National On 8th

Lunch with the team, burger was average at best but drunks are ok. LOCAL Pub downstairs beats the buns off this burger for same price

National is always a safe bet. They are always busy and food, drinks and service is consistent.
Their rooftop patio is unique in all of downtown! During summer you can go there for drinks after work, or even during lunch time.

So so …
Eh. Heard so much about this «amazing rooftop patio». The structure is cool. Very unique outdoor experience. However, hard to understand where to go and took forever to get greeted; then, once we were greeted and excited to actually get a drink … We were told that we couldn’t sit at that table.
So, started the whole process again at out new table.
National obviously invested a ton of money into the space; could think about focusing a little more on service.
Hopefully the novelty of the rooftop keeps this one going.
Was so disappointed didn’t even bother with food.

See this is a very confusing review for me to write, cause in the end I had a really good night but I feel like that was because I just really like my friends. The atmosphere is awesome a dance party on a rooftop right downtown, a good selection of beer which includes a lot of local brews (however it is on the pricey side of things. But let’s face it their target audience are oil and gassers so they have money to blow), the DJ was fun (a real country music hater but you know it’s an acquired taste) and ping pong. Holler! Where you lost me was the staff. On two separate occasions we had the waitresses curse us out. One told us to «pay our fucking bills because no one is getting a tab tonight» despite not even having our food yet. And the other one charging us for a double and us only getting a single and told us «it was a fucking double» it’s a total shame that when we tip the money gets split between them all the one good bartender was a total sweetheart and she deserved any tip we did leave. I understand it is probably a high stress job and everybody has bad days but if that’s the case maybe you shouldn’t be in the service industry. All in all I would be willing to give it a second chance cause it was a fun night but you need to go into it knowing that the staff is dodgy.

Horrible service! Way too loud. Very disappointing. Have been to two other locations and love this chain. However, this was the worst ever.

I don’t live in Calgary but must say The National is one of the reasons I will always return. Along with Calgary’s eclectic and flourishing independent restaurant scene there is this bustling eruption of craft beer markets and I love exploring all of them. We have been all over Alberta and BC to different breweries. The National has probably the best food and atmosphere of them all, and I gotta say one thing in particular stands out to me above all the rest; their incredible Caesar. Served in a charming yet decently sized Mason jar rimmed with delicious salts and spices, they top it up with a bite of IPA and a skewer of mouth watering Sausages, cheese, olives and thankfully never forget the traditional celery stick. I can’t get enough of them and usually don’t even have to order food because of the yummy snack it comes with. However my foodmates did order the fish and chips and they were heavenly as well. The music was a little too loud for normal conversation but this is to be expected in the pub atmosphere in the evenings. Highly recommended — stop by this (rightfully so!) growing craft beer chain.

Good food, games area with fussball and table tennis. Waiters are very helpful: we were a group of 8 people and, though it seemed full, they arranged us a nice spot. Later we moved to a semi-​private room and they were very cool.

Terrible Service. If you want to check out NATIONAL head to the 10^th Avenue or 17^th Avenue locations because this one is awful.
Myself and 5 other friends headed here for some eats and drinks just before Christmas. The server was absolutely horrible, never around to grab drink orders, never asked everyone at the table if they needed a drink. She would simply get grabbed by one of us and only get that person a drink. At one point in the evening, two other friends joined us quickly at the table for a quick brew before heading out of the restaurant (they’d been at another table previously). At the end of the night we had to grab the server who was SITTING AT THE BAR CHATTING WITH HER FRIENDS in order to get our bill, we’d had enough at this point. Then she gave me the bill which was 300 $, says «Wait now, I need to re-​do it». Comes back with a bill with an auto grat of 18% on it. I asked why, she said because we’d had 8 people. So for a small portion of our evening there we had 8 people so we had to auto-​tip her 18%? I had to fucking get her from the bar where she was SITTING. How can you argue an 18% tip when you’re not even serving us at all? If only she’d been as good getting us drinks as she’d been counting people at the table. I’m never coming back here, this was an incredibly disappointing experience.

Went there to grab some dinner and beer while out holiday shopping. Got there around 6, hostess went to sit us at a table and couldn’t find one. We were offered a seat at the bar, which was fine. They have steamwhistle on tap, great beer happy to find it. However went to look at the menu for food, my partner and i both agreed everything seemed over priced and unappealing. We both ordered the pouting and for $ 12 expected something better than just a side of fried with gravy. We both left dissatisfied. The bartender serving us only asked if we wanted a refill once, she seemed more interested in flirting with one of the other guys there and leaning on the bar than serving any customers.

The rooftop was very nice… The service and the drinks were ok… The food… Well… Is a bar food, don’t expect anything gourmet, or extremely delicious, I would say is acceptable… I recommend this place just for a few drinks after work with a group of friends…

This National location is pretty consistent to the three others. I visited when they opened during Stampede — really nice to have a big beer garden in downtown Calgary again. They only had canned beer at the time but that’s since been resolved.
When I returned a few weeks later, I had made a group reservation for the patio. They made an error on our reservation and had us at the Westhills location, so we were forced to sit outside. It was somewhat disappointing but otherwise a good time was had by all.

Went for buck-​a-​shuck with the kids… love that I can enjoy the patio and some brews with the kids. Appies are always good… brussles sprouts and fried pickles. Prompt service and good value.

National has a great games area but their menu is lacking. They don’t have a lot of good choices in my opinion and their main courses are over priced. This place is great for drinks and a group environment but maybe not a dinner party!

All I gotta say is use some spice! Me and a friend order a fish and chips platter and a veg burger platter and we both tasted the same thing, the lack of flavor. I hate when I go to a resturant and I can cook better then their cook. Another place I will never visit again. Calgary could take a lesson from Winnipeg when it comes to great food.

National on 8^th looks to be s fantastic addition to the world of the National Beer Hall!
At the core of any National location you’ve got 20 oz. pints, a wildly extensive craft beer list, pretty damn good food and an atmosphere that gets people to be social with large tables for groups and fun games to play. What more are you looking for? Well, how about an incredible roof top patio 4 stories up along Stephen avenue beyond worth writing home about? Yes? Well it sounds like you had better get your tukas to National 8! See you there!