three boars eatery

best place in edmonton by far !!!!! i always try out new and different places, been almost everywhere in edmonton, this is my number one pick!! everything on the menu is perfect, can't go wrong with any choice . i was in heaven the entiretime. so so so good! i recommend this restaurant to everyone i know.

horrible experience - will never go back. with the full realization that this place doesn't take reservations, we went three boars understanding that there would be a bit of a wait. on arrival i tried several times to give my name to the disorganized staff - who assured me that no name was needed that they had a good system to know who was next and the order in which they arrived. we were told a waittimeof approx 30 min. after over an hour, i noticed a party of 4 (same size as ours) being told their table was ready. these people had clearly arrived well after we had. when i pointed this out to the staff, they simply shrugged and glibly told me "too bad", and that we would have to wait "another 30 minutes". i don't appreciate having mytimewasted or being dismissed by staff who clearly don't have a proper or organized system to seat their patrons. don't bother with this place, unless you want to stand around in a cramped bar, ordering drinks you can get anywhere else, waiting for a table that you may or may not get.

amazing! the guys in the back know what they are doing and the bartender was well informed and great company because we decided to stay sitting at the bar. this place is extremely busy and i'm sure at anytimethere is a wait for a table. i believe it only has the 4 or 5 upstairs. but trust me. wait it out. you won't be let down and try the banana beer which i'm sad i didn't capture a picture of. just means i'll have to return.

there are days when i crave something new and exciting, perhaps the trending restaurant of that week. other times, i’m perfectly happy with visiting old favorites. but what’s to say that an old favorite still isn’t “new”? if they change their menu often, as three boars eatery does, is it not essentially a “new” restaurant everytimeyou visit?

firsttimetrying the pizza. i must say one of the best pizzas we have had in some time. great crust! highly recommend. thanks for staying open during this time!

well, first date night out trying a new radiant restaurant and something different and it was pretty good. i think the atmosphere and staff were incredible. the staff was really friendly and knowledgeable and really helpful. we got a total of six plates, the fist plate was from "bar snacks" was summer radish toast with pork fat and salt, and honestly i wasn't a fan. the second one was from rabbit food, and it was brussels sprouts with dandelion honey, lemon and nutmeg, and it was delicious! second from rabbit food was caramelized onion as oka tart with baby lettuce, lemon and olive oil, which was also quite good. next we were in the small plates category and we got alberta bison striploin with kale, beets, and summer squash, saskatoons and pureed beet caramel. which was delicious. firsttimetrying bison too, and i was pleasantly surprised. then we had the jerked chicken poutine which in all honestly might have been my favorite. for dessert we had a think custard with whip cream and berries as a scone.
dessert was complementary, their way of apologizing for the wait on the food, which realistically didn't even feel like very long, so that was a nice surprise.
the waiters and waitresses we had we very personable and friendly and the restaurant itself had a quaint, fun, hipster type of feel to it, which i really dug.
all in all it was pretty good. i'd definitely go back.

don't know why recent reviewers were complaining. had gone 3x last summer and loved the ambience. feels like i'm in san fran or nyc. esp w the windows open. again it was tasty, relaxed and a great time. the olives, corn dogs , shrimp pork belly and wings were all good. esp the wings. ginger beer is pass on next time. one dish took a longtimebut server said sorry and it wasn't a big deal. weird she didn't take my small plate w wing bones tho.

disappointment. i really wanted to like this place: the atmosphere, the name, the saliva-inducing food descriptions, and of course the high rating on urban spoon. nearly every dish we had was a massive disappointment... whether it be heavy handedness with seasoning or simply too muchtimein the oven this food was poor in execution.

before i describe where the dishes went wrong.. i must commend tbe on the roasted cauliflower. i really enjoyed it. good seasoning, perfect tenderness in the cauliflower, and the lentils were divine. my only complaint is the fact that i wanted more despite the massive serving because it was so good.

now that this is done....

we started off with the mexican-flavoured potato bar eats (i forget the exact name). they were topped off with green onion, cilantro, an avocado cream drizzle, and a combination of smokey seasonings. to put it in a slightly exaggerated analogy- if the chef's hand was mt. vesuvius, the lava was salt, and the poor ancient italians were the potatoes... this dish, is the mt vesuvius of the culinary world. (too soon?) even the creaminess of the avocado couldn't taper the saltiness of the potatoes.

next came the okanomiyaki (spelling??) and the brussel sprouts. the okanomiyaki (ok for short lest i keep butchering) is a giant version of a takoyaki but with a mixture of seafood and pork. it is served in a cast iron skillet. if i was to create a ridiculous analogy for my experience with this dish: you know when large dogs are puppies they have these clumsy looking giant paws. for puppies, this disproportion works. in this dish, it doesn't. this dish was simply too much dough and not enough flavour or meat. i was so excited to eat this but i remember taking one bite and feeling bad for getting my fiancé to order it. food simply shouldn't make you feel bad for ordering it. with shopping, buyer's regret helps you save money when you decide to return the item the next day. with eating out.... yeah....

the brussel sprouts. i love roasted brussel sprouts. when done well, the nutty flavour of the sprouts is enhanced by the smokiness of the roasting. the outside leaves are crispy while the insides are tender. perfect balance of texture and flavour. at tbe, these were some of the worst brussel sprouts i've had at a restaurant. they were simply way too sweet, so sweet that there was a puddle of the honey glaze at the bottom of the small bowl they come in. despite this sweetness, you can still taste the acridness of the burnt sprouts. since this review is a stream of horrible analogies, why stop now? it's like when you wake up with a pimple and it just so happens to be your wedding day, the day you take your graduation photo, or the day you agreed to meet with your friend who likes to take selfies. the first thing you think of is covering that pusy bad boy up with makeup. but as you apply more and more makeup, the worse you look all together. with no amount of concealer, capable of concealing it. this is the experience of this dish.

lastly, we ended off with the beef chuck and polenta. this dish was actually not bad. i liked it, but it still missed the marks on perfect execution. the beef was just a little overcooked. it was still juicy and tender, but would have been perfect if it was taken out a tad sooner. the polenta was pretty good too. i can't remember much about it tbh but i remember enjoying it. the roast vegetables that came with the dish were simply way too overcooked. yes they were burnt and mushy. i forget what vegetable it was (it wasn't something that you would find at your basic grocery store ie: peppers, onions etc). i remember when the waitress was describing it i was so pumped to try one (it was so organic food market/exotic sounding). excitedly i grabbed one and put it in my mouth. let's just say i have absolutely no idea what that exotic vegetable is suppose to taste like because it was so burnt that, that is all i tasted. the roasted beets with this dish also had that familiar acrid flavour. beets! a dish rich in sweetness and rootiness tasted burnt. gah.

so as you can tell i was very disappointed. i wanted to like this place so badly. but the execution simply did not match my expectations, the style lf the restaurant, or the high price points. if i am going to spend $40 on a dinner in edmonton, i hope to be blown away or leave happy. unfortunately, i was simply blown away by what went wrong and left very unhappy. so to end off this lengthy review.....

i would compare my experience eating at tbe to when i went to watch the first hobbit. after watching lord of the rings, there is no possible way that the hobbit can go wrong. this movie had the perfect set-up, perfect world, and clearly the technical foundation to be killer. well... as i'm sure we all know... something definitely went wrong.

huge disappointment. i had heard from one friend who said this was their favorite place to eat in the city, and from others who have heard by word of mouth, great reviews. so, on a whim, and for my husband's birthday, i decided to make reservations.
we got there and the place is quaint, but very small. we ordered devils on horseback, chicken wings, pulled pork poutine, chicken and pork terrine (pate), and brussel sprouts, all items highly recommended by the server.
the devils on horseback were ok. i'm not a big fan of dates to begin with, so i had a toughtimeeating more than one. the flavors were different - smoked bacon, blue cheese and the sweetness of the dates... it didn't really blow my hair back or anything.
the chicken wings were ok. savory, sweet, and a bit spicy... i love cilantro and lime, and the wings weren't mushy or slimy, but rather crispy, which i prefer. again, nothing that really wow'd me (i've had better wings at a pub).
the pulled pork poutine was not good. it had an odd flavor to the pork... i can't even describe it, but after one bite, i refused to eat anymore of the meat. the gravy tasted like pork au jus with some cornstarch mixed in... maybe it was flour. i don't know and i really don't care. it was an incredibly unpleasant flavor overall. not to mention, using small spanish baby potatoes might seem like a "cool" or "food art" kind of idea... well, it's not. the plate looked like a hot mess... at least the flavor matched it.
the chicken and pork terrine was decent. the first batch of toast was overdone so it was like eating croutons, but the second batch was toasted perfectly - by far the best part of the meal - perfectly toasted, buttered baguette slices. the pickled veggies with the seeded mustard was a nice touch and went well with the spread. this was probably the best dish we ordered.
for drinks i ordered the house made soda. it was quite tasty and lightly sweetened - it reminded me a little bit of root beer, which was nice. my husband ordered the german lager and their stout (it was 17% alcohol), both which he found to be decent.
the service was ok... the server was very knowledgeable of the menu, but i was rather surprised at how little concern she had when we sent back half of the poutine and asked for the brussel sprouts to go. call me old fashioned but i like it when a server cares about my dinner experience the entiretimei'm there.
when i received the takeout box of brussel sprouts, i caught wind of a very strong and unpleasant odor from the box... so i left it outside on the picnic table.
i don't consider myself to be an overly fussy eater, nor would i classify myself as a "foodie", but i found this place to be pretentious and tried way too hard to mix flavors that just didn't work. maybe their "hipster" clientel enjoy it, but your everyday eater like me would rather hit up woodwork, nineteen, or dare i say the cactus club.
i'm not sorry to give this place two thumbs down and a solid 3/10. i will never go back nor would i ever recommend this place to my friends and family.

great evening. i have read a number of reviews which disparaged thetimeit took for the meals and the cost of the meal. i would hugely like to differ with these opinions.

our server, shaylae (sp) assisted us all evening select our tapas, refilling water and wine glasses and ensuring that we had a memorable evening. she helped with our selections as one of us is celiac and the meals arrived promptly and freshly.

we picked a great bottle of bc wine and our meal total was significantly less than i would have anticipated. this is a wonderful restaurant with amazing servers, cozy surroundings and great eats.

i live in calgary and i highly recommend this restaurant.

not enough bang for your buck... i recently ate at the three boars for the firsttimeand won't be returning, at least not for food. for anyone squeamish about eating the 'awful' of an animal (by this i mean the organs) i would say that 90% of the "bar snacks" and "small plates" that night were things along the lines of chicken hearts and sheep's tongue, and that this is not the restaurant for you.

i must admit that i was pleasantly surprised by the service. my girlfriend and i were seated promptly, even without a reservation, and our water glasses were never empty.

i will just list some problems we had:

- restaurant was so dark, we had to strain to read the menu.
- food that was on the menu, was not actually being served by the kitchen. it seems as though the food changes so frequently, they sometimes forget to change the menu.
- the menu is extremely limited for my vegetarian girlfriend, meaning that we could not share anything outside of the "rabbit food" section. because of this i asked if it would be possible to bring two dishes at once so we wouldn't be eating alone. the waitress didn't even ask the kitchen, she just kept telling me it was served tapas style.
- some of what we ordered, they had run out of. instead of telling us right away, they put in our order and told us afterward. i was about to tell the waitress not to put in our order as we wouldn't be staying but our first dish came to the table as we were getting up to leave.
- the first dish was a salad and the second, the poutine. the salad was pretty big and could easily have been shared between the two of us. however, i didn't eat any of it because i was expecting a similar portion of poutine and my girlfriend wouldn't eat any because of the bacon and gravy. to my disappointment, the poutine was not a size i would consider shareable by any standards. it was the size of an appetizer but cost as much as a meal at any run of the mill restaurant.

bottom line for me is that the food is way too overpriced for what it is: chicken hearts aren't exactly an expensive protein after all. we ended up going to boston pizza down 109th street after for dessert because we were both still hungry and dissatisfied with our meal at three boars. this is the kind of restaurant i would go to solely for drinks with my friends, and honestly both the underground and mkt are much better in my opinion. i would not recommend this restaurant to anyone, unless you're okay wasting money.

i adore this place. i absolutely love three boars. due to the higher price point, it's not an everyday place, but i have been back several times. i love how the menu is always changing. it keeps the restaurant fresh and draws me back to taste the newest creations. i often go with 3 or 4 friends, we each order something and share it. i have sampled many dishes and i can say only 1 did not meet my expectations. as the menu is constantly changing it is difficult to recommend a dish, but a few things seem to be consistent. the brussels sprouts are amazing and enjoyed by my brother who insisted he doesn't and wouldn't like them. the sauteed mushroom, egg yolk, toast, is such a treat. if they have the foir gras bomb (if i recall the name correctly) get it! do not order it to share because you won't want to. they have an ever changing beer menu and a large list of delicious cocktails. my favorite is the banana weiss, a mix of white beer and banana juice. i have no idea why anyone would say the staff are stuck up or rude either. they have always been kind, helpful, and patient with all our questions and always take thetimeto give recommendations. i love this place and can honestly say it's my favorite in edmonton.

9 out of 10. don't get me wrong, i really want to like three boars - it was certainly something different and i take my hat off to them for trying to do something different with local in-season ingredients, which isn't always easy in a place like edmonton (i've tried!). first, let's talk about the good points - the food was really really tasty, well presented and very unique...and there were so many varieties of tasty beers!

we ordered -
smoked pork jowl (very interesting - too much mustard though)
panzanella salad (nothing special really)
carrots & beets (very very good, vegetables were cooked to perfection, loved the goat's cheese foam!)
foie gras (loved the tomato kimchi, but there's not enough of the foie gras to be substantial)
lamb sirloin (the lamb was perfectly cooked, but just not enough of it)
lamb croquette (absolutely loved this dish, great combination of components)
scallop carpaccio (interesting texture, but waaaayyyy too fishy, needed something acidic to cut through the fishiness)
pork belly (loved this, meat was tender, the combo of oats and poached egg really worked)

now, let's move on to the one thing that bothered me about three boars - and it's actually a major thing - my problem is the satisfaction factor. there just wasn't enough on the plates and the food took a looooooongtimeto arrive. i understand that the concept of the place is for people to share the dishes and food this good takestimeto cook, but it really left a bad impression with me because my friends and i left the place hungry, considering how much we paid we expect to be full. i can't remember anytimethat i went to a restaurant and left hungry, we always joked about going to a nice restaurant and going home to cook instant noodles - saddest thing is that we actually had to do it this time.

not sure...?. we've been here a few times in the past 3 or 4 weeks, the firsttimeour server kept forgetting our drinks so the the hostess/manager? sorted it out (we recognized her from one of our previous haunts so knew she had it all down). our food was good, the lamb was excellent as were the chicken hearts (who knew chicken hearts could be good???). my complaint is that the service doesn't match the menu. for an $80 meal between the two of us i expect better service. our server was cold and uninterested, i didn't need her to put on a show but she seemed really unsuited for what she was selling. this wasn't a one off either, everytimei've been there the service has bordered on rude except for the onetimethe hostess helped us out (we haven't seen her since then). they don't seem to be trained properly or have the right attitude. a little professionalism and a smile might change it.
i don't think we'll be back, they don't have the whole package and for that kind of money i expect more.

i've always had a greattimeat 3 boars. it's impressive what they can do with the limited space they have. clearly it doesn't have the room that the tin palace earls does... so go there if you can't handle the tight spaces. i love the pork belly and i think there may come a day when i overdose on their liver bombs