The Dirty Duck — Restaurant in Calgary

They have an OK selection of beers on tap, some of which are quite unique, but those unique ones are all hoppy af. Not sure what the driving factor is behind all beers needing to taste like stomach acid these days is, but it needs to stop.

OK selection of bottles too, and menu is alright, but expect a huge premium because this place is in the hipster/gentrified area of Inglewood, which is a dump, but for some reason people think it's Kensington, which is also a hipster/gentrified dump.

Our server, who was slow & who confused my Half Hitch pint order for a half pint of ?, brought one bill at the end of our evening--which is fine, but she billed my pint of Half Hitch as a Fire & Fury, didn't ask if our group of 5 wanted separate ones or one altogether, and explained that groups normally only get one bill and figure out what each person owes themselves (which is complete horseshit; this is 2018, a lot of people carry only credit cards). Also, salsa for nachos costs an extra $2, which is insane & unheard of.

The place was not very busy (maybe 6 tables of patrons, trivia night), so I'm not sure what the problem was. Pub/bar service in Canada is almost universally terrible now, and Swan's is no exception. Honestly--and I can't believe I'm saying this--I'd rather go to Boston Pizza because at least it knows its role and doesn't take itself...

It was my friends bachelorette party on Saturday and I had called the restaurant a few weeks in advance to have dinner at this pub. I had communicated with the pub a few times before Saturday, and they were very nice to deal with. Our experience for dinner was a total let down. Our waitress Nadene presented us with the worst service ever. She was so unwelcoming and rude to all of us. Our greeting from her was “oh you guys were at the pedal pub, I’m not going to be serving you guys for a while”. To be clear, we were not a rowdy bunch at all. We paced ourselves as we had a very long night ahead of us, and 5 of the girls with us weren’t even drinking. She didn’t come and serve us drinks until 45 minutes after we had sat down. At that point, we were all hungry and wanted to order food, so when we asked if we could order at that time, she told us no (again, in a very rude manner). Our food order wasn’t taken until over an hour after we showed up. We had pregnant women and a small child with us who were very hungry. The food was good, and t bar tenders at the bar were friendly, and we likely would have spent much longer at the pub. Nadene treated us as though we were an inconvenience. None of us will...

The old school "neighbourhood pub" vibe really makes this fixture an Inglewood gem. Others come and go but the Duck remains. It's all about the chill vibes, proper pours, and rotating menu that's delightfully better than you'd ever expect (the fried chicken is simply amazing). Friendly & open banter at the bar, sports on the TVs, a variety of private tables, darts & pool. Nadean plays a killer '90s hip hop mix from time to time (incongruous AND it works!) and pours a mean Crown Float to boot. Like I said, a proper community pub atmosphere makes the Duck an ever rarer find.

Ignore the naysayers. I personally like the 'straight talk' treatment from the bartenders. Real service from real humans who clearly care about their patrons; no plastic smiles just fishing for tips. They absolutely know how to read a customer's intent and have little patience for any drunks rolling in for "just one more" at the end of a raucous pedal pub, or whatever. Yet they're so on point with customers who know how to act cool. Keep the vibes chill, enjoy and relax after a long...