liquor license. Service was slow but mainly due to the start up of their operations. Food was decent but a bit over priced. I'm eager to check out the roof top patio! read more

Wanted to check out charbar since the Simmons building opened. Went for lunch with a friend on their roof top patio. Not overly impressed with their menu- it was pretty small and selective. But the view was great! read more

Thoughtful food, great energy, and very friendly staff. The burger was cooked perfectly & was juicy. The chef came over knowing I was from out of town and made me feel so welcome. Will come back my next visit to Calgary! read more

Do. Not. Eat. Here. Our experience at Charbar was SO bad, not only have I never written a review for anything ever, I actually waited while the Yelp app loaded on my phone to write this. It took 15 minutes after being seated to even see a waitress to take our drink orders. I asked her to explain a couple of the white wines from Italy and France to me, as I am not familiar with European wines. Not only did she have ZERO idea what to say about them, she couldn't even pronounce the names. $13 for 5 ounces of wine my server can't tell me anything about? No thanks. On top of that, she had no idea what kinds of vodka they had behind the bar. Our wine took another 15 mins to arrive. My friend ordered a red wine, and the server brought her a white. We asked her a few questions about the menu. "What's your favourite? What do you recommend? What's popular? What comes with this dish?" She mentioned the burger, hadn't tried anything else. Had absolutely no clue about the menu, and gave us no insight, and no elaboration on any dish. Our food took over an hour to come. A table next to us with TWICE the amount of people, were seated after us, and received their food before us. The short ribs were awful, I couldn't even finish one. Full of fat and gristle, and the meat was tough and dry. They put so little chimmichurri on top we couldn't even taste it. Any other time I've ordered short rib at a restaurant, it's been rich and fall off the bone tender. Not the case at Charbar. Did I mention they cost $28, and don't even come with a side dish? Oh no, you have to pay extra for a side dish to wash down those suckers. At one point a separate server brought us someone else's food, when we were clearly done eating. Slightly unrelated, but the bathrooms were SO lacklustre, cramped, and devoid of any style or decor, I could have been in a McDonald's bathroom. Did they run out of money when designing this long awaited restaurant? Our dining experience took THREE HOURS and we waited far too long for our bills to come, and for the debit machine to come. Our server was slow, totally uneducated on the menu, and showed zero appreciation or energy. Bad food. Bad service. As someone who has gladly spent hundreds of dollars on fine dining in Calgary, this place is a horrendous waste of time and my hard earned money. I really hope someone from Charbar reads these reviews, and can improve. Such a waste of a beautiful, 103 year old building. read more

Neat place. The burgers were great although very big. Fries were very good. Try them with the spicy aioli. Fried sour dough balls were yum. Good service. read more

We went on a busy Saturday night for my husband's birthday. We had a table for two next to the open kitchen and despite the music and packed room, we were able to watch the dinner service. We started with a wilted cabbage salad and eggplant chips. Both were tasty. I had the pizza and hubby had a 7oz inside round. All sides are extra so he ordered a medley of tomatoes and other vegetables. The pizza was so so and the steak was ok, he said. Don't know if service is always this slow or 'paced' but it was about 75 minutes from when we sat down to the entree delivery. This is a pricey place but it was full and kudos to them. I didn't feel the price was answered in outstanding food. Very open and noisy but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Please don't review this business if you received a freebie for writing this review, or if you're connected in any way to the owner or employees. read more