Elite Party at Buchanan’s

After the Elite party at this location, my guest; who’d showed up a touch late and said to the barman ‘I’ll have one of each!’ thus missing the passed food; needed to eat. So being at Buchanan’s already, we decided to stay and eat there.
There many good things about Buchanan’s. Both the food and the service are good; I learned that Buchanan’s is the only place in Calgary that will offer a burger rare/​medium/​well. They can do this because they grind their burgers from Grade A steak, fresh; they make their own biscuits and bread each day on site; and the service was attentive, knowledgeable and friendly, all good things.
However, Buchanan’s loses a star for me when it came time to pay.
My guest and I both had debit but were only allowed to pay the bill in full or split it right down the middle in order pay with separate cards.
For example, let’s say my portion was $ 10 and his $ 14, I could not pay $ 10 on my debit leaving $ 14 for him, we either had to pay $ 12 each exactly or one of us pay the full bill and the other pay the friend.
This was made more frustrating by the fact that the restaurant didn’t seem to have a cash machine available.
This method seemed to defy logic. Why, if they can split the bill in half for two debit cards, could they not split it in any other denomination? In a digital world were money is simply numbers and most pay in plastic, I’d like to see Buchanan’s revise this policy or provide a cash machine.
Otherwise, the food was good and if you have a hankering for a rare to medium burger, you can get it here.
T.

This was my first event and it was AWESOME! I think the location and venue were great for mingling.
Buchanan’s really did an excellent job of hosting. Their service was professional and top notch. The bar staff were great at explaining the Makers Mark cocktails and making recommendations or lining up the right cocktail with your tastes (ie if you wanted a easy drinking drink, they suggested the sweet tea, fruity you got the Manhattan. It was my first introduction to bourbon and I had no idea it was so versatile.
The food was so good-​my only complaint is that based on my position in the room, the platters were often empty or down to one thing left when they got to my guest and I so we didn’t get to try everything. But what I did try was so good. The mini chicken burgers with the okra were so good I think I dreamt about them last night. There were so many other flavourful things to try too. As others have pointed out, what we sampled isn’t regular menu fare but I will be back to try out other items at Buchanans for sure!
Wendy was definitely the hostess with the mostest and it was clear all the other Unilocalers were having a great time.

A little late with the review, but I have to say it was another awesome Elite party!
I’ve known that Buchanan’s has been at that location for a while, but I’ve never been until that night and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised.
The highlight of the night for me was the ribs; those were glorious! In my opinion, the best of the four dishes served that night.
The drinks were fabulous, as always, and I somehow managed to sample all four (and survived!).
I usually try to offer some constructive feedback for every review, but it’s hard this time around. Everything seemed to run smoothly. I guess it would have been nice to have more garbage receptacals or more obvious places to put used napkins, toothpicks, rib bones, and the like; most of us ended up placing them wherever.
Thanks for hosting this month’s party at this venue; I definitely intend to come back for a proper visit, and thanks to Maker’s Mark for allowing us to take home the glasses (that was cool). And as always, great job Wendy!

Never been here before Unilocal Elite party and I gotta say it’s been one of my favourite parties, although couldn’t stay for too long, everything about the place was great, from ambiance to meeting other cool Unilocalers, great food and bourbon, which I had never tried before either.
It was also really cool to learn a bit about it, Jeff Meyers was a great host, super friendly ans easy to talk to…
Extra kudos to Wendy for an awesome party!

Wendytron™ sure knows how to throw a box social. Very glad that I finally got to meet a lot of new Elites, talk to old ones and some non-​Elites that managed to sneak in once everyone was properly wall-​eyed. Oh wait, some were dates? Okay, that makes sense. *coughURBANSPOONSPIEScough*.
Makers Mark! I only knew you as the Salty-​Grandpa drink, but now I know you as a warm and happy friend. The sweet teas were tasty and pleasantly strong, the bartenders were pretty, the conversation was delightful and the company was boss.
I am sorry to tell you, Vishnu, that we sadly did not win the party. That honor goes to to the mysterious gentleman in a denim shirt, whom I did not get to introduce myself to. Props to Lisa for winning the Costco-​sized bottle of Maker’s Mark! UYE at your house!

Great venue, lovely people, had a great time! Many thanks to Wendy P for putting it together and to Jeff from Maker’s Mark for providing the foundation for a fabulous Old Fashioned!

Great décor. Casual, clean and classy. I also must be honest and say that I relished the engaging, good looking bartenders and Buchanan’s event host. It’s a nice touch for the ladies.
I’ve never tried bourbon before and am happy to say that I enjoyed the beverages I sampled tonight. Buchanan’s did a great job at presenting Maker’s Mark. They used MM’s signature recipes and I tried the Sweet Tea, Manhattan and Old Fashioned. The Manhattan is a very strong martini and was a bit tough for me to take. The Tea and Old Fashioned also had prominent MM taste but were definitely respectable and surprisingly refreshing. MM has a website with the recipes. The bartenders worked hard at mixing some of these complex drinks and even the glasses were cool. Somehow I felt a little more sophisticated with a bourbon in my hand!
I was busy visiting and missed some of the food samples, but what I did try was very flavorful. I couldn’t find anything we ate on the Buchanan’s website, but I will trust that their regular menu items are just as good. I had some sort of mini burger (there were sliders but this wasn’t it) and although I wasn’t sure what the actual «meat» part was made of, I was blown away by how moist it was and how fresh the rest of the bun and ingredients were. There was also some seafood pastry that I could have eaten an entire tray of.
Wendy gets two thumbs up for scoring the Buchanan’s venue for the Elite event and now that I actually know where it is, I’ll be going back and won’t hesitate to bring family and friends here. It’s one of the nicer pubs I’ve been to in some time (a delightful break from trendy) and I was happy to see that the rest of the bar (areas not part of the event) were also busy with customers. Clearly a good sign for a Tuesday night.

Oh yeah!!! Emma made it up already with the first review. !!!
Here goes the second
But we (Wendy, reginald, Tiffany and me) were the last ones to make the party!!! Glad to say that! yeh!!!
All that I can say is the event was simply superb.!! It was my first Elite party and I had no clue of whats gonna happen out at the party. The people I met were great and cool to chat with.
And a friend of mine that I took along also enjoyed it !!! And he was a whisky lover too!!! But he was disappointed that the bottle went to Lisa: P .
Food was too good. Service was excellent. Maker’s mark rocked with their cocktails. Though buchanan’s was just a block away, i never tried this place and happened to try this now just because of Elite party. And now I can say I will visit this place again for sure.
Finally. A BIGGGGGGGG THANKSSS to Wendy!!!

I am currently wearing my Unilocal WATCH and am never taking it off, despite my previous urges to keep it in its case and covet it as a COLLECTORS ITEM.
I only caught the last hour or so of this event, but am really happy that I made it this time around. You Unilocal Elites are pretty alright folk, and I look forward to many events in the future, discussing Seinfeld episodes and discreetly STEALING ALL OF YOUR Unilocal WATCHES, subsequently selling them on ebay in ten years as rare gemlike valuables.
I enjoyed many a sweet tea, but cannot provide commentary on the food, as none of it was safe for my silly vegan mouth.
It was nice to meet a few of you folk, and to run into others. Thanks for the lovely night, Unilocal and Wendy. You treat us so very well.

I had sooooo much fun tonight!!! I’m over the moon to be part of the Elite Squad. These people are incredibly friendly and cool. I had a blast introducing myself to everyone and giving out those compliments. Ok, part of that was to collect points but hey, who doesn’t like to receive a compliment? I guess my strategy worked because I won the bottle of Kentucky bourbon. Cheers!
The drinks were flowing freely, strong and tasty. I learned I will never order a Manhattan again but certainly would throw back an Old Fashioned. The food Buchanan’s had paired with the bourbon was spot on. Amazing! I’d love to get the recipe for those bbq ribs with the smokey bourbony sauce.
A BIG thank you goes to Wendy for organizing this event. It exceeded my expectations. Thanks to Maker’s Mark staff for the wicked drinks. And last but not least, to Buchanan’s for the delicious food.

Being an Elitist Elite, I believe this event ranks right up there. The drinks were great and greatly potent. I started with the manhattan and immediately tasted the strength of the whiskey. I was just about to complain when Arc reminded me to be a man when he said «it’s an old gentleman’s drink»…indeed.
Glad to have met everyone-​but funny how these things tend to just be short enough that you couldn’t say hi to everyone.
I’ve been to every Elite event since it’s very first one. I don’t know where I’d be if I hadn’t joined Unilocal.Probably making sausages