Borough Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Calgary

Decided to grab a bite today as our go to place was closed. We had debated between trying the banquet having never been there or going to the borough. We had been to the Borough once before for happy hour in the winter and thought it was pricey but good and our server was great and good food and service brings us back.

So it was decided, the Borough. It was absolutely dead empty inside. There was 2 tables and us (2 people). We were greeted and seated by the host at a covered patio table and then sat wondering if anyone was coming round to take an order. We sat for a solid 7 minutes before being acknowledged. We asked about a happy hour menu which she basically rolled her eyes and left to get.

Our server clearly did not want to be there or serving us and attempting to ask if she recommended anything was like pulling teeth. Very painful.

We ordered 2 happy hour appies and 2 drinks to start. We both found the food portions were small for the price even with happy hour. It was a very tiny bowl of about 10 small Brussel sprouts for $9 and similar for the small calamari pieces not rings. $13. But the taste was decent on both. Calamari was tender. Nothing to rave about but it was decent. And the server did check back to see how it was.

Then we ordered the pepperoni pizza and the mushroom pizza. $23-$26 each. The young lady who brought them out was very pleasant and helpful and offered a suggestion on dips if we decided we wanted one.

So after trying the pizza, we thought the pepperoni had good flavor but the mushroom was just one note and it wasn’t mushroom. It was Peppery arugula. I love arugula but that was the only real flavor. It lacked salt and pepper and needed something else. So we decided the smoked chili honey sauce that was on the pepperoni pizza might work .

But we could not find anyone to ask for salt pepper or a dip. Finally after about 6 minutes we flagged down our server who had not been back since our appetizers and we ordered the honey chili dip and salt and pepper. She brought the salt and pepper and was again MIA!

We tried to wait for the dip assuming it would be brought out quickly to enjoy with the pizza but after 5 more minutes our pizza was cold and we were hungry so we started eating more. Finally what may have been the manager brought the dip over. But sadly, it was like cold thick non drizzly honey. And apparently there is no way to heat it. So Let’s just say it was very hard to blob onto the pizza! Wish that had been mentioned that it’s put in while the pizza is hot or that it comes out cold.

But when he dropped it off I said thank you and then mentioned that I felt our server was not interested in working that night! He apologized for her and left.

But low and behold our server seemed to appear 2 minutes later to check on us.

By that time we just wanted boxes to go and our bill. She brought one small rectangle box. Not big enough for the 5 slices left without being squished in on top of each other so I asked for another box. She begrudgingly brought one half the size of the first. And cleared the table while we packed the pizza.

Overall I doubt we will go back or recommend the Borough to anyone. We definitely should have tried the Banquet or Canadian Brew house for a better overall experience.

The Borough food was ok, but not great. Prices are high. Portions were small on appies. Pizza size was average and flavors were very average. But Nothing to write home about.

Our first visit was far better and the food and service were much better. Different menu that time. And While we thought the Prices were still high then we didn’t mind as the food and service quality was good so you tend...

Had one of the worst experiences here all due to the service, right from when we walked in. We had a reservation for 4 in the lounge at 5:30 ( so we had plenty of time to order off the Happy Hour menu). There was a gentleman sitting at the bar and one table of four, the hostess started to bring us to the restaurant and my mom informed her that the reservation was in the lounge, she said that she would have to check with the bartender (WHAT?), the bartender looked at us to see if we were worthy of his service). He and two hostesses took another 5 minutes to figure out how to pull two small tables together, in the meantime I had said that if it’s too much trouble, we could sit in the restaurant. We were finally seated and now it’s been almost 15 minutes, when the bartender (Caleb ) walked passed I asked for the happy hour menu, he looked at his watch and said “it’s over in 15 minutes, so you better hurry up and order “! During which he forgot my nephews Caesar twice and I had to ask for more water twice, someone else ran the food, someone else asked how the food was, when we responded with “ well it’s ok”, (portions were so small and bland)the young girl said “ok” and walked away. We were going to have dessert and then decided to get ice cream next door because we hadn’t seen Caleb the whole time we were there ( still just one gentleman at the bar and the other table of four). When he brought the bill, Now he wanted to talk to us because it’s tip time!!!! Outrageous!! I contacted the manager the next day and explained the evening, they apologized and sent us some gift cards to give them another chance. Reluctantly we went back and even got the same table, the new bartender was excellent and very attentive, we were happy with how the night was going up until we saw a obviously new employee being trained by, Yup!, Caleb, so not only was his behaviour tolerated but felt like rewarded ( we asked our server if he was training the new staff and he said “yeah, he was just promoted to manager “! Never been back or will be!! Way better places to go and spend your money especially with the cost to go...

An absolute neighbourhood gem! We went to Borough Bar & Grill today for lunch. A friend suggested it rather than the food court at Market Mall. What a great suggestion! Borough Bar & Grill is an absolute gem of a restaurant. A lovely, modern, impeccably clean, and well located place for food & drink. The restaurant overlooks the cutest public skating rink and has 3 hours of free underground parking included. What a fabulous place for dinner before seeing a move at the Cineplex in the same complex. We were greeted by a friendly hostess and escorted to our seat. Our waiter was friendly and very personable and provided helpful advice when we asked. Our dining companion had eaten here once before and highly suggested the Fried Artichokes. We actually had a hard time choosing an appetizer as they all sounded great! We were not steered wrong. The artichokes and dip were actually so delicious they were to die for. I could have eaten a whole plate of them. Nicely presently as well with parmesan cheese and arugula. We decided to share 2 dishes and ordered the Rigatoni and the Antipasto pizza. We had more than enough for the 2 of us and our waiter kindly gave us a box to take our extra pizza home. The rigatoni was perfectly prepared to al dente and came in a delicious creamy white sauce. The focaccia crouton on the top was a lovely crunchy addition to the dish which made it that more interesting. The Antipasto pizza was a nice mix of ingredients. It arrived piping hot and the crust was obviously freshly made and perfectly cooked. A perfect mix of soft chewy and crispy. Our other companion ordered the Egg Noodle stroganoff. Great mix of ingredients and delicious flavour. It arrived piping hot as well. We had to order a nice Guinness on tap to go with our meal. We would highly recommend all of our choices. There are so many other interesting and appealing choices on Borough's menu we plan to definitely go back. A lovely spot for lunch or dinner. Great for a date night or just a group of friends. The food is...