The Rooftop YYC — Restaurant in Calgary

Well, well, well. Rooftop is an interesting place still trying to figure out its dynamic.

Rooftop YYC is interesting because it has all the elements to make for an awesome experience and yet it's not quite coalescing...yet.

First off, the name Rooftop will set most people up with false expectations! Yes it is on a Rooftop, no there are no views as one would expect from a "rooftop". Instead approach Rooftop YYC as a warehouse party downtown. Qualifier - as a TROPICAL warehouse party downtown. I say tropical for fake green plants they have decorating the space, which is fine by me as I'll be digging the tropical vibe come the bleakness of winter!

Second it has a fantastic speaker system with minimal echo considering the cavernous space, thoughtfully large screens for visual entertainment and multiple sources of soft mood lighting that hits the visual goldilocks zone so it's neither dim or too bright.

The food is fantastic and the seats are comfortable. Overall F&B here is pricey, if you judging the venue as a night club.

All this is packaged in a very new fresh look for materials all about with two bars, a stage and an open kitchen.

Yet with all this, the vibe was still just a smidgen off. First a common complaint - the service! Truly servers get lost in the crowd and simply can't keep up with orders. Secondly, the two bars are small and struggled to cope with the growing number of people forgoing servers and going straight to the pouring source. This leads to alot of grumpy servers, patrons and stressed bartenders. These two elements are enough to yank you from the fun. Thirdly, the music when I went was subpar, the Dj simply didn't read the crowd and played he liked instead of reading the room and upping the atmosphere.

I'd go again, only to see the potential of all the awesome elements come together - that'd be an awesome night.

Bonus note - there was no elevator that we were introduced to. So be wary and step slowly ye drunk comrades! There be...

I am extremely disappointed and frustrated with the NBA House event that took place at The Rooftop YYC.

On the NBA House website under the impression FAQ, one of the questions was "When are the NBA legends coming to the NBA House?" The answer was, "More information will be provided in the week leading up to the event — keep checking our site and follow @NBACanada for updates." However, no such information was provided during that time. I searched online extensively, reached out to both NBA House and the event organizers, The Rooftop YYC and received no response from NBA House and when Rooftop YYC finally replied, they simply directed me to the website link, which already lacked the relevant details. My son went to The Rooftop YYC to ask about scheduled times but again didn't get the information we needed.

Were we expected to visit every day and hope they’d show up?

Additionally, we purchased tickets for the viewing party last night. The experience was disappointing — there were very few screens, overcrowding, and no seating available. We couldn’t even sit on the floor to watch the game because we didn’t have a DoorDash Pass. It seemed like having a DoorDash Pass was a requirement to move around or access certain seating areas, as many spots were exclusive to DoorDash users. Charging people $30 to stand up for hours with no direct view of the screen is absolutely insane. Letting people use chairs to place their drinks on instead of offering them to people who were expected to stand for hours to watch the game was disappointing to see.

My son and I arrived around 5:50 PM and left approximately at 6:20 PM because we were unable to watch/see the game, which was both frustrating and upsetting.

Overall, the communication was terrible. It was a complete waste of our time and hard-earned money. We paid $60 just to walk in and out of the venue, only to leave feeling...

The Atmosphere: I cannot say enough great things about this place! I understand the service industry can be tough but every single person I interacted with was genuinely nice, seemed to enjoy their job and the environment they worked in. I was greeted with enthusiasm (I’m sorry, I didn’t get the 2 young women’s name at the hostess stand- but they were so lovely and set an amazing tone for my dining experience!) As a flight attendant, you get used to doing things on your own- and sometimes it’s still a little awkward when you’re in a social setting solo - but Jasmine and Cole made me feel right at home. Jasmine took amazing care of me and if something I was interested wasn’t able to be modified, she went above and beyond to find an alternative that I would love - and I did! Cole came by and introduced himself and struck up conversation as well in between my courses coming out. When he learned that this was my first visit to Calgary, he so graciously offered a dessert to take with me! I never ever expect anything for free and I cannot thank both Jasmine and Cole for showing their kindness and genuine conversation with me!

The Food: the Brussel sprouts. AMAZING. You will not regret them. A little spicy, the goat cheese is an amazing creamy, salty compliment to the spice, perfectly cooked. I also got the Wayne’s World Pizza- some of the best pizza I’ve had. The sweetness of the spiced honey with the pepperoni complimented each other perfectly. Pro tip- ask for a side of ranch (it’s house made) and dip the pizza into the ranch. You’re welcome.

Overall: I hope I get to come back soon. I will definitely be requesting Jasmine and Cole when I do get to come back! If you two are reading this, thank you SO much for everything and I hope to...