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| Calgary's
Nightlife Definitely Includes Plenty of Varieties of Beer1 |
It's Saturday night
and Calgary is hardly
sleeping. The sun dips below the skyscrapers and the moon glistens high
above the Calgary
Tower. People are dancing through the streets, live
music trumpets somewhere in the distance and all the kegs are
tapped, awaiting their first pour of the evening.
Calgary is arguably
the hub and mecca of culture in Alberta,
Canada. Accordingly,
the city's nightlife usually rages with utter veracity. Calgarians love
to party. Whether people like to groove to the thunderous boom of electronica,
rock out to adrenaline-pumping metal, sway to the delicious stylings of
dub and reggae, or whether they just need an evening away from home, Calgary's
nightlife can accommodate the weekday workers and weekend warriors whatever
their tastes demand.
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Live
Shows are Integral To Calgary's Nightlife2 |
Calgary's entertainment
scene is geographically spread far and wide across the city. However,
there are particular areas that are notorious hot-spots for nightly meanderings.
These include the downtown core, 17th
Avenue, Kensington,
South Calgary and the east side. 11th
Avenue, once known as Electric Avenue, used to host some of the
most exciting venues in the city before it was re-zoned. New establishments
are beginning to develop along the boulevard and it's possible that this
will once again become a popular night-spot.
Calgary is a sizable
city and if one doesn't know where to begin, the choice can be overwhelming.
In an effort to get visitors and locals alike to go out and enjoy a night
on the town, WorldWeb.com offers the following helpful information regarding
Calgary's nightlife. Listings for all of the following businesses have
map tabs to aid in finding their precise location.
THE DOWNTOWN CORE
Downtown has been
one of Calgary's premier destinations for club goers for dozens of years.
It sits just north of 17th Avenue SW in the city centre and extends to
the Bow
River. From east to west, it rests between 14th Street SW and
Fifth Street SE and includes Stephen Avenue, which is also a major shopping
district. Downtown is home to a majority of Calgary's theatres
and the Eau
Claire market. Plenty of accommodations
can also be found downtown close to all amenities.
Amidst enormous skyscrapers—urban
mountains of concrete and steel—and close to the city centre C-Train
line and transit, downtown has always been a host to some of Calgary's
best venues. Here, visitors will find establishments of all sorts: seedy
brewpubs, authentic European public
houses, upscale lounges,
a wide variety of worldly restaurants
and a plethora of Calgary's trendier nightclubs.
Line-ups at downtown clubs can get fairly brutal though. One might consider
going out earlier to avoid getting stuck outside.
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Catch
a Game at the Drum and Monkey3 |
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Pubs, Clubs and
Live Music
The Drum
and Monkey, located downtown on First Street SW, is one of the
most popular nightspots in town for youthful Calgarians. The building
was designed to resemble an old-school British public house. During the
afternoon, sporting events glimmer on their six televisions and sophisticated
rubes sit and chat at booths and stools over alternative/indie tunes selected
by the bartenders. At night though, the "Drum" goes through
a complete metamorphosis. Local hipsters flock to the flow, the PA system
gets utterly amped, vibrant lighting is set up, DJs
break out the vinyl and decks, and drinks cascade like the Elbow
River.
The Drum is also
connected to the Bamboo
Tiki Lounge. Bamboo opens its doors during the evenings and is
only accessible through the Drum. Here in this red-lit Polynesian-style
lounge, patrons have the opportunity to rip it up on the somewhat small
dance floor. Dub
at the Pub on Tuesday nights is the most well-known of the Drum's
unique nightly events.
The Warehouse
is another club in the downtown core that has built for itself a large
and loyal following. Patrons enter this venue via the alley behind the
building. After gaining access, they are then led up a dark stairwell
into the dilapidated club above. It's no surprise, however, that the Warehouse
is in slightly rough shape—for over 20 years, it has been Calgary's main
source of live underground music. They also host the two most popular
after-hours parties in the city on Friday and Saturday nights. Live bands
have been known to occasionally play, but mainly the Warehouse features
local and international DJ talent to get the party going with the sounds
of progressive house, breaks, jungle, trance and other electronic tracks.
The crowd at the Warehouse is largely comprised of youthful Calgarians
involved in the local punk, metal or rave scene.
Bottlescrew
Bill's Old English Pub is situated in the downtown core at the
intersection of First Street and 10th Avenue SW. Its decor is an imaginative
blend of a classic Euro-pub and a Western prairie saloon. Wooden cutout
cowboys, large tin spittoons on the patio and a polished wooden bar inside
set the stage for some serious beer drinking. At last count, they had
over 200 different brands of beer—more than any other bar in the city.
Also, they have over 60 different styles of single malt scotch. During
the lunch hour, nearby business folk hang out to grab a bite and catch
up on European soccer, which plays on their big-screen, flat-panel television.
During weekends, a younger crowd arrives for a few pints and the bartender
cranks up the wattage on the stereo system to get patrons swinging.
Bottlescrew Bill's
is home to the famous Around the World in 80 Beers Passport. Every time
a new beer is sampled by a customer their beer passport will receive an
official stamp from the bartender signifying that the patron is just that
much closer to tasting each variety of Bottlescrew's enormous medley of
beers.
Other notable downtown
hot-spots include the Hop
In Brew, James
Joyce, and a great pub-style restaurant called the Unicorn.
Live music plays down at Ceili's,
one of the few places that gets packed on Monday nights. For a more intimate
nightly outing, there is Brewster's
and The
Keg, who both serve an astounding grilled steak. Then there is
the Bear
and Kilt, a dimly lit basement pub that serves extremely popular
pub-style cuisine.
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Calgarians
Party in a Local Nightclub4 |
The dance clubs in
Calgary are mostly located in the downtown core. Near to 11th Avenue SW
is the HiFi—a
modern and popular club where electronica booms almost every night. International
DJs are often brought to HiFi to amp up the energy.
Downtown is also home
to Tantra,
Broken
City, the Mynt,
and the Static
Ultralounge.
Martini Bars
Vicious
Circle has been around for ages. Located in the downtown core
along First Street SW, this place is a martini paradise. They have the
largest selection of martinis across the entire country—141 in total.
The interior of Vicious Circle is largely built around the lounge atmosphere.
Pool tables and low-level lighting give off the ambiance that guests expect,
and they play an assortment of alternative rock and electronica to set
the right atmosphere. A local artist is selected every month and their
work is featured on the walls throughout the bar.
17TH AVENUE/THE
RED MILE AND FOURTH STREET
This stretch of road
in Calgary's Beltline area is by far the most popular destination for
both locals and tourists alike. There are fewer tall buildings than there
are downtown but there is more park
space than in other areas. There are dozens of eclectic shops
and restaurants that create a certain electricity in the air on Uptown
17th. It gained extra notoriety from the massive red-jersey donning crowds
who gather here during Calgary
Flames playoff games. It became known as the "Red Mile"
during the Flames' playoff run in 2004, when crowds spilled out of the
Saddledome
onto the adjacent shopping strip for post-game festivities, filling the
streets for hours.
17th Avenue is connected
to the C-Train line at Victoria Park Stampede Station directly beside
the Saddledome. The strip is highly commercialized and has a huge array
of shops, restaurants, martini bars, pubs and even a high school. However,
there is not much on 17th Avenue in terms of good dance clubs, but there
isn't a better place in Calgary to go people watching. Waits for tables
in restaurants along 17th Avenue can be as long as an hour during Fridays
and Saturdays. During the week, one can usually expect an immediate seat.
Line-ups for drinking establishments here aren't usually an issue unless
one attends on the weekends, especially after 10pm. Pub crawls along this
strip are tremendously popular.
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Calgary
has Excellent Live Music5 |
Pubs and Live Music
The Ship
and Anchor pub and eatery on 17th Avenue is anything but an attractive
bar. Its patio is crowded with old beat-up furniture and picnic tables
etched with all sorts of graffiti, but ironically, it is one of Calgary's
most popular outdoor patios. The Ship and Anchor hosts live music, provides
cheap pub food and has 30 different beers on tap. Sunday breakfasts are
also popular at the Ship. Despite its trendiness, however, the main attraction
is the anything-goes atmosphere, especially on weekends. They even unleash
live local underground and indie bands during special events, and live
jams are hosted on Saturdays from 2 to 6pm.
Capturing the feel
of an old country pub from the shires in the United
Kingdom is the Rose
and Crown on Fourth
Street SW. The interior wood finish gives the Rose and Crown an
extremely classy feel. As a tremendously popular venue for over 15 years,
the Rose and Crown still continues to throw down night after night, hosting
30 beers from around the globe at their three different bar areas. Like
any pub, there is plenty of seating and even the comforts of large plush
chesterfields and roaring fireplaces. Live rock is performed by bands
on Friday and Saturday nights starting at 9 pm. They have space out back
to set up tents for larger shows and functions.
A whole pile of other
pubs such as Classic
Jack's and Morgan's
are all situated along the strip. A
Bar Named Sue, a joint inspired by the famous song by Johnny Cash,
is situated just north of 17th Avenue on 4th Street SW. The
Watchman's is a popular place to watch the big game, drink a pint
or grab a bite of food. For the beer connoisseur, a place to check out
is the 1410
World Beer Haus on the west end of 17th Avenue.
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Enjoying
a Drink at Melrose Café6 |
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Bars and Grills
The Melrose
Café is a thriving upscale haunt extremely popular with golden
business boys and soft-skinned female executives. They have a restaurant
to one side featuring a beautiful Buddha statue centerpiece, soft-lighting
and upscale seating. There is a connected bar with private rooms upstairs
and down which can be reserved for functions and conferences. The bar
is red-lit and has motorcycles suspended over either pool table toward
to back of the bar. Water pours down the wall behind the cheerful bartenders
and equally cheerful, well-dressed patrons usually line the entire bar.
They have three storeys with 60 televisions in total so sports fans don't
miss a beat. Their multi-level patio is also a very popular destination
illuminated at night by standing torches that burn majestically out front.
Occasionally, on busier evenings, DJs spin at Melrose to set the night
alight. The food here is impeccable.
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Turntables
Amp Up the Night7 |
The
Metropolitan Grill also serves up a great plate, as do many of
the other excellent restaurants in the area. The
Bungalow, Mercury,
and Ming
are some of the more popular lounges and eateries on 17th Avenue, each
playing a wide variety of groovy tunes and serving mouth-watering meals
and refreshing beverages. For exquisite dining, Earl's
is always a popular destination. Their menu is an array of fusion cuisine
and they serve their popular house beer, Albino Rhino.
KENSINGTON
As the funkiest and
artsiest district in the city, Kensington is also a highly popular neighbourhood.
It is easily accessible by taking the C-Train to Sunnyside Station. Kensington
is utterly Bohemian in nature and is centred just north of the Bow River
along Kensington Road. It has been hugely influenced by British culture—as
exemplified by the British-style red phone booths on street corners. Cafés,
bookshops, small pubs, and a whole host of other specialty shops can be
found along Kensington Road. Although there are no notable nightclubs
in the area, Kensington is abounding in plenty of great eateries and public
houses that don't promote rowdy party-style outings like the venues along
the 17th Avenue strip.
Pubs and Eateries
The Kensington
Pub is dug in on Kensington Road. Known affectionately by regulars
as “KP”, this pub has been a fountainhead in the community since 1989.
It has three storeys, sturdy oak furniture, plenty of televisions and
an extremely musky smell. They are also reputed to have the best steak
sandwich in all of Calgary. Whether looking to get out of Calgary's bitter
winter deep-freeze or looking for a nice place to go for a few relaxed
drinks during a warm summer evening, the Kensington Pub is always an excellent
choice. Staff here try very hard to make all patrons feel as comfortable
as possible.
Also on Kensington
Road is Original
Joe's. Built around the traditional public house theme, Joe's
is anything but. The food here is truly Canadian
cuisine instead of mere pub food and the decor is dark, modern
and relaxing. They have a patio that is terribly popular during the summer
months too. Pay-per-game billiards can also be found inside. The staff
here are among the friendliest in the city and they serve a hearty brunch
complete with eggs and bacon during the weekends from 10 am to 1 pm. There
are two other Original Joe's locations in Calgary just as conducive to
a good conversation as the Kensington location.
SOUTH CALGARY
Welcome to the burbs.
Leaving downtown doesn't
mean one has to leave the Calgary nightlife behind. South Calgary is extremely
spread out but is home to super-malls like Chinook
Centre and Southcentre
and almost every other amenity one can fathom. South Calgary is connected
to the rest of the city by the southern portion of the C-Train line. For
those that dwell in Calgary's south, there are plenty of dance clubs,
beer halls and live music venues as well as dozens of restaurants and
accommodation choices.
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Cowfolk
Rock Out at Ranchman's8 |
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Saloons, Clubs
and Live Music
Ranchman's
is one of Calgary's most established bars and is located on MacLeod Trail
South. Designed in the fashion of an old western saloon, Ranchman's is
also Calgary's most authentic devotee to the western pioneer spirit of
those that settled the prairies when Fort
Calgary was established in 1876. They even have portions of the
set from the motion picture Unforgiven adorning their patio to further
their western theme. The original bobsled and helmet from the film Cool
Runnings, which was shot in Calgary, can also be found here. They've been
serving it up cowboy style since 1972, and so far the hoedown appears
to be far from over. Local and international country musicians take the
stage here frequently. Seasoned city-slickers can also try their luck
at going western by taking advantage of free country dance lessons or
they can try to take on one of the most feared beasts in Alberta—the notorious
mechanical bull. Ranchman's has daily food specials to keep cowfolk coming
back.
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A
DJ Spins a Set9 |
Also in the area is
the King's
Head. Billiards, dartboards and a whole range of daily specials
keep things going, while live music during the summer months heats up
this end of McLeod Trail. The Black
Swan also hosts live music and is just south of Southland Drive.
To hit the dance floor, crowds are usually attracted to Outlaws.
If one likes their rock loud, the Back
Alley is probably a more suitable venue. The Back Alley hosts
a wide variety of local and international metal, punk and rock bands.
Pubs
Limerick's
is located in south Calgary on MacLeod Trail South. Since 1999, this deliciously
authentic Irish-style public house has been warming feet with fireplaces,
serving up delicious food from their extensive pub-food menu and hosting
some seriously good times behind their doors. They also regularly play
European soccer and Calgary Flames hockey games on each of their televisions.
This usually draws a youthful 20-something crowd. Wooden furniture, stained
glass, and antiques set an Irish ambiance to the place most guests won't
soon forget. This pub is part of a larger chain of successful Irish-style
establishments that dot the city.
Limerick's isn't
the only pub in south Calgary. In nearly every strip mall in the south,
one will find a smaller pub, tavern or eatery. Other
establishments in the area include some of the more popular neighbourhood
pubs. While the Point
and Feather is extremely attractive to the younger crowd, the
White
Heart Manor is popular with an older crowd. The Bull
and Finch is always bumping and usually chock-full of folks of
all types. Woody's
Taphouse near the Southland
Leisure Centre is another excellent place to hang out and have
a pint. They have specials on beer during Flames games and daily food
and drink specials. They even have free pool on Sundays.
THE EAST SIDE
Calgary's historical
east side is home to some of most culturally rich pubs and brew houses
in the city. This portion of the city includes areas like 11th Avenue
SE, Inglewood and Ramsay. However, people looking for a fast-paced, action-packed
night out don't go to Calgary's east side—they go downtown.
Bars, Taverns
and Live Music
On 11th Avenue SE in Calgary's east side sits the Shamrock
Hotel. And it is certainly showing its maturity; without its citywide
reputation for great music, it would be difficult to attract a crowd.
This venue is one of Calgary's premier live music destinations for local
and international bands. And although Calgary is now completely smoke-free,
this place still smells like grandma's ashtray. Music genres pumped from
the PA system here include Top 40, funk, R&B, blues and classic rock.
The Shamrock has been around since 1914 and will remain a landmark in
the city for years to come.
For an alternate choice,
diners and pub-goers can try the Hose
and Hound Public House on 9th Avenue SE, which was converted from
a historic firehouse into a live venue for rock and jazz gigs. Similarly,
the Ironwood
on Nineth Avenue SE also hosts a wide selection of bands. The east side
is also home to pubs that promote good eats and a tasty pint of beer.
Among these is Swans,
which has multiple dart boards and billiard tables. There's also Kane's
Harley Diner which is decorated with a 1950s theme. The Village
Cantina is also situated in Calgary's east side. Live flamenco
musicians perform at the Cantina on a weekly basis.
THE CALGARY STAMPEDE
Every summer, Calgary
explodes in a kaleidescope of Western pioneer culture during the Calgary
Stampede. Not only is the Stampede a huge international event,
when it occurs, seemingly everyone in town seems to follow suit. Calgary's
nightlife is Westernized at nearly every bar, saloon, club and pub in
the city. During the Stampede, every place is town is packed to the rafters.
Be sure to wear that 40-gallon hat.
PHOTO COURTESY
- Chad Williamson; c/o Chadmium.net; Calgary's Nightlife Definitely
Includes Plenty of Varieties of Beer; Calgary, AB., Canada
- Live Shows are Integral to Calgary's Entertainment Scene.
- Chad Williamson; c/o Chadmium.net; Flames Fans Catch a Game at the
Drum and Monkey; Calgary, AB., Canada
- Calgarians Dance in a Nightclub Downtown.
- Calgary is Armed with Some of the Best Live Music in Alberta.
- Chad Williamson; c/o Chadmium.net; Enjoying a Drink at the Melrose
Café; Calgary, AB., Canada
- Turntables Amp Up the Night.
- c/o Ranchman's; Cowfolk Rock Out at Ranchman's; Calgary, AB., Canada
- A DJ Spins a Set.
