briggs kitchen and bar

just awesome! came here .... just awesome!

came here for my bday dinner. we were able to make reservations over the phone; they even send you a confirmation email as well & you can also book a table online. when we arrived, we were seated in their private room. nothing private about it, as the walls were actually windows. we were able to take advantage of how our food would be cooked through our window viewing room. menu is outstanding! there is so many choices and pricing is reasonable. i ordered the pacific tuna salad and trust me, it is awesome. my other party ordered a variety of other dishes and they were superb as well. the tomahawk though.. let me tell you, it is such a crazy excitement. it's a 48oz steak and it was cooked to perfection! service was on point and decor is amazing. just saying, you are definitely missing out if you do not dine here.

came for mothers day brunch. terrible decision.

service was horrible. firstly, we got there early (probably ~20 mins of them opening), the restaurant was less than 30% full when we got there, and as far as i can tell not a lot of young kids. however we were told that there were no high chairs for us since they were all in use. my mother came in a bit late, didn't realize we had this conversation so mentioned it to our server again that we need a high chair. server snaps at my mom. about 40 mins later, i go to the bathroom and pass by the private room, only to see two empty high chairs just sitting there, unused. i asked the hostess why we can't use one of them, only to get an eye roll and "they are in use". we asked for four coffees, only got two, and in a span of two hours we were offered one refill by our server... as we are paying our bill.

food feels like its taking a turn for the worse. this is the third time we have ordered the tomahawk steak, and this time around the steak was way under seasoned and largely overdone. potato pancakes came out greasy and soggy.

the rating gets 1.5 instead of 1 because at least our salad was decent.

never again. food drenched in oil and got a stomache ache. nice presentation and open kitchen concept. horrible food.

briggs never disappoints!. by far one of my favourite restaurants in calgary. the food is always delicious and some of our personal repeat favourites are: rustic flatbread, grilled half chicken and beef short rib (for 2). the brunch is amazing and the "punch" is a must try!

after perusing the menu, we knew we had to order the salmon pretzel sliders. how could one resist anything on a pretzel bun? served with pickled cucumbers, caper mayo and chunks of salmon, the flavour combination was on point. the chewiness of the pretzel bun added the needed mouth feel and really brought the sandwich together. i probably could have eaten another 3 of these or more. then there’s the smoked brisket sliders and they’re equally as delicious! tender pulled brisket doused in briggs delicious housemade bbq sauce served in ciabatta buns. just thinking about them now is causing me to get a craving for them.

nice evening. we enjoyed the food, love the tapas/sharing concept. the white chocolate mousse was to die for; would definitely stop in just for the dessert options.
i would take the "romantic" tag off - this feels like a bar, even at 5:00 when we were there. nothing cozy about it, it felt like all the staff were standing around just waiting for the party to get started.

do you smoke or go to the bathroom? that's not ok at this restaurant. as soon as you leave your seat, in their eyes, you are going to dine and dash. oh wait, my purse is still on my seat? no no, i just left that there for show as i plan to leave without it and without paying. 

honestly, i've never felt more judged and criminalized with a group of friends than at this restaurant. there were 15 of us, and each time a person left, the staff could not accept that the other 14 were walking, talking collateral. furthermore, at the end of the meal, our server and the other staff were nothing but rude. they had 15 separate bills to disperse yet to staff, a group of adults was deemed unable to sort out which was which and who had what on their own. they wanted to make sure that they could "personally account for every member of our party" and did not feel safe with dropping off the cheques for us to disperse between ourselves. over my whole adult life, never have i run into such severely unprofessional and judgmental behavior at a restaurant - i don't even remember what the food tasted like.

so so, but will try again. enjoyed the concept behind the restaurant, but food quality wasn't as good as i thought. will try again!

food was poor, service was decent. not worth the money. plenty of other better venues in the area. wouldn't return or suggest this place to family or friends.

love it. excellent. service and food were
good, beautiful place for sure i will celebrate my bday in briggs

consistently great food. best burger in town: juicy and steeped in beefy
flavour. roasted chicken is a must try as well. deviled eggs are delicious. the house salad is always cold, fresh and one of the best in town. good bar. good people. briggs raises the bar for casual dining in calgary. this is where you should bring friends from out of town.

tess, alex, mike and jena go to briggs just for dessert.. after a very filling meal at ox and angela i convinced everyone to roll over to briggs for dessert. we ordered two lemon pies, one for each couple, and althoughe everyone had complained about being full, they were devoured in record time. was definitely worth it! go.


-----30 apr, 2014-----

tess and alex go to briggs for a sexy date night.. lots of yummy dishes to choose from that are easy to share which is my favorite way to eat! my boyfriend and i had the charred local sausage, newf's poutine, seared pacific scallops, potato tic tacs, and the rustic flatbread. it was alot of food and we didn't leave one bite behind. the decor is nice but i have to admit i've seen the "industrial theme" a little to much. our server was super nice and had a natural friendliness. the best part was the lemon pie, i'd go back everyday just for that. it's just like a lemon meringue pie, but with a cold creamy ice cream center. if you like lemon desserts this will be your new favorite!!

i stopped by on my way home from work with a friend. we decided to split appetizers and entres and weren't disappointed.
i started off with the briggs old fashioned. it was booze forward, but could taste hints of the root beer bitters.
we ordered the deviled eggs and cauliflower to start and they were the best deviled eggs i've had in my life. the curry on the cauliflower was light, but good.
we had the lobster roll with fries and summer pasta for our mains and they were pretty much perfect. the salt and pepper on the fries was wonderful.
will definitely return.

overall i enjoyed my experience at briggs, friendly and attentive service. the hanger steak is very tasty. the only negative thing i would say is their strictly food policy which doesn't allow any outside food to be served in the restaurant, even with birthday cake.

i am slightly remiss because last time i was at brigg's, i would have given them a 4. their brunch was fantastic. their boozy punch bowl - even better. this weekend, i took some family there for lunch. 

ambiance: i love the feel of briggs. i loved coming here previously for a boozy brunch with friends. i love the industrial, restoration hardware feel, with mortar oozing out between the bricks - assumably all original. i love the open kitchen concept and the bar in the centre (voyeurism at its finest if your a foodie like me!). they allow kids there, which is fantastic for brunch - there were a ton of families there when we went.

service: service was good. our waitress was on point- she brought us drinks, took our order, and there was no mid-bite awkward 'how's your meal going?' as the waitress watches you chew your food before answering (or do you answer with a full mouth? i've never quite figured it out.). 

drinks: i started with the rosemary & jane cocktail - i found it like drinking straight lemon juice but the server was super accommodating and recommended a different drink for me to try - the oolong lady. it was so good, i may have had two.

food: everyone enjoyed what they ate - my father-in-law raved about the beef barley soup, my husbands prime rib sandwich and poutine was fantastic. horseradish mayo - to die for. gravy on the poutine - not traditional but super flavourful! if it's your 'cheat-day' this is the lunch to try. i ordered the tuna potato salad - and everything about the salad was good except the tuna - it was prepared correctly, unfortunately, it was quite fishy for tuna - not as fresh as i would have liked. 

in summary - i would definitely go back to briggs - i'd like to try more on their menu, and get more of a feel for the quality of food. great place to bring a big group of people - the restaurant definitely has a social-feel to it!