national on 17th

i'm so over national. i have been there quite a few times and i don't know why i keep coming back. i do love theirbeerselection. but the food is mediocre at best. i think that is expensive for what you get. the servers have been good every time i've been there. the other staff are quite rude and snotty. i really like the decor and the patio but the wood benches become quite uncomfortable if you are there for more than a couple hours. i would say skip this place...save yourself the aggregation and money and go elsewhere. i will be taking my business tobeerrevolution which has an excellent selection of food and awesome food.

it was a perfect pick as it was a more chill environment where people could hang around or leave as they wish without having to interrupt anyone else's plans. nationals was also giving out sample sized drinks for their new summerbeer(sorry but i forgot the name!). i drank mine and my friend's, and as good as it was, it did not help my case for poutine-eating.

there are very few spots where you can get chicken other than chicken wings. tonight i had the fried chicken and biscuits, it was great. three pieces of chicken breast, coleslaw and pickles. very well done. loved it. great service, nice patio on a sunny afternoon or evening. try it out.

its a place we meet up before a hockey game or just to hang out for a few drinks.  love me some tater tots.

i like thursday for the clive burger and abeer(or they allowed me a wine) for $15.00

started a bit of an impromptu 17th ave pub crawl here, was surprised to be able to get a table so easily inside by a window on saturday evening - patio was packed, no surprise there though, it was gorgeous outside.  our group had a great server, she was quick, friendly, made some super suggestions - she knew what she was talking about (which sounds simple, but i have found that to not be the case in other national locations).  

as usual, thebeerselection was good, no complaints there.  

between the 6 of us we had a decent selection of food, everyone enjoyed their meals - it all came out fairly quickly, there was a delay in my sister getting her fish tacos, but it was quickly remedied and the server handled it really well, so nothing to complain about.  my so had the prime rib sandwich w/ fries and really enjoyed his choice, especially for the price point, it was a big meal.  i went for the veggie burger & tater tots (cause... again, tater tots) - it was actually really good, tons of flavor, my so tried it and even he thought it was good (high praise from him, considering the disgusted face he usually makes when i chose to order a veggie burger despite the fact i am not a vegetarian) - with guac, clive sauce and melted cheese curds & sprouts it had a ton in there and i could barely finish it.  my only complaint is that the veggie patty itself falls apart and makes the whole thing fairly difficult to eat, but i would absolutely get it again.

after some negative experiences at the one on 10th my early opinion of the national chain was lower - but between our frequent positive visits to the one in westhills (closer to home) and the positive experience on saturday, i can honestly say my opinion is changing for the better!

excellent, excellent pub. very classy for a pub, wings and everything else was very well done, drinks were reasonable, service was excellent, quite honestly one of the best pubs i've ever been to. we left just full on amazingbeerand excellent food. $75 for three people was quite reasonable. well recommended. this, the bank & baron, original joe's are the best pubs i've been to in calgary, which says a lot for a born & bred calgarian

come here all the time. tonight was $20 prime rib and live music. you can't go wrong with the ridiculousbeerselection which this place is famous for.

i've eaten here too many times. their food is great for a bar. traditional food with twists which is appreciated. tater tots? check. solid wings? check. pork belly sliders? check. and cheap happy hourbeeris always appreciated. jacqueline is a great server!

goodbeer...soso food. greatbeerselection!
why more bc (10+) beers than alberta beers (6)? (it’s not their fault alcb/aglc/ provincial government policies. ) i could rant on this, but this not the forum to talk about these policies.
i liked the revolvingbeerdeparture menu/sign board. who was the original bar/restaurant that came up with it?
i would come back for thebeerselection but the salad i had put me off for ordering food in the future.

lots ofbeerchoice, but mostly common western canadian choices. nothing really exotic to justify 8.50 pints. can find all same beers for less within three blocks.

very good. been here several times and it has never disappointed. delicious lobster poutine and fried mars bar as a desert option, to a wide array of beers which kept mybeerconnoisseur father in law extremely happy and wanting to come back for more. nice ambience, decent patio, great food and service.

its not them, its you. if you don't like the door staff somewhere, stop going there and then that establishment wont need door staff anymore :) those people are there to make sure you and your friends are safe and the business stays within the city's guidelines for safety. they can be rude but trust me, they have developed that attitude with your help. be super nice to them without asking anything in return and i bet they will be nice to you. you might even get a drink bought for you.
but, we do need to have a talk about thebeerselection. i am fiercely nationalistic but these craft brews are nothing more than 'stunt beers'
just because you can make abeerso full of hops that it is pretty much just hops, doesn't mean you should. this hopping trend will end and i just hope it does before national is gone. its a nice, middle pub for just about everyone. yeah its full of hipsters now but at least it doesn't smell like a urine soaked beard (you know who i'm talking about, ship an anchor... yeah, you) in a year or so you will be eating a delicious steak sandwich with an egg on it (outstanding) and drinking abeerthat hopefully doesn't taste like someone put on a boot made of bitter, soapy hops, and kicked you in the mouth, and you will be wondering why you were even mad at national in the first place.
calgary, make friends with your door staff, communicate your needs to your server, educate the managers at your favorite places, drink good beer, and have a great time. you will feel better ;)

service is pretty bad. been here twice. once for drinks, once for brunch. first time i was here for drinks i did not feel any reason to give a review, but now that my second visit has resulted in worse service than the first, i felt the need to say.

waitress did not tell us about specials or seem very interested in being there. we ordered coffee, which on the menu says it comes in a french press, we received two cups, no press on our table (though our neighbours on the patio did have a press) and the coffee was full of grinds. clearly poorly brewed or poorly pressed. i chewed it and choked a bit. this was the easier alternative to actually tracking our waitress down and asking for another cup.

breakfast was delicious. wonderfully poached egg, hollandaise was a bit on the overly lemony side, but still delicious. my date also had a delicious fried egg sandwich.

we stuck around after our breakfast, brunch turned to afternoon drinks. saw that the menu read specials on pints ofbeeron sunday. we each ordered a pint and i can only assume that because we were not told that drinks were on special the waitress decided to charge us full price hoping we didn't know or, maybe she didn't even know. either way, we were over charged, though she did fix the error when we brought it up. she was dull, unimpressed, and honestly we were pretty easy to please. just no grinds in the coffee would've been nice, maybe a smile or two, maybe tell us about the specials.

i repeat, the food was amazing, too bad about the server.

my gf and i use a 75% rating rule when it comes to restaurants we check out on urbanspoon. however, i feel like the national has been unfairly maligned. i do agree that the service could use work but when i read reviews that complain about tater-tots being factory made (they're tots dude) or crab tasting fishy (it's an ocean-dwelling bottomfeeder broo) i have to shake my head. thebeerselection is great and this has become my go-to place when the ship's food specials become repetitive. give the chicken club a shot and tell me i'm wrong.

stick to caesars, snacks, and what everbeeryou dig. took a girl on a breakfast date here. we waited 20mins... had to get the drinks myself.... she finally came with menus... ordered.. waited 45mins gave half our order to the wrong table... waited another 10mins until they figured it out. they then rushed our order 15mins later we received it... was under cooked and rather horrid. the manager came and comped us the food and apologized. it will be along time before i consider giving this place another chance.


-----07 may, 2013-----

visited this place on a nice warm saturday. very nice decor, nice patio, great drink selection, the caesar was fantastic, one if the best iv had. the menu was a pretty basic pub menu with a few notables such as the scotch egg and the sea food. the food was better then the stander that's for sure. i will be back.

worst food ever!!. i have gone to national a hand full of times for drinks after work. the most recent time i was there we went for dinner as well. my friend and i asked the waitress about a photo that was on their website that looked good. after talking with the manager she told us they no longer serve the dish. we asked what she would recommend? she said the tater tots the fried pickles and the cobb salad. so we ordered all three plus thebeercheese pretzel with the plan to share and pick away at it. a few minutes later the table next to us had their food come out and low and behold they got the dish we wanted on their website....hmmm?? when our food came out the tater tots were, no word of a lie actual mccain tater tots out of a freezer bag. the crab in the cobb salad was bad it had the worst fishy taste and smell to it, not to mention the salad was dosed in dressing and served in a huge mixing bowl. the pretzel was plain and thebeercheese dip tasted nothing likebeeror cheese, more like cream soup. to this day i cannot believe i paid for mccain tater tots at a restaurant. just an embarrassment to calgary.