Lazy Loaf & Kettle — Restaurant in Calgary

My family and I regularly visit Lazy Loaf and Kettle. It's a great place to stop for a treat when you're walking along the river, or grab a sandwich to eat on a bench by the river or on their outdoor patio. It's even a great place to go in the evening for dessert or coffee with a friend.

They offer tender baked goods, gigantic cinnamon buns, sweet brownies and squares, and a delicious variety of cakes. The Kettle Bunwich is so delicious that I never order the other sandwiches. There's a rack of day-olds hidden by the piano, so I always buy a loaf of cheap bread too.

At lunch time, this place gets crazy busy, so be prepared to wait (for parking, in line, for your food) if you are there between 11:30 and 1:30 pm. Other times of the day, it's not too busy.

The service has improved since my last visit but I'm not quite ready to change the following section of my review. It seems like Lazy Loaf sometimes has trouble with consistent and punctual service - I've gone when the service was humming along quickly and everyone is getting their food within a few minutes, typically at lunch when fully staffed. But I've also gone in the evening when a single staff member is behind the counter, and it's the end of a long day and it takes 10 minutes to get a drip coffee and slice of cake. And we were the only customers.

It wouldn't be a big deal if it was accompanied by a "Thanks for waiting!" when it's my turn but usually I get the staff member who clearly doesn't want to be at work and is just tired of serving. It would be nice if the service was friendlier and more consistent between day/evening. But that's my only complaint. I love everything else about Lazy...

My first visit to this place was years ago, and I distinctly remember leaving with a "meh" feeling, not overly impressed with the food or service and with no intentions of going out of my way to come back. I happened to be in the neighbourhood last week so thought I'd stop in and give it another chance. The food has improved somewhat - the soup was just ok, the sandwich was decent, and the baked goods were actually pretty good. However, what completely ruined the experience was the absolute middling service. To start with, the employees all had an apathetic/uncaring attitude, only providing the minimum amount of service to take and deliver an order. Now everyone has a bad day once in awhile, and I'm not looking for fake smiles and forced pleasantries - so long as they're at least doing their job quickly and efficiently to give me what I came in for, I can live with it. But the service was also slow, the food took a long time to show up, my order was screwed up, and it took an inordinately long amount of time for them to fix it. By the time they replaced my sandwich, my lunch hour had run out and I had to take it to go. There was no apology, no effort, just a 'here's your sandwich', and then another look of disapproval when I asked if I could have it immediately wrapped up, as if they couldn't believe I was inconveniencing them further. I left again with the same feeling I had years ago - no intention of going out of my way to stop by again. Maybe I'll stumble by in another couple of years - if they manage to stay...

I absolutely love this little gem of a restaurant, coffee shop and bakery. It's been in Parkdale for years and used to go there as a teenager and recently rediscovered it while attending the Beauty Bar upstairs (In Your Face Lashes 5 💫- best lashes ever 😘)

Loaf and Kettle is fantastic! Their food is well portioned and delicious, the Taco Bowl was huge and very good as are many sandwiches and the baked goods...OMG! Large portions and so gratifying - best Carrot Cake ever with just the right amount of cinnamon and cream cheese icing and I'm addicted to this classic treat - the Chocolate Walnut Zucchini Loaf it's so tasty, moist and delicious. I also love their breads...their Regular loaf is fantastic, Sour Dough is great the Jalapeno Cheese is yummy and my absolute favorite - Rosemary & Cranberry Loaf is just loaded with cranberries suspended throughout the bread and a suble hint of rosemary in each bite, I toast this with butter and melted cheddar on top and it's my go to comfort treat, so satisfying. This is a wonderful gem in Calgary, visit when you can, have a speciality coffee and try some of their awesome baked goods and meals. Their food doesn't disappoint and their staff are friendly and just wonderful! Love the Lazy...