Interesting House converted into a Pub – Ruined by bad Service
Address: 5340 2nd St. SW Calgary
Edit: You may want to check out my newer review, which comes on a re-visit with much better service
A bit tricky to find, this is a house converted into pub located on a back street just east of MacLeod Trail. There is a charming, quiet outdoor area with actual picnic tables. A nice pub decor greets you on the inside. However, this is yet another Calgary establishment that tries to be both a sports bar and a pub. The huge big screen TV in the middle of the main sitting area is just annoying if you don’t care to watch whatever sports event is on at the time. At least they keep the volume down. I would also note that the washroom area could use a bit of cleaning and renovation.
The food selection is average for a pub, quality was okay, but since I wasn’t able to order my intended meal, I have limited data to work with. New Castle Brown on tap was good, split upon delivery. Good pints of Guinness at chilled, not cold temperatures (which is the proper way to drink it) done with a proper pour, split again upon delivery. There was something weird going on with the Crown float. I suspect the cider was off in some way – but can’t nail down specifics.
I cannot stress enough how poor the service was. From a poor start of spilling my beer upon delivery to not taking my food order on the assumption that my dining partner had ordered for the both of us, to ignoring us, the service was so poor I would not return to this establishment regardless of any other redeeming factors. I noted other patrons receiving poor service as well.
Ambiance: 8/10
Food: 5/10
Beer: 8/10
Service: 1/10
Pricing: 6/10
Overall: 3/ 10 — It’s sad really – this place has all the potential to be a “best kept secret” in Calgary, but it is ruined by the poor service.
The Server that you encountered was fired, obviously, do to lack of service. Unfortunetely, due to lack of employees in Calgary, some inexperienced employees are hired in hopes that they can be trained. In this case, the server did not last long at The Dog & Duck because training, obviously, did not help this server. Ralph, management at the Dog & Duck are deeply sorry your experience here was tarnished. We would like to invite you back for a second opinion.
I stumbled upon this friendly and what seems family style run pub while wondering the road while my car was being serviced. At first intimidated by the fancy and money friendly cars parked out the front I did not venture in. I did return that night with my husband that evening for a pint of Guiness and we were hooked. We have been atleast 5 more times, went for NYE 2007 and really enjoyed the band. That night we enjoyed a wonderful assortment of delicious appetizers free of charge and had a great night. We have had several different meals and have enjoyed them all and rate them to be the same or slightly better as any other pub. However some of their Traditional Irish and English dishes are above and beyond good. My 19 year old son who hates fish and chips due to grease and slimy fish had the Guiness Battered fish and chips and wants to go back again as he was so impressed by them. They are delicious. Not greasy and a very nice piece of fish in each piece. They have delicious special coffees at a really good price and the atmosphere is above average for a North American pub by far, and as for those TV sets they are not on loud and there are various sitting places you do not even notice them. Looking out the lovely huge front windows work. These windows also open for a lovely breeze in the summer. If you remember the family neighbourhood pubs in England where they always had outside eating and sitting spaces on real lawn well you have come to the right place. We live in the SE in McKenzie and this pub is well worth the little drive.
Please try it, and you will enjoy it.
Bye for now brenda
I did a 2nd review at a later date – much better 2nd time around