The Unicorn Pub

As I walked in to meet a couple of friends for a drink, first I went to say hello to a couple of my friends. Then I went to the bar to order a drink. The bartender refused to serve me. And politely asked him why. He claimed I had too much to drink. I tried to explain to him I only had 3 drinks from the previous bar. I also have disability of speech impediment of me talking differently then others. He wouldn’t listen to me and it turns out he was the manager. Then suddenly the manager told the bouncer to escort me out. I asked if I can talk to my friends quickly, but they wouldn’t let me and started pushing me out. So as I was walking out, the bouncer keep trying to grab my arm. I keep asking him not to touch me and keep blocking him from grabbing my arm. After we got outside, the bouncer assaulted me by head butting me on the forehead and called me a faggot! I didn’t even fight back, but showed restraint. I was agitated at the staff right after and went back in to tell them the bouncer assaulted me and called me a faggot. They pushed me out again. I left and I went home and couldn’t sleep, because I was shakin up about what happened. I had a bruise on my forehead and the bouncer laid the first assault on me. I just came to relax and to have a beer with a couple of friends and I wasn’t hurting anyone. I didn’t even do anything wrong and I was treated like crap. I would tell anyone to avoid going there.

Our server said she was new. They have like 1 kind of beer. She’s also a bit pushy. Mark my words this place won’t last a week.

This has been my favorite pub for the last 25 years and I am sad their time is ending. Sadly, at the end of May, the Unicorn will be closing their doors to make way for a crappy department store.
My favorite drink on their menu is the pink unicorn martini. It was the first one I every tried and its so good I’ve never tried anything else.
Food is always really tasty. The Big Kahuna burger is a monster and needs a big appetite, perogies are yummy, the Mac and cheese bites are identical to the Stampede ones.
I’m going to miss this place so much.

This is one of all-​time favourite pubs. I usually come here for drinks and a night of live music. Last night was the first time I ordered a full meal and I was very impressed.
I went with a friend for supper. We shared their Mac and Cheese bites, which were beyond delicious. Deep-​fried macaroni and cheese? Comfort food; you guys nailed it. My friend had their Perogies and Sausage dish, she was delighted with her meal. I was feeling adventurous so I tried their meat loaf. It was excellent. The dish comes with two slices of meat loaf and veggies topped on a pile of mashed potatoes. The food was basically swimming in gravy, which isn’t a bad thing where meatloaf is concerned. I couldn’t finish the whole meal because it was huge. Realistically, two people could have shared that and been totally satisfied. The whole experience was excellent (except for the extremely obnoxious/​drunk crowd of people next to us). Our server was really friendly and didn’t forget about us since we sat in the corner. I highly recommend this place to anyone. It’s perfect for a meal, great for drinks with friends and they always have live music for a night of fun and dancing.
Apparently, the Unicorn Pub is being forced to relocate sometime this spring which makes me very sad. This is one of the best and most well-​known pubs in Calgary. Visit this place and try their pub fare. You will not be disappointed!

Foods great, atmosphere what you would expect

I am actually a pretty big fan of the unicorn, despite the 3 star rating.
Their menu offers a large variety of pub favourites, as well as other yummy off the wall options, like the kahuna burger. My favorites: Mac and cheese bites, perogies, and deep fried cheese and pickles. I’ve never had a bad tasting bite, and the drinks are good. Also all is reasonably priced. It’s a neat location on Steven ave, and anyone can fit in with the crowd.
The wait staff however, are hands down terrible. I’ve been here too many times to count, and have actually had to leave once because I was so annoyed due to the fact that we sat at a table for 15 minutes, without being acknowledged when we were famished and just wanted food. So we went down the street to original joes.
Anyhoo– point being is if you have time to spare, and don’t care about service, the eats and bevs are good, and if you’ve never been you should at least experience once!

A great place in a great part of town! The service was decent but more than that it had an unique menu that offered a wonderful selection of comfort foods with a nice pub style taste. A great combination. I had the meatloaf and it was both familiar and new at the same time. The atmosphere was relaxed and I left certainly feeling as though this is a destination I will return. One of many reasons I will revisit Calgary.

It’s unfortunate how a rude/​mean waitress can totally ruin a restaurant for you. This was my second time to The Unicorn and it will be my last. I’ll preface this review by saying I really enjoyed my first experience here.
I came in with a group of coworkers on Wing Wednesday… a busy night I realize. I ordered a cider. The waitress came back and said they didn’t have it… no big deal. She asked if I wanted something else and I said no. 10 minute go by and we don’t see her… in this time I decide that I want an alcoholic beverage. But she doesn’t come back. So I go to the bar and get a drink. No big deal… I’m not so bitchy I can’t get my own drink. She comes back like 15 minutes AFTER I finish my drink and asks if anyone wants another round. Most say yes and I make a point of ordering another alcoholic beverage FROM HER along with some food to go. When she comes back with the drinks she doesn’t have one for me… her excuse was «I thought you wanted to get it at the bar». REALLY?!? I told her I went to the bar earlier because she didn’t come back and she said «I asked you if you wanted a drink and you said no». This is what I said but is it really that unheard of for someone to want a drink later on after they didn’t want one previously? Oh and she brought me my bill and a to go box for food I hadn’t received. Which she never came back for… picked it up AFTER all the guys. After that point she just ignored me… I don’t know if it was because I was the only woman or if I was black but she ruined this place for me. She even made the food taste bad for me… and I was the one who suggested this place!!! If it wasn’t for the automatic gratuity I wouldn’t tip that’s how rude she was.
To top it off he didn’t bring people their change if they paid cash… we had to ask for it. One of the guys had a $ 14 and change ticket (INCLUDING %18 gratuity for our group), paid with a $ 20 and she DIDNT bring his change!!! Outrageous. When he asked for it she looked like she was shocked.

I went there last night to watch the hockey game… A STANLEY CUP GAME, and although most patrons were there to watch the game, Ian, the bartender, refused to put on the audio, because «no Canadian teams are playing so I don’t really care.» Does Ian not know that most of the star players on the Kings are Canadian, and that Sutter used to be our coach and is a hometown hero? It wasn’t so much that Ian wouldn’t play the sound, it was that he was such a duche canoe about it. Just rude. We had planned on having a few big groups go to the Unicorn to watch the World Cup games, but me and my friends will now be going elsewhere. I hope the owner sees this review and knows that Ian’s poor customer service is costing him customers. I have I feeling that I’m not the only he’s driven away. But I only worked at a bar in Los Angeles for 5 years so what do I know?
tl;dr: the won’t play the sound for the Stanley cup games. So go watch the cup games elsewhere. «Because it’s the cup» is not something they observe here.

This is a nice pub and they have live music on Saturdays which is nice. They have a $ 5 charge «for the band» on Saturdays though. Service is not all that great and we’ve gone ignored by waitresses several times before, which we didn’t care much about since it’s cheaper to just go to the bar. The music is weird and I don’t often hear songs I know, but I’m not the most diverse music listener. Playing darts is lots of fun. they have 2 boards. I’ve never tried food. only nachos and they were really good.
Location is also great right in the middle of Stephen Ave.
All in all I would say it’s a nice laid back dive pub for days you just want to relax and have a drink without worrying about other people and what they think in places like Local right next door.

I really wasn’t impressed with this place. It seems like kind of a dungeon which made me sad considering the name made me so happy. Once we sat down our server informed us that it was happy hour and that the special was … wait for it … 10% off certain beers. That works out to about $ 0.50. Seriously, that’s the worst happy hour deal ever… thy might as well just not have one. Anyways, we didn’t end up getting much of a deal but my food and company were good so I’m sure I’ll be back to this place.

My wife and I went here on the 1^st. We had a pleasent experience indeed. The ambience was as expected for a bar/​pub, we had a table that wasn’t ideal but it fit our needs. The music was great but a little loud. Our waitress was around most of the time, but didn’t have much knowledge of the beer list. With all this said, the food tasted great. I ordered the buffalo bbq burger, it was cooked mediem well and tasted excellent, it had a layer of blue cheese mayo on the bottom that ultimately made the burger. My wife had the «red rooster» it was breaded chicken with jalapenos and red peppers on a ciabotta roll.
Both dishes were great and ultimately we were satisfied by our visit.

This was a nice place, very large with acceptable service (definitely can be slow at times, but I haven’t been at a time when it wasn’t busy). It’s nice that you’re able to find a seat no matter how busy it is.

A trip to Calgary could not be complete for me without a trip to the Unicorn. Why? Because I am obsessed with unicorns.
This was a nice little bar, the bar tenders were friendly, the drinks were reasonable and I really liked the darts area in the corner of the bar! We actually ended up getting to the darts area at the same time as some other girls and made friendly… fast forward a few hours and a few bars later and we were partying back at our hotel room with our new friends from the Unicorn!

It’s a pub.
Pros: They took a fairly big last-​minute reservation for our large group. Drink specials were fairly priced considering the prime downtown location. The bathroom stalls are spacious (unlike at say, OJs).
Cons: I would like to see another hot vegetarian entrée on the menu. Our server seemed overwhelmed by our group size and was often MIA for 30+ minutes.
We came, we ate, we drank, we survived. Could have been worse.

November Challenge — ²¹⁄₃₀
On a quest to find poutine for a friend (being vegan, I have never consumed poutine that I haven’t made myself), we found ourselves inside The Unicorn Pub. A band was there doing soundcheck with Green Day covers. Ah, homesick nostalgia. 510, what!
Service was decent; I really appreciated that the waitress made it possible to enjoy my go-​to drink while still observing the highball special of the afternoon. Food was okay as well, not extraordinary, but not half bad. Remarks about the poutine was that the cheese wasn’t properly incorporated, so you got three giant blobs — one that had to be sliced apart with a knife! — and that was it.
There were apologies made for the loud soundcheck, but honestly? That’s why I wanted to sit downstairs :). Definitely would come back for a show or more happy hour highballs.

Walking down the steps for the first time I felt a bit overwhelmed at how busy and full it was. I was thinking to myself «oh no, I hope we can find a table for three» but my worries were put to ease when a server pointed out a table for us at the back. I didn’t love the table since we were kind of tucked away from the scene and I like to people watch.
I didn’t find the noise level to be too loud and I felt like my friends and I could carry on a conversation quite well without having to shout «WHAT did you just call me?» So that is a bonus– want to know another bonus? They have Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc on the menu (gets me every time… I love you France!)
I only been to the Unicorn for drinks so I can’t be a judge on the food, although I want to come here and try their Lemon Pepper Calamari and Crispy Mac & Cheese Bites… I am told that these are a little bit of happiness in each bite!
Keep on doing your thing Unicorn — you majestic fable horse.

A corner spot on the patio facing out to Stephens Ave, Ceasars in hand (2 at a time), burgers and wait for it… discovering that you can order deep fried pickles, not featured on any menu. Ladies and gentlemen, we have just found a Stampede nirvana.
I’ve been here before, for one of Wendy P’s awesome CMYEs but there’s a difference between the dark dungeon of the cavernous bar-​lair and the bright sunlight of the patio. Service is so-​so, but I expected as much what with it being Stampede week. The burgers were good, and while my order wasn’t exactly what I asked for, there was no way I was turning it away for fear of not being served again. It was holy-​hell-​hot-​Friday-​night busy. That’s the kind that slaps you in your face and makes a server wonder whatever possessed them to wear any kind of heel to work that day (I remember those days when I was once a server myself)!
Honestly, I think it was because of both the company I was keeping and how busy it was that I loved it so much — sidled up next to new friends, squished together, everyone loud. Everyone partying. And let’s be serious — it’s called The Unicorn — I just can’t knock that!

The Unicorn is a great place to grab a bite on Stephen Ave.
Most recently I had a Reuben sandwich at the Unicorn and was impressed by the bread and the amount of meat I was served. I was also quite happy to see that the sandwich was also provided with a jar of hot mustard that could be added to the sandwich. I had the sandwich with fries and they were crisp and tasty as well.
The staff were all very nice and responsive even though it was a weekday lunch in down-​town Calgary. The prices were definitely fair especially considering the location.
If you’re there in the summer, be sure to grab a seat out on the patio before they all fill up!

Well hello Unicorn! I’ve visited you much since my last review, but haven’t done an update on you yet. Are you still worth my four star rating from 2010? *drum roll* Yes you are!
One little fumble… Canada Day, I stopped in for beers with my cousin and her friend. You were out of many local beers. It was only 10am. Seems like maybe you should’ve ordered extra. Had that been my first visit, it would’ve warranted 3 stars.
Otherwise, your patio is one of my favourite spots to hang on Stephen Ave during the summer, we even snagged a table on Saturday of Stampede. Yeehaw! And when we thought it might be awhile between drinks and decided to order two at a time just in case (we only saw one server out there with us), service was on par and we saw her fairly regularly (with the exception of when we first sat down… we ended up grabbing our own menus). You weren’t even out of beer then. Good on ya!
The new menu looks tasty. I’m a fan of the beer cocktails you’re sporting. The Snakebite I think will become a fast favourite. Also, that red rooster burger sandwich thing I tried? When I ordered it our server made a face– but a good one, like she was remembering how delicious it was the first time she ate this item. Yummers! I’d eat that again.
So, keep up the good work! What are you missing for 5 stars? Something a little extra to make you standout from the rest. I don’t think it’s one thing in particular, but some extra polish and grease behind the wheels oughta do it… I like you, but I don’t feel like I *know* you. Comprende?