Rosie’s Bar & Grill-Off Whyte

My review for Rosie’s is isolated to breakfast hours only. My partner and I are regulars for Saturday morning breakfast and we have never had a bad experience. The place is nothing fancy on the inside, but the servers are always extremely friendly and quick to attend to us. I almost always get the eggs Benedict– sometimes my eggs are undercooked, which would be my only complaint. My partner tries something different every time and always enjoys his meal. We also frequently bring guests with us and they always enjoy the experience and the meal as well. Their prices are also fantastic. This place is a neighborhood gem and I hope they stick around.

So this visit may be an anomaly (and I’ll try to update my review upon my next visit if it is) but I was not impressed at all by this little local wateringhole. Not only did our food take FOREVER (nearly an hour after we ordered, which was unreasonable. Our server apologized profusely for the very slow cook, which was good but she was also really slow at bringing additional beers for members of our party). While most of my group liked the food, my poutine fries were very much over cooked, and the poutine had orange cheddar cheese melted on it which was odd. My monte cristo was really yummy however, and the other meals looked really good. The venue was far far too chilly as well which didn’t contribute to our enjoyment of the early evening meal. Sure we were there early and were nearly the only group in the restaurant (there were 8 of us!) but it was a person in our group’s birthday so this experience was entirely uninspiring. And since we had elsewhere to be at 6:30pm (we were on a timeline) having to rush to eat our food when it arrived nearly an hour late was disappointing.
Additionally the women’s meals (there were two females at our table) received our food significantly after ALL the men had. I don’t think we ordered anything more complicated than the men did (in fact their meals may have been more complicated), so I don’t see why the cook took that much longer to prepare our food.
Maybe I’d come back for karaōke, but I certainly don’t recommend this place for food.

Rosie’s is a great little spot with amazingly low prices. Service is always excellent, the food is great quality and it’s in a very convenient location. Terry & Cindy are the greatest!

Every trendy part of the city needs a dive. On Whyte Avenue, Rosie’s is it. It is the one place reasonably close to the main drag where I can find reasonably priced diner food — everything from steak sandwiches to fish and chips to hot beef and turkey sandwiches. And an all day breakfast too! The menu has a lot of variety and the prices are very low. Yes, the place is a dive. Yes, the service can be spotty like the carpets. But it has a lot of character. And characters.

This was a tough one to review. I agonized over this for days, but you know what, I am unafraid to give Rosie’s Whyte Ave 5 stars. Over the last two months, I have been here at least 15 times.
This is a fab dive bar that offers everything I love. Solid, solid diner food that is so consistent and delicious that no matter how eccentric or dodgy the service is, you come back again and again. Cheap beer (Happy Hour is from 11:00am to 8:00pm — what?!). Karaōke on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights (the song list is the most extensive I’ve ever seen). Friendly management (the manager Terry is a gem and is known for buying you drinks on your birthday, or a free round now and again).
Is the ambiance nice? Kind of a trick question, as there is none. It’s gloriously dated, and unpretentious. No one’s here for the décor. You won’t score food-​snob credibility by coming here. This isn’t a place to be seen.
But the food. Yum. Bar none, Rosie’s serves best BLTC I’ve ever had — the bacon cooked extra crisp, bread toasted perfectly. Even better is their Neptune Benedict — tangy hollandaise sauce over seafood blend and an English muffin. It’s all yummy, simple and dirt cheap.
And the karaōke: what a mixed crowd! You’ve got a great blend of neighbourhood rub-​a-​dubs, wasted University students, and a whole host of other individuals who completely lack self-​awareness (I belong to this latter category). It’s a blast to have a few rounds and belt out a few tunes on the weekend. Joel K’s review is spot-​on too — this is totally a great place to spend an evening. The thing is, it’s a great place to quell your hangover in perfectly-​cooked breakfast the next morning, too.
I hope nothing about this place changes, ever. Rosie’s is totally one of my favourites, although my friends are generally a little shocked the first time that I bring them here. Give it a go!

Do you like karaōke? Do you mind small locations? Do you mind university students? Then this place is for you!
Rosie’s is a small bar and grill that I’ve only ever been to for the karaōke. The karaōke nights are a great time and are generally very popular with the university crowd. They have a lot of different songs available to sing to and are very good at making sure everyone gets a chance to sing. Also worth noting is that they do have some VLTs in the bar section and I’ve heard their breakfast is good.
Want to go sing your heart out with some brews? Check out Rosie’s karaōke nights.

Typical greasy spoon breakfast fare. Restaurant draws a small crowd of regulars and the staff was friendly. Décor leaves a lot to be desired but at least it was pretty clean.

After having a bit of difficulty finding a place to eat Breakfast last time we were in Edmonton we figured we’d find something in Old Strathcona. The problem was we were hungry and didn’t want to wander around until we actually found something so we decided to risk Rosie’s.
We were the first ones in the door that morning, closely followed by a few regulars, so it was quiet and service was quick. The portions were reasonable though the food wasn’t great — my eggs were a little undercooked — the waitress was friendly and the regulars seemed to enjoy the familiarity.
Rosie’s is really a pub that opens at 10am, so if you’re hung over maybe it’s a good breakfast spot, but I don’t think we’ll go back.

Gather ’round kids, it’s time to tell you a NEW story about Rosie’s. See, the last one involved glass in somebody’s quesadilla, and while I don’t doubt it’s authenticity, well, that’s just not fair.
See, Rosie’s is, by every single account, a gigantic hole. It looks scary. There are strange people who mill about and ask for cigarettes. The window ads mysteriously advertise a turkey dinner as their special all year long. The layout is confusing and the décor is absolutely hideous.
I have never had food here. I can’t attest to how things taste, smell, look — or whether or not they have serrated pieces of death in them waiting to cut out your tongue.
So why the 5 stars, you ask?
Because some of the most hilarious nights I ever spent in Edmonton were at the Karaōke night at this sacred little piece of the city.
Imagine this — a friend of yours is having his stag. He’s had way too much to drink. He steps up to the microphone to sing a song you and your friends chose for him. Seconds before the singing begins, he tilts the mic away from his mouth, bends over and vomits all over his shoes — then brings the mic back to his face and sings the opening verse without missing a beat.
Do you get thrown out?
Do you and your friends get asked to leave and told never to come back again?
No. You clean up the barf (yourself), grab a few more pints and the night stays young.
Imagine this — it’s nearly 2:00am. The bar is supposed to shut down. The owner boots down the karaōke machine, but you and your friends still want to party on, so you boot it right back up again and sing the song «Just a Gigolo» 13 times on repeat, forcing the bar to continue accommodating you, but paying them well in beer and tips. And they stay open. And they don’t complain.
Imagine this — a karaōke night where awful regulars and worse guests from out of town humiliate themselves for your enjoyment, where everybody is friends by the end of the night and where the small, completely inadequate bathrooms double as a new place to throw your arm around someone in a similar state and say, «I love you man. Your rendition of Air Supply was spot on. You’re a legend.»
Imagine no more. That place is real. It’s Rosie’s. It’s rough around the edges, but by golly it’s a great way to spend an evening.
This isn’t just a karaōke bar or a restaurant — it’s a memory factory.

Well, I have a story about Rosie’s. It’s from a few years ago and it’s not a good one. Let’s just say that it involved me biting into a quesadilla that had glass shards in it.
I obviously sent it back and the waitress came back to tell me «Sorry about that, there was broken glass in our cheese.» She was so nonchalant and laughed it off. WHAT?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!
The manager said they would pay for my meal the next time I came in. That’s it. One meal to compensate for eating broken glass. Thanks Rosie’s. Thanks.
Needless to say, I haven’t been back. It looks even more run down than it used to. There are always pretty shady looking characters outside too.
I would never recommend Rosie’s to anyone.

Having a bunk night on Whyte Ave? Well, there’s nothing a little karaōke can’t fix!
I love karaōke. I’m always down. I’m always way too into it for my own good. I will always make a fool of myself and whoever goes up with me.
Most karaōke joints in Edmonton are pretty sketchy, but the thing about Rosie’s is that the coolest crowd of people will gather here on weekend nights. Here, you will find people of all ages (but mostly the twentysomething student crowd), all in good spirits, and all of them totally ready to get up and go.
There’s usually a long wait to get up and take your turn, so make sure you get your song-​slips up to the karaōke master ASAP. Sadly, my friends and I only had the chance to go up once in about 2 hours… but that didn’t mean it wasn’t fun to just sing along with everyone else.
BUT! It’s important to note: I don’t see myself coming here for anything other than karaōke and beers. Though it’s a bar and grill, it is very outdated and reminds me of a family restaurant with a lot of homestyle cooked meals. Boooring!