Queens Breakfast Cocktails — Restaurant in Calgary

Queen's has consistently been one of my top 3 brunch places in Calgary. I have been here numerous times and I've shared this gem with so many of my friends and family. It's always been a highly recommended favourite. The Croque Madame is consistently superb and it's one of my favourite dishes of all time. Not to mention, the portions are generous and it's difficult to even finish as one person.

I visited Queen's with a friend this afternoon and ordered the Croque Madame for lunch. As expected, the meal was absolute perfection and I purposely saved half of the sandwich so I could take it home to enjoy later. I was super excited to have leftovers because what's better than having your favourite meal once? Being able to have it twice, of course.

After paying for my meal, I left the restaurant and was making my way down the block when I realized, with absolute horror, that I'd forgotten my takeout container inside the restaurant. I had not even walked past the neighbouring church and quickly rushed back inside to retrieve it, only to find out that it had been thrown in the trash already. I had not left the restaurant for even one minute and the server had already thrown it in the garbage. I cannot even explain how utterly disappointed I am with this. The fact that the server cleared the table and threw out the container within 1 MINUTE of my departure is absolutely appalling to me. I cannot fathom how he did not even consider that I might've forgotten it and would be back to pick it up. Even keeping it for a 5 minute grace period would have been better than this. 1 minute is absolutely absurd and annoying, especially if a customer specifically asked for a to-go container to take home HALF of their meal.

If you want a delicious meal, Queen's is a great place to go. It's also a great place to go if you want to feel disappointed as well, like when someone eats the leftovers that you've been waiting all day to come home to eat.

EDIT Review updated to 4 stars. After speaking with the manager about my experience, they apologized for the situation and clarified that items should have been kept for 1-2 hours for customers. I decided to come back last weekend and they were extra attentive, friendly, and courteous during my time there. I was also given a discount on my bill, which I didn't expect. Overall, I really appreciated the extra effort and will still continue to come...

Calgary, what the heck are we putting up with? Why are we letting restaurants treat us like we’re in the way of them running their businesses? It’s irrelevant that I enjoyed my dish because I’ll never go back. And non of these behaviours are completely unique to Queens, but they were all here in one place.

1- When I put us on the waitlist, we were told that we had 15-30 min wait. Our table was ready within 10 mins, which was good. But, we only had 5 minutes to arrive otherwise we’d lose our table. Five minutes is a little unreasonable, no? Especially considering the parking situation.

2- There is practically no parking. I didn’t count but I would estimate about 5 spots reserved for this restaurant. And there are people running across traffic on Edmonton Trail because they’ve had to park wherever they can.

3- When we finished our meals and sat with a coffee, our waiter came by and pulled the old “Can I get you anything else? Just the bill then?” trick. This drives me mad. It’s bad enough when you’re actually done. Today, we both still had full mugs of coffee. I asked if there was a rush and he revealed that he’s being pressured to turn over our table. We were there for under an hour, still had coffee, and there were 10 other empty tables within my line of sight. Yes, I counted because we were being pressured to leave.

4- This one. Holy moly Calgary. We’ve got to take a stand about this. The minimum tip offered on their payment machine is 18%. Standard tipping is 15% in Canada and if the service is really outstanding, then you can add a few extra percent. This is clear exploitation of those who don’t know Canadian standards, those with math disabilities, parents who don’t have mental capacity to care for children and figure out the right tip, etc. It’s exploitative.

My friend and I both independently decided this would be our last trip here. It was absolutely ridiculous. How was the...

My newest breakfast place obsession and for a good reason. I had the Montreal Smoked Brisket Croissant Benedict ($22), with a maple chai latte ($8) and my boyfriend had the Nutella waffles ($17).

The Nutella waffles were tasty, sweet and paired nicely with raspberries and bananas. Yes, it says strawberries on the menu, but we actually really enjoyed and preferred the raspberries with banana instead.

The latte was absolutely delicious. While it didn’t really taste like chai, I drank it so fast because of how good it tasted. Also, the fresh cinnamon leaf on top was beautiful. You can tell this place has baristas dedicated to making high quality lattes and drinks. Having delicious, unique and savoury drinks seriously elevates this place. Which makes it so great. The menu is vast. I saw such amazing looking food and drinks all over than I’m dying to try next.

My Benedict was great. The croissant was fresh, soft, flakey and buttery. The brisket was good quality and flavourful on its own. The potatoes were fresh, deep fried and topped with this phenomenal spicy tomato sauce that I would kill for the recipe. Perfect dish honestly.

This spot is heavily influenced by French cuisine. It’s also extremely interesting to dine in. You walk in and it’s unlike any other breakfast place you visit. There’s chandeliers on the ceiling, tile flooring and portraits of queens on the walls. You feel like royalty.

My only comment is that there was a missed opportunity to play instrumental versions of well known songs instead of ambience music. Think Bridgerton vibes, where they use instrumental/classical versions of popular songs.

This spot lives up to the hype. But if you plan to visit, make a reservation a week in advance or arrive before 9:30. Otherwise, good luck getting a table. And arrive 10 minutes at least before hand, because finding parking was...