West Restaurant and Bar

During the summer, West only seats on their rooftop patio (weather permitting of course). So considering how hard getting a patio seat at any other restaurant, I think this is a huge bonus.
I went to the 3^rd floor on Scotia to get into West, and the hostess simply pointed to the stairs in the middle of the restaurant and said «Patio». K. Thanks…
When I made it to what I assumed was the patio, I kind of felt uneasy. It seemed abandoned up there with unfinished construction; they could at least have someone there to reassure you that you’re going in the right direction (and not get attacked!)
I could see my group as I made it to the seating area so I headed over. Our waitress was quick to take our order (3 of us including me got the lobster mac and cheese, one the linguine and another the West Burger). Since we had a later lunch, it was less busy and so our food came pretty much right away and we all dug in. All of us who got pasta loved our food, our friend who got the burger came to realize his burger was still pink after a few bites — YUCK! Our waitress resolved this promptly with a new order and the manager even came by to apologize and said the burger meal would be taken off our bill — NICE!
Besides the burger incident, the food experience was great and so was our service. I’d be up for some lobster mac and cheese again.

West is decent for a night out… ONLY in the summer on the patio. Otherwise stay away.
Food there is marketed and priced as high end fusion but is mediocre at best. Service is very lousy. The staff (especially the bouncers) are just plain rude and unpleasant.
Like most night clubs it’s a pain dealing with line ups and the usual douchebaggery that comes along with the night club scene… but west takes it to a whole new level. I parked in bow valley parkade and walked to the entrance from the plus 15… the bouncer promptly told me and my friend to walk all the way downstairs to the Stephen avenue entrance to get a stamp from the bouncers down there. So we walked all the way down get a stamp. and then come all the way back up again and were finally let into the bar. Of course it was summer time, so we wanted to go upstairs to the patio for drinks. Once we arrived to the stairs to go to go to the patio we were told they were over capacity… and we had to wait. Meanwhile «VIP“s were going up there by the dozen. An HOUR later we finally get to go up. At which time I gave the bartender by credit card for a tab for 9 dollar drinks… which I was billed for 8 weeks later… WTF… BTW if you are a smoker forget about it, you have to go all the way down to street level, and which point they won’t let you back in without waiting in line.
Anyways the patio itself it gorgeous and the music was good. However, the people running the place are amateur… at best. They are trying to make it like a Vegas club or something, but there is a problem WE AREN’T IN VEGAS
Get it together guys

I want to love this place, if only for their rooftop patio. This place is a dream come true in every aspect except for service. My friend and I came here for a drink after work and it took us over 25 minutes to get drinks (a beer and a glass of wine) and the patio was by no means full. We ordered a quick appetizer and that also took an extended period of time. The food we did order was a cheese fondue and my-​oh-​my it was marvelous. Like I said the food, drinks, location and view were perfect, I’d give them 5 stars… but the service gets 1 star. If the bar is backed up or the food is taking a while at least come over and mention it to us. Instead our server disappeared, and we weren’t the only table that noticed. The table beside us literally had to wave her down to get her attention. I’m willing to give West another shot, please don’t disappoint me West!

*Restaurant:
West expands onto three floors (plus 15 level, plus 30 level, and the rooftop). The décor is sophisticated with beautiful chandeliers, comfy booths, and warm hues. They also have several private rooms for larger parties. On a nice day, I highly recommend you sit outside on their rooftop patio where you get a great view of Stephen Ave and the surrounding skyscrapers.
My impression of the food menu is that there is nothing special about it — selection and prices comparable to the Metropolitan Grill with a few unique flavour combinations I haven’t seen before. The rest of the menu is a little bit of everything such as soups, salads, sandwiches/​burgers ($ 15-​$ 20), chicken ($ 21), ribs ($ 24), steaks ($ 21-​$ 35), and seafood (Tuna, halibut, salmon) for ~$ 26+. From what I’ve observed, they change their menu items each season.
*Lounge/​Nightclub:
The entire restaurant turns into a lounge/​nightclub on the weekends. The crowd is a lot older, around 25+ and if you’re a lady, expect to have at least one guy hit on you, stare at you creepily, or grind up on you.
When the patio is open, expect to wait in long lineups (Tip: Arrive 9PM or earlier for dinner to guarantee entry). There is one line to get into West, another to pay for cover, then one to get the rooftop. The bouncer will take your name and give you a number which will show up on screens. Make sure you pay attention to your number and if you go as a large group, ensure everyone is there at the same time. In the meantime you can hang out on the plus 30 level where you can sit down at one of their booths and have a drink or hit up the tiny dance floor. The music on Saturdays is top 40’s, hip hop, and top songs from the past.
The rooftop definitely has a better vibe. Everyone is more laidback and the air is refreshing. There are 3 bars, all of which gets really crowded, VIP booths on the side, and a fairly large dance floor.
Beware… the drinks are overpriced and heavily watered down.

I’ve been to WEST on two occassions, both for completely different reasons.
1. DINNER
Went with my man for their Valentine’s Day dinner. They were very organized and had great service. It was a special menu so not what you’d normally see from them. I had a delicious lobster ravioli. We had a large corner booth table, and we had a really nice time.
2. REWIND Fridays
It is very difficult to find a place that will play «retro» music, aka music that is actually good to dance to. It is extremely frustrating when something is marketed as RETRO and every ten songs you might get an actual retro song, mixed in with garbage crap I could hear on the radio.
I asked the DJ to play more retro, and got a disgusted look and was completely ignored.
Quite unfortunate because I really enjoyed the vibe at WEST, the different rooms are beautiful and enchanting, and the layout is well done. I will never go there for a night out because quite honestly they lie when they say REWIND Friday.

I ventured here one Friday for an early lunch with a friend. She told me you’d normally need a reservation but we might have a chance at getting in as it was before 11:30. She was right!
The staff were all very professional and attentive. I was surprised actually how professional they were based on their age and «look». The recommended a couple of menu items and let us know the feature of the day.
I had one of their prime rib burgers. I’m a sucker for a good burger and this delivered. I added mushrooms and aged cheddar-​so good. The burger is huge though so a) be hungry and b) its a little hard to eat neatly. The salad I ordered with it was ok ay (Caesar-​real bacon) but the lettuce was too big to be bite sized. I thought perhaps they expected me to cut the lettuce but if that’s the case, don’t put the salad in a bowl.
My friend had the steak sandwich. She ate every last bite and said it was delicious. I was impressed by the presentation.
I found the prices reasonable based on how nice the décor of the restaurant was and the «look» they are going for there. I’d try it again.
One little item of note-​they don’t deliver the payment machine to your table and they don’t take debit. They do have an ATM in site but come on-​add debit and get portable terminals.

This review is for their «night life»
God what a waste of time. I’ve tried this place twice for the «club experience» and it’s a complete waste of time and energy.
During the summer I wanted to take my cousin to a trendy place in Calgary — something comparable to Montréal. I knew well enough then that we better get there early — tried making dinner reservations for 8pm on a Saturday on the patio — not possible. Anyways, made it upstairs, it was really disappointing — absolutely no service. What was a bigger let down was the fact that their patio bar does not serve the same drinks as at the other bars in the institution — this was completely unheard of for me. Also, on a popular Saturday night I think it’s a very poor reflection of the management/​operations of this restaurant to not have all the recipe ingredients for your «infamous» cocktails. They were lacking ingredients for more than 3 different drinks.
I later tried ging here one time to enjoy the nightlife on the patio — it’s very much like being a farm animal and being herded through a gate. When I go out to party I have to objectives, 1) dance 2) replenish at the bar. Both which were not possible. Knowing how pretentious and busy this place can be, I came in around 10pm — i’m sorry I do not have the patience to wait 40 mins to dance or buy drinks at a bar. I’ll take my $$ elsewhere.
All in all, I think there’s several other places in the city you can dress up for to go dancing and drinking. O — the crowd is so hit and miss here. Usually a miss for me — but that’s always up to personal preference.

Had never been here before, went here to go to the farewell party of an irrationally sweet and exuberant girl I had just met. After navigating several flights of stairs, followed by a concrete maze, we arrived at the rooftop patio. The view of downtown Calgary here is gorgeous.
After spending the whole ride there fretting that I wouldn’t know anyone, turns out, a staff member knew who I was! Awesome. Service was quick and our waitress was friendly. The only comment I have I guess, is at the end of the night, she sort of half tossed/​dropped the bill in the middle of the table and I was the only one that noticed. Five minutes later I hear, «Oh! The bill is right here? When did it get here? How come it’s not separated?»
Also, I and some other people got a rather… biological show from a patron that I really could have done without. For all time. Although, that’s not West’s fault.

With a desire to continue trying as many rooftop patios before the summer washes away, I found myself with a group of friends at West. I was very impressed with the size and clean, simple look of this 15,000 sq ft patio. Even getting to the patio via stair case and long winding corridor with no roof was kind of interesting. I didn’t order any food, but to be honest it didn’t look like anything out of the ordinary of the jazzed-​up pub staples. I just had the house organic brew, but really enjoyed the atmosphere up there. Nice place to people watch as well!

So I recently went to West for the first time on a nice sunny afternoon with a few girlfriends. We went with intentions of enjoying the sun on the patio.
I must first say that the patio is very nice indeed! It gets lots of sun and has walls up that block out the wind. There is plenty of comfortable seating as well as ample heat lamps and umbrellas if needed.
My complaint with West though is its pretentiousness. It gives off a very cold vibe and has a way of making a person feel somewhat insecure. Also it seems to be confused as to if it wants to be classy or trashy cause its a mixture of both. The de core and menu are on the classy side and they seem to attract a lot of the buisness crowd. Yet there were many trashy things going on at the same time. A lot of the servers were wearing bikini tops and some of them were even bouncing around in a kiddie pool bouncing a beach ball back and forth. There was also a male staff member wearing only swim trunks and water wings running around spraying vodka into peoples mouths with a water gun… Nothing wrong with any of that but if you want to be that type of bar then be that type of bar. Don’t pretend to have class.
However I must add that all of their slushy drinks on the menu were absolutely delicious.

I have been to West twice. The first time, it wasn’t that bad. Probably mediocre at best. The second time was awful and confusing.
My first experience there was with a few friends for dinner and drinks. The service was extremely slow and we didn’t see the waitress until 20 mins after we sat down. After our food was given to us, we never saw the waitress again until she gave us our bill. She looked like she didn’t want to be there. I ordered the chicken caesar salad. It was okay, to be honest, I think Moxies or Boston Pizza have a better one. I can’t remember what my friends had but I know two of them tracked another waiter down to send their meals back because they were cold. The layout is pretty cool in West and their drinks are pretty good, other than that, it was too loud, the service sucked and the food was mediocre.
The second time I was there for a friends birthday. I arrived a couple hours later than she did, and I was excited to party the night away. When I got to the front of the line, I was shocked that the bouncer denied me. I asked why he wouldn’t let me in. No answer and no I wasn’t drunk, underage or using a fake ID. I was very annoyed, but kept my cool. My friends that were inside already vowed to never go back. I tried contacting West on their Twitter account but they never got back to me which was very annoying.
I won’t be back at West anytime soon and I will never encourage people to go there.

I dont understand why people are bashing on West. I have been there twice, and have enjoyed myself both times. The last time I was there, which was the past weekend, was a more thorough experience, as I stayed there for dinner AND the partying afterward.
Dinner was great. I had the wasabi-​crusted ahi tuna, and it was delicious. Portion size was perfect, and the tuna itself was seared rare (read: raw). The whole plate was delicious. The martini I had on the size was also well-​made and the prices were reasonable too. And service was friendly. My friend and I were actually being pretty annoying, as we were starving when we got there, and thus kept asking how long it was going to be till the food arrived. But the waitress was very sweet and took it all in good stride.
After dinner, we went upstairs to the bar/​club area. It definitely is not a scruffy place. Expect to see everyone dressed up to the nines, and thus be prepared to dress up yourself. This is a good thing, in my opinion. We have enough places in Calgary where we can show up in jeans and sneakers. We need a few places like West in this city where we can show up in dressy clothes and not feel ridiculous. The dance floor got more and more packed and the night progressed. Music was alright, and the bartenders were quick and on the ball.
Most important thing to note about West though: No pretentiousness. From the time I stepped into the restaurant till the very end in the club area, I was met by friendly people. I was not once given the snooty shoulder, or subjected to any sort of pretentiousness. Not from the staff, and not from the customers. (I have had my fair share of snooty irritating behaviour in many Montréal clubs, and I can tell you what a thorough dealbreaker it is.) No such behaviour at West. Patrons were there for a genuinely good time, and staff was only too happy to comply.
Also note that this place gets a 5 stars not because it is the best resto-​club I have ever been to (definitely not), but because it is perhaps the nicest resto-​club in CALGARY that I have been to.
I will be back, and I will recommend this place to people looking for a fancier night out in this city.

I took customers to West for a business lunch. Upon entering the restaurant, the first thing that I noticed was… OMG it’s HOT in here. I am usually the person who is freezing so it is very rare that I am warm enough to even notice but it was boiling. We had a table near the kitchen so it was even worse than other areas. I also found the room quite loud so at times it was very hard to hear.
We started with the tempura prawns. The batter wasn’t like normal tempura as it had panko in it. The prawns were tasty but unremarkable. I found the coating quite hard and crunchy. I prefer normal tempura.
My customers had the halibut & the crabcake and steak. They said that both dishes were very good. The halibut looked amazing. If I return to West, I will definitely try it. I got the «seared ahi tuna». I guess I missed the part after «seared» that said panko crusted. To me seared in no way means fried but when my fish arrived it had a hard crunchy/​fried exterior. The fish was such a thick cut that it was completely cold in the middle. I am used to rare tuna but normally it is at least warmed through. Overall it tasted pretty good but I couldn’t get over the weirdness.
Overall I would say that West is okay and worth another visit but it isn’t somewhere that I would go out of my way to recommend to others.

Service: 3.5÷5
Food Quality: ⁵⁄₅
Kitchen Speed: ³⁄₅
Décor: ⁴⁄₅
Value: ⁴⁄₅
Perhaps I’m not the target audience for this restaurant. This is poser central. If you got your $ 400 jeans on and you want to be seen, this is as good a spot as any. As for me, I was trying to have a business lunch and the client chose this place. Food was well prepared and presented but was pretty slow for a downtown lunch crowd. We waited 35 minutes for the dishes to arrive after ordering and they got my order wrong. Then they tried to fix it and got it wrong a second time. *Sigh*. The décor is your standard wood trim, aluminum, black leather, and girls in tight skirts setup. Probably a much better time if you’re there with friends but only average for our business meet up. Prices were pretty reasonable for downtown dining, that was a pleasant surprise.

Are you looking for a place to seem pretenious? Then you’ve found your latest stomping grounds! The people who go to West generally are going to be ‘seen’, not to enjoy their company.
West has two seperate menus for lunch and dinner, but unfortunately, the best food is served at lunch only. The menu that you get to peruse regardless of what time it is, has both the lunch and dinner options. So don’t get your heart set on anything, as you might find out its for lunch only!
The only saving grace for this restaurant/​bar is the cocktails. I highly recommend the watermelon lemonade bevy. Or if you need a little snack, the caesar is perfect as it is served with a jumbo shrimp!

There’s more to West than meet’s the eye. From lunch to dinner, meeting space to club space, West has a variety of different spaces that can be transformed to meet just about any need.
The food at West is pretty tasty, and as Angela M discovered, West puts brie in its mashed potatoes. Its a divinely delicious addition. What’s even better than the food though, is the watermelon lemonade. This drink is left to marinate for 24 hours with a sprig of rosemary before it’s served. And it’s worth every hour. I can’t wait to drink it out on the rooftop patio next summer (crossing my fingers that it’ll finally be open).
Tip: If you want to get into the club, go for dinner first. You get to try out those mashed potatoes for yourself and you avoid the lineup being that you’re already inside.

Went to celebrate a friends birthday here back in September. We called wanting to make dinner reservations for 930, the hostess told us the latest time they had was 9 which was fine. (we were running late and got there at 930) When we did arrive the restaurant was fairly empty for a friday night.
Our waitress, Jessica I think her name was, was the definition of a perfect waitress. She was attentive, quick and charming. We even pulled the manger aside to give her praise– she deserved it. Our glasses we never empty and our food was brought out in a timely fashion.
The food was amazing and well priced. The menu had a lot of choices and there was plenty of new things to try. We had a cake and the waitress brought it out exactly when we told her too. Our night was perfect, this was the ideal dinning experience.
We went and checked out the club part of West but found the crowd to be a lot older 30+. We danced for about an hour or so and left. But overall excellent night here will definitely be returning!

When West opened a couple of months ago it was the talk of the town. It was a perfect example of a restaurant that owed much of its successful opening to social media. They also teased opening Calgary’s largest rooftop patio for The Calgary Stampede… months later, it still has not opened. And now with the days already getting colder, many people excited about the patio will likely have to wait until next summer.
Luckily West doesn’t need to have a giant patio opened to be successful. I really think it can just rely on its menu and great customer service. Last time I ate there, I had the Butter chicken quesadillas and it was absolutely mouth-​watering.
And once the kitchen closes, you can head upstairs and dance the night away. Unfortunately the restaurant is located in the middle of a mall, which means instead of over-​looking the city, you end up dancing outside of a Starbucks and a pharmacy. In an interior designers nightmare, they’ve covered the huge windows with curtains to keep up the illusion of being at a really cool bar.
It doesn’t always work.
I’m also happy to give a five-​star rating for just the bathrooms alone. I love them. So clean, roomy and most importantly private. Nothing more annoying than a sketchy bar bathroom.

Dear West, Thank you for putting the axe to the ‘audigier’, if you could work on the douchey pointed aligator shoes now…
But dont worry, your milkshake is bringing all the hotties to the yard!
Pros:
The office crowd, love your class and your money! Im glad your older and have jobs!
The size! Bigger is better!
The staff, you got a ton of them!
The music.
Cons:
Why so many rooms. what am I missing?
The dance floor (its a bit small)
The guy who farted and took off… your nasty!
Basically if you like the 30 somethings this is your place… big enough for a social drink or a crazy dance party night.

Last weekend a group of us went out for a night on the town. In the course of dancing the night away, we made a pit-​stop at West.
West reminds me of a smaller version of Circa in Toronto.
It’s got multiple floors, multiple bars, and beautiful décor. The crystal chandeliers beckoned my name…
Although we only stopped in for drinks and dancing and I therefore cannot comment on the food, I can say that the service was good. Non-​alcoholic beverages were free at the beginning of the night and later on, they were only $ 3. Alcoholic beverages were priced similarly to other night clubs in town.
My one HUGE beef with West however is the size of the dance floor. It couldn’t possibly be more teeny if it tried. And of course, EVERYONE wanted in on it, so slam about 100 bodies together on the tiniest dance floor you can imagine and what do you get? A night of dancing where no one has enough room to dance. Needless to say, I was NOT impressed.
The décor is beautiful, but you can only look at it for so long before you want to hit the dance floor. And if this is the case, West most definitely isn’t the place to go when you’re lookin’ to let loose and bust a move.