80th and Ivy

this is terrible place, i went today at 1:30 took me 1hour later to service the appetizer and other haft hour for main meal but they forgot my bread i told them 2 times… 2 staffers there and wasnt only my table complaining. really unhappy at all

Service is extremely slow
waitress has no people skills or communications, neither does the manager
Food is dis**sting, it never use to be like this.
If you want good food and service go to Cibo

we went for valentine dinner. it was super busy and had live band. server was good. atmosphere was good too. food was great. we had ½ roisstier chicken and chicken ciabatta sandwich were both delicious. however dissappointed at the appetizer and dessert. had only two options for dessert and wasnt good at all.

Had an awesome live band but was too loud to have a conversation around
really cool look to the place !
Great food but was not the high quality that was expected for the price.

I’ve been searching for a good brunch place since I moved to Calgary last winter and I’ve finally found a great go-​to place! The Sunday breakfast buffet is $ 20 and includes your coffee. If you check in on Facebook, you save an additional $ 5! Brunch for $ 15 (especially of this calibre) is unheard of! Great food, great service and a great atmosphere. Can’t wait to go back.

Service ⁵⁄₅ service was excellent. Was greeted as soon as we walked in the door. Our server was great. Food was our promptly.
Environment ⁵⁄₅ very clean open and spacious.
Parking ³⁄₅ it’s in 17Ave so only street parking available.
Food ⁴⁄₅ ordered the weekly lunch special. Beef and blackberry salad was great. Spaghetti & prawn flat bread was ok nothing to special.
Would defiantly come back just for the salad.

We work nearby and have come here a few times. Every time it’s slow, and it takes about 1.5 hours to get in and out. While the food and lunch special are good, I’m shocked at how every time someone’s order is forgotten or arrives when everyone else is wrapping up. Great for dinner, but would avoid going for lunch here if you expect timely service.

A social-​drinky-​foody-​goody people watching spot!
We are part-​time regulars here — especially in the summer — because we like 80^th & Ivy’s street-​side outdoor space and it’s location on 17^th avenue SW for people watching. Socializing and people-​watching with friends is really the main reason we go here and everyone enjoy’s watching the interesting or wtf or attractive or musical or sometimes comical people that cruise the 17^th avenue strip. You never know who you are going to see… and you would be surprised at how many people roam up and down 17^th (in-​vehicle and on-​foot).
Overall, 80^th & Ivy is a decent place to strike up a conversation with another table, which ends up happening often there. It’s a good place to be social even if you had not planned on it. And today did not disappoint.
From our experience, the customer service is always good and you will find that the staff are generally enthusiastic and very welcoming when you walk in the door. You never have to wait long for food or drink either, which is something we take note of no matter where we dine.
Since we have made a point to try the entire menu I will list a few recommendations:
— Bacon wrapped dates
— Tempura prawn skewers
— Cajun chicken sandwich
— Ivy burger
— Rotisserie chicken
— Ahi tuna
— Beet & blackberry salad
— Buck o’shuck oysters
Thanks 80^th & Ivy,
Shane K.

We came here for drinks after Local — this place was nice in terms of really quick service and seating. We got prime seating on the area where the restaurant overlooks the patio area. I liked how quick and efficient the waitress was — but the crowd overall was kind of eh. I would give this place another try if we were in the area though as the restaurant portion and staff were friendly and nice.

Steak bites and Greek ribs were great, although I don’t condone the Greeks selling their ribs to boost their economy. Patio is good for a warm summer day of drinking and watching the local riffraff stroll by, and the interior is tastefully decorated for those looking to impress on that awkward first date or silent and dull 10 year wedding anniversary dinner. It is a bit pricey for those pinching their pennies, so if that’s an issue there is a delicious KFC across the street.

The brunch here is really not all that great. The buffet runs $ 25 per person and was like eating something you expect the first settlers would of eaten to preserve their food with. I’m not an overly picky eater and am a big fan of brunch. This place however just didn’t do it for me and I wouldn’t go back. Very nice venue but I’d skip on the brunch. The waitress came by like twice the entire time despite being relatively quiet but on previous visits another waitress visited me enough to call part of the family (hit or miss basically).

I think the Ivy burger might have been the best burger I’ve ever had. So impressed. Our server was amazing, introducing herself and shaking our hands. Great experience!

Really nice service and tasty food, I recommend the lobster, it is very yummy

Went here on a first date on a Sunday afternoon. Really nice service, attentive without being clingy (I’m talking about the server, although the date was as well).
They gave us some banana bread to start which was tasty. They also had a boozy sample table happening so we got a little drink and a free promo watch. Interesting.
I had a burger — it was well constructed, tasty with really good toppings on it. Their fries are also great. If I’m going to have fries they should be awesome and they delivered on that.
My date had the chicken club and it looked good. We also had the crumble for dessert. It was really good and a nice way to end the meal.
We had wine — I didn’t order it but my date said the selection was decent.
I saw a lot of items on the menu that captured my attention so I will for sure check it out again!

This is the first review of a restaurant I’ve ever given, I’m generally not the complaining type but I was so disappointed with brunch today. I met at 1:00 with two girlfriends and were enthusiastically taken care of by Andrew (?) for the first few minutes, he brought us drinks (flirted a little maybe) and was friendly. After telling us he was going on a break things got bad.
Our new waitress took our order and after over 30 minutes (there were only TWO other occupied tables in the entire place) our food came out — wrong and cold. They screwed up both orders of eggs benedict and the hollandaise sauce was cold… appetizing. After finishing our meals it took another 30 minutes from that point to when the manager (?) came over to wipe the table and we asked for the bill, it never came.
After 15 more minutes or so he stopped by again and asked us if we wanted any dessert or shots, SHOTS?! It was 2:30 on a Sunday, plus we already asked for the bill. No thank you I don’t want any tequila right now. We reiterated we wanted the cheque again. 15 more minutes go by and the expressionless waitress comes by to refill our waters and we had to ask again for the bill. Finally she brought it over. My bill was $ 25 and I gave her a $ 50 bill, I watched her struggle for 3 minutes to count out change.
Obviously we did not leave a tip for service, which was far below acceptable. The food was «meh» anyway. I’m disappointed since I had been living in Mt Royal for almost two years and always passed this place so I was excited to try it, I will not be back. Listen to your customers and speed up your service please.

One star for service, Laura was awesome. The chefs never tasted the food entire 2 hours I watched them. Lamb was fatty and still pink. Lacked flavor and stringy chewy fat inside pieces of meat like a cheap cut of blade steak. You can use cheap cuts, but they need proper cooking… Large Israeli coscou s was only saving grace. Big balls in Israel. The frizee was totes picked way to early. The asparagus had a poison taste like a bad plum, one bite and you will spit it out. The desert chocolate pâté tasted a little less deep as a chocolate orange but a lot richer and lighter.
Manager disagreed with everything, and pointed to some boisterous men pounding beers and said «they loved the lamb»…I’m sure most drunks would love to eat raw white fat. Told me he tasted the asparagus and its just a sharp flavour, wow, hes delusional and kidding himself. He must eat those spoiled plums with the worst poison taste you can imagine and think they are just sharp…
I however cringe when i see white uncooked fat. He continued to make excuses saying that the rotissery blah blah etc etc. Even if you rotisserie the meat you still need to cut the fat off when you are finished to give a good piece of meat. Undercooked Lamb thats mostly gristle and sinue in the meat.

My fiancé and I were in the area and looking for somewhere good to eat. We have tried many restaurants on 17^th and never saw this one before. I have read about it but thought it was much further on 17^th than it was. The restaurant is all windows so you can see in when driving by. It looked busy and fun so we decided to give it a go.
Walked in and had the option of sitting in the bar area on a high top or up the stairs to the back where the dining room is. We opted for the dining room and got a nice cozy corner.
The service was good, only thing is that we got my salad with the dressing on it (when I asked for it on the side) which happens to me all the time so I am used to it. Surprisingly they re-​made my salad super fast and it was yummy!
We ordered
Beet & Arugula salad to share $ 13
Winter Salad $ 14
Market Vegetables $ 7
8 oz «blackened» certified angus beef ribeye $ 28
Everything was great and good portions.
We look back to coming here again in the near future :)

This place has had mixed reviews so I wasn’t expecting much when I arrived here for lunch with some girlfriends.
Just as I sat down, our server came over and reached out her hand to intro herself (ok weird!) and handed me a menu. We ordered the gorgonzola mushroom dip and the pan seared shrimps and scallops to start, I ordered the homemade fettuccine, and the other girls went with the braised short ribs sandwich, classic Alberta burger and soup & salad (the daily soup was minestrone and she went with the west coast salad).
The dip came out first, and it was really good — it had a thicken mushroom soup/​risotto texture to it. The scallops and shrimps were tiny, the bacon and plum relish it came with was tasty.
We had all ordered drinks at the beginning (two of us had water, one had wine and the other the Ivy Lemonade) and besides the wine the rest of us were waiting for our drinks and had to ask the waitress again AFTER we had finished our appetizers. She managed to bring out our waters and then buggered off (still no lemonade).
Our food came out and looked good, and besides the burger that’s as far as the goodness went. My pasta noodles were mushy, and completely lacked flavor. I tried adding a bit of salt and pepper to liven it up and nothing. The short rib sandwich had a hearty heap of meat — but it was also bland. After having to ask for a spoon for her soup (seriously?) my girlfriend said her minestrone soup tasted like it came from a can — after a few bites she didn’t even bothering eating it.
I rendered my pasta inedible and when the server finally came by with my friend’s lemonade, I asked her to take my pasta back. She asked if I’d like anything in replacement and since I figured I couldn’t go wrong with salad so I ordered the beet & arugula one. It came out quickly and was surprisingly good.
Our server split out our bill for us including the appetizers (always appreciated), but she forgot to honor the $ 3 off wine glass pours for my friend. Considering the shotty service we’d been getting, we just settled the bill and left.
I honestly think your money is best spent elsewhere — food and service are completely lackluster, I know I won’t be back.

My first impressions of this restaurant was fantastic, we had to call ahead to say that we will be showing up late for our reservation on a Saturday evening and they were very nice to us saying not to worry.
Upon arrival I found the hostess to be super friendly and sweet, our server came by right away to take our drink order and talk to us about the specials but then she disappeared for long periods of time throughout our meal.
We ordered the Medjool stuffed chorizo dates wrapped in bacon to start and were served the in house made focaccia. The dates might be the best I have eaten to date; the bread was good but quite dense. For my main dish I had the Cajun chicken sandwich and although it has wonderful flavour it was dripping with mayo and it kind of ruined it for me.
As it got a little later in the night I noticed that it started to get really, really loud we couldn’t even hear each other from across our small table which made us call it a night.

I’m a little torn, teetering between a 3 star and a 4.
I’ll start with why on many occasions I’ve been very unhappy here.
The service attitude. I’m not talking about the server though. I’m talking about the hostesses. I don’t understand why they need to give everyone the look down before seating them, and the «here» throw down your menus attitude. Oh, you wanna change tables? PSSSSSSSH dare you anger the hostess gods?! They are like, soooo busy. (On a Sunday afternoon, only 2 other tables seated).
Seriously. Get a new host staff cause no one needs guard dogs at a restaurant entrance. Roll your eyes AFTER you turn around because we can see you!!!
Or am I the only one getting that kind of attitude?
Aside from getting in, the food and atmosphere is well worth the dog show. High top tables on the first floor, bar seating, relaxed kick back kind of the space. Wood with industrial steel accents. Very cool lighting décor. Brightly lit, space with floor to ceiling windows.
Upstairs is a moody dining space that shares an open view into the kitchen.
Both spaces offer a spectacular menu. After work hours and evenings tend to get very very loud, it is an open space with no barriers with the exception of one between lounge and dining.
The mixed drinks are yummy. Server told us the bartender originally came from Earls (I could have remembered wrong, Moxies?). Everything I have had so far has been nothing short of goodness. The highlight and my personal favorite is the butter chardonnay prawns. Order another side of bread because you’ll want to have the rest of the sauce. Try the meat sharing board. It’s huge and good for a few people to pick at. Rich and delicious, prawns are juicy, meat is tender. The food here is just as good as the drinks.
And just as I’m in complete food heaven… I’ll see the host staff standing around whispering to each other, both look at a table or patron and whisper again with smirks or giggles. I am not the only one to notice this and I find this to be extremely rude.
I’m regretful that I can’t give 80^th & Ivy the 5 stars it deserves, but I don’t tolerate this kind of behavior in any shape or form.
Review #11 of Unilocal’s 30 Day Challenge 2012