cleaver

cool little location. great drinks!! servers are friendly, knowledgeable and fun. food is decent. small plates, good to share. some things we ordered were a bit small considering the price. would go back for the drinks! large cocktail selection, and everything we had was pretty good.

popped in for the after 9 sliders on a walk about last night,  the place was packed.  wall to wall people.  that speaks of the popolarity of the after 9 specials,  i had a lamb slider and the chicken sliders.  really well done, but with the crowd there could have been more staff.  long weekends can be hell. . .

we came with a group and tried several appetizers, mains and drinks (including my fave, the super soft birthday!), but the main event at cleaver is definitely their extensive slider menu. i plan to return soon for drinks and shared snacks or really any meal when i have time in my schedule for a sodium-induced blood pressure spike afterwards. i do get grumpy when food is served on big, sliding platters like this that clutter the table, but that was a small price to pay for such creative dishes and drinks at what felt like reasonable prices considering the quality and selection. service was friendly and helpful from when i made the reservation until it was time to get the bill, the attention to detail for our friend’s allergies was reassuring and the bustling, energetic atmosphere really made our dinner with friends feel like a big night out. i highly recommend cleaver for your next night out – just remember to wear your stretchy pants!

i enjoyed clever it had been a while! fun atmosphere and the staff were very attentive. we split the beet salad, mushroom toast, calamari, cheek ravioli and bone marrow. the salad was nice although lacked a certain special flavour. the mushroom on toast, as simple as it was, was excellent! calamari was a nice variation with fried lemon, shrimps zucchini. ravioli was one big piece tasty but small. bone marrow was excellent and came with a shot of whiskey to down with the marrow. cocktails were overall fun and creative. well done!

tldr; we were asked to leave after spending 2 hours and $120 there and telling the waitress that we want to order more, because they had to sit the next reservation.

i can safely say that i've never been treated with such disrespect before. they're actually the united airlines of restaurants. 

my friend and i finally made plans to go for drinks, i reserved a table at cleaver. when we showed up, i was unpleasantly surprised with how little space there was between us and tables around – it felt like we were all sitting at the same table. between the two of us, we had 6 drinks and 3 appetizers. we noticed that the waitress came up to us a little too often, but an overly attentive staff is hardly something i'd ever complain about. she proceeded with taking away our appies before they were finished. then she asked if we would like to order something else or just get the bill. we said we'd like another round of cocktails and the bill. she came back a minute later saying that she can't bring us drinks, and that we had to leave, because the next reservation showed up and was waiting at the door. at that time, there were two empty tables just around ours; yet, they insisted that we leave. 

overall, the food and drinks were absolutely nothing to write home about. the business lives on the gimmicky cocktails and the fact that they make customers leave, so they can sit more people and make more money.

clear disregard for their customers!. the management at this restaurant has no interest in their customers and should not be in the hospitality industry. after we told our server that we were not satisfied with the tuna sandwiches, as well as the fries we were told "that if you told us earlier we could have done something about it." when we further enquired if there was anything that could be done to compensate our poor experience were later told that "our manager is picky about how much you eat before you does that kind of stuff." we will not be returning and i do not recommend this restaurant at all - there are far better options on 17th avenue with management that understands that their customers are the backbone of their business!

came here with a friend for #abburgerfest after seeing their burger on instagram.

reservation process: there was almost no information on the restaurant's actual website other than the address and the phone number, and a link to make reservations which led to a 404 link the first 5 times i tried it! there was also no available menu, so other than the instagram photo from their account, we were flying blind after we made the reservation. 

restaurant decor:
we nearly missed our reservation because the restaurant doesn't have a visible printed name on its storefront, just a cleaver. clever, but not so easy to find on busy 17th ave! for reference, it's right next to gravity pope. the doors were oddly skinny (i confess i am not tiny, but my dining friend is, and we both had trouble with the doors) so if you have mobility issues - send someone ahead to pull the doors open for you. the inside of the restaurant is very rustic, with a lot of wood and iron features - it's very dimly lit (and we were there for brunch). you can choose to sit in a booth/table combo, or along a bar at the kitchen - we had a table.

food:
the burger was fantastic, but not quite the burger in the picture. we were started off with a complementary mini loaf of bread with butter and homemade jam, and then moved on to the burger. the burger was nice and juicy (and messy) and didn't come with any sides, so we added the duck-fat fried fries. these were perfect, nice and crispy, and the shaved parmesan on top was a great touch.

service:our server was really nice and explained the menu well. very attentive for the most part, though it did get a bit awkward when he asked us what other restaurants we liked - we ended up with a fairly sizeable rant on notable. 

overall:
a good experience, though they don't make substitutions (not sure if they'd accommodate for allergies, but the menu suggests no), and the whole restaurant seems to thrive on mystery - but the food was delicious, and i will be back.

this is an absolutely beautiful restaurant tucked neatly on 17th ave, with the most crafty cocktails and entertaining bar staff! the food was delicious, and they almost take the crown for best caesar stack in town! (tommyfields still has my heart for their caesar meal!) i'll definitely be going back to cleaver.

horrible experience. during our visit this past friday, the bearded hostess became hysterical and had a tantrum when we took down the umbrella at the table to get some more sun rather than talking to us like a rational adult. judging by the multiple bad reviews this is not the first time he’s had a meltdown with customers and staff. save yourself the unpleasant experience and spend your money elsewhere.

best dining experience in yyc thus far! atmosphere was super unique and the service and food was outstanding. our server was laid back, but knowledgeable and attentive. every dish we ordered was prepared perfectly and the cocktails were well thought out and delicious. best beef tartare i've ever had, blew my favorite vancouver spot out of the water. can't wait to return and try the rest of the items i was eyeing up.

first time: decent and not expensive spot on 17th. we went there for a quick late bite and were pleasantly surprised. complimentary popcorn was a nice touch to begin with, our server offered heater option for patio, which helped too.

food was well prepared and presented, we shared steak salad and crab slider. all tasted quite well though just a touch too salty. server gave us enough attention without being annoying. not bad for the first visit, will be back again.

host made us feel unwelcome, but our server was nice. chicken slider was excellent, while others (chipotle cheeseburger, soft shell crab, & buttermilk chicken) were only ok. (3/5)

worst restraunt ever. they took an hour to bring the food to the table after i waited for 20 minutes for a glass of water. i explained to them that i have a gluten allergy and they served me bread. i had an allergic reaction to something the fed me and i spoke to the owner who was entirely rude and self righteous told me that it was my mistake for ordering what i did. {i will never dine here again.

cleaver never disappoints. the cocktails are out of this world. the food is delicious - great for sharing. the service is always outstanding. i've been 4 times now and love it every time.

we went there for plank monday. the food was good and service too. but portions were definitely not big enough. it was just the 2 of us and we were definitely not full after so we had to grab a mcdonald's later that night.