Leopold's Tavern Calgary - Elbow — Restaurant in Calgary

If you're looking for an inclusive environment with exceptional staff, Leopold's Tavern is the perfect place for you. Although all their locations are great, the Elbow location stands out as truly exceptional, and I've personally visited several other locations.

I'm not the kind of person who visits a place more than once unless it meets all my criteria: exceptional service, unreal food that caters to everyone's tastes, the right "vibe", cleanliness, a fantastic selection of drinks on tap, and reasonable prices.

I had the pleasure of conversing with some of the kitchen staff and let me tell you, they really know how to cook. With my own culinary background, I can say that their menu never fails to impress, offering a wide variety of options. From elevated pub fare like poutines and burgers, to exceptional breakfast choices like breakfast poutines and chicken and waffles, to more unique dishes like scotch eggs and donair, Leopold's Tavern surprises you with every item on their menu. It's not the kind of variety you would typically expect from a tavern, but they truly excel at it.

The ambiance at Leopold's Tavern is truly remarkable. From the electronic jukebox that allows patrons to choose their own music, to the wide range of washrooms, including a gender-neutral option for those who feel more comfortable there, the décor is beautiful and fun, featuring Polaroid pictures, custom neon signs, vintage toys, and collectibles. The vinyl records that stretch across the ceiling of the bar are also an impressive touch. Furthermore, for Flames fans, there are plenty of televisions that can be viewed from virtually every seat.

Last but certainly not least, let's talk about the staff. All the factors mentioned before are insignificant without a well-mannered and enjoyable team. Colin, the man in charge, is a gentle giant whose laughter is infectious, making you feel like you're in a magical "third place" between work and home. He's truly the heart and soul of the place. Another outstanding staff member is Kass, one of the bartenders who took care of me during my first visit. Kass is always attentive, provided wonderful recommendations, and had a good knowledge what’s what even beyond their menu and offerings. While Colin and Cass truly stand out, I cannot forget to mention the other exceptional staff members who contributed to my experience: Carrie, Riley, Jacob, Jessica, Raegan, and Payton.

Although I've only visited a few times, I have never been disappointed with any aspect of the service at Leopold's Tavern. I would like to express my gratitude to the staff for being exceptional, welcoming, and simply beautiful human beings....

We stopped in on a Tuesday evening at about 7:10. My husband ordered the original poutine and I asked for the bbq rancher poutine with chicken. I checked with our server to see if I could substitute gravy only for the bbq sauce and ranch. And we ordered pickle spears to start. After 35 minutes in the restaurant with a handful of other guests I started to get a bit impatient. Since we hadn’t seen our server for most of our stay, my husband asked another staff member if she could check on our order. Shortly after she brought us our food all at once. Our original server came out and I mentioned I was unhappy with the wait. I mean, all we had was fries and pickle spears, something that could have been handed through a drive thru window in just a few minutes. The server blamed the kitchen and said they forgot my modification to gravy, they still slathered it in ranch though. Not sure why the server didn’t mention the kitchen issue, or why we didn’t get our appetizer first. Honestly I think she forgot to put our order in and tried to pass the blame. I tried to keep an open mind, mainly because I was very hungry, but it was just disgusting. I had two fries that were already cold and just couldn’t get past the ranch with gravy. What a weird combination. We sat for another 12-15 minutes with my fish clearly pushed to the side. I felt bad for the server that kept checking on us, none of this was her fault, but she asked about my plate anyway. I told her the truth, it was gross. She took my plate and talked to our server, who never bothered to come discuss the issue, then she came back and offered to replace my plate. By then it was already after 8 pm, we live out of town and needed to get home, so I declined. At least I didn’t have to ask for the grossness to be removed from our bill but now I have to go to a fast food place on the way home. I appreciate the card the server left for us for next time, but we...

Oh man, hope it was just a bad day for 2 of the 3 staff members here on a Tuesday earlier this week. Basically no greeting when I came in, and then a male bartender (who looked semi-homeless), from how he was groomed and dressed, came to take my order after throwing a food menu ln the table on the patio I was seated at. I asked if there were any specials, and he clearly was offended that a customer would be looking for value on a Tuesday at 4pm, but he did tell me the Leo's lager was on special. Then I asked if there were any prices for draft, as I had already opened the online menu, and didn't see any. He said no, and when I asked why not, he said "cause there isn't." lol. Really bad. I will never come back again. The room inside feels so nice, but whoever is hiring and training the staff here is only hitting about 33%. Before I paid for my one Leo's lager, I had a really pleasant girl come over to say she was taking over the table and patiently took me through the specials for the day after bringing me the happy hour and daily specials menu. Maybe just daytime bar is hard to hire good people for here??? Anyway, it's going to be difficult to get me back in the door, and I eat out almost every night. Pricing is not good either, especially for a small neighborhood pub. Needs to be fixed, quickly- as this is a tough location to run, many have failed here.

I will also note that this isn't my first time here. I came previously with my wife (as we live close by), and had average service at best, that time as well. There does not seem to be an emphasis on the customer here - or at least from most of the staff. For the prices, I expect amazing people selection and training. We both want this restaurant to work here, but I feel, at this point, Leopolds is...