The Next Act — Restaurant in Greater Strathcona

My wife and I were looking forward to eating here, because of the hype. Getting in was a pleasant experience: they were busy so they asked us for a name and a number to text us and then we meandered outside until we got the text. But that's where the pleasantries end.

They charge $5 for a can of "craft" soda that had less flavor than heavily watered down fountain pop. I might consider buying it again if it was 25¢/can, including deposit.

The burger ("The Critic", ironically) had plenty of meat (probably a half-pound patty), but it was bland and over-cooked, and the pulled pork my wife ordered was dry, bland, and had way too many onions. Their fries were the best part of the meal and were pretty good (overlooking the fact that they were too salty and more than half of them were tiny -- half an inch or shorter). We would've been happier if they had sold us day-old fast food - even at their wallet-gouging prices.

The pub-like atmosphere was very noisy, and the service was sub-par: the waiter asked us how our food was, literally just as we took our first bite, and then didn't come back again for the rest of the meal... Took three times to flag him down afterward for our bill.

The Next Act is equal parts over-hyped and over-priced. For a $50 meal for two, they delivered a $5 experience (and even that is being generous). Avoid the hype, protect your wallet, and...

Went there for a quick bite around 4.30pm and it wasn't busy at all, and that was awesome because usually this place is packed with people. Seating was fast and the server were nice.

For my meal, I decided to go with the PB&J burger with a side of French fries. (PB&J for $17 crunchy peanut butter, housemade bacon jam, & cheddar).

The last time I got the PB&J, they were really generous with the amount of peanut butter and bacon jam. This time it seemed like I got a little bit less but nevertheless, the burger was good! I really like the texture of the crunchy peanut butter. The bacon jam was nice and sweet, and a really good addition to the burger.

I liked the burger despite the fact that peanut butter on a burger doesn't sound good 😁. It wasn't the best burger I've ever had but it was definitely a good burger.

Service here has never been anything exceptional, but it's always been sufficient. I've never dealt with an unpleasant or rude server and they have always been eager and willing to sort out any issues you may have. Service is also pretty quick. You don't wait too long for your food or drinks, and your servers will check in on you but not to the point where you're irritated. Which is cool. Thanks for letting me enjoy my meal, and also thank you for caring about my meal and my experience.

Overall great place, I'd...

Last night we came here after pink concert to have some dinner and then head back to Calgary again. Grace, the person who was in charge of our table, asked for our ID although we told her we are not going to have any alchohol and in Calgary they don't check when we are not ordering any of that. She insisted. My ID was in my car which was parked a bit far. So my husband went to grab it. When he came back, she said this ID has been expired. I had my newly renewed ID, so again we had to walk back to car to grab that one. The whole point of checking an ID is checking the "date of birth"! not the expiry date. My age has been the same since 1997!!!! The joy and happiness that I had after pink concert vanished because of Grace being unnecessary strict at that time of night, knowing we are not having alchohol and sending us back and forth to our car for the up to date ID.

Foodwise, everything was great. Although we ordered falafel which french fries was included in all of the "sandwiches and such" section. My husband asked her if there is an alternative and she suggested the salads and we chose arugula salad. But she never mentioned that it is with the extra cost!

Grace please be more kind to the guests and have some flexibility. I know checking ID is a rule, but you saw my date of birth and you could accept that. But you...