cleaver

the food is good ish, the drinks are actually surprisingly great but as are most places in calgary overpriced but to be expected however the service is absolutely appealing. we have been a couple of times once with a group of 4 and the other time a group of 8 and both times were truly unfortunate.

i had heard of mixed reviews about cleaver, and even though it is in my neighbourhood, i had never been until this past saturday. wow....was i ever missing out. i think some of these nah-sayers did so on purpose to keep away the hoardes. sat at the bar and the service was great. bone in 32 oz rib-eye with sides for 2. excellent.

only suggestions i could say would be to expand the wine selection. considering the quality of the food i thought the wine list was a bit thin. second, and i understand the reasoning, but the bar seats anchored into the floor at the bar are not comfortable in the least. 

overall, excellent.

how many times have you walked past this blue establishment besides ox and angela on the bustling 17th ave and wondered what it is called? i always had the urge to go into the restaurant and ask the staff “what’s the name of your restaurant?”, but ended up feeling ashamed of my ignorance. until one day my friend recommended “cleaver” to me. then, i made the connection. haha, how obvious was that?!

upon entering through its iron french doors and across the threshold, the assault on your senses begins. the energy within cleaver could only be described as intense, with so many otherwise sensible diners turned instantly to gluttonous carnivores, at no fault of their own i might add, and how could one not with the massive doses of pleasure being served up at every table. the industrial, yet somehow comforting interior glows with the inky eminence surrounding a slowly dancing flame, whisping back and forth inside old plate gas lanterns on every wall. the display of vintage iron meat cleavers though some may find disturbing, reminds one of the impending gasro-orgasm which is about to begin. behind the bar every occurrence is more alchemy than mixology, a near titanic tree stump looms on the bar top, scorched with the scars of many smoked bourbon old fashioneds, this is a sight to behold i promise you. as the ambiance has set about satiating your soul, your original purpose for making that reservation seems so transparent and empty, as now one understands this is so much more than a meal, it is an experience in and of itself. this is art.we indulged in the perfectly served and outrageously delicious beef carpaccio, then the seared cuddlefish and squid. this dish will remain close in my heart like a childhood memory, in fact i'd have given up a few childhood memories for this one. following closely a medieval preparation of bone marrow and chimi churri, which satisfies even the most bent and unusual of food fetishes. there is something just unbelievably, and wonderfully hedonistic about bone marrow, it is among my favourite sins. our main was a whole cock, farm reared and marinated for 24 hours, served in bread sauce with duck-fat fries. lipitor should have this on their warning labels. you know you want it. our finale was although modest comparatively, the home-made donuts and marshmallows served in a crème-caramel sauce, my pancreas tried to run at this point i'm certain. nevertheless, we soldiered on into that sticky, sweet plethora of dessert utopia. cleaver knocked me over like an unassuming cow by a hoard of drunken frat boys, and anyone, other than vegans obviously would be making a huge mistake by not making a reservation immediately. do yourself a favour and ask to be sat in rhiannon's section. she is the best in the business. gluttony has never been this good.  so, go make that rezo.

i have been meaning to try cleaver for a while now - and so glad i did! we went with friends and had amazing cocktails and food. this has easily been put in the top 10 for me. our server was very knowledgable about the food and drinks, and gave us great advice on how much food to order, flavours of each of the dishes, and tons of great suggestions. we had the chicken wings, lamb, squid, and beet salad to share - each was incredible but the lamb was to die for. for our main we shared the chicken and strip loin - both extremely well done. the gravy, herbaceous bread pudding and fries completely make the chicken - so incredible! we were too full for dessert but the menu sounded great. definitely will be going back to cleaver soon.

hidden gem. i don't know where to start. cool staff cool cocktails and hallelujah great food. no really food here is undescribable and great value for money. i love the vibe and the bar is a serious cocktail bar. try the monk and mexican and loved the pizzette 
best place in calgary to dine and drink.

i've seen a lot of places open in the past year but none as original and unpretentious as this one. everything here is done to a great level of detail. amazing staff and very warm service to go with their amazing selection. 
i came here with my girlfriend for the first time. we tried the trio of sliders and finished our meal with one of the vegetarian pizzette. we could not stop eating. a lot of food and amazing value for money. i certainly recommend trying the soft shell crab slider. oh so good. so we though let's give a cocktail or two a try. we could not stop we each had three cocktails you favorite was "slap your mama" a very innovative and evolving cocktail. they infuse the ice so the drink never loses taste or intensity. 
i recommend this place to everyone and we certainly will be back.

after much anticipation, we were surprisingly disappointed. we started with the kale tempura, which had way too much batter and was basically thick deep fried batter with pieces of soggy kale - not appetizing at all. we also ordered the beef and cheese sliders. they looked fantastic, but really lacked flavor. now the good news. we ordered the strip loin steak which was flavorful and cooked perfectly. we also had the parmesan kale salad which with chicken which was also rich and flavorful. portion sizes were also really good. at the end of the day, my low rating of cleaver was based on the fact that only 2 out of 4 dishes were satisfactory. one other note - staff were prompt and friendly.

amazing spot for cocktails, service is flawless. we walked on friday night to a packed room thought we will be sent away for sure, the host was very kind and had us wait with a glass of bubbly in our hand ( on the house may i add) just because we had to wait for ten minutes, please have me wait longer ;)

lola was amazing at the bar, food was too beautiful to eat, cocktails were endlessly good...

we will be back for sure and please make us wait longer, bubbly please

i went there for the first time with my friends for my birthday dinner. it was pretty busy even during construction. service was fine. the food was unique but it was pretty awesome :)! but i gotta say the drinks are pretty interesting...most tasted awful. i'll be back for the food though! try out the chicken and trio sliders soo goodddd :)

one of my favourite restaurants in the city, and for a number of reasons. cleaver manages to incorporate the popularity of hipster culture with the hospitality of a mom and pop shop, making the dining experience just as superb as the meal in front of you. the truffle egg toast is a great way to start the meal, setting the bar for the rest of the night. their cocktails are also innovative, presented beautifully, and easy on the palate, though they might cost a little more than what people may be used to. one of the best ways to get a taste of this restaurant is to participate in "plank monday's", where a predetermined plank of food is offered at $25, with enough food to feed 2-3 people, and a chance to win the plank at no cost by rolling two even numbers with two dies. hope to see this restaurant continue to grow and become recognized in calgary's foodie community!

at an expensive restaurant like cleaver, i have high expectations on the quality of the food and service. but both were lacking on the day we visited. the staff was friendly, but the service was slow. the food was unsatisfactory and overpriced. the only dish i liked was the bone marrow chimichurri, while the rest was so so. an average bar can make better wings, burgers, and fries.

having been to cleaver five times now, i feel like i have a good sense of what the place is. starting with the food: consistently good, not "knock you out" good. one of my visits was a work event, so i ended up getting the chance to sample quite a few things then. i'd say the chicken isn't bad, but the beef is fantastic. they also make a flatbread with brie that is amazing. the fish and chips was quite good, but suffers from the general lack of good seafood as i didn't think the arctic char was particularly special. i very much liked the tempura kale - although it's hard to go wrong tempura-ing anything, really. tried both salads and enjoyed them thoroughly.on the drinks side, this might be the most inventive, creative drink menu in the city. highly recommended that you try the "slap yo mama" (the names are also creative), which is just whisky and pineapple juice, but with an ice cube containing thai chilies that spices up the drink as it melts. they also make an excellent manhattan, but at $17 a pop, you probably don't want to get addicted to those. on the whole, i think cleaver is a touch overpriced as the food quality doesn't quite reach the level you'd like it to overall (though it certainly isn't disappointing). however, it's a must-visit just for the cocktail menu.

overpriced and underwhelming. wait staff is rude, and they barely wait on you. the food isn't very good at all. we even took a dish back and ordered something else that we knew was decent because we had ordered it in the beginning (the tuna lettuce rolls) which they couldn't even roll the pieces of tuna, they were too big and the lettuce was minuscule. the dishes we had were very fatty and poor quality for the price. the beet salad was awful, the cheese was hard and tasted stale along with the croutons. they won't even give you dressings, no hot sauce (for the hot sauce lover) or ketchup for the stale fries. they say their cocktails are doubles but if you watch them make it, they look like singles, we were sat at the bar all night and watched them make them. we ordered 5 dishes between the 2 of us, it was either stale or poor quality. and we left hungry. high prices for poor quality and portion size.the host was nice and did his best to accommodate, unfortunately didn't make up for the food or bartender. overall we won't be back and don't recommend.

i've come here a few times, the restaurant is not huge so making a reservation really is recommended. they have a nice menu, solid wine options and the brunch is pretty good.
i would definitely recommend the sliders and anything they may come up with that has duck or pork in it - never disappointing. also, whenever they take a stab at burgers, it turns out to be delicious (like their 2015 ab burger fest entry). enjoy!