Blue Star Diner — Restaurant in Calgary

Check the fine print on the menu, and your bill.

Stopped in for double date night with friends, the wife ordered the Feature Burger off the separate "specials" pamphlet menu where it was listed at $19.99, and asked if they could sub out the fries for a green salad. Waitress says no problem. I asked for the Alberta Lamb Naanwich and if they could sub the lamb out for grilled chicken (menu says you can sub in chicken or jackfruit for no charge). Whey/buttermilk doesn't agree with me so I made sure it would be non-breaded grilled chicken, waitress says no problem! Food was alright and the service was prompt, but then the bill shows up.

There is a $3 charge for "open food" and another $3 for the green salad. So we asked about the unexpected charges, the manager comes over and tells us that grilled chicken is different the then the "chicken" they normally use so it cost extra, and that the "full" menu shows the $3 up charge for the salad. We told her that the waitress didn't mention any of this when we ordered. Her reply was, "well, she should have." and then passes us the card machine. No, "sorry about that", or "my apologies", just pay the bill and get out. When we got home we checked the menu and sure enough, there in light green italic small print, an up-charge of $3 for a green salad!?!? And to top it off, as we are looking over the bill we noticed they also charged us $22 for the "$19.99" feature burger!!

Hope you spend that extra $11 wisely because none of us will be...

Update: We've been back many times. It's a staple experience when we have out of town guests or for brunch on a Sunday. Make sure you join the waitlist online, see you inside!

Blue Star Diner is a wonderful taste experience.

At first glance the prices seem a tad high. But then you try the food. The quality and composition of the flavours is stunning and makes this place worth it.

I had the double dirty burger with dirty fries. It tasted fresh, clean, spicy and bright. You'd think something such as this would be sad and greasy but it wasn't. An absolute delight!

Allergen items are clearly indicated on the menu, including what can and can't be modified. I must eat gluten free and had absolutely no issues doing so. From the menu to the ordering experience to the food prep, there was zero friction and I did not experience any issues with cross contamination.

Dairy free choices for my partner were similarly zero friction.

Our obviously LGBTQ party felt welcome and experienced no issues

If I could offer one suggestion - lemon grass soap in the bathrooms may seem like a good idea, but it is an allergen, especially for myself. I wish venues would stop buying these scented soaps. While it's a nice touch and attention to detail, perfumed hand soaps out patrons at risk of rashes or worse. Please consider switching or having a readily alternative available in the bathrooms.

Much like thier sister store Dairy Lane in Hillhurst, I...

We have been patronizing Blue Star Diner for years, but we will not be going back. Granted, this morning it was busier than usual, for which we gave the benefit of the doubt when our server had to take our drink order twice (with about a 10-minute gap) before finally bringing it out.

However, we had been sitting there for over 20 minutes before they even took our order. We waited a further half hour, noticed other customers who had been seated after us receiving their food, and we finally flagged our server down, at which time he said he would “check.” He came back, saying the order did not reach the kitchen (might he have neglected to click ‘send’?), and it would take another five minutes. We knew it would take longer, because he had effectively just put in the order. He continued to make excuses, offered a minimal discount, and insisted it was a “mistake” and not done on purpose (well, of course it was a mistake - we didn’t think they were targeting us!). The discount he offered was bordering on offensive, given the precious time we had wasted there, and the fact that we were returning customers. His attitude revealed a stinginess that goes against the spirit of hospitality that one rightly expects of an eating...