cleaver

cool little location.greatdrinks!! 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.

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 agreattouch.

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.

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

during poutine-week i went on a poutine crawl with a group and our first stop was cleaver, but i almost wish we'd saved it until last because it was so good it set the bar super high!

the location itself is almost so blended in that you don't even notice it at first, but once you get inside it's clean and bright with lots of wood and mirrors.  it's got a nice feel to it but it was rather loud as it filled up.  the tables were set already with paper menus and a mug full of popcorn between the place settings.  the popcorn itself was good, with a nice smokey-cheesy flavour.

the poutine we had was curds, treacle-gravy, whiskey duck, with parmesan duck-fat fries.  the fries were well seasoned but a little limp but the cheese on them was delightfully gooey.  the gravy was delicious, withgreatduck fat flavour unfortunately it was a little too thin so instead of coating the fries it just pooled at the bottom of the bowl.  the duck meat was perfectly cooked pulled similarly to pulled-pork which blended well with the fries.

all in all i would eat that again for sure, though i haven't tried anything from the regular menu yet.

what's the hype at this place? nothing! we went here the other night , our drinks / cocktails were good but with the $$$$ yes, you expect that it should be good. the place was busy and so our waitress that didn't even bother to check on us after we got our food. duck and tempura sliders are disappointment unless you like very salty food and so the other sliders. no customer rapport in this place. we love supporting local business but definitely not this one... found some not nice review on other site too which is not surprising. i wantgreatquality food so this is not the place that i will go to.

went to cleaver for the first time weekend, was seated at the bar, which wasgreatbecause we got to watch all of the cocktails being made, they all look delicious, there was three of us, i tried three sliders, the matcha mushroom (which was my favourite), the crab slider and the tempura fish and chips slider, my friend had one of the pizzettes, which was delicious and my other friend had the mac and cheese, which i didn't get a picture of, she said it was the best mac and cheese she'd ever had, we also tried a bunch of the cocktails, everyone was excellent, my favourite were the original sin and the turning japanese. it was a small restaurant with only 50 seats, but it had a cool vibe, and all of the staff was so friendly. i can't wait to go back abd try more.

if i could give them negative stars i would.

this place is the absolute worst.

 we went there for my birthday dinner. we booked a table for two, got seated at the bar, was told it was a three hour wait for a table. so we just took the seats they offered us. sitting at the bar for what was supposed to be a nice birthday dinner wasn't nice at all.

not a good start.

took a solid 15 minutes before our server came to take our drink order; when my partner ordered a cocktail and a glass a prosecco so we could have a toast, she straight up said "no, you can't order two drinks", stating something about it being 2 oz. pours. all while the two people directly beside us had a cocktail and a glass of bubbly each in front of them.

next up, the menu is incredibly unclear, and the server looked at us like we were nuts for asking her questions about it. sorry. it was our first (and last) time there. she also had no idea how to explain any of the food and was very rude/condescending about. so we ordered the steak tartare to start, it's a pretty straight forward dish. we sat there and watched the guys beside us receive course after course of what looked like reallygreatfood. even the people who sat on the other side of us were getting their food. we still had not seen ours, nor had anyone been by to check in. also, at this point, our drinks were empty for about 30 mins now. completely unacceptable. especially while seated at the bar.

finally, after about 45-50 minutes, our server stops by and is all surprised that our tartare had not come out, saying something about the kitchen being backed up--- yet everyone else around us was getting their food.

so i asked to speak to the manager. man was that ever a mistake. she comes over with the fakest smile, and oh! she "conveniently" has our food.

she didn't even apologize.

she tried to force us to take the tartare, when we said 'no, we're incredibly unhappy now, please send it back' she tried again to get us to take the food and to "hang out". we told her that everything has been incredibly unacceptable, she didn't seem to care at all, we just wanted to leave. so she says she'll bring us our bill and we say "we;d really appreciate it if you would comp the drinks" and she flat out said "no". so we once again tried to explain to her how awful our experience had been and that the least she could do is cover the 3 drinks on there (i ended up getting a glass of wine after 30 minutes of waiting, which i didn't even get to drink but was forced to pay for) she said she wouldn't be doing that, so we said we were going to leave the bill for her to deal with, and she then threatened to call the cops on us if we did leave. so we were forced to pay our bill, which now i really wish we hadn't done and let her call the cops and see what they have to say about wasting their time over $42 after what they put us through. this was the worst experience either of us have ever had at a restaurant. three days later and i'm still upset by it.

do not go here.

just don't do it. and don't go next door to gringostreet either.

go anywhere else.

in order not to be disappointed on a friday evening, and to ensure my husband had agreatbirthday treat, i made a reservation for cleaver through open table 1 week ahead of time. i confirmed with open table the day before that i was going to be there for my 7pm table. we arrive at 7pm and clearly there was not a table available for us - the place was buzzing! the hostess had a few conversations with some guy and after 10 mins of waiting by the door we were brought some 'complimentary' prosecco. it was good but didn't help with the wait. we were finally seated at 7:35pm a full 35 minutes later than expected. as we sat they gave us a complimentary appetizer to ease the pain of having to wait for our 'reserved' table. another 15 minutes went by as we yet again waited for our server to introduce them self [which they never did]. we ordered food and watched as the table next to us left for the evening, squeezing themselves through the very narrow table gaps! the staff were very busy and the food going back and forth looked great, unfortunately none of it came our way. the table next to us was occupied again and they placed their order. our appetizer eventually arrived and coincided with next doors table's appetizer too! the food was delicious but at this point we had been in the restaurant for over an hour. next to come was our main course. another 30 minutes later mine arrived all by itself. being the polite person i am i didn't want to dig in until my 3 other table companions had theirs. i gave up after 5 minutes as my pasta was going to be cold. uncomfortably i started on my food! two dinners arrived about 10 after mine and again was delivered along with the table next to us. my husband who ordered the 'coke & fries' arrived last. not quite sure how or why all our food options weren't delivered at the same time, as they managed to deliver everything at once for the table next to us [trust me you are so close to the other diners you can’t help but notice]. one of our orders included a side of tempura kale, this did not arrive until after the main course was finished, and i mean quite a while after! at this point the table next to us had finished and paid and were about the leave!! so this prompted a conversation with our server - he was polite but when asked why we waited so long for everything when the table next to us arrived after us, eat their complete meals before us and left before us, his response was that they cook each food individually to avoid it hanging around under a heat lamp, and the 'erratic' way in which our meals arrived is the way they do it at cleaver!!!

so if you want to wait over 2 hours for a table you have reserved and have food arrive at completely different times to the people you are eating with then cleaver is the place for you. cleaver will not be the place for me, as unfortunately the service and/or the kitchen table priority is not acceptable :(

i honestly went into this meal expecting to be unimpressed. cleaver was picked by another couple as the spot for our double date night and after reading a lot of the reviews i expected the food to be meh, the restaurant to be overcrowded, and the service to be rushed. i was completely 100% wrong! i'm so glad we decided to go because we ended up having such a delicious meal with reallygreatservice!

we had a reservation for 4 at 7:30 on friday night and we were seated promptly. although the restaurant is not very big, we didn't feel that our table was squished too close to the table beside us. we started looking at the drink menu and got a tiny bit overwhelmed! there were just so many different cocktails to choose from and they all had unusual names so you had to read the entire description of each drink to figure out what it was. i personally don't really have patience for that and prefer drink menus to be grouped a bit more into categories to make it appear less daunting, however the other three people in my party had fun choosing a few different drinks to try! i asked our server if i could just have a spicy caesar (my fave) and she was super nice about it even though it was considered "off menu", my fiancé had mighty craic, the others had randy granny and dose of original sin and everyone enjoyed their drinks (my caesar was fantastic).

we started with the pork and chorizo sausage rolls and they were amaaaaazing!!! seriously so good, i could have eaten them as my main and been perfectly satisfied. everyone agreed they were the highlight for sure. then we had the baked breads with chicken drippings and bacon butter. the bread was great, nice and warm. dipping it in the chicken drippings was sooo good! we tried spreading the bacon butter on as well and it just tasted like butter, didn't notice the bacon. next each couple chose 1 slider to share. we got the lamb, our friends got the chipotle cheeseburger. the lamb was delicious!! i think it was a lamb meatball, and it was cooked medium rare (which is fine by me) and it had mint leaves on it instead of just having mint sauce and it was soooo good! if you like the combo of mint and lamb you should definitely try this. our friends said theirs was really good too.

for our second round of drinks i got another caesar, my fiancé got turning japanese (which was pretty good), my friend got culture shock which was like a raspberry mojito and she said it was good, her husband got farewell to sober which was supposed to be white rum, maraschino, lime, grapefruit and while he was expecting it to be rum mixed in assorted juices it was actually more like rum with a few garnished so he said it just tasted like straight rum and wasn't enjoyable at all (she tasted it and agreed).

for our main we got the cock for 2 which was an entire roasted chicken with stuffing, bread sauce and duck fat fries. i don't know about you but i've never been able to eat half a chicken before so it should probably be called cock for 4. it was a pretty big chicken too and we ended up with about 1/3 of the chicken leftover. first off i'll say that the chicken was fantastic! super moist and very flavourful! the fries were fine, i only had a few and they weren't anything spectacular. i forgot to try the stuffing and the bread sauce so i can't really comment on that part. the only problem i had with this dish (and the reason i'm giving cleaver 4.5 instead of 5) is that when the chicken comes out it's plated in the "beer can chicken" style where it's whole and standing upright, and after you take in the fancy presentation (it even has its feet still attached) you realize that it came with a giant knife and a roast fork and you have to cut it yourself. it was a bit awkward and slightly messy trying to cut this thing into pieces and we ended up using one of our dinner plates as a platter for the chicken pieces and there were fries all over the place because the chicken kept spinning around its plate while we were trying to cut it and the roast fork was a bit difficult to use so we ended up using our hands a bit. thankfully this was a casual meal with good friends so we just laughed about it, but if it was a first date or a meal with a client or something it would be a bit awkward. and besides the awkwardness it just felt like we had to work for our meal and i got out for dinner so that i don't have to do any work! i get that presentation is important but maybe after they brought it out whole for us to look at they could give us the choice of "butcher diy" or having it cut for us. or just plate a big pile of chicken parts surrounded by fries?

i almost forgot, we also got the mac and cheese as our side and it was really good. not the best i've ever had but definitely satisfying!

our server, who i believe is named grace, was awesome! she was very casual and laid back but was very knowledgeable and gavegreatrecommendations. our order was timed perfectly and the entire night flowed very smoothly!

overall our meal was fantastic! we did order a little bit too much, in hindsight we probably should have gotten the 1/2 cock instead of the cock for 2, but everything was delicious so it didn't matter. the price was a bit on the high side (our bill was split by couple so each couple paid for their own drinks and all the food was split) and our bill was around 96.00 before tip, and i assume our friends' bill was pretty close to that as well. if you consider how many drinks we had (2 per person) then it makes sense though and we're not really bothered by the price. we are definitely looking forward to returning to cleaver!

brunch last sunday at clever was really good.  my wife and i both started with a caesar.  we ordered the version with the crazy amount of garnishes.  it came complete with fried chicken, a slider, waffle, bacon and a corn dog.  all weregreatand the caesar tasty.  after our appetizer we shared the brisket benny.  it was really tasty.  the little bit of bbq sauce gave it a nice sweetness that matched really well with the eggs and hollandaise.  i did find the service to be a bit weak.  we had to ask for napkins, plates, flatware and remind our server about missing drink orders.  regardless, the food quality, comfortable out door seating and ability to make a reservation for brunch will lead me back to cleaver the next time i am in calgary.

couldn't wait to try this place after seeing all of their mesmerizing posts on instagram. made it just in one for their happy hour before 7pm and the place was packed. very lively and lots of energy. my main goal was to stuff as many $3 sliders as i could and i achieved that goal.

having tried most of the sliders my favourites were the lamb, chipotle beef, fried chicken but each of em tasted very unique and delicious. you can tell a lot of detail and care was put into each slider.

i also indulged in their tinker one cheeesecake which was fantastic and their raspberry brownie which lookedgreatbut honestly wasn't anything special.

i would love to come back and sample some other options off their menu but their happy hour alone is worth it ! $3 sliders and $5 any drink is unreal for what you get .

check it out!

it is always agreatexperience going to cleaver! their food is geared towards comfort food, but with a delightful twist. the first time i went to cleaver, it was during a 2016 burger fest yyc crawl and everyone agreed that it was hands down the best burger out of the crawl!

my boyfriend and i came one night during their happy hour ($3 sliders and $5 2 oz cocktails!). we tried all of the sliders and our favorite was the buttermilk chicken and soft shell crab! in addition to their food, they have an extensive list of cocktails that you would not be able to find elsewhere, i loved the sticky wicket and my boyfriend loved that their long island iced tea was made from scratch.

if you intend on checking out cleaver, i would highly highly recommend sitting at the bar. the bartenders are hilarious and very knowledgeable in their cocktails. they'll ensure that you will have a good time!

cleaver was highly recommended by friend in vancouver. as i trust her sense of style and taste we decided to check it out. i have to say truly disappointed in cleaver service! food wasgreatbut felt rushed and pushed out the door. wasn't very busy so not sure why. friend had suggested i book for a private function in april and will attempt to go back again. asked to speak to manager but they never visited our table.

great foodgreatstaffgreatservice. looking for delicious food combine with some very interesting cocktails i strongly recommend coming down the cleaver to anyone. the wait staff aregreatalways happy to help you! 10/10 will eat again and again.

this restaurant has agreatatmosphere,greatdrinks, andgreatfood. the popcorn at the beginning is fantastic, and the dessert is amazing. the tempura kale is a must!!