Merchants Restaurant — Restaurant in Calgary

First of all, I hope my review is not coloured by the annoying fact that their delivery trucks are always blocking the alley for fifteen minutes at a time, maybe more. But this is my fair warning that, while I believe my review is unbiased, it may be biased.

My two stars is most directly related to the food. The cold food is decent. Their "hot" food is always cold.

On our first visit my friend and I from the neighbourhood ordered salads. They weren't spectacular, but they weren't bad. I got the Baja chicken salad and he got the house greens with an added Cajun pulled chicken. They were competently made, but nothing I couldn't get elsewhere.

On our second visit he ordered the duck tacos. They were cold and the portion size was tiny. They should have been listed as an appetizer and not as a sandwich. I had a Bobby B burger and it was nothing special. My side was fries and they were unexciting. Both were not hot. And the server was a bit awkward and not naturally good with people.

On our third visit, I had the fish and chips. The fish tasted good, but was a bit too slimy for my tastes. I'm sure it was safe, and maybe my palate needs some work, but I prefer a firmer fish texture. And again the fries were uninteresting. Both could have been hot, but were just kind of warm. and And the server only had access to a pepper grinder instead of self-serve pepper and it took her a long time to get a salt shaker so that I could try to make them sort of interesting. And trying to cut a medium-sized piece of fish on a cutting board instead of a plate wasn't the best experience. I was worried I was going to drop food on my pants.

This place needs some work. The prices are higher than other places in the neighbourhood, but I'm not sure why. They need to be better at coordinating food so that it's at an appetizing temperature. The servers are physically attractive and may be appealing to people who are attracted to women, but the service wasn't spectacular. The interior decorating was nice and the booths are reasonably comfortable. I don't like high bar-type chairs so I can't speak to those.

The only reason I think someone might want to go here is that they have a physically large space. It might be good for parties or larger suppers. It looks like you could fit several tables together if you had party...

The first time at this restaurant and probably my last. The man with a brace on his leg said it was full as soon as I arrived by myself and said I would have to wait and they might close because of an emergency problem. I said I was with a party and he told me to text them and they could come to door and say hello to me but I wasn’t allowed to enter.

Then after I pointed out my table I was allowed in and my friends had a chair and a drink waiting for me. My server Tiguan was the best; professional, friendly, suggested wine and food of the menu excellent service. He gets a 5 but my overall experience was a 1.5.

One of the servers a blonde lady about 5’11” was rude and when she went by would charge through like a linebacker holding her arm out and just shoving people instead of using her voice and saying excuse me. Instead she pushed and bumped and barked at people to sit down in their seats. I watched her on the other side of the room and more people were standing around and when I passed by no one was pushing or barking at people to sit down.

The restaurant had water pouring down from the ceiling and emergency crew were outside trying to deal with it and the staff were not handling the situation very well especially the manager or owner. He lost his cool and yelled at people to sit down or get out. What he should have done is set tables and extra chairs to the one end of the restaurant and rope off the section or close the restaurant because it could become a more serious problem if the roof gives way.

Profit was more important than safety. The drinks and food could have been discounted for the inconvenience. It was packed for week day, which is normal for wine Wednesday is what another patron told me.

The bathroom was dirty and I wiped down the counters and taps for them.

Overall it was not a warm and pleasant staff atmosphere, but the patrons were friendly and especially the people celebrating someone’s birthday. Mixed crowd of middle aged men and young women of all races but very loud. It was missing music.

Oh and check your bill my friend was...

We will not be returning to this restaurant. It used to be one of our favorite places to go, but our last experience was so terrible, that we will not be giving them anymore business. I made a reservation for a larger group, including two kids that needed booster seats. I made sure to mention this when I called. When we got there, only one booster seat was available, as apparently they only have two for the whole restaurant. Our server promised us that once the other family was finished up, we would get the second seat. An hour and 15 mins went by, the other table left and still no booster seat, it was given to another table. Our server apologized for this. I appreciated her taking ownership of this mistake. The manager, Blair, then came by and was not apologetic whatsoever for our inconvenience or any mistake made my his restaurant. He was actually quite condescending. At one point, I had given him some feedback that they should have more than two booster seats in a restaurant of that size, especially in this area where there is a lot of young families. He then went on to lecture me about the difference between restaurants and 'restaurant and bar'. I'm not sure what the point of this was. I am a business owner, and I know one of the most important things for a successful business is to have great costumer service and to accept positive or negative feedback. The lack of booster seats was not the issue, the poor customer service makes us not want to return and I will be sure to tell all my friends and family about how we were treated. There are many other great restaurants in Calgary to go to that actually appreciate their customers, there is no need to waste time and money...