i have been here a few times in small groups, or just as a couple, and while it’s never been anything overly impressive, it wasn’t that bad either.
unfortunately, after my experience on saturday night, i am not sure i will be in any hurry to return to this establishment.
myself and a large group of ladies from all over calgary (and surrounding area) meet up in area for a group exercise/boot camp type activity. we do it once a month and our numbers have grown to over 30 participants. we selected jamesons as an after workout spot for some drinks and food to catch up. reservations were made well in advance, as about 20 of us were interested in going out afterwards.
the bulk of our group arrived ahead of a few of us stragglers, so by the time the last 5 of us arrived, we had to move another table over so we could all sit somewhat together. the waitress was less than friendly from the start, seemed annoyed at the large group frankly – she took drink orders two or three at a time and when she brought them to the table, we had to stop her so others could order, she didn’t even try to see if anyone else needed anything, despite there being new people at the table.
the food is a whole other disappointment. the orders we made were nothing complicated – basics like steak sandwiches medium with salad, one with steamed veggies, a few various burgers and sides. when it came out, it was absolutely ridiculous, she had no idea who had ordered what, a bunch of the burgers were incorrect so we swapped items of food off our plates amongst ourselves. the most embarrassing thing was the steak situation – my friend ordered her steak medium, came out well done – but they also brought out a random plate with an extra steak and a side of fries that no one had actually ordered, which was cooked more medium, so she took that one and they took the well done one back… poor choice though, as her “new” steak was so burnt it was hardly digestible. one girl ordered her steak sandwich with steamed veggies, she didn't actually originally get anything brought out for her, but after inquiring, it evntually did come out, but the steak was cut in half, right down the middle, “to make sure it was cooked properly” is the explanation we received - i was horrified. even i know you don’t cut a into steak like that before it rests, nor is it needed for anyone with any kind of cooking experience to do that to actually determine the doneness… big surprise, the steak was dry as a bone. our salads tasted like the lettuce had been frozen or sat under the heat lamp, with wilted/soggy greens, dried out veggies, even dryer burgers, bland tasteless wraps, stale buns… oh, the yam fries were decent, so there’s that. standards for pub food has gone way up these days, but this was sub par even for the old expectations of pub fare meant just to put something in your belly.
the unfortunate part is that with the crowd of girls we had, if the service had been semi-decent and we hadn’t been treated like an annoyance and inconvenience, and perhaps didn’t have to chase her down for drinks, the visit could have been somewhat salvaged. however, after dinner, we were brought our bills without asking – not that we were overly keen to stay at this point, but i have never met a server so anxious to get rid of a large party before. our original plan had been to stay well into the night – many of us had planned to make a night of it, but instead we were out the door by about 7pm.
not a single one of our group enjoyed their time there, and to top it all off, nearly all of us spent the night with stomach aches and discomfort. there were 6 of us that all went back to one girls house afterwards and we spent the night in pain. it’s super disappointing, i was embarrassed as i had recommended the place, and we were keen to make this our go-to after meetup spot. here we were, a potential regular group willing to spend some money there on a regular basis as a group, not to mention as a future location for a family & friends gathering to celebrate our meetup’s success over the summer. i guess we will have to keep looking, there are lots of them in the area, so the search continues.