The Other Side Sports Pub — Restaurant in Calgary

During a recent stay at Hotel Blackfoot in Calgary, we decided to dine at The Other Side Sports Pub, located within the hotel, on a Saturday evening.

Hotel Blackfoot boasts several dining and entertainment options, including Green's Restaurant, a Lobby Lounge with live jazz, the premium Summit Lounge, room service, The Laugh Shop Comedy Club, and large event spaces. The Sports Pub itself is quite spacious and dimly lit, likely for TV viewing, and connects to a room with pool tables and the Comedy Club's bar area.

The pub was surprisingly empty for a Saturday night, with only one large group and a couple of other tables occupied. While this normally would have given us pause, we reasoned that with the hotel being fully booked and its association with the hotel's other restaurants, the food would be fresh and prepared in the main kitchen.

We ordered two pints of Stella Artois, a Taco Salad for CB, and an order of onion rings for me. While the salad seemed fresh and the onion rings were fine, the Stella Artois pints tasted a bit “off' to both of us, and neither of us finished our drink. We initially dismissed it, attributing it to tiredness. We retired to our room by 9:30 PM.

Early the next morning, CB woke up feeling unwell with gastrointestinal issues, necessitating a trip to the pharmacy for Imodium (we had an event later that day and couldn't risk it). Given our limited intake the previous day (toast for breakfast, and some celery, crackers, cheddar cheese, and one glass of wine on the flight), we were certain the cause was either the Taco Salad or the 'off' Stella beer from the pub. I also felt unwell, though less severely than CB.

That morning (Sunday), we informed the Hotel Manager at the front desk about our experience, urging them to notify the restaurant. They assured us they would inform the restaurant after copying our receipt. Disappointingly, by Tuesday, we had received no follow-up. When we contacted The Other Side Sports Pub directly, their manager stated this was the first they had heard of our issue, despite our earlier report to hotel management. They assured us they would inform the chef and staff. Summary While Hotel Blackfoot is a pleasant property overall (see upcoming review), their follow-up protocol for food contamination issues in one of their restaurants is lacking. It's customary for a restaurant to offer a refund for the offending dish, an apology, or at least investigate when a guest falls ill from their food. The Other Side Sports Pub, and by extension the hotel management, failed completely on all these fronts, showing a lack of concern for guest well-being. You may want to try this restaurant but be forewarned that the Taco Salad or tap beer may present an...

Came here for my partners pool, and the waitress took our order about 5 minutes after arriving. My partner got a chicken burger and I got the pork ribs, we both ordered cokes with lemons. Cokes came out with limes and not lemons, not a big deal. Then his food came out after 10-15 minutes since ordering, my food wasn’t out yet. I waited 15 more minutes before finally finding our waitress who was wiping down tables to ask her about my food order. She asked what I ordered and didn’t remember and after I told her the ribs she took off. I waited another 20 minutes before seeing her when she finally brought out my food. Not ince did she apologize for forgetting about my order or for how long it took. After eating she never returned to see if we needed refills or anything else. Forgetting an order can happen but to not even acknowledge it or apologize after it happened and I was never rude about it too is terrible customer service. Will not return unless I have to for his pool. So in the end after arriving at 6:55, I finally got to start eating at about 7:55 ish five or...

Had the nachos and my friend had the tacos and donair bites. The nachos were above par, the chips were fresh and tasty. However the cheese was a bit spare for the amount of chips. Since the chips were so crunchy with out the cheese to put some moisture into the chips it became painful to bite into them after awhile. The fresh not pickled jalapenos were a nice surprise. My friend liked the donair bites and thought the tacos were okay but bland. I like my salsa mild, but he was disappointed there was no kick to it....