4th Avenue Lounge

It’s okay. I came a couple of times and tried a couple of the appetizers. Shots of jose cuervo were $ 9 a shot, which is a complete joke. Nice bartenders though.

I was blessed to have a friend take me here using there gift certificate they had received. I found the atmosphere to be really cool with the top level being where we placed ourselves so we could enjoy the numerous TVs tuned into sports. The first thing you notice is the overall dark appearance of the bar which gives the place an rustic and personal feel.
Once having a chance to look at the menu it can seen that the prices are comparable to most restaurants. However, we decided to share the calamari, which was excellent but for $ 11 the portion was considered tiny. I then followed that up with the 8oz burger (bun less) and was very happy with the portion and quality i was served. while enjoying my dinner I was also sipping on a very good red wine. However, one should be aware that individual glasses of wine come at a very high price in my mind.
Finally, the service was good and ensured that we were satisfied with our meal. However, due to the location of the restaurant and the difficulties of parking in downtown Calgary I would not go out of my way to go here again. But if you are staying nearby or work around the location it is worth a visit.

Great staff, good food and FAST! I can’t believe how fast they are here! I was staying in the hotel attending a work shop and the second day we came in here we had a different waitress, but the waitress we had from previous day came over just to say hi! that is the kind of service this place has. Simply fantastic!
Some of the food I tried:
8oz burger with (cheese and bacon, $ 3 extra) — Huge good
Bun Mhi Vietnamese Sub (Beef Satay) — Not enough spice (or no satay spice at all!)
Monte Cristo — Good
Five Spice Chicken — Pretty good enough to fill me up an plenty of flavor!
Everthing Jason says below is also true… The place is just a really cool throw back!!!

If you’re looking for a classic dark haunt in downtown Calgary, look no further. This place is trippy — I’d swear I was either in a seedy part of Vegas, or stuck in a time machine. Dark wooden walls, no windows, and a bartender with a vest, bowtie and damned close to what I would call a handlebar moustache, all add to the ambiance of the place. That, and the faint odour of thick cigarette smoke from the bygone «good olé days».
But what a cool place, too. Customers are regulars here, and have been coming for lunch for years. The waitress has likely worked here since she was young, which was quite some time ago, but she knows everyone who comes in the door (or at least she will before you leave if this is your first time!).
Friends raved about the Montréal Smoked Meat sandwich, so as they say, «when in Rome»… The sandwich came and it was piled about 4 inches high with extremely moist and tender, lean smoked meat on rye with spicy mustard and a side of sweet mix pickles (not sure what the association is there, but they sort of went with the sandwich!). Being somewhat of a «refined eater», I found the texture to be a bit disconcerting — it was simply too tender for me. But who am I to judge? People have been coming to this fine establishment for decades just to have that sandwich, so they must be onto something. Definitely order just a half sandwich unless you haven’t eaten for a week — trust me, 4 inches of meat will likely tide you over until dinner.
One note — I wouldn’t recommend getting the French Onion Soup as your chosen side dish — when my friend’s arrived, it looked like someone had tossed a sad Kraft single into a brown sea, and it didn’t taste much better than it looked, apparently.