Rising Tides Taproom — Restaurant in Calgary

Rising tides is kid friendly and a 2SLGTBTQAI+ safe space with lots of cute little quirks, style, friendly staff, awesome art and aesthetic. They really care about the community and give back when they can with the giving wall and hosting community events regularly. The owners are lovely people and the staff are sociable and you can tell they care about their work place, work relationships and the guests that come in.

Honestly it’s also probably one of the most accessible spaces in Calgary that I can think of. Which is incredible because spaces like this are hard to come by!

A Queer safe space AND accessible woah. What’s not to love?

Accessibility notes:

Transit is maybe a 2-5 min walk depending on which bus you take. The 1 stops very close to the location. There is also street parking available for folks who drive.

There is a cannabis store across the street for needzzzz, a coffee shop near by and a boba place right next door incase of needing sensory breaks and some other food stimulation.

There’s a ramp with a railing leading into the space. And there’s no stairs, but I think there’s a lip at the doors and I don’t think there’s a power door to get in.

The bathrooms are gendy neutch and single stall so they are a decent size with room for aides and have accessible lifting bars by the toilets. The bathrooms also have free sanitary products in case of emergencies!

Seating is accessible as there are movable chairs and tables as well as bench seating to accommodate larger bootays (I have learned that this is very important to look for in spaces because a lot of the time seating in spaces are not fat friendly and seating can be uncomfortable.)

There’s also a table with about 4 padded chairs, however the table is low and kind of awkward. Good for a chill gaming space, a casual little nap after getting a buzz on and chatting, maybe not eating unless you want to use your lap instead.

The menus are also vegetarian and vegan friendly, there’s a lot of variety of drinks and food available and there are also sober friendly drinks. However I can’t remember anything about accommodations for allergies or special diets though.

The staff can offer little samples off the tap if you can’t decide on a drink and they share helpful tips and advice on flavour choices while also sharing their favourites. It’s incredibly helpful for when someone faces decision paralysis.

THE CONS:

Some common struggles are definitely finding street parking, the bathroom lines, food quality and also the ability to find a seat when it’s full of people because the space is small so it fills up quickly if there are events or if it’s a busy night.

While they do have many plant based options. I personally prefer to just get a drink as I have never really been impressed by the food and I’ve tried a number of their options. However I have heard that many other folks really quite enjoy what they have to offer in terms of their meat options so this is just my personal little qualm. And I will happily spend my coin on the drinks they sell and keep coming back for the atmosphere and community building.

Accessibility also becomes a significant challenge once RT reaches near capacity as it limits space for wheelchair users and other folks that use mobility aids to get around due to all the humans crammed in like a bunch of queer sardines. So while RT hits high points with accessibility, no space can be perfect and there’s definitely room for improvement!

Thank you for creating a space where people feel safe to...

Came here for the first time today and some of it was amazing and some of it unfortunately wasn’t even okay. The room is bright and welcoming, they have a great beer list and an easy process to check out the menu and order (up at the counter). Lots of great games and things to do while you sip on your pint. The room was about half full, had a really cool vibe and they have a great program called the Giving Wall where they donate money to your chosen charity. I tried the Hi Cutie and the Dino sour beer and both were great. The staff was friendly, knowledgeable and prompt.

Where this place is severely let down is the food. We had tacos for lunch - chorizo, mushroom and a shrimp taco. The corn shells aren’t warmed or cooked, so they disintegrate as you eat them. The shrimp taco is made from a ceviche, so the entire taco is cold, which was unexpected and not good. The mushroom taco was tasty, save for the shell that made it somewhat inedible. I would definitely come back and have some drinks and play games, but would never eat here again - I wonder if they are opening to changing out the taco place they are...

My friend and I went to Rising Tides Taproom yesterday for a drink and some food. My friend has a service dog in training, when we entered the empty establishment we were greeted and then told dogs are not allowed because they serve food, we politely told the worker that she’s a service dog in training and is allowed anywhere the public is allowed, he repeated that they would not allow dogs in the establishment and we were welcome but had to go outside. We ordered drinks and went outside, asked for menus which they brought to us and then we sat for at least 20-25 mins without anyone returning to take our food order. Again, there were zero patrons in the establishment needing served but 3 workers all just standing around talking. We decided to just pay for our flights and leave. I suggest the owner or manager freshens up their staff on the rules of service dogs. By refusing a service dog you are refusing a disabled person. I’ve added photos from the alberta.ca website regarding rules around...