CHARCUT — Restaurant in Calgary

It’s overall a good dining experience except for a couple of incidents that really took away from an amazing experience.

Once we were at the front we were greeted by a very angry looking hostess. I informed her of our reservation to let her know that we were in for a reservation. I then got a message from two of my friends to let me know that they had an emergency and couldn’t make it for dinner. We had a reservation for 4 people and thought it was courteous to let the hostess know so that the restaurant can use the bigger table for another party. The hostess proceeds to get angrier at me as if I’ve inconvenienced her which really started this evening on the wrong foot for us. She tells us to wait as she sets up another table which I said was absolutely fine. I eventually noticed that she was setting us up at a table literally by the doors which wasn’t going to work for us. We were celebrating a birthday celebration for my girlfriend and so I really wanted to make sure that this evening went perfect. Because of this I ask the same hostess to please sit us away from the doors because it was a cold night and we are celebrating a special occasion. In all honesty I could have also just not told the hostess about the two other people not being able to make it so we technically was already doing the restaurant a favour. The hostess grunts at me and proceeds to tell me I had no choice but to sit where she wanted us to sit. I asked her if she could sit us at the original table instead to which she replied with “I am NOT sitting you at a table for 4 when there’s only two of you.” These comments really caught me by surprise as I expected some more professionalism from a hostess at an upscale establishment like this. I felt that the hostess should have been more accommodating instead of basically saying no to my face. We ended up sitting a table slightly further away from the front door but still relatively close to it. I would have left to be honest but we both just caved in and decided to stay anyways.

The server himself was nice, courteous and hospitable. He checked up on us constantly and made sure that our needs were met that evening.

The food and drinks were very good as expected with this upscale price point. We had the warm artichoke dip to start as an appetizer and it was actually really good with the grilled bread.

For dinner we tried the slow cooked Alberta lamb shanks and the Alberta beef butcher steak with a side of duck fat fried poutine. The lamb shanks were pretty tasty but I’m personally not a fan of the gamey flavour. The butcher steak was nice and tender although I would prefer it not sliced since it made the dish a little cold, it taste good though! The duck fat fried poutine was very good and one of the better poutines in town.

For dessert we decided to share a small whipped cheesecake. They made this one with blueberry and raspberry I believe and it was double whipped. It was very tasty and very good although the portion size could have been better especially at a $12 price point. It was literally in a small 4 ounce fruit jar which is tiny!

Throughout the evening every time the same hostess would sit another table in the restaurant she would stare me down as she walks by. At first I thought it wasn’t happening but the same hostess kept doing it all night which made me want to leave right after dinner.

We were planning on staying longer to have some more beverages but because we felt the tension from this hostess we just left afterwards. I would have spoken to a manager that evening but I didn’t want to cause a scene.

I would definitely look into getting better hostesses. Every other chain has good ones (Joey’s, Cactus, Moxies, even Boston pizza) and all these places have better hostesses than your...

To preface, my family and I have worked in hospitality for 15+ years (my father 35+ years). We’re not only huge lovers of food, dining and cocktails, but generally have an understanding perspective for both FOH and BOH. My family were visiting from SK and love to come to Calgary for the amazing food and to support our small businesses. Charcut was always on the radar because the the media exposure due to their owner. I’ve been curious about their other restaurants as well, but I’ve completely lost interest.

It is clear there is a lack of leadership in general. The server had no training on their wine, had no answer to how one of only 4 main meat dishes were prepared, had to walk back to the kitchen when asked what the steak cut of the night was, and in general felt very unprepared and unsure. She was very sweet, but persisted to hover over our table throughout the night. Again I’m sure with good intent to be attentive, but in general it was distracting when I’m trying to catch up with my family over a fine dining meal.

The aperol spritz (fairly easy to make) and the wine were the best things we had. Oh and the bread. It was small but it was tasty. Not sure if they make it themselves or if it’s outsourced. I ordered the side pasta with my main as their menu claimed pasta was made in house. It was apparent the side pasta was not. The porchetta looked like it had been boiled and reheated. It was grey in colour an tough. Absolutely no colour or sear. The worst part is the server defensively questioned my order stating that it was a leaner meat. No. The fat was on the permitter - it was not rendered and it was over cooked in general. My mother’s steak was meh and same with the prime rib. It is extremely rare I ever praise a chain, but I would have had a better steak at the keg.

The manager approached us once, very timidly and lacking confidence. I felt for him honestly, definitely out of his comfort zone. We explained how we didn’t enjoy dinner and then we never saw him again. It’s like he avoided conflict, when resolving conflict is literally his job. What’s worse is our server had no idea he quality checked us, as she came back to ask us how it was as well. Zero communication.

In the end the server offered some “cookies” instead of replacing my meal. The manager never came back. We did not receive an apology and only that basically it was just a lean meat - it’s pork roast. Not a tenderloin. This is supposed to be a roast house. How is the meat not the star?

Oh and they charged us for it too. Complete disbelief.

I really never write reviews. But now that we’re opening back up, it’s so important we support the restaurants and small business we want to stick around. Disappointed we contributed over $200 to this establishment tonight. I hope the owners are able to spend more time training and growing their staff both...

Yesterday a group of five of us went to Charcut to celebrate my birthday, which was last week. I'm writing this the next day and I'm still full from the meal. We left very well satiated. Not everything was 100% perfect, but it was sure as hell close to perfect.

Service: Excellent. Mark, our server, was on point. Topped our wine up exactly as required. Not too in our face and very knowledgeable. The hostesses were very friendly, though, below, I describe a small imperfection that led to our party being separated. 8 out of 10 on service.

Food: They have a duck-fat fryer. This makes everything it's used for amazing. Like wow.

My wife and I ordered a Caesar salad and bone marrow escargot. We paired this with a Zinfandel, a very good recommendation by Mark. It started us off well prior to having our entrees.

My wife had a double-pattied burger, and I had the steak, which was yesterday a 8oz NY striploin paired with duck-fat fried poutine and the duck-fat fried Brussels sprouts. It came with a salad garnish, as well, which was really good. A friend had the prime rib, and we split the meat.

The prime rib was perfect. The steak was good. I preferred the prime rib.

My wife's burger was very good; "damn tasty" is what she said.

We followed this up with dessert, a cheesecake and an order of their $6 cookies. The cheesecake was ok but the cookies were average and as far as I'm concerned, not worth the purchase for $3 per cookie, particularly when the cookies were hard and not very special tasting. The only other food negative was that the Caesar salad wasn't particularly special either. But still good.

8 out of 10 for food.

Of note: They don't do anything for birthdays (maybe unless you ask them to? Although my wife advised it was when she made the reservation). I'm not complaining at all, just a heads up to people in case you expect they do.

The other thing is that the hostesses may not be well trained. We waited in the hotel lounge with drinks since we arrived early and advised them that we would have people coming to meet with us. They seated our party who arrived early in the restaurant instead of directing them to us in the lounge. So we were two parties seated apart and separately, unbeknownst to us. It just seemed like a lack of common sense on their part, but not a big deal. I would just be sure to be very clear with them about expectations.

All in all, it was a very good experience, and I would return. For just my wife and I, the bill came to $228, plus tip, for a total of $274. Not a cheap night, but the service was good and the food was good.

If you're visiting Calgary, it's worth checking out a real Alberta roast house...