Ceili’s A Modern Irish Pub

Excellent food, beverages and service, the servers are all really good and always have a smile on. I highly recommend this pub, even if it is a short visit it’s always enjoyed.

We were with a big group. 25. Flames burger was good. Drinks were slow. Paid my bill waitress maid no mention of auto gratuity. I just seen the machine to pay with the total. I added a top. She seen a double gratuity and just said thanks and ran. No mention of my mistake and offer a refund of my error. $ 11 tip on a 35 bill. Nice touch.

Excellent food but the server was really rude often interrupting us with no regard for our conversations. I wouldn’t go back there again. Our meal came and we still had no cutlery after asking for it earlier. The atmosphere is pretty busy lunches for downtown but likely more so out of convenience.

Not impressive at all. Can’t recommend eating here. The fish and chips were far from good. Service was good though.

I was here last week and I don’t think I’ve ever had such dreadful service. I was meeting a friend only had about an hour, thinking this would be plenty of time as we were just getting wings. It started off alright, we ordered a drink and put our food orders in promptly — I ordered wings with ranch. A guy (not our server) brought our food and I again asked for ranch. My friend finished her food, still no ranch and empty drinks. I finally get up and go find our server, ask a third time if we can get dip, order another drink and ask for the bill. I explain that I need to leave and she half-​apologizes saying that it got busy (it was not). By the time this finally all comes, I don’t have time for my drink or to finish eating. Will not be back.

Absolutely terrible service. Waited forever to actually order. The server was fairly friendly, if not slow and inattentive. Then to top things off, someone sitting at the next table ordered the same thing I did earlier, waited far less than I did for my food, and the manager told him his food would be comped. I guess Ceili’s in Calgary is synonymous with terrible service, regardless of location. Shame on me for giving this location a chance when other locations let me down so much.
It wasn’t all bad. I had the Shepherds Pie, and it was actually quite good. Very hot when it arrived. The salad along with it was good as well. Not a typical house salad, with an interesting vinaigrette dressing. Asking about the salad was about the only time the server spoke more than two words.
Unfortunately the food wasn’t enough to make me want to come back. I will continue trying more places as I explore downtown! But someone kick me if I try Ceili’s on 4^th.

Waitress was terrible, and food was overpriced. We brought a large group of people here for our friends going away party. Instant regret!

I’ll be brief, an Irish Pub where they can’t pour a pint of Guinness properly. If they can’t get that much right…

I was basically obligated to go to Ceili’s because we had some work-​related functions there. I would never go there and spend my own money.
Go for the beer and the waitresses in the short skirts. Never for the food. Does that give you some idea of the demographic they are going after?
You can get the same beer cheaper elsewhere and you can definitely get better food. Seems like one of those places that’s popular with a certain crowd that believes it MUST be good because everyone told them it is.

Was really excited to go to this pub after reading the reviews… Apparently they were not so excited to see me… took a while to be acknowledged when I walked in and read sign, «wait to be seated»… Finally someone cleaning a table asked if I’d been helped??? She seated me.
The beer was delicious, ambiance what I expected. The food not so much…
My advice go for the beer and the scenery if you can score a window table.

Ok — I really dont understand the low stars — I work across the road from Ceilis and go there frequently. I have also booked out part of the pub for a work event.
Ceilis is what you would expect from an Irish style pub — big bar, dark wood, bustling and fun. During the work week you need to get there by 1130 1145 to get a table, it is that busy, but it is fun. So I will start with the food — as a vegetarian there are a few options on the menu that I go for.
The stand out is the Kale and Quinoa salad with Agave Dressing — DELCIOUS. This is tossed with pumpkin seeds, black beans and feta cheese. I have had this many times and so have colleagues and we love it.
They also have a wonderful tomato bisque soup that is so tasty. My friend often has the chicken pot pie which looks good — with puff pastry piled high on top — it would be great if they made a vegetarian version though as well.
Now the service is what I think really stands out. I was there yesterday and as usual we had a very cheerful and efficient server. I dont know what the management do to cultivate such a good energy with the staff, but across the board all the servers I have dealt with, and I have dealt with many — are friendly and fun.
Only weird thing to note– the washrooms are located down the hallway of a shared building — it feels like you are going the wrong way or something, somewhere you shouldnt be, but it is what it is.
All in al — Ceilis is a great place for lunch or dinner in a bustling neighbourhood downtown. Check it out.

Good for a work lunch. I ordered a traditional burger with extta bacon and it was fine, I would call it average. The fries were crunchy and salted.
Princes are a little high for what I ate, but nothing crazy either.
I would recommend it as a place to eat of yoy dob’t find anything else close to the place.

It is a popular pub south of downtown Calgary. Has a pub feel with brick and dark wood but is quite open and not that big. Servers wear the kilts. Shift change is 3:00pm. It has a few tv screen. But it’s loud, even in mid day unfortunately!!! The health bowl was quite good with a variety of items in it. Pints are not cheap starting at $ 7.25 and up. Alright place but not that cosy and it has a downtown vibe which is a little detached. Although it is a pub, they seat you. I seated myself and did not get a server so ordered from the bartender: go figure!

Great place for a beer and an appetizer after work.
Ceili’s is conveniently located downtown near many different business towers. Every time I have been there it has been quite busy with a friendly atmosphere. The wait staff is always friendly and provides good service. The food is general pub quality with the exception of the mac and cheese sticks. They’re a heart attack in a stick but they are very delicious. Unfortunately I can only give Ceili’s 3 stars because of the last time I was there I ordered a chicken sandwich and it was terrible. I will be back but I definitely won’t order that sandwich again.
Food and drinks of all kinds with a good atmosphere but don’t get the chicken sandwich.

I had been wanting to try Ceili’s since they changed their menu. However, a quick bite to eat turned out to be quite expensive. The service was quite slow, but the food was tasty. I had the haddock and chips, and my friend had the classic burger with onion rings.
The burger was incredibly juicy, and the fish and chips were crispy and hot inside and out. Unfortunately, it came without malt vinegar. When I requested some, it didn’t come in a bottle, but in a small serving dish.
The bill was a shock. $ 56 for a burger, fish and chips, malt vinegar ($ 1.00) and pop (apparently there are no free refills). Having eaten here before, I had never been charged for refills.
Would I come back? Not sure.
It took about 15 minutes to be acknowledged by a server, another 10 — 15 minutes to get a coke. Food took forever to arrive and I am not sure where the serving staff had to go to find malt vinegar. That took another 10 — 15 minutes while my fish cooled on the table.
Was offered a refill, but my glass and the server disappeared for most of the meal.
Suggestion: Drink water or alcohol, skip the pop. Be prepared to spend some time waiting. Bring your own malt vinegar if you’re going to have the fish and chips.

On a cold Feb early afternoon I went here with a colleague for a late lunch. This is a classic faux Irish pub with an eclectic menu that goes from wings, one thai dish, fish tacos, nachos, blackened chicken, fried calamari, chicken tenders, veggies with hummus dip, amongst more normal pub fare. How Irish is that? Not.
An ok selection of beers, mostly very corporate mass produced beers. Very cute waitresses in short kilt-​like skirts. My colleague ordered a hamburger which I know from exprience not to order in Alberta b/​c the risk of contamination at the slaughter houses forces the lawyers to force the restaurants to cook the hamburgers to death, a dry tasteless death at that. I warned him but he learned from experience just like I did. I had a shepards pie which was just underwhelming.
Beer and babes are what they do well here.

I can’t even believe this place is open. First and last time there.
Went for lunch on Wednesday.
1 — was seated in 2 minutes — yay
2 — didn’t get acknowledgment from a waitress for 20 — boo
3 — didn’t get a drink order for 15 more — boo
4 — didn’t get a food order for 20 more — boo
5 — ordered and 20 mins later was advised what I ordered (veggie burger) had been out for a month. Wow, a month and you didn’t know that??? Scratch it from the menu.
6 — my mom ordered a chicken salad… the chicken had been pre-​cooked and then re-heated…was a piece of rubber
7 — I ended up ordering the veggie plate — pulling expired veggies out of a bin and throwing them on a plate does not equate to charging over $ 10
8 — caesar was fine
9 — they didn’t know what a green apple martini was — holy crap
10 — couldn’t discount on anything as they «can’t do that»
After looking around, most people had only ordered drinks (downtown at lunch??? Alcoholica) or some form of baked, cheese, heart attack that can be easily thrown under a microwave and a salamander to heat up.
Puke. Never again.

First the good: Ceili’s is a hopping place where you are likely to run into someone you know. It is full of people at all hours of the day and night. This visit was for a business lunch on a Friday. We arrived early and got a table without too much trouble. Ceili’s works hard to make sure it is a fair process by not letting people hold tables unless they are staying there.
Now the bad… the service was HORRIBLE. Half our group arrived after the first part. When I finally waved the waitress down, she asked 2 of the newbies for their drink order, ignored the 3^rd and didn’t even glance at the rest of us (who now needed new drinks). She continued the less than stellar service throughout the meal.
The ugly… I ordered the $ 15 fish tacos. The description said it would have fish and prawns on the tacos. The plate that arrived looked delish. I picked up the first taco and took a bite. Yum… lettuce, cheese, hot sauce, tortilla. Um… where is the fish/​shrimp? I took another bite… still nothing. I finally deconstructed all three tacos. Each had one shrimp cut into 3 pieces on it. Yep, that’s right… one shrimp PER TACO. Total of 3 shrimp on a $ 15 plate that does not come with a side dish. RIDICULOUS.
And before you ask… no I did not send it back/​make a stink because I was hosting a customer lunch & that’s just not what you do.

I wanted to like this place much more. But truthfully, they need to learn what service is.
A group of 5 of us went on a Wednesday at 12:30. We did not have a reservation (for a later lunch didnt think we needed it but I guess we did). They sat us at a table for 4 and brought a bar stool over for the 5^th spot and kind of stuck it on a corner… the highest trafic corner. We rearraged it for them while they looked on.
They were slow to come back for drink orders. Once we did place the order, they were slow to come back with the drinks. One of us had the nerve to ask for lemon with her water. The server brought it over on a cocktail napkin an kind of tossed it on the table. Um ok. She then took our food orders. After we all gave our orders we had to repeat them back to her, then her to us. Twice.
The food took about 30 minutes to arrive… beofre that happens most of the tables around us left and were cleaned. No one asked if we wanted to move to a larger table on either side of us. We did swap the bar stool out for a real chair (again they watched).
The food was good in my opinion (I had the braised short rib grilled cheese with the pepper fries). Some of my friends though found their burgers/​sandwichs to be on stale, very crumbly buns which kidn of made for awkward eating, especially in crammed quarters. The server came back at the end of the meal to ask how everything was tasting…
The bills then took another long time to arrive. Then another while before she showed up with the card machine. Oh and they don’t take debit. Weird? She had said it was no problem to do seperate bills but clearly her coworker who was waiting to use the card machine felt otherwise. She was throwing us glances and hovering while each of us made a payment, looking put out. Our server kept telling her she had more to do but the girl, looking angry, didnt budge.
The whole lunch took almost an hour and a half for basically what amounted to a few sandwiches and burger. And one salad. If you are going to be a downtown lunch spot and you are serving pub food, I’m thinking you could be faster. Or at least be nicer when you are being slow.

Ceili’s came highly rated by some coworkers. We went there for lunch one day.
I had the Bison Burger with house salad. Very good burger. I liked the distinct flavour of the burger. The salad was a salad, they remembered my request for no dressing.
For some reason, downtown Calgary restaurants are overpriced. There is fast food (cheap) and pricey food, but no moderately priced restaurants. I could have had the same meal back home at Shoeless Joes for about $ 4 less
Ambience was good.