Melange

What IS this place? I’ve walked by before and figured it was low key looking lounge. There are signs in the window boasting Calgary’s best burger; and inside, the menu reveals your choice of oodles of toppings, as many as you want and no extra cost. It’s not the burger I was here for. Instead, we needed a spot to grab a drink in between CUFF films on Saturday. Mélange was nearby and looked to have some room, so we decided to try it.
Mélange is certainly the right name for this place. What a mixture! We ordered food, wine and shisha. Told ya it was a mix!
We were invited to sit anywhere we liked, although the table that was first pointed at was missing one of its little feet on the bottom, making it pretty slanted. We opted for the level table right next to it. The only word to describe our server is: adorable. She would say the first thing that came out of her mouth, yet she was super sweet. On an order of ribs, her first words were something to the effect of: «Really? Nobody ever orders those.» With a bit of a back track to say they had them, but really, she hadn’t ever taken an order for them. Message: don’t order the ribs. Wings were the replacement instead. She was back to check on us regularly too. Kudos cute little server girl!
Besides smokin’ a pipe and sippin’ on wine, I got a good dose of veggies in my Greek salad. It was a good salad, with a wee bit of dressing on top and the rest coming in a little dish on the side. And yummy olives too.
Overall, a positive experience… although it’s still got me scratching my head a little bit…
April Underdog Challenge: ¹⁸⁄₃₀

Woohoo! First to review!
Okay, as anybody who follows my reviews will know: I’m a sucker for comedy shows… not just because I sometimes perform on them, but I just find this to be a very under-​rated form of entertainment so, while I’m not much of a drinker and generally don’t go to bars very often, as soon as one advertises a comedy night, I’M THERE. This (thanks to ‘Comedy Jam Thursdays’) is what brought to Mélange.
Once I stepped inside, I was instantly impressed. It has a warm, cozy, but also just a little bit fancy sort of feel to it that isn’t swanky enough to be intimidating but at the same time still doesn’t feel like the little «watering holes» on every corner. It seems legit, but not pretentious and I like that. The same could be said for their menu — a lot of it is standard pub style offerings: burgers, pizza and the like, but are clearly handled by cooks that actually care about their food, rather than some guy with a grill and a flipper who’s just watching the block waiting to punch out. The meatlovers pizza was honestly one of the best I’ve ever had from a pub style menu!
The real selling point for me (well, aside from the comedy night of course!) was the staff. Call me a typical male if you must, but I love, love, LOVE when I can find that rare server who’s not only friendly and welcoming but also isn’t too hard on the eyes. Not like I’m out on the prowl or anything, but to me it’s just a nice little addition to the experience. Don’t get me wrong, friendliness and professionalism are FAR more important… but in my couple of visits I can safely say I’ve yet to meet one of the lovely young ladies at this place that doesn’t offer up this sort of total package. They’re fun, engaging, always smiling, and further contribute to the great atmosphere of this quaint little spot.
I wouldn’t go as far as to call this place a «must see» — but the impression I’ve been given is that it’s still pretty new as far as the life cycle of a business goes (and the owner is staggeringly young compared to those of most bars I’ve been to so I believe it) so they’re doing VERY well so far. I would definitely suggest giving it a shot sometime.
¹⁰⁄₃₀