Buchanan’s Chop House Whisky Bar

Very solid 4 stars! All the food was great and the sizes were very good as well… The drinks good too! The service was friendly! definitely nothing to complain! I would love to go back there soon to try other dishes!

I came here for dinner with a group of 7 tonight. The service was so-​so. After being seated, our server did not come for at least 10 minutes. He had little to say about the specials of the night. After taking our drink orders, he disappeared for another 15 minutes. After he returned for the food order, things finally got on track with serving the appies and main course. When we asked for the bill, he happened to be on a break so we had to wait another 10 minutes for our bill. I just feel that for an 18% built-​in gratuity, the service really could have been more prompt.
In terms of the food, it was a disappointment. My soup was excellent (wild mushroom and bison). The broth was thick and flavorful, with large chunks of mushroom and bison. I ordered a filet mignon medium rare, thinking that it is impossible to mess up a filet mignon. Well, they proved me wrong. The steak was overcooked and under seasoned. It was chewy rather than melt in your mouth. So disappointing. I ordered dessert (Saskatoon berries cobbler and ice cream), and that was a disappointment too. The dough wasn’t fully cooked, so it was still doughy on the inside. The crust had little flavor. I ate the ice cream and left the cobbler.
Overall, I’d say it was a disappointing experience.

Are you looking for a great, downtown, dining experience without it a big-​ticket price or a pretentious environment?
Buchanan’s Chop House and Whisky Bar is it.
I’ve been here a few times over the years, almost always for dinner. I’ve had steak, seafood, and steak. It’s always been great food. Today — it was lunch.
I arrived just after 1:00pm — no reservation — and the lunch crowd was starting to thin out. I was seated immediately in a booth where I could see today’s Rugby World Cup conciliation game was played. For as many people that were there, the TV on, and maybe even music on the other side of the restaurant, it was remarkably quiet… easy to have a conversation with my lunch date.
The server was attentive through out the entire lunch — really nice guy. He quickly brought water and some sort of bread/​biscuit with butter on the side — rather tasty to take the edge off.
Last time in, I had the salmon. It tasted great. It was on the menu today as well… however I thought I would switch it up and try something I rarely eat — fish & chips (fries) which came with a home made coleslaw.
I’ve eaten hear before and have never been disappointed… including today. I really enjoyed the fish and ships… I kind of wished I had one more piece of fish but my eyes were talking… not my stomach. I was definitely full.
Parking in the area was a little challenging but that’s because I don’t know the area very well — one of the staff gave me some future parking advice — now I know.
I’ll definitely be back, and I’ll try something new!

Best Burger in Calgary? Quite possible this one is true. Regardless, the Whiskey selection is out of this world. Prices are absolutely reasonable for the quality of product and service. I would have to rate the service as above a 5 star rating. Old fashions to perfection.
We chose the Happy Hour burger deal. Just a heads up, it did go up to $ 12 opposed to the $ 10 listed in other reviews, but still completely worth the quality of beef. Absolutely worth the visit, though we didn’t have anything from the dinner menu, if it’s as good as the burger then it’s worth it. The coleslaw was like nothing I’ve ever had anywhere else. Maybe, it’s a Canadian style, but we don’t have coleslaw like that in the states. It was fresh, flavorful and packed with cilantro.
I recommend wholeheartedly for quality and service! Best of luck Buchanans!

To be honest, if not for the big taste I wouldn’t have ever thought of coming here. We don’t frequent this area of the city much and with the difficulties of finding parking… Enough said.
During my call to make reservations here, I was kindly informed by a gentleman that there was nothing too special about the big taste menu, and that they offered the same courses for a slightly higher price on a weekly basis anyways. I had thanked him kindly for his information and thought nothing of it. Now… Fast forward two weeks to the night of our reservation. Apparently the gentleman that had taken it had written it in the wrong time slot, but they were able to find us a table anyways.
We were seated in the middle of the restaurant. The resturant appeared to be quite cozy. I felt many accidental bumps by servers throughout the night. I was much confused on their use of paper on top of their table clothes and found their use of plastic flowers to be a bit disheartening. Nevertheless as follows is a breakdown of the items we ate; I did come here for that purpose after all.
Housemade Crabcakes with Tropical Fruit Salsa: They were a good sized crabcakes, found them to be a bit on the soft side. Not enough crisp to it. There was very little salsa, but that was fine as the salsa was quite tart.
Mixed Green Salad with candied pork belly lardons & Boursin Cheese: I was much disappointed with the salad, as I have a love affair with yellow beets. The beets on the plate had no sweetness to them, they were bland. The vinaigrette on the salad was a good balance to the boursin cheese. The candied pork belly was a bit tough for me, but the bf loved it. There was only one piece of it though… even though it’s pluralized in the description.
Charbroiled «Brick-​Cut» Alberta Grade AAA New York Steak with Back, fig & port wine reduction, fresh seasonal vegetables, hand rolled potato cakes: I liked their take on the potatoes; they were a good change from mashed. The steak was oddly cooked as the pink was mostly on the underside of the steak with a good inch at the top cooked to well-​done. We weren’t too sure what the purple vegetable was on the side as there was no waiter around to explain.
Charbroiled red spring salmon fillet with roma tomato, sweet bell pepper, cilantro, pine nut salsa, tarragon & jasmine steamed rice, seasonal winter vegetables: The salmon was cooked well, under seasoned and I don’t know if it’s just me… but I disliked the temperature difference between my warm salmon and ice cold salsa. I couldn’t taste the tarragon in the jasmine at all. On the bright side, I finally got a golden beet with flavor.
Auchentoshan crème caramel: Presentation was not great. I’ve never had this dessert before, but it was a bit too watery for my taste. Soft though, reminded me of Japanese caramel pudding.
Irish cream cheesecake with wildberry coulis: I didn’t taste any of the Irish cream… are my tastebuds that desensitized? The wild berry coulis… was blueberry sauce to me… They should’ve just called this a blueberry cheesecake… then my expectations and experience would be equally matched.
Final verdict: I think my expectations were much higher than they should’ve been. Will know better for next time.

Sweet bar to have in this hood of all residents, far tucked away from the DT scene.
It sounded high-​end but really, it’s casual atmosphere inside, though the menu prices can get up there: if you don’t get their burgers for Happy Hour, it’s almost $ 20.
And boy, this is one serious piece of meat: 8 ounces! Loved the sauteed onions, tomato/​lettuce though the bun could’ve been better.
In terms of value it’s there, but not to be confused with a trendy bar.
Private room off to the right.
For $ 10, what a deal. Coleslaw also yummy too. added a house salad that came w/​several sliced grapes, nice touch.

First off, for some reason I always expected this place to be dark and replete with leather lounge chairs. In actual fact, the setup is like a cross between an old fashioned bar and a family restaurant: A massive wall of whisk (e)ys, oak finishes, walls festooned with old pictures and signs everywhere with cutesy sayings on them. The service was nice and prompt.
The menu is pretty simple… a few appies, salad, several steaks, and a few fish. My mission was clear though: a cooked-​to-​order burger. They make an 8oz., thick sirloin patty that is the probably the best I’ve ever had. Juicy and well seasoned, I suggest getting it medium rare. The bun is nothing special, but put together with the cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and red onion it almost requires one of those serpentine dislocating jaws like you see on nature shows.
The accompanying coleslaw is made with savoy cabbage, which gives it a pleasurable coleslaw-​salad hybrid feel. The fries are the thick, steakhouse variety, and can be dipped in the spicy mayo «burger sauce» that is served on the side, unless you’ve preemptively slathered the whole pot on your bun.
Best of all, this burger is only $ 10 during Happy Hour (3−6pm). Combine a burger with the special flight of whiskies available on a Wednesday and it just doesn’t get much better than this…4.5 stars only because the atmosphere doesn’t quite match the machismo of the burger.

Occassionally funky service keeps this from being a full 5 stars. Frankly, I think some evenings they are a bit understaffed.
Having said that, Buchanan’s has been in the same location for a pretty long time, they were a fine-​dining outpost in Eau Claire condo land long before there were many condo dwellers to keep them going. They have grown up with the neighborhood, as it were.
I’ve had three visits in relatively short order in the past few months, and I’ve sampled my way around the menu. Two big favorites: wasabi caesar salad with tuna (very, very tasty with a nice wasabi kick-​in-​the-​nose), and the filet mignon. Although I tend to go small (6 oz is plenty of red meat for me), they are always incredibly tender and flavorful.
Other hits include the rack of lamb (very generous meal, slowed down a pretty big dude I was dining with) and the famous burger. I’m not quite as sold on that given there are so many amazing things on the menu. Seems like going to the best Italian restaurant in town and ordering mac and cheese, but to each his own.
Chocolate and peanut butter brownie was quite the ending to the most recent meal, but make sure you either have lots of room left over or a willing person to share.
Outstanding scotch selection; I wouldn’t recommend many of the «Whisky Wednesday» specials as many of them are medicine, but spend a few quality minutes with the bartender and the menu (or point at the wall and ask). You will be able to describe a flavor profile that you enjoy and they can match one up for you.
Make sure to mention you’re a huge fan of the new protected bike lane outside; I do believe they were vocal opponents of it being put in.