Charbar

We booked Charbar for a birthday dinner celebration last week. The food and service was excellent!
Near the end of our meal we were advised that another group had booked this particular table and we had to move either to the patio outside or the bar. The restaurant was apparently full and they could not seat them somewhere else.
I would have rated this restaurant 4 out of 5 but downrated them over the way they handled this. We spent $ 720 that evening between 5 people. By any standard I would consider us high paying/​high value customers!
A well managed restaurant would have asked the waiting party if they would mind waiting in the bar or the outside patio and even provided a complimentary drink thanking them for their patience.
I felt we were treated like second class customers. When I asked to speak to the Manager on duty that night they sent a young girl who managed reservations. That was a real insult! She acknowledged that that it was badly handled and quickly walked away.
Needless to say I wont be back!
Lots of other great restaurants in Calgary to go to!
Followup to my review yesterday to Charbar:
This is what is seriously lacking at the restaurant: «Hospitality»
Definition:
1. Cordial and generous reception of or disposition toward guests.
2. An instance of cordial and generous treatment of guest

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.

A lot of hype for a lot of disappointment.
Everyone was telling us to give it a go, in spite of the poor reviews.
We tried the special and the burger, and found them both to be flavorless and boring. So much so that i asked for some hot sauce to spice up the burger a little. Fries were ok, but too greasy for me. They charged me $ 2.00 for the sauce! Service was ok, but not as attentive as one would expect. Too pricey for what you get and the level of service. Only reason to go back would be to enjoy the rooftop deck.

I’ve been curious for a while to try charbar, and tried this place for brunch– mostly because you can use that app to make a reservation before even getting out of your PJs. Saturday morning at 10:30 and it was relatively slow, so maybe reservations are not so needed. Good spot though, friendly service, great brunch foods (the bacon is double thick and double smoked, so you know, it’s double good!) and no pressure to move along, we felt comfortable hanging out and sipping coffee after we finished eating. Generally, a nice spot!
I am so curious about the giant steaks in the cooler as you walk in, I must convince some friends to come back with me for dinner :)

First time here — worth the hype. We took a beautiful bike ride along the river to get here. Can’t beat the location and very hip vibes of this place.
We were seated right away and then surprised with complimentary French toast bites! Had the burger and choripan for brunch, along with Phil & Sebastian’s cappuccino and Americano. The food was creative, well prepared and very generous… We were impressed with the very quick and friendly service. We’ll be back!

It’s been awhile since my first visit to Charbar when it first opened and although I didn’t have the best experience that time around, I must say that I’ve truly enjoyed my last three visits here! All of them have been for their brunch or lunch service. I’ve been able to try the deep fried french toast bites, bagna cauda, asado plate, jamon crudo pizza, and during Big Taste their feature breakfast burger.
Today I ordered one of the lunch features which was a pizza that featured roasted chicken and crispy chicken skin on top! Like what, who does that?! The crispy chicken skin is what sold me and I definitely thought it finished off the pizza so well. Their pizza dough by the way is bomb because it comes from Sidewalk Citizen =) Our server today was lovely (I wish I remembered his name, I am the worst at that!) He was very personable and made sure we were taken care of throughout our meal. And just a small thing that I noticed was that more than one person (that didn’t include our server) ensured that we always had water in our glass. I appreciate that attentiveness because it really shows that they work as a team.
P. S. their beef fat fries are amazeballs! They are the type of fries that you can’t stop eating no matter how full you are.
Reserving my last star for when I am able to go back and try their dinner menu again, but if my last few visits indicate anything, I’m sure it won’t be hard to give =)

Great service as always. We were here for big taste Calgary brunch. My parents had their sandwich special which was a pork patty topped with a fried egg and pickles on a fresh baked bun. Being picky eaters they both enjoyed it.
I had baked baguette topped with avocado and two eggs. It was good too. I thought a little pricey but the quality was good so it helped to offset the cost reasoning a bit.

Charbar is sister restaurant to Charcut Roast House. I have yet to try the infamous Charcut but I’m sure I will eventually. Sad, that they only offer their lunch Big Taste menu on weekdays — whyyyyyy. Oh well, Charbar’s menu looked just as enticing so we decided to give them a try.
Located in the remodeled/​reclaimed Simmons Building, it also houses Phil & Sebastian’s Coffee and Sidewalk Citizen. All three places were packed when we went on a Saturday afternoon (around 1:30pm) and Sidewalk Citizen had a mini lineup even when we were leaving. Wow, I’ll have to check them out next time I’m in town. I also really liked how there is a mini patio in the back that can fit about a dozen people — a few people were definitely taking advantage of the gorgeous Saturday weather.
Service is solid as there was a constant flow of staff topping off our water and checking in on us. We were seated near the kitchen — my poor friend, she could feel heat waves coming along one side of her face. So if you don’t want that, maybe request to be seated further away. I didn’t think it was a big deal but others may not like that.
I like how all the dishes come out on Le Creuset dishware. I must just be a sucker for their wares. Nothing like expensive cookware to spruce things up a notch. The building/​layout itself is very spacious and has that Southern American flair of roasted meats and hot, open parilla kitchens.
— Avocado toast ($ 13.00) — crushed whole avocado on toasted sourdough with scrambled egg. It normally comes with a fried egg but my friend wanted it scrambled — hence why it doesn’t look as pretty. Flavours were still there as the avocado was fresh and creamy. For $ 13, it’s definitely on the pricey side. A side of potatoes or some brunchy side would go a long ways to not feeling ripped off…
— Breakfast sandwich with parilla beef fat fries ($ 15.00) — the Big Taste special. Didn’t realize that their menu is limited to the one option on weekends (rather than the $ 15 and $ 25 lunch options during the weekday) and it was annoying that you had to specifically ask for it. Isn’t the whole point of Big Taste to promote it? Alas, the breakfast sandwich was tasty. I can’t remember what exactly was in it but the meat was juicy and topped with pickles and a fried egg. One of the better sandwiches I’ve had in a long time. You get to pick one side and obviously we had to try the beef fat fries (regularly $ 8.00). These were money — crispy, beefy, wholesome goodness.
— Warm crazy chocolate brownie — there was also the option of having a cup of Fiasco soft serve but we opted for the brownie. The brownie was better than we expected — slightly gooey and nicely warmed up. Enough for a couple bites each.
I feel like Charbar’s mixed reviews is based on what dishes you order so it might be wise to see what’s best bang for your buck (unless you’ve got one of those company expense accounts). I thought the Big Taste lunch deal was worth it and I’m looking forward to coming back to try their regular menu. Hopefully, next visit will be on their summertime rooftop patio!

Had the ceviche and bruschetta which were to die for
Hilary was the serve and she exceeded expectations by being personable and charming
Can’t wait to return for dinner next time!

You will find culinary influences of Argentina when you visit Charbar, and if you get the chance take a peek at the Argentine wood-​fired grill, one of the inspirations behind their identity.
I have been here a handful of times already, and I’m slowly working my way through the menu. There is nothing I’ve tried and don’t like. In fact I have favourites and tend to order them each time along with other dishes. Love smaller bites and being able to have several dishes in front of you at once. Every time I come I learn a little bit more about the restaurant and inspiration behind it.
Charbar, along with 2 others (Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters and Sidewalk Citizen Bakery) are located in the historical Simmons building. When you are inside it feels like the walls and old wood posts have so much to say, I wish they could share their stories.
We were able to sit on the patio one night for my husbands birthday back in August before heading downstairs for dinner. Gorgeous views on the patio and a perfect date experience. Another time I’ve both lunched and dined with girl friends. Dinner meetings are lovely here as well and always accommodating. I even attended a recent wine event upstairs there complete with cheese bites.
Through my adventures the service has always been spot on. And the food incredibly flavourful. I love the variety of chimichurri sauces they have (I’ve tried 3: red/​green/​white) and as I mentioned I am working my way through the menu. One of my favourites is the Fugazza (pizza).
Charbar has everything I look for in a great restaurant. Good service, incredible food, friendly staff, a lovely setting and ambiance, even the location is easy to get to. Resos recommended.

Love Charbar and their Argentinian pizza is just awesome so we naturally went to explore their creation in the last yyc pizza week which was what we voted as best thick crust and it was an upset that they didn’t win this year imho.
Service is great but we did make a reservation, I’m not sure what walking in would have been like. We got a phone call the following day to check in on our experience (which I’ve never seen before) and it’s obvious they were genuinely concerned at making the experience good for us (and everyone). I’m not sure what happened in some of the reviews I’ve read, but they are working over time to work on the bugs of a new venture (even though I haven’t seen them personally)
A new item we tried this trip was french toast bites (part of the brunch menu) and they were so very delicious. They were also a small portion so it was a treat but didn’t feel like a crazy over indulgence either.
I still have yet to eat with a full dinner menu but that’s on my list for the near future.

Charbar was our gracious sponsor at the last Unilocal event I attended and provided a great selection of the fresh seafood, steak and other delights that are served on a daily basis. It is exciting to see East Village finally coming alive as claiming a status of a place to go to where you can enjoy nature along the river and dine at some of the finest eateries in Calgary. It is projected that when all the projects are done, East Village will have a population of over 11,000 residents.
Calgary is known as Cowtown and the beef at charbar was some of the best beef I’ve had in a long time. charbar has a special refrigerator just behind the reception desk as you enter where they age cuts of beef. The temperature and humidity are strictly monitored and controlled and each cut of beef carefully displays the date it entered the fridge. The beef served was cooked in a custom made wood-​fire parrilla and served with 3 types of chimichurri: almond, herb and red. Parrillas are an essential part of Argentinian barbeques. I liked the herb chimichurri the best, a good blend of flavours that just went well with the quality of beef that was served. The seafood was a selection of fresh oysters, giant prawns and snow crab legs, as fresh as the best seafood that I’ve tasted and I’ve tasted fresh from the fishing boats in Nova Scotia to a waiting pot of boiling sea water. To start the evening off we were offered a taste of their tableside ceviche mixto. Fresh tuna, shrimp and spices, you can’t go wrong selecting this as your starter. Based on what I tasted I’m definitely going back. Prices are fair for the quality of food served.
The Simmons Building is historic (103 years old) and they have preserved much of the original building. See if you can get someone to give you a tour. There’s a boardroom you can rent out that still has one of the original feather chute which was used to drop the feathers to fill the mattresses that were made in the building. There are a couple of original safes that are now used as a pantry or storage areas for the restaurants inside. I was also told that the odd black square in the floor marked where firefighters would have to race into the burning building to hook up to a water supply in order to fight the fire.
Even on a Monday night charbar was a happening place not counting the Unilocal invitees. There is a rooftop area that has its own kitchen and thus serves up a different menu from the main restaurant. Looking for a special place for that special event? I suggest you give charbar a call and check it out. The views from the rooftop are great and from what I tasted of the fare, the food will be good great too.

As far as rooftop patios for sunsets and river views, this place is hard to beat. Combine that with great service and a well rounded drinks menu and it’s the recipe for a pretty fun evening.
To get to the rooftop we were greeted on the bottom floor, who asked if we’d been up before and explained to take the lift up to level 3, where we would be greeted by another hostess. They also took the time to explain that there was a smaller menu available on the patio.
Taking the lift up to level three, we were greeted within 60 seconds by a hostess, who offered us a choice of tables, including a riverside one in the sunshine where people were just leaving. No guesses for which one we chose! She wiped down the table for us and handed us some menus.
We opted for cocktails the first round (I was torn and went with the server’s suggestion of a C, G & T — a refreshing take on a usual gin and tonic, with particularly tasty tonic water that they give you the bottle for separately). I also stole a few sips of the New York Sazerac which I was tempted to get for myself for round two.
There’s not a lot of food options for the patio, a couple of smaller plates /​starters and three items from the fire pit. We tried the salt brick chicken and the gaucho burger. The salt brick chicken came out served as a burger which was a bit of a surprise based on the description, but it was super tasty. I much preferred this to the gaucho burger, which lacked any real flavour or juicy burger goodness.
For drinks round two we tried their red sangria — served in a 1L pitcher ($ 40) rather than having two 13 oz glasses ($ 14). The sangria was a sweeter wine with chunks of grapefruit, lemon and lime, and went down pretty easily.
Overall, a great option for sunset and river views, with heaters to keep you warm on chilly nights. Come for the views, drinks and service — if you’re a big foodie I’d probably dine downstairs and come up for drinks beforehand (and afterwards).

Okay, I’ve been guilty of knocking Calgary’s food scene before. NO MORE! Charbar is freaking awesome. I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT!
1. Drinks are delicious and well priced. I had the Corpse Reviver Cocktail 2.75 oz booze ($ 13) and the most delicious glass of wine ($ 15). The wine was worth every penny (or nickel, as pennies don’t count anymore). The cocktail had REAL booze in it. As in strong and delicious. NOT WATERED DOWN! And it didn’t even taste like alcohol, but my face glowed like it was the first sip of alcohol I’ve ever consumed.
2. The food was delicious and what we ate — very well-​priced. We ate an assortment of appies, sides and a clam pizza. You cannot make this type of food with these ingredients for less at home. I am so value conscious and I thought the prices were awesome. It’s the type of food that is so delicious and different and you cannot stop eating even though you can feel your buttons popping.
3. Service. Stephanie was awesome and so patient and so knowledgeable with her recommendations. The place is gorgeous and a destination to head to for dinner. From what I could see, the restaurant is well-​staffed.
In conclusion, I cannot wait to drop by again for dinner/​brunch. Thank you Charbar people for opening up this gem. You make me proud to live in Calgary. I want to show you off to all my out of town friends who think they live in the centre of the universe.
The end.

Heads up! This is going to be one of those reviews where I try tell you about everything because it would be a shame to miss anything. If I can even come close to making it seem like I’m going way overboard on the detail — good. But I assure you I won’t even come close to the amount of care and detail that they have poured into this restaurant.
+How to go to Charbar:
As I see it, there’s two ways to have the best Charbar experience that anyone could have. I think it’s important to commit to one or the other and not try to mix the two so you don’t cheat yourself out of something special.
1. The All In —
Make a special evening of it and plan to spend your whole time here. It took quite a long time for each dish to make its way to our table, but as we weren’t in a hurry, it was very easy to roll with it and enjoy our time here. Fall in love with, and learn everything you can about the food, the staff, the building and the Charbar concept. By now, you’ve probably learned that it’s in the Simmons Mattress heritage building in the East Village — that it’s a one of a kind shared space between other local business icons Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters and Sidewalk Citizen Bakery. You’ll probably also have learned how this symbiotic building sharing lets Charbar serve up bread and coffee directly from the source. But this is just the tip of the ice berg!
If the building interests you, make sure you ask for a tour. They’ve got a wealth of stories all the way from the history of the space, to the challenges involved in cleaning out a century old mattress feather chute, to installing a brand new elevator in a building with hundred year old wood floors.
If the food interests you (and it will,) make sure to learn about Chef Jessica’s time spent in Argentina and how it has influenced the Charbar menu. Learn about the traditional Argentinian fire ovens and seem them in action. The coolest part? None of this is insider info I’m passing your way. Chef Jessica is actively bouncing from table to table, introducing dishes and telling you about her downright artistic visions. We felt like total rockstars and at the same time were trying our best not to fanboy/​girl right out at having such a rockstar chef come to our table.
Also hopping from table to table making everyone feel welcome, was one of Charbar’s owners, Connie — She’s so lovely! As «The Unilocal Guy,» I had met Connie before, so in an attempt to keep my review as honest as possible, I tried to sneak past her, but it didn’t work. When she spotted me, I made her promise that our table wouldn’t receive any special treatment and I honestly don’t think we did… But what I hadn’t counted on is that it is very clearly everyone at Charbar’s goal to make every single person’s experience the most special. Did we receive special treatment? Oh heck yeah — but not above and beyond what any of the other tables could have expected, only above and beyond what anyone could expect from other restaurants. Connie’s passion for everything that goes on within Charbar’s walls is completely contagious. There’s a story behind everything at Charbar, much of which is still ongoing. (As a result they’ve kept lots of space open on their «inspiration wall» to continue the story as it evolves, but that’s enough from me, go learn from her.) Charbar is the collective result of many many years experience and loving dedication to the restaurant world and she’s happy to share it with you and wants you to have the best time at her restaurant in a way that is completely honest and authentic. What’s also really incredible is how this enthusiasm seems to get past along to all the Charbar staff (at least the ones I talked to). Our server (David) really seemed to love being involved with such a great restaurant and some excellent suggestions.
After dinner, maybe, maybe if you’re up to it, you’ll be able to talk yourself and your dinner guests into a fat saunter down the river walk, but hopefully you’ll be so full of tasty goodness that you won’t know what to do with yourself. Uncomfortable yes, but you’ll know you’ll have done it right.
2. The Drinkin’, Light Bitin’, Raw Bar Experience
I haven’t done this yet, but you can bet that I will. The cocktails we had during our dinner experience were excellent and I’d love to hit up an after work session here for a few of these and to dive into their raw bar. By now, you may have heard about their incredible rood top patio, overlooking the bow river. It’s pretty easy to say this would be an excellent spot to grab a few drinks in the sunshine, or even in the evening as the river path is lit so colourfully, and enjoy some light bites. You should note that they have a different menu for the patio. Instead of running food upstairs, they have another open concept kitchen complete with a smaller version of the Argentinian grill. This would make for some high quality foodie compliments to your patio session, but for the full dinner experience, sit inside. Rev limit

My first experience at Charbar’s sister restaurant, Charcut; I was pounding Dark & Stormies while staring at a disembodied pig’s head that was mounted in front of the window, and trying not to cry vegan tears.
Suffice it to say, that I was rather wary when my pal suggested we meet up here. More so, when I tried to find their menu online and could only find pictures of meat (this has since been remedied, and their menu is available on their website).
However, the awesome people at Charbar reached out to me via Twitter, and assured me that they would do their best to make sure I left fat and sassy. After being away from town for several weeks; I had gotten used to not only having friends that were willing to eat vegan food with me, but finding options that were great and not just entrées that had the meat removed, or sides with no sauce.
I made a reservation on Twitter, and my friends and I were seated at a cozy table that had a great view of the dining area and open kitchen. Charbar is situated inside the Simmons building, and shares space with Sidewalk Citizen Bakery and Phil & Sebastian. On a day when it isn’t hailing or snowing; you can sit on their gorgeous patio, which has a great view of Downtown and St. Patrick’s Island.
Our waiter was really friendly and knew not only the menu, but the history of the building. His extensive and loving descriptions of each item made even the selections I couldn’t eat, sound delicious. Because of our previous Twitter exchange, Charbar already had some amazing things they were going to prepare for me, so I just said yes to all the things.
We started off with cocktails and wine. I had the Aerolineas: a bourbon based drink with lemon juice and earl grey syrup. It was delicately balanced and refreshing. If you check in on Unilocal,you receive a free gift from the chef, which on this night; was a complimentary bowl of cancha (homemade corn nuts). They were addicting, and it was hard to stop eating them. Our appetizers came out fairly quickly. I got the pistachio and avocado bruschetta, with homemade potato chips — normally it comes with bread from Sidewalk Citizen. It was maddeningly decadent. I also got the vegetable ceviche, which had more corn nuts, cucumber curls and charred tomatoes. The chef brought these out personally, and introduced herself to us. It all made me feel ridiculously spoiled.
For dinner, they put together an entrée for me that isn’t on the menu. It had quinoa, roasted almonds, beets and mint. It also came with two eggplants that had been roasted in coals and then soaked in sherry. I don’t remember what wine I had with this, but it was suggested by our waiter, and it was white and from Argentina. At first, I found the quinoa a little under seasoned, but after eating it with the eggplant; it tasted a lot better. My picky friend got an excellent cheese pizza and their beef fat French fries. My not-​so-​picky friend got roasted chicken that had been prepared on a Himalayan salt brick. My lady friend got their gaucho burger. My one nitpick, is that they forgot my friend’s request for her burger to be sans bun; but they did apologize profusely and offer to make her a brand new one.
We were so stuffed after dinner, all we wanted was espresso (and possibly a nap). The espresso was reliably good, as they get it straight from P&S and the roaster is right in the building. It doesn’t get much fresher than that. Charbar one upped themselves yet again, by giving us dessert anyway — and even having a vegan dessert. If it wasn’t for the espresso, I would’ve happily curled up on the couch; used my jacket as a blanket & switched on the Netflix app on my phone.
Thanks for treating us so well, Charbar. Can’t wait to come back and even out my farmer tan on your patio!

If you love meat…
We had drinks on the rooftop patio and then went downstairs for dinner. It was our first time here so we order the sample meat platter. It was terrific. As a side we ordered fries and a broccoli salad which was insanely good. I don’t know what the Orange coloured dressing was in the broccoli but it was excellent.
During dinner, the manager came by to ask how things were and to make sure all was good. Perhaps they are reading reviews and are actively working to fix them. The service we got was good, and the staff were friendly and knowledgable.
I will certainly go back.

The highly awaited charbar opened this summer with much fanfare. It is coupled between the locally loved Phil & Sebastian and Sidewalk Citizen Bakery in the historical Simmons building. For me, this establishes the fact that charbar is a place that you must dine at to capture the new East Village feel. However, it is as if charbar is highly aware of the value of their location and is solely willing to rely on this instead of the food.
We had the following:
Tripe Chips — probably best dish we had. Simple. Crispy. Came with a spicy yummy sauce
Two little soft sweetbreads
an underwhelming tableside ceviche. I do think the tiger milks was worth slurping down though.
Overpriced flank steak
Salt brick chicken was nice and moist
As far as service I found the staff very friendly and helpful. Our server was obviously very new but tried her best to make sure we received impeccable service. I admit there might had been a point where we kept asking her for wine suggestions in which she wasn’t to sure of, but she enlisted the help of the bartenders and we eventually ended up with a bottle we were happy with.
In summary, while the food wasn’t terrible, it wasn’t great either and was definitely not worth the price tag in either portions or quality.

I love charcut, so I was super excited to try charbar. Unfortunately I was pretty disappointed.
I really like that they found such a cool way to use up the space in the building. The restaurant is very spacious with two floors. With that said, the area where they greet you is super awkward, lots of traffic and just confusing in general. While standing there, I had three different people try to assist me and then leave me half way through to assist other people who were equally as confused as I. Hopefully this gets better in time.
The menu on paper looked extremely appealing. We were all pretty excited to try the dishes. And then pretty disappointed. The food first of all took quite a long time to come out. The place wasn’t even packed, so I’d hate to wait for my food on a night the place was full. And second of all, the presentation was awful. I had the sturgeon ($ 36 by the way, for one individual portion) and it was plated with a sauce. It wasn’t bad but definitely not worth $ 36 for anyone. We also had the short ribs with eggs and it literally looked like they just threw on the eggs and threw on three pieces of small ribs. So disappointing.
The parking in east village is a bit hectic as the place is still growing. There’s a small parking lot next to the restaurant but most definitely not enough to accommodate for all the customers for the Simmons building. Lots of street parking and another paid parking lot further down from the building. I would advise going on Sunday or after 6 pm when parking is free.
I hope the restaurant is just in an awkward new phase and getting used to things and hope it gets a lot better. But it’ll take a lot for anyone to convince me to go back here to eat.

I like the concept of 3 businesses working together in one building, but charcut’s menu and pricing needs some help.
I don’t mind the price of the steaks as they are grass fed and Alberta raised, but they didn’t come with any sides. No vegetables, no potatoes, it was literally sliced meat thrown onto a plate. The server said that they were presented like this because they were «meant to be shared», but I don’t know who would want to share a 7oz steak with nothing on the side. This wasn’t exactly clear to us while we were ordering and led to some confusion as some dishes (like the burger or chicken came with a side of fries).
Maybe it’s because they just opened but they really need to either explain things more clearly on their menu or add some pictures to it or even have the servers explain what the dishes are.
Overall, though the taste of the food was good, I left unsatisfied with the meal as it was not what I was expecting. I will not be returning do to the high prices and small portions.