National is a great casual spot with multiple locations across the city, perfect for dinner and drinks with friends or family. This location offers both indoor seating and a spacious outdoor patio. The patio is covered, which makes it extra convenient, it keeps you sheltered from the wind in the evenings while still letting you enjoy the atmosphere. The service here really stood out. The staff were friendly, welcoming, and very attentive throughout our visit. We ordered a pizza and a few appetizers to share. The mushroom truffle pizza was absolutely delicious: rich, flavourful, and definitely a highlight. From the appetizers, the okonomiyaki tater tots were the star of the night; followed closely by the dry ribs. We also tried the dumplings and shrimp tacos, which were good but didn't stand out as much compared to the others. For drinks, National has an impressive selection of craft beers on tap, plus a solid variety of cocktails. I opted for the white sangria which was really refreshing. read more

See all

Best time to come is on Wednesday for half price wine and $18 pizza. I tried the New School Pizza ($27, Wednesday $18)- white sauce, provolone, for di latte, pepperoni, Italian sausage, basil and parmesan. The crust was the floppy type you can fold in half. I prefer the crispy type, but at this price, I don't care. Wines are good for a pub. None of that nasty $10 bottle stuff you can get at Superstore. I tried the Bread and Butter Pinot Noir, Tinhorn Creek Pinot Gris and if you make it time for happy hour, Dandy Oyster Stout 16 oz $8 HH $4. Service is ALWAYS excellent here. Make reservations for happy hour or else you won't get a seat. read more

Every time we go, we know we're in for a good time. Friday night was no exception. The service was excellent even though they were very busy. Our food was tasty. The evening was a hit with the family. Fun local hangout. read more

Love the decor inside with all the sunlight and beautiful plants. We asked the server to turn the music down (WHY must restaurants play music so loud??) and she happily obliged. Our server was lovely and efficient and our pepperoni pizza and salad were excellent. Highly recommend! read more

Went for drinks and ordered a regular Margarita - $14.50. New bartender had no idea how to make one. This is Bar tending 101! Worst Margarita have ever had. So bitter I had to wipe the salted rim off! I asked him if he had put Triple Sec in - he hadn't and didn't know he should have. He then added something else (NOT Triple Sec) . Absolute waste of money - won't go back! read more

Absolute ripoff and disgusting food. My $22 steak tacos arrived cold and burnt with nothing on them. Yes, I asked for the sauces on the side, but there was nothing else on them besides burnt cheese and steak "jerky". Absolutely disgusting and disappointing. That was our first time trying National and we definitely won't make that mistake again. read more

National at Westhills - a plate of food - Pubs Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

See all

Nationals is the best restaurant by far and I recommend getting the Clive burger best food in the in tire world!!!

We were a bit apprehensive of going here as both of us...older ladies...find it hard to hear each other became the music is loud and the acoustics aren't great ...BUT our server Autumn was so wonderful and the food offered for brunch was splendid so it was an enjoyable brunch. I am GF ...not by choice and the eggs Bennie on fresh tomatoes was fresh and delicious...thank you chef read more

What are you looking for in a restaurant in the suburbs? If it's lots of beer and a beer hall atmosphere you are going to love National Westhills. The downtown beer hall comes to a neighbourhood near you with its long tables and benches and incredible craft beer selection. There are currently 72 brands of craft beer from small North American breweries on tap. Pretty impressive. All the draught is one price so you can make a decision based on appeal alone. You can get a glass for $6, pint for $8.5, stein for $14 or a flight for $15. One interesting selection is a mead from Fallentimber. A family honey business turned meadery in Water Valley, Alberta. Sitting down we could find no kids'menu and the National fare is not sympathetic to young picky eaters. While we love the oyster bar, charcuterie, beet & goat cheese salad, clam chowder, glory bowl, and lobster sliders our kids were uncertain of most of the content. Enter macaroni and cheese minus the beef short rib & oxtail ragu. Our kids also enjoyed the popcorn and tater tots with ranch. The newest National location has a few hiccups that will be smoothed with time. The servers, who seemed to be just kids themselves, approached us like apologetic fawns. While we were in the washroom our server cleared my unfinished beer and Nancy's Q water. She had some water in her glass and one third of the bottle remaining before it was swiftly removed in our absence. If your kids are foodies and Grandma is limber enough to swing a leg over a bench or sit at a bar height table you will have some fun family times at National Westhills. Otherwise get a sitter and knock back one of the craft beers with your buddies. read more

National at Westhills - NOW OPEN! A view of the mountains once the large patio opens too. - Pubs Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

I like this place. I usually choose to come on less busy times just because it can get really loud. There is a nice patio for sunny days, and long tables on the inside that are numbered. I like that layout and think it's pretty cool. Good for meeting new people on busier days. I love that this place servers tater tots, I think that is hilarious. But also amazing because tater tots are delicious. I also tried the hawaiian pizza and it was really good. Something that I like about this place is that everyone can come. I saw a few children, and I also was able to come with my granny. She thought the place was nice and would definitely come again with her friends. I like that they don't discriminate. :) Some of the other times that I've been here I have tried the breakfast menu. I like being able to get breakfast whenever I want too. Our server was a cute blonde lady who was sweet and helpful. Glad this location came to Westhills, now I don't have to go far to have a simple night out. read more

National at Westhills - Hawaiian Pizza and Tater tots! :) - Pubs Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

Beautiful space, really fresh and clean for a pub and the servers were all very polite but the food was just ok and price points are out to lunch. My son's hockey team pre-booked a lunch gathering here several weeks ago for a get together between games AFTER the lunch rush with almost all the meals pre-ordered and each family was responsible for paying their own bill. Although we had a large group and everyone paid their own bill, every family was charged a 20% auto gratuity, some people did not even sit with the group and decided last minute to join and sat at another table; now I have no problem with an auto gratuity especially when on both on the menu at the restaurant says 18% and on-line says 18% at the time we booked this venue, then it "recently changed" to 20%. I also have no problem tipping generously when the service warrants it, in this situation, the 20% was not earned, sorry. Also, some people left right after they finished eating to do some shopping nearby and some stayed to have a few more drinks, so it was not this big rush of everyone trying to pay at once and a few people covered bills of other families/players. Sure, the booking was made for a large group, and I totally understand the auto gratuity when the large bill is paid on one credit card but if everyone paid for their own food, at different times for 2 or 3 meals, it doesn't make sense to me especially when the food and service was just ok and our booking was during a lull where it was not crazy busy and we all had left prior to happy hour. One would think that as it was a minor hockey team that you would give the team a little break, ie, free pop and keep a few pitchers at the kids table (as a lot of pubs/restos do for minor sports teams) and maybe give families the option to choose what tip the servers deserve, ours was nice enough but never came back or checked up to ask if we needed anything. I wanted to order a drink after my meal came but once my plate was dropped off, I never saw our server again till it was time to bus the plates. I ordered the fish and chips; the coleslaw was pretty dry and hardly dressed and the fish was way too heavily battered and so much oil was dripping from them that I gave most of my meal to the players at the table behind us. My son said his chicken sliders were overcooked chicken bites on buns and they did not come with fries, and if you wanted fries it was an additional $8, yes you read that right, so if you have kids you want to bring with you, be prepared to drop around $26 for 3 tiny sliders with fries and $3.50 drink. I've dined in some really high end places and even then I've never seen an $8 charge for fries, even truffle fries in some places were not at that price point. My husband had a salad, I don't remember which one it was but he said it was just ok and after adding the protein it was well over $25, all in all our lunches without booze, 1 pop and 3 really average meals was over $75. I'd say if you do plan on coming here, do it during happy hour where the prices are a little easier to swallow and if you love beer, they have a huge selection, but for an in between shopping, hockey tourney, or whatever where you need to kill a couple of hours I'd say go elsewhere unless you are ok with astronomical prices for average food and service. Also tried calling them later that evening regarding my sunglasses that I'm sure I left behind but no one answered the phone. Pretty expensive lunch that day that didn't sit well with me and losing my expensive sunglasses there didn't help either. read more

Why...why why...would you allow someone to walk through your establishment at 9pm on a Saturday night to sell charity tickets for $25 a piece? People are out for dinner, trying to enjoy their evening for the purpose of NOT being bothered at home for crap like this. A manager or staff manager approached and seemed to think this was fine and let the guy wander through the whole place bothering people. Not good. read more

I wavered between two and three stars on this. Mostly because it could just be our tables issues, and what we ordered. Headed there on a Tuesday for lunch. Not crowded, found a nice shady table outside. Waitress cane over straight away. I had the fish tacos, which were good - but way over cooked. The battered fish was bordering on black. Got three small tacos for $9 (Tuesday special), but still would have like something with it. A few fries, chips, anything. Friend ordered the crispy chicken sandwich. She said it was really disappointing and not what she expected. Party of the 3 if us ordered a side of fries. Which ended up being $8! Wow! Worse was the drinks. We each got a cocktail for $15. Served in plastic cups. Mine had a champagne base - so I especially was surprised to see mine in a big plastic jug. Its ok, but not super appetizing. Sadly, none of us liked our drinks... Truthfully this whole review could be written off as - wow, these gurus are picky! But I should add that our waitress made comment on almost everything we ordered. Do you like a lot of lime flavor? Do you like pimento spread? It was prob a secret jab we should have picked up on. But if you have to be talked out if things on a menu, well - maybe it needs overhauling. read more

Salad lovers, rejoice! Today was a salad kinda day and I've got a renewed appreciation for National @ Westhills after ordering their "National BLT". It was slightly overdressed, but the combination of flavours and the sous vide eggs were read more

National at Westhills - National BLT with sous vide egg - Pubs Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

Arrived Friday night at dinner - seated right away - then ignored for 15 minutes. Waitress took our order - then forgot about us and didn't put our order in for another 25 minutes. She came by and apologized and said she forgot to put our order in - would we like some popcorn. We stated we were going to a movie later tonight - so would rather just wait for our appetizer - deep fried dill pickles. During this whole conversation we had to repeat ourselves and ask her to repeat herself multiple times due to the loud music. We got our drinks and appetizer - and waited for over 45 minutes when we asked where are our main courses. She stated she thought we only wanted the pickles and nothing else. I asked for the bill immediately - and they didn't offer any compensation for the screwup. I paid with no tip - we won't be going back to this restaurant. Absolutely brutal - she did not confirm we didn't want our main courses. This ruined our movie night as my hangry wife was not impressed to say the least - ended up going to A&W for food. So disappointing in so many ways.... read more

Chicken and waffles! With a massive selection of pale Ales and iPas need I say more? Great to go here then a movie! read more

We went last Sunday for brunch. The restaurant has been renovated and is beautiful. We have 4 kids so we ordered a cheese pizza & tacos for them. I ordered the tuna salad and my husband ordered their Clive burger. Food was overall a miss. The Clive burger and tacos were good. The salad was soggy and too spicey. The kids didn't like the pizza. Service wasn't great as our waitress had a negative demeanour and continued to complain about the kitchen. It is an expensive restaurant and just not a positive enough experience to warrant another visit. Other restaurants in the West end are better bets for families: Allora, Mercato ( market side), even 722 Bier Haus - all are consistently good. 722 BH is likely the closest comparison and food in general is much better. read more

Beer selection is dynamite. 3/4 of menu is deep fried. Staff is friendly! read more

Definitely a fun place to come for drinks with friends, either inside or on the spacious patio. We came here for Wing wednesday (1 lb. wings $5) to watch the hockey game, but it was beyond packed inside & there were tables available out on the patio. My friend had a couple of steamwhistles while I opted for a refreshing bombay&tonic. We settled on the hot, honey garlic and Salt N' Pepa wings, which were actually pretty tasty and a good value. The dill dip accompanying the wings was excellent! Our server was quick to take our food and drink orders, check on us and offer refills.. I don't recall her name, but she was efficient and friendly, even though she was clearly very busy. I like National Westhills and will return to this location again. My only minor peeve is that it's open to children as well. Adults-only might be more appropriate in a beerhall setting.. Just sayin' ;) read more

First time at this location and came here for Sunday brunch. It was not good. The shredded hashbrowns were white.... Like barely touched the griddle white and maybe lukewarm if that. Everything was bland and we needed to add salt. My egg sandwich was supposed to have avocado but it wasn't there. The chiliquilles had bland ground beef in it (which wasn't listed on the menu), had BROWN guacamole, and was liquidy in the dish. The steak and eggs come with toast but the toast was rock hard and you could hear it snap in half. Spending $14-22 / dish we were very disappointed with the food quality. The food was also very slow to come out of the kitchen. Not recommended for the brunch. read more

National at Westhills - Pubs Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

See all

Stopped by for some Saturday brunch. Love the renovations. Inside and out. Food and service was excellent! Thanks Victor, great work!

I am absolutely loving the new National location in Westhills! I lived in the area for years, and am kind of sad that I moved to the SE just before this opened. But I still come over regularly for drinks, and look forward to enjoying their patio this summer! National in Westhills has more of a casual, family-style atmosphere than their 10th or 17th Ave locations. Extensive beer list, and great food. My absolute fave is the Pork Belly sliders. I literally dream about them - to die for. I would eat these every day if given the choice. read more

A good pub experience. Not amazing but wasn't awful by any stretch. Beer list is great. Definitely the best I've seen in Calgary by far! Prices are typical Alberta expensive (spending most of my time in the States it's tough to come back to these prices, yikes). Food was all pretty good. Again not amazing but definitely good. We were a huge group (25 or so) and the service was quite good, especially for such a large group. We never waited long for anything and they came by often. They did bring us a few things we didn't order but those were solved quickly ($130 seafood platter.. nope that wasn't us!). Patio is nice, but the view is awful as its in a mall complex area, situated directly beside a gas station.. But what do you expect for the location. read more

Lunch on Sunday, chicken wings and deep fried pickles. Both were hot and tasty. We were only shown the brunch menu, but saw that people around us ordered items we did not see on that menu. This seemed odd, shouldn't we all get the same choices? Our other issue are the tables. I prefer not to sit at a picnic bench, it's not very comfortable. But I can live with that as we knew that going in. my issue was that we were seated at a bench for 4, and there were only 2 of us. We were asked if we would mind having a couple with a baby sit at our bench. This was a lunch with my 77 yr old mother from out of town and we wanted to enjoy it together after doing some shopping in the area. A baby wasn't part of our plan. When we said yes we would mind, the hostess was clearly annoyed and our service deteriorated. read more

Great wings and lime margaritas. Awesome service but please. Bring back the deep fried mars bar, it was the best thing I had ever tasted. Oh

Nationals have a cool, urban industrial look to them, but the music can be very loud at busy times, so enjoy screaming to be heard by your dining companion. Food and staff are excellent. Beer selection is large. However if like me you're not a beer person, highballs are going to cost you, at $15 each! read more

I've been here twice now. The first time was for 'buck a shuck' on Monday nights...and both the service and the food was great. I ordered a flatbread and absolutely loved it. I've been known to have the odd wobbly pop so I enjoy the great selection of beer available here at National Westhills. I enjoy bringing pubs, I enjoy bringing my kids to pubs but then again they are teenagers more than 3 year olds and they know how to behave in public. Enough said. I like that there is ample parking here... but one thing that I do not like about National Westhills are the horrible uncomfortable benches and chairs. They obviously don't want you to stick around and 'drink the menu' so to speak. On our second visit I ordered the Fish Tacos. They were just okay. Hubby had the all day omelet which he loved but it was huge! There must have been at least four eggs in there. Our son, who was extremely hungry after football, really enjoyed his burger and he said the fries were some of the best he's had. I like National Westhills because it's got a great selection of beer and because you can bring the whole family. I can't wait to bring the teens for buck a shuck night. If only they would change the chairs.... read more

See all

I have always had a decent experience in this place but never something to remember and go back for. We went there for brunch once and did NOT enjoy the food quality. It's big and can always fit in bigger groups, and the servers are usually quite nice and helpful. go for drinks and snacks, but keep your expectations realistic! :) read more

I like that National offers both the brunch and regular menu around lunchtime on the weekends. At 11am on a Saturday the restaurant/bar was about 1/4 full, mainly with families with kids. Today I had the pork belly BLT with fries. The sandwich was satisfying with a soft brioche bun and pork belly that wasn't too fatty. The thin sliced jalapenos are a nice touch. read more

You MMMUUUSSSTTT try their Brisket Sandwich... Oh my goodness. It's so serious die-hard delicious! Anyone who are Rueben lovers, it will worth your dayyyyy! read more

The National. I had a decent lunch here, nothing super great. I don't really see what sets this place apart from the too-numerous-to-count other gastropub/big burger/lots of fries kinda places that are everywhere in Calgary. I had the brisket sandwich. The meat was good, lots of flavor, the bun a little too greasy, but fine. Everything else I saw people eating was some variation of deep fried, like at Uncle Moe's Family Feedbag. I guess the general vibe I got just struck me as overly meh. It's a big open space with little personality. Lots of beer, a good representation of local and more regional beer. I was there to meet friends. Good for that, as there is little else to distract you. The staff were very friendly and helpful. read more

Great food and 60 beers. Four of us went there after an afternoon movie. The restaurant itself is clean and fresh looking, with a nice style. There is an outdoor patio as well. I had the chicken fried rice which was excellent. It included a half chicken with the delicious rice. The people that I was with enjoyed their meals as well. While we did not have any beer, we will most definitely return to try that. I was impressed with the staff, who were knowledgable and friendly. The service was efficient and without issue. Definitely worth a try. read more

The crazy busyness of this location has slowed a bit, making this a lovely local hangout for great beers and good food. Westhills location has much better service than some of their downtown counterparts, and I like the open layout. Their weekday happy hour and food specials make it a great place to gather with friends in the area. read more

Dinner before a movie is pretty important - sitting through 2-3 hours when you're hungry makes for a poor moviegoing experience! With that in mind we met up with a friend at the National right across from the theatres. Dinner choice for the night was a platter of Fish & Chips for D and a Bacon Cheddar Burger for myself. The fish looked delicious, well seasoned batter with a good crisp to the outside. The burger was a little messy but you can tell they make the patties in-house and the taste was decent. The fries were freshly cooked so they were super hot and came in little cups so that any oil or vinegar dripped to the bottom out of the way, keeping them crispy. We all shared a plate of hotwings to start, they were very saucy and properly cooked with a nice heat and flavour balance. Simple fare but delicious. The only trouble was the place was so loud it was hard to hold a conversation. read more

Hmmm, typically decent but recently it hasn't been great. Service was good but food took way too long 45mjn plus for fish tacos, fried chicken and porchetta sand. Chicken and tacos were good, Porchetta was barely edible - Grease, on grease, grease. Heavily buttered bun, pesto with oil, mayo and then a patty pork. read more

Food used to be awesome, but not anymore. They reduced the pint size, and are trying to save money by going with processed food. Too bad, it used to be a good place. read more

Awesome beer selection. We came for brunch and they have a great menu, the big breakfast had quality organic ingredients. High chairs available for the kids and change table in washroom made it easy for a family friendly brunch. Highly recommended. read more

Been to all the nationals in Calgary. The one at lWesthills use to be my favourite. We gave it one more try last night. Thursday, Aug. 24th. That was a mistake! Hostess was awesome. The waitress started off good. But unfortunately that was the end of the service. It took for ever to order then checked to see how it was.(I do understand when it's busy that's tough to do. It wasn't that busy) After we finished eating we sat with bowls that needed a take away containers for close​ to 40 minutes. We had to ask for the bill, waited for her to bring the machine so we could pay. Then we had money on the table for a tip she proceeded to take that and pocket that in front of us. (That's new) will not be going back! read more

We stopped by here to get dinner before watching a movie at the Cineplex across the road. I'm going to cut right to it: the food was terrible. My $20 fish tacos were fishy and had plasticky tortillas, and my salad was limp, over-dressed and warm. My friend's poutine was cold and had some seriously over-browned fries. We are a hungry crew, and none of us finished our dinners. About the only edible thing was the pretzels and beer cheese dip. I've been to the other two locations (10th and 17th), and the interior of this place looks much like a copy of the National on 17th. The beer list is different, but the prices are the same - $8.50 for most pints. Unlike 17th, you can't do any people-watching out the window, but there is ample parking. read more

Second visit to this location, the first time the service was very slow. Took 15 min before someone took our beer order then another 10 before it arrived. Thirsty on the patio!!!!!! I thought we would try again, arrived to a busy restaurant and waited 25 minutes while 2 large picnic tables sat empty apparently "reserved". I guess guaranteed business isn't important. We walked out and the staff were very fine with that. Speaks volumes.... The service sucks, this location won't last if it continues. read more