Spot On Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in Calgary

Whenever I see a new restaurant with solid reviews I make sure to add it to my list of places to try, this was the case with Spot On Kitchen & Bar. First of all I was very happy to get away from eating downtown; seems like the majority of the time I’m eating out it’s a trek to Calgary’s busy core. So heading to a restaurant in the quieter and unassuming Garrison Green was a breath of fresh air! Spot On is located on the corner of Richard Road and Richard Way in the Southwest where Local 002 used to be, you’ll notice it right away with its fun and bright new sign and branding! There’s plenty of parking as well and it’s free, another plus over not eating downtown! Upon entering you’ll take in their bright and homey interior, the decor has a simple but modern feel to it with rustic and local elements that make for a very relaxed and cozy environment. The hostess was super friendly and was happy to let us pick our table as it was a quieter evening. The restaurant is broken into a lounge and dining room, but both areas flow freely into each other to maintain the open concept. We sat in the lounge which still felt very relaxed and welcoming, not loud and hectic like most separate restaurant lounges. There’s also a beautiful looking patio we would have tried had the weather cooperated.

Their menu offers items created with locally sourced food and selections of a gastropub variety, nothing feels too out there and a lot of it feels Canadian. Things like their poutines, Alberta beef, Quebec cheese curds and maple bacon just scream Canadian comfort food. But then they also have a ton of fresh and colourful ingredients added as a twist to your usual pub menu items, a “Tacos N’ Mexi” section, pastas, thin crust pizza and even weekend brunch! Their selection is great, well-rounded but not overwhelming or too much to go through. There are even a lot of gluten-free options throughout their entire menu! Their beer selection is adequate for your average beer drinker, but beer snobs will likely be a bit disappointed. Their cocktail menu sticks to the basics, but they looked equipped enough to take most requests. Finally their wine menu is definitely an improvement on the former two and offers a nice selection of reds and whites, along with a couple roses and a few champagne options.

Our server Mia was great; she was accommodating and on the ball with everything. Even when we were changing orders right after saying them, she remained patient and friendly lol :). She made sure to check-up on us more than once and ensure we had everything we needed, and was happy to answer any questions we had about the food or the restaurant. It also seemed like she was well trained on the menu and knew it well, I’m always impressed when a server can confidently point you in the right direction and read the table well. For food we split a half order of their “El Grande Nachos” w/ chicken, I can see why they’re called El Grande as even a half order was substantial! For our mains I went with the special which was the “Steakout Sandwich”, for my side I had Kennebec fries and my fiancée had the Maple Canuck Burger with a caesar salad on the side. The nachos were just okay for me, the toppings were good but the tortilla chips weren’t my favorite nor was the salsa. To be fair I don’t like most restaurant salsas as I like my salsa hot and spicy! My steak sandwich was cooked perfectly and it was definitely a quality AAA cut and the fries were great. By the far the biggest winner at the table was the Maple Canuck Burger, luckily my fiancée couldn’t finish it all and I could sample it. It was so tender and the flavour combination was unreal, I tried parts on their own which were all great and as a whole it comes together amazingly! In my top 5 burgers for sure!

Super impressed by Spot On Kitchen & Bar, exceeded my expectations and delivered great service and even greater food! Definitely one I’ll be excited...

Beware of wine club night: My family and I recently had a terrible experience at Spot On due to the very poor decision of their owner and management team to host a wine club gathering for a large group of people in the main dining room while still seating and serving other guests, who were not part of the wine club, in the same area.

In very poor taste, the owner was "yell talking" to the club about each type of wine they were trying, which made it very unpleasant for other guests in the room to enjoy their meal. This was made far worse by an incredibly arrogant member of the club who insisted on whistling as loud as he could with his fingers in his mouth each time the owner attempted to yell about another wine they were about to try.

A few of the servers and the on site manager asked this man several times to stop his incredibly rude, shrill, and loud whistling, yet he refused to do so. Several guests in the dining room even asked him to stop, which he arrogantly ignored. We spoke directly with the owner about his behaviour and were met with an apathetic 'what can I do about it?' attitude. We suggested that this man be asked to leave, but this was not taken seriously.

The only way to properly host an event like this would be to close the restaurant to other guests, or potentially to hold it outside on the patio, or to hold it at another venue where a private room is available. The entire event was conducted in poor taste and was very disrespectful to all the other guests in the restaurant.

On a positive note, the food was tasty and our server was excellent. We made sure to tip her well as this was not her fault at all. In fact, all the servers and the on site manager were equally as frustrated by this event. They kindly 'comped' our deserts as a way of apologizing for the unpleasant dining experience.

To the owner of Spot On: Please do better next time and think more carefully about ALL...

We found Spot On on a Google search and saw that kids eat free on Sunday which is always a bonus so we thought we would check it out. When we arrived the staff were friendly and set up a table for everyone and the kids while we waited for another guest. Our server Pauli was a delight. We had the Happy Seoul Tacos with a side of Mac N Cheese, the Spot On Burger, a Turkey Club and the kids had Chicken strips with fries and a kids Cheese Pizza. The food was fantastic the Tacos had an amazing flavor profile and a very good mix of textures. If I had one constructive criticism I would like to see the chicken cooked slightly less. It had a great crunch but was a tad dry. I would still give it 5 stars even with the cook on the chicken. The other meals were all great, the kids liked their meals too. All in all for the price you are going to get an excellent meal and experience.

UPDATE This was our second visit to Spot On and once again it did not disappoint. The service was again flawless, friendly and fast. We had the spot burger with an impossible pattie and sweet potato fries which was excellent all around, we also had the fowlmouth chicken sandwich with sweet potato fries which had great flavour and was very good. I had the quesadilla with truffle fries and truffle aoli and a baked French Onion Soup, the soup was great with a very good depth of flavors however it was a tad salty, the puff pastry on top was delicious. The truffle fries were ok but not quite what I was expecting, the cook on the fries was perfect but they tasted a tad dry as if the potatoes were too starchy for some reason. The aoli was awesome. The quesadilla was very good and the flavors ...