The Bank Restaurant

This is one of my favorite places to have lunch on Stephen Avenue. Prices are very, very reasonable. Services is friendly & fast. Food is delicious. I recommend the Steak & Frites, absolutely mouth watering delish.

WARNING: NEVER EVER HAVE A PRIVATE PARTY HERE!
— horrible DJ (just terrible remixed music)
— cold temperature (i mean FREEZING)
— poor accoustics
— plugged toilets
— terrible food (and not enough)
— awful selection of drinks and spirits
— over charging
— aggressive, unfriendly security (IDIOTS)
— crappy service
— ownership who denies their involvement when i asked to speak to some one

BR& is one of the most surprsing experiences that I’ve ever had downtown. Back in May I had decided to throw my 25^th (…) birthday party. I had been looking for a great location to host about twenty people and when I walked in BR&‘s doors, I knew I had to have my party there.
As you know, the steak house is located in the former bank and besides adding the tables and a bar, the building is virtually unchanged. It is was stunning marble from top to bottom. The first thing you’ll notice are the huge ceilings and the beautiful central staircase.
The way that BR& has been trying to get new customers in the door is with their $ 20 steak dinner. It comes with unlimited fries that are absolutely covered in salt, which means that I LOVED them.
They have a great variety of steak all for about under $ 30. To be fair, we were expecting really poor quality steaks, especially the $ 20 ones. But all of my friends were impressed with the quality of their dinners, they were all very surprised.
The waitress we had… well, let’s just say… she was a tough pill to swallow. A great server but REALLY intense.
They have a great private room that overlooks Stephen Ave to the north and the rest of the restaurant on the left. If you request it, you can even have your own bartender up there.
It will be interesting to see how BR& works out. Right now, people seem to think it is gimmicky with its cheap steaks. Maybe that was the wrong move. Only time will tell.

When I heard The Bank was reopening as a night club (now known as BR&), I was beside myself with excitement. «Awwwww yeeeeeaaah» I thought, «Calgary’s bringin’ back the old-​skool.» Even the forces in the universe wouldn’t have been able to keep me away from this place, I was *that* excited. Well… that is *until* I actually got there.
Peering in and seeing the place *empty* should have been my first indication that this place was not about to live up to my expectations. I walked in to meet up with a group of people who informed me that the music had been SO bad the last little bit that one of the staff-​members finally resorted to plugging in her IPOD, which is what was playing by the time I arrived.
I stayed for a total of 45 minutes and that was 44 minutes too long. The staff was friendly, the décor is as beautiful as ever (the chandeliers held my attention for 44 of the 45 minutes I was there), but the music wasn’t good and did I mention the place was EMPTY???
Considering how excited I was for what I thought was for the revival of *THE* Bank, this night out was an absolute disappointment.
Here’s to hoping that this place picks up. If it doesn’t however, I’m callin’ this one ahead of time and predicting a re-​closure, rather than a revival.

We went on a quiet midweek night during Stampede.
There was lots of staff, but not a lot of service. Had 5 people walk past while we waited to ask for seating. Took forever for waitress to take order.
My wife wanted bubble and didn’t see any on the menu. She asked server who said «it’s our 80^th anniversary. Everyone gets free champagne!». Okay, so why not show up at the table with it?
When it did arrive it was flat and warm. And sat unsipped the entire meal. Even after we told the server about it, she left it there to blandly stare at us. Yay.
The menus are tattered and wrinkled and the selection itself is boring.
It’s a beautiful venue, but they just seem to misfire on execution. It’s okay to have a simple menu, it’s not okay to surround it equally simple and boring staff and service.
We were served our salad with no cutlery on the table. While we waited to have some delivered, our entrees were rushed out. Didnt even have a bite of my salad before the steak gleefully arrived.
It’s a steakhouse, you’d think steak knives would be immediately presented — had to wait for that too.
My wife ordered a glass of wine at the start of the meal, 10mins later it hadn’t appeared. She asked waitress who mumbled «oh thats probably why it’s sitting at the bar. The 6^th day of stampede is getting to me.»
Seriously. If your staff are too hung to work from partying, I don’t want them working.
I like the venue and was eager to try the place, but left horribly disappointed.
My wife said to me in the car on the way home: «I wouldn’t go back.» To which I replied «it won’t be open long enough to go back.»
Skip it.

Had lunch here–
–slow service
–lousy burger with way to much foie
–poor service
–too much dressing on salad
–horrible but hot service

An early review referred to this as ‘expensive’. I think they may be comparing this to getting a steak at Perkins or a truck stop. $ 19.99 for a good size flat iron steak (a chuck cut) with a delicious salad, a REAL and fresh popover as well as fries in a cone that they keep bringing (just to keep your fries warm and fresh) as well as the steak. I was there 2 days ago and I don’t think I have had to eat since. Great value for the quality of food that you’re getting. I opted for the filet mignon, which was $ 5 more, but weighing in at 10+ ounces (I’m guessing) you are getting absolute value. The interesting sides (get the wild mushrooms — they’re tasty) make the steak that much better and a variety of dipping sauces that are available make the experience with the fries as exciting as the opulent nature of the building that the restaurant is in.
The building itself is an old Bank of Nova Scotia and you can still see the safe in the basement. The fact that the building has been left it’s old charm just adds to the amazing experience.
The staff were all friendly and well-​versed in their knowledge of the food and ingredients where it related to allergies and sensitivities, which is both impressive and important.
The person that took me to the restaurant has been there 5 different times with 5 different people. I now know why. I would happily take friends and clients to that restaurant regularly.
Definitely worth checking out.

This is an extremely beautiful location, with turn of the century architecture, marble floors, vaulted ceilings, stain glass and enormous chandeliers.
Right in the heart of Stephan Avenue, I can see how this newly renovated bank could appeal to the corporate masses downtown for lunch. Just entering it is like taking a voyage to another era and place.
The food for me is quite expensive and just so so. Three or four entrees at 19.99 which included steak. There were salad offerings too but I found that the prawn salad although served in a huge wooden bowl, the lettuce was too plain and white for me. If you are going to price salads at a higher price, mix it up with an abundant salad green mix and make it look fresh not like it was yellowing in your fridge and you didn’t have any lettuce heads to choose from.
The fries were tasty at $ 3.99