National on 17th

**An Exquisite Experience at National on 17th Avenue, Calgary**

In the heart of Calgary, on the bustling 17th avenue, lies a gem of a culinary destination: the National bar restaurant. As a connoisseur of the world's most revered dining establishments, I was keen to delve into what National had to offer.

Upon arrival, the selection of beverages presented a delightful spectrum. The beer, crisp and refreshing, was the perfect prelude to the main attraction. The virgin Caesar showcased a balanced symphony of flavors, while the iced tea - with its commendable refill option - was the epitome of refreshment.

Yet, the pièce de résistance of the evening was undoubtedly the chicken wings. Marinated in both spicy and BBQ flavors, these wings were a masterclass in texture and taste. The exterior boasted a flawless crust, golden and crispy, while the interior was succulent, rendering each bite an explosion of well-seasoned juiciness. It's evident that the chefs at National have honed their craft to perfection.

The ambiance was a harmonious blend of relaxed sophistication. There's an inherent vibrancy to the place, complemented by an undercurrent of friendliness that makes one feel immediately at ease. The waitstaff, apart from being aesthetically pleasing, were the very embodiment of professionalism, ensuring a seamless dining experience.

However, a word to the wise: the parking situation in this part of Calgary can be rather trying. The frenetic nature of 17th avenue means that one might have to resort to parking on residential streets or, if fortune favors, find a paid spot on the main street. It's a small price to pay for an otherwise exemplary dining experience.

In conclusion, the National bar restaurant stands as a beacon of culinary excellence in Calgary, offering a gastronomic experience that effortlessly blends taste, ambiance, and service. It is, without doubt, a must-visit for those with a discerning palate.

Total wow experience for a larger group. Organizing a group of 15+ out for dinner can be so challenging, but Isobel and her team took such incredible care of us. They thought through everything for me, drink tickets, buffet style set up, picked food quantities for me, everything. It was just incredible. Not to mention the food was fantastic, and there was tons of for such a great price. Everyone in my group had seconds, and there was still leftovers to take home. Very impressed!

I literally tried calling this place 40 times in a row and they didn’t answer whatsoever. It’s completely unprofessional that the restaurant does not answer to speak with someone there regarding a reservation.

The music is way too loud for this place to not be a club. I’m all for partying and music but you can’t have a conversation. If there is no dance floor there is no reason for music to be this loud. And no I’m not 78 years old hahaha

Love the vibes here! Waitress was very nice ️The pepperoni pizza and salad *so so good! * I really liked how they split the salad for me and my friend because they knew we were sharing without us asking! Very thoughtful

I love this place️ vibe and food everything. This time we went to celebrate my birthday and it was the best experience️ thankyou for the great service isabella️️️

Not a single normal beer on tap despite having ~50 or so taps. Lots of fruit juice beers through if that's your thing.

Great spot for drinks and always a fun atmosphere. Golden Strong was a great Belgian beer on tap

Great tasting food, local beer
Clean, and super friendly staff.

Food came out faster then expected!
Thanks

Love the pizza, love the beer and love the vibes.

Classic college bar vibe, with an upscale touch. Huge beer selection and great food, it makes for a good night out with friends. Don't expect a quiet venue either: The music is great.

Went to national on 17th avenue, calgary AB tonight.as we are from out of town, we found this spot to be very central and have quite a diverse menu in regards to drinks and food.however we took notice that as the night went on, our server’s attitude changed quite drastically and got gradually more flippant and disregarded our requests.masks were very non chalant to her and almost seemed intoxicated.very disappointed as this spot would have been a 10 otherwise…didn’t take the bill home but we remembered her name starting with a v…not overly impressed…food and drink times were great though! Highly recommend this place to many others but be open minded to “different” service

I was walking on 17th Ave on Saturday and there was a friendly anti-mandate march going on. Two employees from this establishment came outside and were heckling and yelling profanities at the people in the march. Regardless of your opinion on the matter, could you be any more unprofessional?

Came here for a short brunch and to watch the football game. Our server Jonah was incredible. Super attentive and friendly, and even made us a special cocktail. Food and drinks were fantastic! Thanks for the awesome hospitality Jonah!

Kathy is the best of the best ️️ Friendly, charming, accurate, all the best qualities of server you could ever ask for

17th was hopping the Thursday we were out and National was no different. We still had no problem getting a table inside since most people were out enjoying the patio. Our waitress Tatiana was excellent, checking on our large group constantly. The music wasn't too loud so we were still able to talk, and the tables were well spaced out.

My one criticism is the pricing wasn't posted anywhere. I didn't see a drink menu, QR code on the table or chalk board with any prices. I had a couple of glasses of draught, not pints, for $20. I'm only surprised now when places offer drinks at a reasonable price.

The people that ordered food said it was excellent. I didn't look at the food menu to see pricing.

All in all, a good place to hang with friends.

Nice atmosphere, patio, and dining room. Large windows keep the place cool. Impressive selection of beer and the pizza was very good. At first I was skeptical of the honey on a lot of the pizzas but I think I will be going back just for that. Music got very loud after about 10 which made it difficult to have any sort of conversation though, and parking nearby can be a pain.

We sat at the bar and the bartenders Jonah and Mo couldn't have been more attentive. Lots of free samples until we found our perfect beers, and they were super friendly (above and beyond what you would ever expect from a bar). Wow

We went there for a weekend brunch. We ended up in National mainly because all other places we wanted to go were packed! We didn’t intend to go there but it turned out to be a nice surprise!
The quality of food was great. The highlight of the brunch was RICOTTA PANCAKES. They are must haves. The service was not exceptional though. The server checked on us only couple of time and we had to search for her even to get our bills. They seemed super under-staffed for a busy weekend day.

Great service and amazing food at decent prices. Eggs benny was delish and the Avo bowl was a melting of flavours that mixed perfectly. I’d lose the rice in that meal though, it seemed out of place. A quinoa or even hash browns might lend better to the overall taste. Also, the down pointing star sends a mixed message.

Had an absolute blast with Devan today! He was serving as well as bartending and we had amazing service, very attentive and will be back just to see him! Best guy ever!

Very disappointed by the latest experience at national. We showed up, very excited to get outside on a patio. We were celebrating our friend's birthday. We were seated quickly and then after waiting about 20 minutes without being served I went up and asked if we could be helped. When the server eventually came around she took our drink orders, she was a bit passive and acted like we just got there, she obviously did not realize that she had our table. She came back about 10 minutes later telling us that the bar had lost our ticket. After being there for about an hour we got our drinks which were very subpar. This experience took up our whole night and ruined our evening. By the time we were able to leave it was too late to even go to another bar. Having to wait an hour for a drink was so disappointing.

Super disappointed by the service last night. After being seated we waited about 20 minutes without anyone coming to our table, The table beside us who was seated 10 minutes after us had got drinks and food before someone even came to our table. My friend went up and asked if we could be helped. When the server finally came to the table she was super passive and said oh you just got here, after we had been there for 30 minutes already. She took the orders but then came back about 10 minutes later telling us that the bar had lost our ticket. By the time we got our drinks we had been there for a hour and what we had got was not good, all of our glasses had salt running down from the top to the bottom of the glass. Once we got our drinks i immediately asked for the bill as our table was beyond ready to pay so we could just get out of there.

As a seasoned alcoholic, I can pick out top notch service, and Devan gives top notch service. It was impressive to see him balance that tray while swinging that hog! Apologies to the porter that had to mop up around my table multiple times, but my lord sploosh!

Awesome staff! Always have nice experience there. Very friendly and respectful, especially Chirag!

Love this place it's the place to go when the sun is shining
Perfect for a cold beer. Also super attentive staff
the staff super friendly all of them. I strongly recommend this place for summer.
Food it's also really good and vegan friendly

Staff was very friendly and professional at this location when we went for lunch 2 days ago. Highly recommend and great food.

I always have good service and great food at this location. Staff took care of us, helped make sure we could social distance and enjoy our night, and were just delightful to talk to.

Nice and inviting interior. Good selection of beer. The biggest problem is the service. Everyone was friendly but it took over 20 minutes for someone to take our 3-person order and another 20 to get it despite a small number of customers. Took an additional 15 minutes to lower the blinds to keep the sun out of our eyes because we were told it was too complicated to handle ourselves. Apparently draw strings are too complicated here in Calgary. No thanks, National. Hire better people.

This is the place to be! I use to come here often when I lived in Calgary, and my all time favorite drink is the Dark & Stormy! Their ceasars come with all the goodies (pepperoni, cheese, & pickled beans if I remember correctly), and can't go wrong when it's buck a shuck night! When they first opened they also had a beef tartar that was awesome, hopefully they bring it back!

Honestly I've been here before and it's a decent spot for overpriced food and drinks but my most recent visit made me not want to return. It took us getting up to leave for a waitress to acknowledge us, at which point she brought the wrong drinks, took my order and not my husbands then basically made us feel like our presence was an inconvenience. Won't go back.

I enjoyed myself but wish the waitress was more attentive when it came to the bill at the end if the meal

This place has a lot of beer choices.so pick wisely.food is decent and service ids always good.its is fairly open and can get noisy, not always great for conversations.its great in the summer if you cant fit on the patio as they can open up large windows, it isn't the same but pretty dare close.

Reduced the size of glassware to 16oz but still charging the same price as before. Fries used to be made with real potatoes and now they're frozen fries probably from Sysco or something. And every time I go they're out of a couple beers.

There is paid parking here. This location is really cozy and has a patio. Usually draws a younger crowd at this location. Its always a good time and service is usually great. The location is big so usually no wait time here.

Used to be a great spot. But the beer selection is getting shorter everytime. And the recent reduction in pint size was brutal

This place is not apparently known for their food service, and it showed. Food was mediocre overall:
-pizza was pretty good,
-burger was a standard cheeseburger and wasn't anything special,
-fries were similar to those that you'd get at a hockey rink (weren't bad but you can't really mess up french fries),
-the salad was pretty good, and
-our appetizer was good the second time round after we asked them to heat it up - the "warm queso dip" was cold when it first came out.

The food was overall ok, but we had pretty horrible service. I think our waitress was new to the industry, but still, there are some basic guidelines you should teach young servers with limited experience (start with not arguing with the customers about what we did and didn't order).

I think our experience was tainted by the long wait for our food (no big deal) and our waitress' attitude. We were pretty reasonable (I thought), but we were taken back by the argumentative demeanour of our waitress and her lack of care. Anyways - if you choose to check them out (the patio looks awesome and it's probably a great place to grab a few beers), don't expect A1 food service, but don't be surprised if you get great service either.

Staff was super friendly and helpful right away! It was pretty busy but things were still served in a timely manner. Food was delicious and accommodated my vegetarian diet. Would highly recommend for a relaxed patio vibe.

Had lunch here yesterday great serving staff and food is exactly what you would expect from franchise pub

Took 10 minutes to get even served. Once we ordered drinks they came pretty quick. Service was okay other than that. I guess as a customer, this place is sort of the pinnacle of people with nice haircuts showboating around the establishment just because it is the establishment. It's not really like it's about the food or the drinks anymore which kinda sucks. It's almost as though you feel it's some sort of privilege just to walk into joints like this just because of this musk of pretentious they carry. I dunno.maybe that's just me, but we see it a lot in Calgary these days. Probably not gunna go back unless one of my younger friends is turning 21 or something. Meh.

Cool bar with a huge patio and interesting picnic table setup inside.

Attracted a lively crowd for Stampede.

Great selection of beers and plenty of space to sit and chat. Their bathrooms are bright and clean. Very friendly staff but the bouncer seemed super young!

Trying to slam as many different beers during happy hour is a challenge I've taken up. The staff is super nice and the place is nice and airy. It can get a bit loud inside because there's almost no sound dampening but apparently that's good for business, I duno, I just like to drink there (the pizzas are good too).

I’m not big into going out to various bars and all that, however, I do enjoy going to National. It’s a very happy place with a vibrant and energetic staff. This is a very chill place to spend and evening after work with your friends! Check em out!

Great ambience great food. There are two nationals in downtown Calgary. The one in Stephen AVE is not happening and they closed restaurant at 9 pm on a Friday! I mean who does that. However, the one on 17th AVE was lively.

Quick service at the bar. Lots of seats were available inside, despite the long lineup for the patio.

Always love the beer selection here. The servers are awesome, attractive, and friendly and chat. It's a spot I often go to since I live only a few blocks away, and I've never been disappointed.

Burger is actually good. I'd eat it again. We also ordered the brisket sandwich and that's a hard pass. Too dry and over seasoned.

Great service and the staff is always very friendly. The only disappointing thing is the prices. 19$ for a small vegetarian pizza? Seems a little excessive.

Good bar on 17th. Really fun atmosphere. Great bartending. And have great beer selection. Only knock are the prices it's damn expensive. But a place to grab a drink

Watch your bill, double charged for shots ordered by someone else and then required to pay, and when confronted she acted like she knew, meanwhile we were over charged