briggs kitchen and bar

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 inbriggsdelicious housemade bbq sauce served in ciabatta buns. just thinking about them now is causing me to get a craving for them.

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.briggsraises the bar for casual dining in calgary. this is where you should bring friends from out of town.

tess, alex, mike and jena go tobriggsjust for dessert.. after a very filling meal at ox and angela i convinced everyone to roll over tobriggsfor 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 tobriggsfor 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 thebriggsold 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.

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 tobriggs- 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!

met a friend for lunch before christmas and the place was full.  i ordered thebriggspaella $15 with chorizo, prawns, calamari and saffron rice.  it appears small but it is definitely filling for 1 person (female).   when i have visited in the past, the food has always been pretty good but this time, the paella was way too salty.  maybe just don’t order their paella when you go. 

the space is large - great for groups. this lunch was just two people so it was a bit loud at times for us to have a conversation.

absolutely love briggs! beautiful space, with a vibrant atmosphere. we came in for a fun evening, and decided to do thebriggsexperience, where you just say how much you want to spend per person, and the server creates a special menu combination for the evening! we have an incredible selection of appetizers, fresh salads, and delicious entrées. we started with the deviled eggs, cheese fondue, and a salad. next the freshly made hand rolled pappardelle and the asiago potato tic tacs, followed by the brussel sprouts, pistachio beets, and the braised beef short rib. overall an incredible evening and one of my favorite places in the city!

update: i'd like to say cory frombriggsreached out to me and apologized for the experience and wanted to ensure my next would be great. i do appreciate the gesture and if i return tobriggsi will definitely update my thoughts.

i have been tobriggsa few times for dinner and have always had a great experience and great food. i don't know what happened today! we were atbriggsfor sunday brunch around 12. let me start off by saying it was not busy, however, the service and food, was something less than desirable. i walked in and 2 servers/host walked by me and didn't say a word, fine, i waited and finally someone showed me to my party. i just found the service not that great, and the food just okay, and plating/presentation was messy. i ordered the pulled pork gnocchi and you can see by the photo how bad the plating was, with the gravy smeared everywhere, and the gnocchi just thrown on there it seemed - presentation is everything! this photo was taken before i even touched the food. the portions were small for the price ($18) and overall i wasn't that pleased with the experience. it is too bad because we were there for a 30th birthday party so it should have been a special event. also to note,briggsdoes not allow you to eat an outside came for birthdays , they told us you can bring it, you just can't eat it. (well why would we bring it then?!). they say this is due to allergy reasons and if someone were to have a reaction, the restaurant would be liable. fair enough i guess, but i feel with restaurants these days, many expect people to bring an outside cake for birthdays, so it was just odd. i may return for dinner, but never again for brunch, there are much more options out there.

it was our 6 year anniversary and we chose to go to brigg’s because we wanted to go somewhere cost effective with excellent food. with a whole lot of major house renovations this summer, our eating out budget is getting smaller and smaller… (insert sad face here!). the food at briggs, yet again, did not disappoint. our server was super friendly and service was great. i’ve (almost) always found the service to be very good here, and tonight we even had the pleasure of a quick tour of the kitchen! our only issue with the evening was that it was way too loud and therefore difficult to talk. i figured a thursday evening would be less busy than the actual friday of our anniversary so i booked our dinner a day early. however,briggshad just launched their new happy hour the day we were there so there was a lot of excitement in the bar. the noise slowly died down as people left the bar throughout the evening. i’m not the kind of person who loves a loud, fun vibe when i’m eating out… if i’m having dinner i’d rather have a quiet, slow ambience so i can talk to the people i’m dining with, without having to shout or get distracted. so, call me an old lady (i’ve heard it before!).

i went tobriggswith my sister who is pregnant and as a result she can't eat raw eggs. when she asked if they could cook the eggs so they weren't runny, the staff was very rude and declined her request. they said they don't made modifications to their menu. very disappointing! we will not be returning.

yum yum yum! returned for a second meal atbriggsthis weekend. had to get the dish i ordered the first time (prawn-angel hair pasta) because it was so tasty. loved the pesto-type sauce and the 5 giant prawns! it was consistent with my first experience here. we also ordered the tomato tart and beef short ribs, which simply melted off the bone. there was a small delay in receiving our last course, but were perhaps spoiled by the super-fast speeds of our first two dishes. highly recommend!

we had the most wonderful experience last night at thebriggskitchen and bar.  we were celebrating our son's upcoming wedding with his bride, their attendants and her family.  my husband and i hosted - it was amazing!  we chose thebriggsexperience which enabled all of us to sample the appetizers from the main menu.  i was already in a food coma, by the time the main dishes, beef, and chicken, arrived accompanied by delicious vegetable sides and finished with to -die-for deserts.  wine, beer, martini's (with extra olives!) and service that was totally 5 star made for an unforgettable evening!

a wonderful dining experience!. i recently took an esteemed colleague of mine tobriggsfor a special occasion. she has great style and taste so i wanted to make sure i found and did something worthy of her. i contactedbriggsmanagement, explained the situation, what i was hoping we could do for our experience and my budget. they more than delivered. my friend, who is not easily impressed and is very honest was very impressed, as was i; at the attentive, very knowledgeable wait staff, the food, presentation, the wine pairing and the atmosphere. we had the cheese fondue with warm fresh baked bread, short ribs on potato pancake and shaved brussel sprouts with honey and bacon followed by an amazing chocolate cake. everything was so fresh, full of flavor and beautifully presented. my description of the food here does not do it justice- you must try for yourself. i especially loved that our server could explain how the food was made, with what and why it matched the wines we were trying. the wine and food were fantastic! it was truly a wonderful dining experience. we will both definitely be back. keep up the great work teambriggsand thanks for making it such a special occasion!
a.e.

best service in calgary. this is my first time ever writing a restaurant review but after the service i received last night atbriggsi just had to. the management there is humble, kind and for the first time in a long time in calgary it actually came off sincere. food was perfect too. highly recommenced.

a good first try. i had lunch here with a girlfriend on january 17. we were both struck by the great layout and tones of natural light - what a great space! our server was very friendly and went above and beyond - refilling our mugs with hot water every ten minute so we would have hot tea. we thought it was odd thatbriggsdoesn't have tea kettles. i ordered the twisted blt, but was disappointed with the amount of dry pulled chicken piled high on an equally dry and crumbly focaccia bread. a simple avocado aioli or some kind of sauce would have helped tremendously, as would switching to a firmer bread/bun. my friend had the award winning chuck burger, and admitted it was the best burger she had ever had. we both enjoyed our fries, which were just as crispy as the sever said they would be. even though my sandwich was sub-par, my friend and i agreed we would be open to tryingbriggsagain.