The Barley Mill

Certain things doesn’t change, unfortunately — one of them is Barley Mill.
Five years ago it was a rather worn-​out, uninspiring pub only good for a corporate drinking event — and recently I had a chance to take a second look, finding the place exactly the same.
Certain traditions, though, are worth breaking. How about replacing these floors, looking like they physically couldn’t be cleaned anymore. Or at least these eternally rustic pieces of furniture?
I mean, it’s obvious that Barley Mill enjoys a prime location in one of the main downtown pedestrian areas. It almost feels like it’s abusing it, though — knowing all too well that there will always be clients.
Food, drinks and service… well… ordinary Canadian pub stuff. Once again — good enough to fill bowls of tacos for a corporate party, but that’s it.
I won’t recommend visiting Barley Mill from tourist perspective for a romantic brunch or dinner… oh wait, no! In fact, this is an exact model of how Calgary’s downtown «cultural district» and its «attractions» look like. Which is, unfortunately, nothing to be proud of.

Classy old school pub. Came here for an American event that was hosted by my fellow Americans — a voting event by Democrats abroad. The pub has a good selection of beers on tap, and friendly cute bartenders. Would like to come back and try the food next time.

We went here for a work function, and I can say that they are 100% not equipped to handle large groups.
Even though we had booked weeks in advance, they gave the 30+ people, 1 waitress.
That’s right. 1 waitress.
The food when it came out was clearly from under a heat lamp (My cream sauce had congealed until it was no longer either, cream, or a sauce. It was more of a white paste similar to Elmer’s glue.
I can’t fault the 1 waitress, she tried. But what can you say? Barley Mill step up your game!

I’d love to give a bit higher rating. But the food disappointed. I had shepherds pie and there was an odd aftertaste to it. I think from the Village Brewery Blacksmiths black ale used in cooking it. Perhaps if they had it on tap to pair with it the taste would be okay. Instead it just had an off taste to it. Service was good, though. Making sure beers were never empty. Not overly friendly though. Only talked as much as she had to. May come back. We’ll see.

We had a table on a roof top patio. It was a pleasant day. The service was good. The food was good. Nothing special, but not sorry we ate here.

Just riding a bike close to Eau Clair Market!
We want to eat fish and chips.
Never been Barley Mill. But it never make us disappointing.,
So yummy fish and chips. Fresh, crispy.
Highly recommend !!! We will come back really sin!!!

This was my third visit to TBM, situated between the edge of the business district and the turquoise Bow River running through Calgary, putting the South Platte in Denver to shame. We dined alfresco, a first for me since I’d only visited TBM before during the winter. Regardless, the mini-​Yorkies were the same wonderfully perfect dinner-​sized snack: Make sure you have help eating these if you order them. Service was good and friendly. Beer cold and wet.

Good beer, excellent service. New to town and met with exceptional bar tending a must in the area

Nothing nicer than having lunch on a patio on a beautifully blue sky day! A bit of a walk from the downtown core, but the food was definitely worth it.
Quite a spacious patio area with enough tables and chairs, with umbrellas for the strong midday sun. Service was quite good overall, with the servers coming up to the table quite frequently, despite lunchtime rush. Beers were quite good, with server coming to help us refill, but the food unfortunately took way longer than even the restaurant expected. They had enough servers working, but the kitchen must have been understaffed as it ended up getting 45+ min to get our food! My friend eventually got a beer on the house (as that even took 10min to get), and the manager came to apologize profusely for the long wait.
However, the food definitely made up for the wait! The burgers were amazing and my Short Ribs were done very well! Super flavourful and came apart easily! Not sure if I was just extremely hungry, but it was very good!
If you plan on going during the lunch period, and are the Eau Claire area, definitely worth a try. Just make sure you have enough time to sit and wait, in case they are super busy again.

Good food and service. Had the fish and chips and they were yummy. Food was really quick to come out too

Meh. I am sort of torn.
We were going to hit the busier restaurants on 17^th Ave, but due to wait times, we settled on a quieter, less busy venue.
So keep in mind that I was hoping more for a culinary treat when we enter the establishment. To be fair.
Portions were decent and service was fantastic.
Food overall was ok.
The appetizer portions were huge, but the calamari I ordered to start tasted more of grease that needed to be changed.
The steak sandwich was cooked to the rarity that I asked but while overall was tender, was still fairly dry. It definitely could have used a steak sauce to up the moisture.
Definitely no worries getting a seat. Would I eat there again? Likely not with the other choices available In town.

Terrible breakfast for food quality and preparation. Saying something nice though, our server was great and it was taken off the bill… hence the extra star.

Food and service were decent at my last visit however the amount of insects in the dining room /​bar were not. From fruit flys to house flys to beetles, my guest and I spent more time grabbing at these pests than we did enjoying our meals. We killed at least three that were swarming our drinks and our lunch.
Gross.

Our waitress was the shinning star of this adventure. The barley mill was ¹⁄₃ full when we arrived and the hostess seemed completely hungover and out of it as she pronounced we would have to wait to be seated. The waitress who had 6 tables could not handle any more. Once seated a new waitress appeared and improved the scenario. Bright, fun, and very polite she rocked her tables. Kitchen was slow to produce the food. Almost 40 minutes however my medium well steak came out perfect so all in all was well worth the wait.
Would have been a solid 4 if it wasn’t for the hostess and the first waitresses laziness.

Really enjoyed the Barley Mill! The atmosphere was really cozy and funky and we had great service. The food was also excellent. All together we tried the, Bison Shepherds Pie, Beef Dip, Haddock and Chips (with Halibut) and the Turkey Club Sandwich. Wow! All great. The Sweet Potato fries were nice a crispy and went good with the dill sauce. Although, the dill dip could have had more «dill» in it. The Shepherds Pie was essentially perfect with the bison really bringing in the taste.
Great beer on tap including Sam Adams! That is hard to find.
I wish that around the entrance of the women’s bathroom it was a little cleaner as it felt like I was walking into the kitchen rather than the bathroom.
This is a great place and I can’t wait to get back there and sit on the patio when the weather is nice.

I really enjoyed the Barley Mill! My boyfriends British friend recommended the place after we mentioned what part of the city we were staying in, Eau Claire.
The place has a cozy feel, I loved the antique décor and the fire places.
I ate the tequila lime tacos which were SO tasty, and tried a bunch of the different local beers they had on tap. The boyfriend had the Mac and cheese which had a bunch of cheeses I never heard of, and a side salad with a bunch of nuts. He said it could have been a bigger portion.
We met some cool people, a group of bicyclists who said the area is the prime meet up spot of Calgary.
Overall, a really nice place that I would go to again!

The Barley Mill has always been good, but has never been able to reach great.
In the summer, it is an absolute buzz of a patio place. In the winter, it has a legitimate cozy pub feel with numerous fire places and intimate corners to catch up with your best buds. Ample taps mean you can dance across the country (or globe) depending on what strikes you at the moment. And the food has been kicked up a notch in my estimation; the steak and Guiness pie with side salad is especially good (well above average for a pub).
But why, oh why, do you have to wait to be seated? Why are there reserved tables on a Friday night that are empty for hours, while people pile in on their way home from work for a quick pint or two? Why are most of the floor staff either clueless about what they serve or pushy about groups spilling beyond a simple table setting of four? Are you a pub or a restaurant?
On the days that my favourite bartender is giving me great advice on life and beer, and their food is firing on all cylinders, this place is a solid 4. On days where I’m so exasperated by the set-​up and floor staff that I’d rather go to some fake Irish bar down the street, this hovers at a 2. Make up your mind, Barley Mill… I don’t know whether to marry you or dump you…

A great casual lunch or post work spot in a gorgeous part of town. When the sun is shining, The Barley Mill Patio is one of my favourite places to stop after a bike ride down the river pathway.
I’m a sucker for british style pubs, especially if they’re located in an old house style buildings, and the Barley Mill is definitely no exception. Steak and Guiness pie, bacon wrapped meatloaf — if it’s made to go with potatoes an gravy, the Barley Mill does it right!
«But wait! Seconds ago I was sprinting my bike down the river pathway. I don’t want to kill my exercise endorphins with comfort food, I want a salad!» It’s cool, it’s cool! Believe it or not, salads are still very much good choice here! I’ve been right into the roasted chicken and fig salad — goat cheese, garlic, cranberries, some kind of wonderful figgy sauce
I’ve spent the last 4 years eating my way through their menu during work lunches (and liquid lunches on Fridays) and waiting out the rush hour C-​Train traffic with a few pints.
Well worth checking out if you’re feeling casual.

Prime patio location with a good selection of food and beer.
Grabbed a quick lunch here and was provided with a good sandwich and good service. The server recommended a good beer to drink and provided everything you would expect. Now my overuse of the word good is not by accident because that’s really all this place is. There is not too much special about it. The service was well timed and everything but our server just wasn’t friendly. Maybe she was having a bad day?
I won’t be rushing back but won’t go out of my way to avoid it.

First timers here and we were lucky to score a nice seat on the lower patio on a scorchingly beautiful, sunny Canada Day. Best service we have had in awhile in Calgary and we had a really good time!
The crowd was mature and the vibe was relaxed. Drinks were cold and the waitress was good enough to keep the ice water coming!
We shared a micro greens salad which was actually very good, quite refreshing. The cranberries that I had been looking forward to never made it on the plate — maybe they were out? I would get that salad again though. There were many things on the menu I would love to try that focus on fresh as opposed to fried which I love. (soups, chicken lime tacos, turkey burger, chicken and fig salad, calamari etc!)