The Hat

I stopped by The Hat last week with some friends. I hadn’t been in a while and thought I’d switch things up. I ordered their house red which was great as far as house wine goes. I was very excited to see the butter chicken on the menu and of course had to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was! The naan bread was excellent as well.
The atmosphere is casual and pretty chill and the music is pleasant. I’ve never been here when it’s busy, so I’ve only known it to be a place to go if you want to catch up and not be overwhelmed by music or crowds.
Overall it’s a great little downtown nook.

The Hat is my favourite pub in Edmonton, hands down. A really cozy atmosphere, solid pub-​style food and of course great drinks. The owner is usually around and is very friendly. If you’re in the area, don’t hesitate to drop in for a bite!

I went to The Hat last night for a glass of wine after work. I ordered the Shiraz. I was brought (and sipped) a glass of Shiraz that had (at least two) maggots in it. I was so disgusted but stayed polite to the server. I joked that I was served a glass of fear factor… to which the server replied that I was being melodramatic and should consider eating fried grasshoppers. He brought me a glass of Sauvignon Blanc after (I may never feel comfortable drinking red in a bar again) and then charged my boyfriend and I for our full bill (just a few glasses of wine which would have been easy to comp). Needless to say I am absolutely repulsed. Not only was I served maggoty wine (a nightmare) but then the server was terrible to top it off. I will never go here again, and neither should you. Unless you want to ingest maggots and bad attitude I guess.

$ 7.50 for 14 oz of coors banquet. This place used to be good but they’re going crazy with the prices. It’s waaaaay overpriced for what it is: a pub.

We tasted something from The Hat at Taste of Edmonton that was delicious so we decided to give it a try. It was solidly okay. $ 2 off glasses of wine on Saturday was nice. The selection is limited but the glass of Zinfandel was lovely. We ordered pierogi nachos with the intention of following it with entrees, but the nachos were so filling we skipped right to dessert. Both the nachos and the turtle cheesecake were okay, but nothing to write home about.
Service was good.

I definitely loves the food and the ambiance. The burger was amazing and great service. Will definitely go there again.

Wednesday wing night is a sacred endeavor, one best enjoyed with cheap beer. By the time we arrived at The Hat for their $ 5.50 order of 8 wings, we found out they stopped serving their beer special after 7. Lame.
I ordered their raspberry twist cocktail, deciding I would splurge on the tastiest looking drink. Unfortunately in person it looked like watered down juice and definitely didn’t come with the fresh raspberries that the menu promised. Something about an ungarnished cocktail disappoints me. That said, I drank it down and it tasted like a typical cocktail.
As for the wings, I wished the chili lime had been a sauce (RIP chili lime sauce from The Brixx) instead of a dry rub, as it almost tasted identical to the lemon pepper rub. (Go figure.) The hot wings were the usual. Crispy deep fried. Honestly i had the exact same plating (carrot/​celery) at Brewsters the other day except The Hat includes the usual ranch dip whereas brewsters has a mustard sauce.
The service was what you would expect when the wait staff is busy, she was abrupt but friendly. The vibe of the place was typical of a resto-​pub, but I’d almost just go to Boston Pizza next time because at least they have a parking lot. That said, I want to return to The Hat because the menu looked wonderful and I want to try a gourmet dog, burger and those beer sausages. Perhaps they’ll win my heart with their signature dishes.

Wing night was a success. Decent deal on a Wednesday night, we tried hot, lemon pepper, and chilli lime, the latter of which ended up being a dry rub rather than a sauce, which disappointed my girlfriend, as they ended up being essentially the same as the lemon pepper wings. They were pretty standard wings, fried crispy, and in servings of eight in each half pound for 5.50. The winning flavour was determined to be the dry rub wings dunked into the excess hot sauce from the hot wings. I thought the ranch they supplied might run out, but it lasted. We also split a Caesar salad, which while perhaps overpriced, was what you’d expect.
Service was quick and friendly enough, and the muddy Gin Caesar I ordered was tasty, though neither it or the «raspberry twist» we ordered were served with the garnishes that the menu cited. Maybe they were out of spicy beans and raspberries. I’ve never had a pickle in a Caesar before, and can’t say it was bad, just unexpected.
Recommended for wing night downtown if your looking to avoid being overly crowded. We were there at 8 and it was fairly empty. Nice place all in all.

One of my favourite places downtown, I love the food and the service is great. The whole menu is solid and the drink menu is on point.

The hat is a solid place to go. I’ve always had friendly service here and I’ve never been disappointed with the food. Last night I came by to say goodbye to a friend leaving the city and they were incredibly polite and accommodating, even when we stayed past closing time by an hour or so. Plus, they have great burgers, and that is a good thing. Go check it out.

We came here on a groupon deal and left pretty disappointed. While the servers were nice enough the service was very very slow. They looked busy so not sure if they were just understaffed (two servers and manager (?) bringing out the food) but it took at least 5 mins to get our first drink and then after our first drink they didn’t come back to ask if we wanted another drink even though we stayed for appetizers and dinner. When we asked one of the bartenders for our bill he told us that he wasn’t our server so we need to ask the other bartender. Another 10mins goes by until we finally waved her down (not sure why the other bartender could have just gone to the same computer and grabbed the bill). The whole time we were sitting at the bar there was a tray of dirty dishes and left over food behind the bar that was completely untouched for the 1.5 hours we were there.
Finally when we submitted our $ 60 groupon only $ 56.75 came off our bill and the only explanation we got is «I don’t know why it does that but that what the computer does» (so basically too bad for us).
The perogy nachos, sweet potatoes fries and mushroom soup were very good, while the chicken California burger was a bit salty (good amount of avocado though).
In the end the food was pretty good but wouldn’t come back because of the service. There is more then enough bars/​pubs to around that area to get a good experience.

Love it, gives much needed character to the neighborhood. The liquor selection needs some work, geared more to the lunch crowd or the fast dateline people that aren’t cultured enough to appreciate a good pub and just want to pretend long enough to like each other and move to the burbs.

The Hat used to be a spot for a great burger… but no longer after my lunch there today. The beef burger patty had the texture and consistency of those pre-​frozen type burgers you get at a fundraiser BBQ in front of Wal-​Mart for a buck fifty. (it was a tad thicker than those) But Seriously… $ 15.50 for a chopped-​n-​formed pseudo beef? With a pop the bill was $ 20. No wonder the place was empty… I fear this cool lunch/​drink spot is in a death-​spiral of increasing prices and lowering quality/​quantity to attempt to keep profits flat… real meat, $ 10-​$ 12 burgers, and a tad less of the hipster vibe is the only thing that will save this place from failure. (IMHO)

Funky Chicken sandwich was good except for the fact that they used cheese slices for the cheese. When you are paying for a sandwich I think they should be using real cheese. The French fries were great and went very well with the gravy:) I also had a very good caesar called a nickel for your pickle. It was just the perfect flavor.

The Hat Resto continues to be my go to place in downtown #yeg. The food is always delicious and blows my expectations (today I am having the Crab Cakes, an all time favourite, but the Mac and Cheese is my favourite splurge) They have a great drink list, and most importantly the staff are amazing!!! Always make me feel like the most special person in the place :) Thank you, The Hat for giving me a second home :)

Atrocious.
I never did go when it was The Silk Hat and so I’ve no point of comparison, but based on this sample, The Hat was a huge disappointment.
The drinks were ok (and are why I’m giving two stars instead of one). The Hemingway Martini was especially nice.
The food was dreadful. My Rosemary Chicken Sandwich contained barely a hint of rosemary. The bread was dry and chewy. There were fried onions on top, the likes of which were undetectable. The tomato slices were not ripe. Bland and forgettable.
My friend’s Mac and Cheese was described as «spring roll style.» But when it arrived, the dish consisted of KRAFT DINNER. Seriously. Dry Kraft dinner. Not the oozy, sauce way you are supposed to make it. It had been formed into a loaf, sliced, and deep-​fried. These were accompanied by little tubs of horseradish and sweet chili sauce that had obviously come out of bottles. Kraft Dinner. I’m still getting my head around that one. I could have made a box of it at home for ¹⁄₂₀ of the price and made it properly.
The service was inattentive at best. Our server was disinterested, slow, and for the most part, completely absent. Two drinks and two mains = $ 50. Ouch. So not worth it.

As a place for drinks, The Hat is the place to be.
As a place for food, however, I’ve yet to be blown away. I’ve eaten there several times now and, while there’s nothing particularly wrong with the food, it’s not a place that jumps to mind when recommending eateries in Edmonton.
I’ve had the fish and chips, which was all right, although the fish tasted like the frozen store-​bought variety. I’ve had the burger, which was, alas, just a burger. I’ve had the Mac and Cheese, which was pretty good, although much the same as other variations of the popular comfort food.
So yes, the food was fine. But I wouldn’t think to go there just for a meal.
And yet… I really like The Hat. It’s such a great place for a drink and some appies, that the amazing atmosphere completely makes up for the meh-​worthy food. Their drink list is fabulous and oh-​so-​literary, with cocktails named the ‘Oliver Twist’ (a gin caesar with lemon and lime juice) and ‘The Hemingway’ (a gin martini straight up). And yes, just in case you were wondering — I was won over by the abundance of gin in the menu.
The Hat also has drink specials to entice you in and keep you there. Saturday, for example, is wine night, where all 5 oz glasses of wine on the menu are $ 4.50. That means you can get a 10 oz glass for $ 9…just sayin’.
At the end of the day, then, I think of The Hat with fondness, despite the unmemorable food. It’s an excellent place to meet up with friends, have a couple of drinks, and share more than a few laughs. The Hat is a perfect example of the importance of atmosphere and a friendly smile when it comes to restaurants and pubs — you might not remember your meal, but you’ll remember a great time. And that’s really all that matters, isn’t it?

Probably the best burger in the city of Edmonton. When «The Burg» opened nearby I thought The Hat might be in trouble, but that’s just not the case.
My favourite burgers are the Mad Hatter and the Black&Blue, but I *always* ask about the feature burger and if it sounds even remotely interesting, I’ll go for it. These guys know how to make a burger and the chefs… but that’s not the best thing about The Hat.
What these guys really nail is service. Their staff are all superstars, and after just a few trips, eating at The Hat is like visiting a friend’s place. The staff are warm and friendly and it’s clear that they love their customers and their work.
So: go for the food, stay for the atmosphere :)

Ugh. I used to love The Hat and then their disastrous showing at Downtown Dining Week finally killed it. I should have known when I found it so challenging to get any friends to even go to this reservation. No one was particularly into dining at The Hat, and when I got my food here I understood why. Crab cakes, chicken cordon bleu and turtle cheesecake. Sounds delicious, right? It should be, but turns out it’s really awful when you just deep-​fry factory-​made portions. Boo. These weren’t even good appetizers and dinners from somewhere like M&M, I’m pretty sure The Hat got my dinner from a cardboard box in a grocery store’s frozen food section. Because bad food isn’t enough, service left something to be desired as well. All around a total let down from one of my regular stops on Jasper Ave. Dear Hat, we’re breaking up. It’s not me, it’s you. Bye.

Really enjoyed The Hat. I got yelled at by a buddy for not having one of their burgers. Nonetheless…
Great beer selection. Lots of local and Canadian brews, and plenty of craft on tap. I had the shawarma wrap for dinner. Admittedly, this isn’t shawarma, but I have to say it’s an interesting take on it. It was roast chicken, seasoned with almost a fusion between Lebanese and Indian spices, with crunchy greens. Really enjoyed it. Our service was excellent, bringing by the next beer before I had finished mine. Always a good sign.