open range - steak chops

great food.dinnerwas great - the staff provided us with great service, the food was excellent - including the vegan meal i had requested. the only thing that could have been better is parking in the area.

good food but boring atmosphere. haddinnerthere on a quite tuesday. nice interior, friendly and professional service. really good beer, wine, cocktail menu - lots of unique choices and priced fairly.
fordinnerwe had the corn and jalapeno fritters and the prime rib feature. the fritters were ok - the flavour was good but i don't think the tomatillo dipping sauce complimented the fritters.
our prime rib was serviced with duck fat poutine, beets and a yorkshire pudding. the yorkshire pudding was stale and the poutine disappointing. they used au jus instead of gravy in the pountine so it was similar to french fry soup.
the prime rib was amazing - i would order it again and just opt for a different side.
nice decor, good food, great staff but the atmosphere was pretty boring.

i went to open range a few weeks back for a belated birthdaydinnerwith my family.  it was a cold and snowy weekend, but we bundled up and headed out in hopes of having a great meal. first off, my parents were not fans of the chairs.  they found them too low to be comfortable and as my mom put it, “more suited for people who want to sit and have a few drinks”.  then again, my family’s chinese so my parents aren’t usually the type who want to kick back with a few drinks and spend hours at a restaurant.  plus, we’re all on the short side so that might have factored into the chairs being so low.  still, i found the setting to be really cozy and i can see it being great for a romantic evening or just a great place for a few friends to gather. we started off with a few drinks.  my mom and i got the orange blossom lemonade pictured on the right and my sister got an italian soda in raspberry.  the lemonade didn’t have any kind of orange blossom flavour to me and was very sweet.  i like my le

we had the porterhouse to share - 24 oz steak, scalloped potatoes and asparagus - it was probably the best steakdinneri have had in calgary. i loved it. the service was great too. will definitely be back. we tried the sourdough garlic cheese bread and tho it was good it was quite heavy and i could have done without that before the amazing main course.

the best restaurant experience all year!!. we just finished a wonderfuldinnerat the open range - our first time at this restaurant - and while we certainly have enjoyed a great many meals in various restaurants over the past year, we can honestly say this was probably the highlight of 2014.
she says: i had the bison spare ribs which were slow roasted in a bbq sauce with a bit of a kick, served on a bed of "grits." the meat fell of the bone and the bbq sauce was exquisite. i ordered the scalloped potatoes on the side - these as well were some of the best i've had - the sauce also had a bit of a "kick" to it which i really enjoyed.
he says: the tenderloin was one of the most tender i've ever had. a good size portion arrives on a wild rice, bean and mini onion in a sauce that brings it all together. couldn't finish it all so i'm looking forward to leftovers tomorrow.
the serving sizes were very generous and we both had dishes to take home.

porterhouse project fail. had a bdaydinnerat open range. first time there. paid corkage and brought my own wine.

started with the buffalo bresaola with fontina cheese and tapenade. the buffalo was excellent but i found the strong tapenade overpowered it. i preferred the buffalo with the cheese and bread and no tapenade. also had the escargot which was good.

after much debate i decided to try the porterhouse project for two. what a mistake. the steak was really tough. there is no way this was a triple a cut of meat. we did not finish it. i would expect steakhouse steak to be as good as if not better than what i can do at home. i should have got the beef tenderloin. i noticed most others were ordering that. desert was great. service was excellent. just wish that steak was better. not sure i'll go back.

honestly, it wasn't worth it. we went for our anniversarydinnerand left disappointed...and a little hungry. first i must say the service was great. from the front door to the table. the food was alright. we started with the appetizer baby back ribs and the corn jalepeno fritters. the ribs were tasty but small, the fritters tasty. we had the lamb shank and the bison flank steak. the lamb was good, it came with good mashed potatoes and salty demi glacé and a corn flour biscuit. the bison came under done and the potatoes were simple boiled white potatoes that were cold throughout, the veg was almost raw. i can appreciate blanched vegetables but using a steak knife shouldn't be nessesary. the flavours were strong and confusing. the bison dish was not enjoyable. we opted out of desert and went to dairy queen.
can't say we'll be back again any time soon.

haddinnerfor two sunday evening, made reservations beforehand (recommended). was seated promptly indinnerroom.dinnerwas 3 course, salad, main and dessert. salad was contemporary, prime rib delicious. staff attentive but not overbearing. bread for table $3 extra with rosemary butter. dessert was apple crumble, served cold with ice cream. had i known i would have asked to have it heated first. overall $140 with tip and alcohol of one wine and beer. overall pleasant experience.

i went for the clam starter because i had heard the chef talking about it on cbc radio. they were out of the clams, so i ordered the spanish onion soup which was ok, i have had better in calgary. for my main i got the lamb shank, i love lamb but i could not eat all this, one side was good and the other side tasted funny. it came with white corn grits, i hate grits, it does not say that on the menu and no one informed me. they asked my husband if he would like potatoes or rice. after i finished the little bit of lamb that tasted good they said the could replace the grits with something else. there was also no vegetables on my plate, i did not eat most of mydinnerso i ordered dessert. i got the 3 ice creams/ sorbets. yet again the one i wanted was not available. so i got peanut butter and jam ice cream- this was the wrong texture for ice cream and i don't know how they managed to make a ice cream taste dry but they did. papaya sorbet- this one was good and edible. wild berry sorbet- this just tasted like frozen sugar water died purple. my husband ate all of his food but did not say it was excellent, he had the dried game meat plate and that was ok, followed by the beef tenderloin, it was a good piece of meat but was glazed with something sweet.
the service was excellent and the staff extremely nice but i chose this place for the food and if i can cook this better at home why bother going back.

stopped in fordinneron a thursday - we were sat quickly as they weren't very busy. the hostesses were on top of things, not to mention very sweet. we were quite confused as to who our server was - we had two people taking/dropping orders. they weren't very informative nor friendly. we ordered the bison bresaola to start, our crostini never arrived but the hostess brought us some bread. we ordered the wild boar and tenderloin. the meals were good - filling and cooked well. i was surprised that most the entrees are similar, other than the meat...the sides are the same. i like to see restaurants that support and acknowledge local farmers. so all-in-all the meal was good, service was lame.

haddinnerhere on a saturday night and i have to say i'm not impressed. the atmosphere is lovely, but the service was, well, odd and the food wasn't stellar considering the price. we were seated for long enough to start getting antsy before the server showed up to take our drinks order. then, while i was mid sentence ordering, he interrupted me to leave and deal with another table he had forgotten about. i thought this was odd and funny and i would have written it off, but the service continued in that vein for the rest of the meal. we got our drinks, waited too long again to place our food order, and got our first appetiser. the appetiser was alright, nothing amazing, and the second one never showed up. we didn't even have a chance to ask about it, because we just thought it was slow like everything else had been, until the main arrived and we realised it had been forgotten. the main were good although the beef (which is their specialty) was overdone. the rare steak which the server confirmed twice was to be rare - as if the chef had never encountered such a request - was medium, as were the medium rare steaks. the server dropped by to see how we were enjoying the meal, and seeing my already cleared plate answered his own question with something along the lines of "you must have enjoyed it, it's gone already!". i was too polite to reply that i ate quickly because i was starving and fearful of missing an afterdinnerengagement. in retrospect i probably should have. they were kind enough to comp our appetiser as an apology for the one we missed out on, and which had initially been charged to us. in all fairness; the food wasn't bad, even the lame service was likely poor staffing or just a rough night as our server was never anything but polite. however at $34 an entree one can get exceptional service at many other calgary restaurants, and a well prepared steak isn't difficult to find around here so i can say with certainty that i won't be eating at open range again.

awesome!. beyond words. exceptional food and service! very expensive. went for new yearsdinnerand we had a great meal. wild boar and pork belly, and muscles. amazing!

great food and great service!. i've been coming to the open range for a few years now and have always been impressed with the food and level of service.
the servers are willing and able to recommend items and something great to drink if your unsure of where you want to start. the wine list has many great options and i like that they offer different pour sizes, so if you want to try more than one wine with yourdinneryou can! anytime there has been anything a little off with my dinner, overcooked protein, the staff have been more than willing to take care of it and have always been pleasant while doing so. that in it's self say's alot for the establishment.
i would highly recommend this steak house for a special meal, it's well worth the few extra dollars for the experience!

second visit - continued satisfaction!. we decided to revisit open range fordinnerand were again delighted with our meals and the impeccable service. for a starter, the three of us shared the 'three bean and sorrel dip with grilled chili flatbread' which was delightful. one of us had the beef tenderloin which was succulent and the accompanying vegetables were cooked to perfection. another guest had the 'blackened new york strip with chimichurri sauce' and he exclaimed it was fabulous. for the third meal, the appetizer 'bison enchilada with smoked tomato white salsa and salsa cruda' and the 'baby romaine..salad' was ordered together as the main course. as one who is not a regular meat eater, she found it to be totally enjoyable. the enchilada was very sizable and the bison meat was flavourable and lean. the open range is definitely a destination for excellent meals in casual, relaxed surroundings.


-----28 feb, 2010-----

delightful! relaxed and casual ambiance with attentive and friendly service provided a perfect backdrop to well-presented and flavourful dinners.