The Metropolitan Grill Calgary
• 880 - 16 Ave SW | Calgary, AB | T2R 1J9
Average User Rating:
6.45/10
6.45/10
Recommended by:
63%
63%
Sort Reviews by:
"It's all about the candied salmon..."
Lindsay
August 2011 — "The Metropolitan Grill downtown Calgary has a great salad that I just can't get enough of. The Candied Salmon Salad has a generous portion of candied salmon with delicious candied pecans, goat cheese and a maple dressing. It is absolutely amazing! However, if it weren't for that salad, I would probably have no reason to dine there. The service is quite mediocre. It seems that the restaurant's main concern when hiring servers is that they are a perfect ten and look great in a tiny black dress. Sometimes it almost makes me uncomfortable! The last time I was there, there was a server clearing a table and I pretty much saw her butt when she bent to pick up glasses. Although the atmosphere is classy, the servers make it less than. Now I'm sure that's one of the main reason men like to grab lunch there or have drinks so I guess it's a pretty smart marketing ploy. As for me, candied salmon is enough "candy" for me with my meal. "
User Rating
8.17/10
8.17/10
Ambience
••••••••••
Beverages
••••••••••
Cleanliness
••••••••••
Quality of Food
••••••••••
Staff Service
••••••••••
Value for Money
••••••••••
"Servers in little tiny dresses"
Mary
July 2011 — "Our dinner was quite good on a quiet friday night. There wasn't too many customers in the restaurant itself because it was raining pretty hard that day. We went to the mount royal location on 17th ave.
We see servers (female) dressed in really tight and small dresses. I, as a customer, would appreciate not seeing more clothing.
Our server was nice to us, she gave us suggestions for entree and appetizer when we needed it."
User Rating
7/10
7/10
Ambience
••••••••••
Beverages
••••••••••
Cleanliness
••••••••••
Quality of Food
••••••••••
Staff Service
••••••••••
Value for Money
••••••••••
"Dust Off the Wallet For This Place"
May 2011 — "It's no surprise with a primetime location on Stephen Avenue that this place is known to have beautiful waitresses and mostly male clientele. Their rent must be as high as the new Bow Tower to justify the prices on the menu. I had the Black N Blue Burger for $21 which had a nice paremesan Gargonzola sauce and leeks. It was quite good but for $21 I couldn't help but to think I was paying for much more than just the food. The decor is decked out, the bathrooms are extravagant, the waitresses seem to flirt that fine line with wealthy and wanna-be wealthy customers as any smart waitress would do.
It's a pretentious place for customers to flash their bling and put their ferarri keys on the table so other people hopefully notice. I found the atmosphere trying too hard to be high end.
I can't say the food was worth the tab. I also can't say I'll go back to pose as others do.
"
User Rating
7.40/10
7.40/10
Ambience
••••••••••
Cleanliness
••••••••••
Quality of Food
••••••••••
Staff Service
••••••••••
Value for Money
••••••••••
"The Oh Ahi tuna!"
Mary
April 2011 — "I haven't had a chance to go to the Metropolitan Grill for a while and today, I was finally able to give it a try. And I must say, it was a mix of being underwhelmed with the menu, cause I do not remember it having only these options. I mean, there was a good variety, but the same type of food choices that you may be able to find anywhere else. Your fishes, beefs, sandwiches, chicken, etc. Between the two of us, we ordered a ahi tuna taco appetizer, an ahi tuna sandwich and a veggie burger. I was pretty excited and I was more than happy to find that the boldness in flavors were definitely not shy of flavor and yumminess. I really enjoyed the tacos and even my sandwich was simple enough, but definitely came together. When you order a sandwich, you get your choices of sides and I had their soup of the day. Described to me as a cream base with sweet potatoes and seafood chowder. I mean, the fish and the seafood was bursting, but I was rather set off when I found that the chowder soup was just some runny liquid. All in all, it was a super yummy experience and I don't doubt that I will be making another trip. "
User Rating
7/10
7/10
Ambience
••••••••••
Beverages
••••••••••
Cleanliness
••••••••••
Quality of Food
••••••••••
Staff Service
••••••••••
Value for Money
••••••••••
"Good Food, Decent Service"Jenny
April 2010 — "I had lunch at the Metropolitan Grill TD Square last week with a couple of friends and overall enjoyed the experience. The food is more expensive than some of the other restaurants nearby, but I tried the flank steak sandwich with caesar salad and it was excellent. The portion size looked a little on the small side, but it was actually the perfect amount of food. I ate all of it, didn't go back to work feeling bloated and didn't leave behind half a plate of wasted food. I asked for the steak done medium rare and it was cooked perfectly and the meat was tender enough that I didn't require the steak knife provided. One of my friends had the burger and seemed to enjoy it. My other friend had the club sandwich with maple bacon and said it was very good. Good food aside, it's a crowded and very noisy place, so I felt like I had to yell through the lunch and the service was a bit slow. We had to wave our server down a few times, which I really don't like to do. Overall, it was a good dining experience, but to be honest I'd rather go someplace else."
User Rating
7.83/10
7.83/10
Ambience
••••••••••
Beverages
••••••••••
Cleanliness
••••••••••
Quality of Food
••••••••••
Staff Service
••••••••••
Value for Money
••••••••••
"Worst dining experiance in a long time! "Nick
October 2009 — "We were looking forward to a Saturday night out of fine dining and fun with friends.....4 couples. We met in the bar area, where the service was great as were the appies. When we were ready to get seated for dinner we were told to walk over to the dining area to get seated...well we waited around for about 10 mins before we finaly found a waiter to seat us. We ordered some wine and beer...slow service. We then asked ordered some bruschetta and our main meals.....half of us ordered steaks, mine was a 10oz NY Med/Rare.....the food arrived and I had a hard time cutting my steak with my butter knife, we had to ask for steak knives and also had to ask for water as it wasn't offered. Let me tell you, it was the worse steak I have had in a very long time......chewy and gristly....not what I expected for a $35 steak. The rest of the table's meals were mediocre and barely warm. In the end we didn't even get a "how was your meal?".....I guess who cares when you are being charged an automatic 18% gratuity for groups of 8 or more! We ended up in the bar area after which was buzzing...no room to move but good fun!"
User Rating
4.50/10
4.50/10
Ambience
••••••••••
Beverages
••••••••••
Cleanliness
••••••••••
Quality of Food
••••••••••
Staff Service
••••••••••
Value for Money
••••••••••
"great food!"
Twyla
July 2009 — "Warm smoked salmon strips atop California greens, tossed with light maple vinaigrette & garnished with sweet pecan goat’s cheese
We went to the metropolitan grill in TD square for a quiet girls dinner out. We went to the restaurant on a Saturday night for a 7pm dinner reservation. The restaurant was fairly quiet which was nice as the noise level was not too high. We started the evening with some lemon pepper calamari. It was very good. It was cooked just right, not too chewy as sometimes calamari can be. It was served with two different sauces (a yogurt dill and a spicy chipotle) which was a nice touch to have the two options. For my dinner, at the recommendation of a friend I ordered the candied salmon salad. It was exceptionally good. The salmon strips were warm on top of the salad greens that had some goat’s cheese dispersed throughout. The dressing was a maple vinaigrette that was very well suited to the salad. I was very happy to have ordered this dish. It was filling but still a light dinner since we had the appetizer and dessert. For dessert, we shared the Molten Chocolate Souffle. What a way to end off the meal. The chocolate was delicious, being Bernard Callebeaut chocolate. My entire meal was paired with a glass of the house chardonnay which was also nice. The price for the food was quite reasonable and the establishment was clean and very modern. I will eat there again.
"
User Rating
8.67/10
8.67/10
Ambience
••••••••••
Beverages
••••••••••
Cleanliness
••••••••••
Quality of Food
••••••••••
Staff Service
••••••••••
Value for Money
••••••••••
"Not worth the money"Bob
February 2008 — "I stopped here for supper because the menu advertised this place as fine dining. I was wrong - and this restaurant is not up to Calgary standards. I ordered the swordfish which was to come with purple potatoes in a vanilla bean beurre with some kind of special tomatoes and broccocini. I supplemented this with some itialian risotto.
The fish was the big disappointment. For $25 it should have been sumptuous as splendorous. It came cold and rubbery. I was forewarned that the purple potatoes were just a garnish. They turned out to be more of a gimmick and did not any added flavour or texture to the dish. The tomatoes weren't the ones advertised and were undercooked. The broccocini was just right and the risotto was excellent. The biggest problem was the fish had no flavour. The vanilla bean beurre read well on the menu, but did not translate into a flavourful, gourmet dish.
I cannot recommend this restaurant based on price and the poor quality of food. It also was not very clean and my table was wobbly. Try a place like Divino over this any day - it will cost about the same and one will leave you dying for more and the other will leave you dying to leave."
User Rating
3/10
3/10
Ambience
••••••••••
Beverages
••••••••••
Cleanliness
••••••••••
Quality of Food
••••••••••
Staff Service
••••••••••
Value for Money
••••••••••
"Loud and Busy"
Tracey
October 2007 — "If you are looking for a very loud, (do not need to speak to your friends) busy and standing (squished all together) room only, but very fancy beer smelling kinda place, this is the perfect place for you....not me. Be prepared to drive around for a long time looking for a parking space if you are driving into the core during the day and bring lots of change for the meter and the homeless, as it cost me $12 before I even got in the door. Time to go back and plug the meter (3 blocks away) again!"
User Rating
2.50/10
2.50/10
Ambience
••••••••••
Beverages
••••••••••
Cleanliness
••••••••••
Quality of Food
••••••••••
Staff Service
••••••••••
Value for Money
••••••••••
"Busy Place"Carrie
April 2007 — "I recently met a friend at The Metropolitan Grill for lunch. We had made a reservation which was a good thing as the place was packed. The decor is very trendy and the menu has a price tag to match. I had the Candied Salmon Salad which was excellent - but in my opinion for $15 it should be. My dining companion ordered the Delmonico Salad which she said was OK but nothing special. Our order took about 45 minutes to arrive which for a lunch spot is too long. Our server did state however that there was a mix up in the kitchen that accounted for the delay. Overall, it's a good place to go if you are looking for a funky atmosphere and don't mind paying the extra price for it."
User Rating
6.67/10
6.67/10
Ambience
••••••••••
Beverages
••••••••••
Cleanliness
••••••••••
Quality of Food
••••••••••
Staff Service
••••••••••
Value for Money
••••••••••
"This Place Gets Busy"
Mike
October 2006 — "OK, so the bartender introduced herself by shaking our hands - a little odd but a nice gesture nonetheless. We had to sit at the bar for lunch because, by 11:30am, all the tables in this big, ultra-modern restaurant were spoken for. The food: really good. My lunch mate and I both ordered the chicken grill club sandwich with feature soup ($12). Both were better than what we had expected. The sandwich was fresh-tasting and served on Focaccia with lettuce, tomato, cheese and peppered bacon. The soup was a spicy vegetable/bean/chicken medley and it too, was flavourful and fresh. So, despite having to sit at the bar and reluctantly making personal contact with our server, I'd go back (8th Ave Location)."
User Rating
8.33/10
8.33/10
Ambience
••••••••••
Beverages
••••••••••
Cleanliness
••••••••••
Quality of Food
••••••••••
Staff Service
••••••••••
Value for Money
••••••••••
DescriptionA fusion of California and Mediterranean Cuisine are featured on the menu at The Metropolitan Grill.
Location Information880 - 16 Ave SW
Calgary
AB
T2R 1J9
