J Club Grill & Bar — Restaurant in Calgary

Wowee, what a ride. Atmosphere: Come in and told “have a seat wherever.” Sit down at the table with no “reserved” sign then promptly get asked to move to a new seat. Not a big deal, but weird start. Sit down again, have a bad coffee and stare at the tvs all frozen/paused for some reason. (They eventually unfroze after about an hour).

Food: our third got the wrong dish. Fine, these things happen and they put the right one on rush. Got a hair in my dish… gross but again things happen. Manager (I assume) comes over, apologies, offers a new one. I say no and he says he’ll take it off the bill. Great, thanks. Our friend gets her correct dish, mostly done… finds another hair… a black hair at a table of blondes and brunettes. She ate around it cause she’s braver than me. She told the waitress at the end of the meal, non confrontational and not looking for any compensation, just to inform that it’s raining hair in the kitchen… manager comes over, looks at the hair, says “no one in the kitchen right now has hair like this” and walks away with an annoyed look as if it’s our fault.

I understand the situation was no longer very comfortable, but then we sat there for a long while waiting to pay and get out. When we go to pay, they don’t have printed bills? Never asked about together or separate. My partner pays for 2 meals assuming that was the whole table minus my comped hair Benny. Then the waitress hands the machine to our other friend… we ask for clarification and I guess she was never told about the comped meal and had placed both bennys on my partners bill? With the two meals paid for we got out of there.

Really, the overall experience would have been pretty mediocre if it wasn’t for the dismissive response for the second hair that elevated it to upsetting and disappointing. Take responsibility for what you are serving up. If you think it’s unacceptable to get two complaints from a table, think about how unacceptable it is for paying customers to have 2 of 3 dishes come out with hair in them. Not good...

J Club Grill and Bar had the potential to be a solid dining spot, but unfortunately, the experience fell flat due to inattentive service and some serious misfires in execution.

The Good: Let’s start with the positives. The pork gyoza was crispy and delicious—easily one of the highlights of the meal. That said, the mango salsa on top felt like an afterthought, more of a challenge to eat than a complementary flavour. The Thai red curry delivered, rich and well-balanced; while the Palomara was a well-made cocktail that actually lived up to expectations.

The Bad: And now, the real reason for the low rating. The service was painfully slow, largely because our waitress seemed far more interested in flirting with her boyfriend at the bar than, you know, waiting tables. We were left waiting for refills, additional orders, or even basic attention.

The cocktail program was another letdown. My Old Fashioned was served in a dirty glass and was nothing more than bourbon with a splash of bitters—no simple syrup, no balance, no finesse. For $15, it should have been much better. My Negroni suffered a similar fate, a sad attempt at a classic.

Then there was my “main course”, the Spicy Korean Chicken Bao. A promising concept but poorly executed. The bao was a bizarrely small, flat disc of dough—completely raw and cold. The chicken itself was great, but at $19, this was an overpriced appetizer, not a meal. And when I explicitly stated that I needed to order more food? Crickets. No menu, no follow-up, nothing.

Final Verdict: Leaving a restaurant hungry and unimpressed Is never good. At best, J Club Grill and Bar is a “last resort” option if there’s nowhere else open. With better service, improved drink quality, and more reasonable portions, it could be something worth recommending. As...

My husband, son and I went to the new J Club Grill & Bar tonight in McKenzie Towne (in the old Fergus & Bix location). I'd heard about it from my community Facebook page, and had heard good things. I had high hopes going in, and was not disappointed! In fact, all hopes were beyond exceeded. The service was fantastic. The beer was sooo good (lots of great options), and the beer lines were so clean (nothing worse than rancid beer from dirty lines). We started with the fish taco from the happy hour menu. It was delicious. My son had the kids cheeseburger (same size patty as the adult burger, just fewer toppings) which is made in-house. My husband had the wings and nachos, and I had the Mac & Cheese with boar bacon. It was all absolutely delicious. We finished off with carrot cake w/lemon sorbet (tasted like lemon merengue pie) and the cheesecake (which is gluten free, for those looking for that option). It was the best cheesecake I've ever had. Ever. The owner, who is also the executive chef, came out to speak to us twice. He was so friendly and kind. I complimented him on the menu and food we'd had. You could taste the quality of ingredientsin each bite. He spoke about sourcing high-quality ingredients, and the importance of it, which was very apparent in how delicious the food was. It was a great experience. We'll definitely be...