Original Joe's — Restaurant in Calgary

OJ's. The nostalgia is thick in the air. One of the first restaurants I could consider my "hangout" when I moved to Calgary 20 years ago.

I loved old Original Joe's in Kensington, good pub food, cheesy decor, and good service. And foot long hot dogs. Always good for a pint or six before bar hopping the night away.

My wife and I, children removed for hiking with grandpa, had the night to ourselves. What to do? Imagine the possibilities.

For those of you childless, you may not get the sheer value of kidless nights. Parents, *wink, know.

Trooping around Kensington is an adventure as always. The mix of the ruckus from street patios, a personal annoyance eating up more valuable parking space, to random ranting raving homeless people is common place. Eating can be sophisticated or plebian, either will do. Variety from ethnic to pub to culture themed all exist.

So wandering through to where we found the old OJ's. Old no more and like reuniting with an old friend (a decade later) we stopped in being enticed by the menu.

Welp gone were the couch like tacky colored seats, the quasi rustic ambiance and the usually unkempt staff.

Bright colors, modern decor and brightly lit. Fantastic patio and minimalist table settings top it off. Staff were dressed casually well, meaning individual but smartly dressed. We were instantly greeted at the door, and offered a seat anywhere we like. A good start.

Our waitress was prompt, and inquisitive, the right amount of friendliness to get a better tip but not enough that I felt like she was desperate loner looking for a new clique. It was good.

My wife decided to a la carte the menu, sharing everything from the menu. A dozen wings, Cuban sandwich and truffle chips. All well made, satisfying the picky foodie that my wife is. Or how she puts it "I exercise to eat, I don't drink because I'd rather get calories from good food". I'm more indifferent about food, it smells mostly good, 👍.

I like OJ's, I miss old OJ's, I had good memories with friends. I do look forward to making new memories at the upscale version. A good choice for a date night, or pre-game warm up before heading out for night club adventures. You may decide to stay there until...

Original Joes in Kensington - WORST DINING EXPERIENCE IVE EVER HAD! I will be emailing head office over this.

This evening my brother, sister in law and their three little kids travelled to Calgary from out of town for a visit. After a long day we were hungry as heck! We knew there was a fish and chips special on at Original Joes. We got a seat right away and was immediately greeted by a young blonde who looked newish. She was kind. Our drinks came from her- and she took our order. Throughout the experience we had multiple different waitresses bring our food and get the order wrong. There was no condiments provided without having to track someone down and ask them for it. Nobody asked if everything was tasting okay, or if we needed anything else. We had no refills until the very end of our meal despite putting our glasses on the edge of the table. Besides the awful service there was one waitress in particular who was SEVERELY ignorant. She continuously gave our entire table dirty looks, her attitude was very poor and she was snarky with her tone. We didn’t even feel we could ask for refills because of the way we were being treated. At the end I asked to speak to a manager- to which we were told “there is no manager” What? How is there no manager on a FRIDAY NIGHT in Kensington at original Joes? I had to settle for the next person in line which was the bartender. He came over long after we had asked to speak with him (the restaurant wasn’t busy) and he wasn’t kind either. In the midst of me explaining what had happened he said “I’ll talk to her” I got no apology, no “I’m sorry about that” or “I’m sorry about your experience”. To which the waitress then walked over to him, completely disregarded that I was still standing there and said “was it about me?” I informed them I would absolutely be posting this exposing them for their disgusting behaviour towards a family who just wanted meal- we did nothing wrong and never intended to. How can you be so rude to children and a family? I could feel the entire staff vibe and let me tell you it was not a good vibe. Caddy and mean!! Avoid at all costs! Needless to say we didn’t tip one cent and...

Original Joes (OJs) in Kensington delivers a similar experience you'd expect to receive at any OJs location. Good food, casual atmosphere and fair prices. I'd describe OJs as more of an upscale pub or gastropub for those who have never been. One of my favorite things about OJs is you get to choose 2 sides with the majority of their entrees! Lots of food and no more having to choose one side over another! OJs draught selection is a bit lacking and their bottle selection isn't the best, but the prices are good and the house draught is actually decent. The daily specials OJs has are worth while and they're also good with seasonal offers for both food and drinks.

On my most recent visit I ordered from their "Summer Fresh menu" and chose the Mediterranean Chicken Wrap. It was a nice change from the norm with a good balance of flavors from a little bit of spice in the chicken and naan, to a nice offset by the tzatziki. I also got a side of their industrial strength Chicken Wings which are on sale on Tuesdays, I handle my heat well so they were enjoyable, about a 6.5-7/10 for spiciness IMO. For my drink I tried their "Guest on Tap" special which was a Grapefruit Lager, wasn't my favorite. As for service, our server was good and on point, no complaints there.

You'll have to do street parking at this location, but there is nearby angle parking and a private lot if It's too busy. A big draw to this location for me is their patio, Kensington doesn't have great patios but this one is bigger, heated and right on Kensington road.

Everything considered, I'd definitely recommend OJs in Kensington if you're looking for a slightly upscale pub experience a bit above the usual Kensington offerings. Definitely a 4/5, but not quite the...