Drum & Monkey

This for me hits all the points of a good pub; reasonable prices, good service, decent beer list (honestly, any beer list is a decent beer list of me if it has Last Best, Toolshed, Village, Wildrose, or Big Rock), and yummy food. I enjoy coming here for a drink, or going dancing at Bamboo with friends. Great place at a great location.

I know I’m going to take some flack on this but we really had a great time at the Drum & Monkey. It is a corner dive bar just up the street from St. James. Old tables, run down décor, torn up seats, with a bar keep that fits the the mood and style impeccable well. Sarcasm is not the intent here. Everything just works and fits together really really well.
When we arrived a few patrons had been scattered around. Carrying on amongst themselves and having a good time of it by the looks of it. We just found a little wobbly table to call our own and settled into some easy fun over a few drinks. The bar staff came by and gave us a few pointers on the area. Sitting down and chatting with us for a little bit. Styling and hip without being pretentious. We thought she was great.
But the bar keep is the main personality here. Off in his little bar area he just looks out and waits for a sign. Jumping to immediate action when his services are called upon. He seems to have one of those personalities that is very easy and natural to engage to get a good conversation going. But then just naturally fades away into the background without even trying. Before you know it hours have gone by and your wondering where the time went between you and your friends.
Not sure of his cocktail making abilities. But we found him to be unique and fun to interact with. A genuinely nice guy.
One of the Calgary bums wandered in briefly and head to the bar. Our main man cooly and with all the charm of Batman’s butler sent this fellow on his way without so much as comment from the guy. It was really well done. Several patrons commented on it. Apparently it is pretty common for many of the bars in the area to have contend with some of these types.
If you’re looking for a quiet place to rest your bones over a few drinks and are willing to embrace the offerings of the Drum & Monkey you might just find yourself having a genuinely good time.
Save a spot for us. See you on the next trip.

Saturday Brunch $ 5 — toast, 2 eggs, hash browns, and bacon or sausage. Cannot beat this deal downtown!

If you’re looking for a classic, old-​fashioned British pub meal, this is not the spot for you. Despite the appearance of being a British pub, this is actually a pirate beard metal pub. Filled with people who look like they should be riding motorcycles but don’t actually own one, this is a great spot for chicken wings if you like rotten Hallal chicken wings that taste like they are from South America. I really don’t know where they are sourced from, but they truly taste like they have been shipped in the bottom of a dirty cargo ship from Argentina or something.
The dry ribs are the best in town, but that’s about all I can recommend. Servers won’t even so much as flash you a smile unless you are covered in Sailor Jerry tattoos. Not a single good beer on tap.
The Bamboo serves cream soda and if you really feel like ruining your night you can order Everclear shots. The bathrooms don’t have doors on the stalls to curb down on gang activity, so if you feel like you need to take care of business, take it elsewhere.

Decent spot to go any night for a drink. The food is good and the pints are decent prices. Hipster vibe, but they also include sports and have the bamboo lounge attached, which is a lot of fun for dancing and partying in the dark! Check it out.

Well that sucked. Walked in, good mood, we were literally the first customers. Didn’t matter, no cheery vibe, no warm fuzzy from bartender. We were clearly bothering her. Oh well. Next pub.

Its pretty chilled. I used to go every Tuesday in high school for Dub at the Pub. The reggae music is dope and in the bamboo they has wicked beats during Dub at the Pub! Other nights are great to for dancing. The staff are really Nice. The only thing its that it used to be more of a chilled laid back atmosphere 10 years ago, but now it can be full of crazy people, but also it can be full of great people. I still would go and encourage people to go, especially if you love to dance.

Tavern Pub with a slab of underground! Inexpensive pub in the middle if many expensive pubs. Perfect for music lovers

I love this place.
It was the first place I stopped in at after moving to Calgary and I have to say After trying some other places I like this bar the best.
The food is good, your basic bar grub. Burgers are flavourful and they have good salads which all come as sides and can be subbed for fries. Any bar that has a house green that isn’t simply lettuce, carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes wins my heart.
They have a choice of local and micro beers on tap. Surprisingly many places in Calgary that tout themselves as beer houses list off the basic crap beers like bud, Canadian, Kokanee, Heineken, corona. The worst is somehow Keith’s is consistently referred to as an IPA in many pubs — shudder. I digress.
This place is meant to be English so they get the grungy part down perfect but clean English grunge if that makes sense.
Also the bartenders were fantastic, as soon as I said I was new in town they were giving me advice on what areas were good to live, what areas of town were good for going out, places to eat, shop and so on. At the end of the night they went out do their way to ask me my name, introduce themselves and ask me to come back.
Overall great place. Ohh and I should mention price wise this place is totally a win!

Stopped by for lunch after a client meeting downtown. Tried the daily special on the sandwich board outside: tortilla burger with bacon cheddar soup. Dee-​licious! My server was friendly, upbeat, and a delight. My first visit, and it won’t be my last!

I will start of by saying it was our waitresses first night working. She was really sweet and you could tell she was nervous, but trying her best.
We were given menus when we first arrived and our drink order was taken fairly quickly. But she didn’t come back for about 15 – 20 minutes to take our order. (It wasn’t busy at all) I decided on the hot turkey sandwich, couple of my friends had one of the many burgers to choose from and another had the Mac and cheese. Our food took almost 40 minutes. When it arrived I was surprised to see that I actually had a burnt burger patty on my plate, no turkey, no stuffing, just a pile of gravy over a charred burger on bread. It had taken so long to get the food that at this point I didn’t want to have to wait another 30 – 40 minutes for the correct meal. So I dealt with it. I will say aside from the overly salty gravy (which was literally smothering every inch of that plate) and the oh so burnt patty, the mash was actually tasty and the veg weren’t mush. Yay!
Sadly no one was really thrilled about their food. The boys’ burgers were also burnt and the Mac and cheese… while tasting good, was more like a cheese soup. Yum?
The waitress did apologize for the mess up of our plates, and did give us a discount. Like I said it was her first night, so I don’t want to rag on her too hard. But needless to say if I EVER go back, it’ll be for beer, not food.

Good pub. Always a good atmosphere.
Made the mistake of ordering food here however.
Abysmal, over-​cooked, and took forever.
Would never consider eating here again, but would still consider the drum for a few pints.

How to describe the best pub in Calgary… Epic, Authentic, a true English Local, unassuming and unpretentious… I could go on for days.
This pub had been the cornerstone of 1^st street since before there really was a 1^st street. Back in the day, 1^st street housed the Night Gallery, a small club, the kicking horse saloon and a few really dodgy food and drink spots. Now 1^st Street is the centrepiece of the gentrification of Victoria Park and the Drum has lived through it.
If I was asked, what is there to do at the drum, the answer is EVERYTHING! They have TVs showing almost any sport, amazing food and drink specials every night of the week and they even open up the other side of the pub, the Bamboo Tiki lounge on weekend and it turns into a proper dance club! The staple DJ is Rob Faust, spinning his own unique blend of funk on Saturday nights, and is not a night to be missed!
This bar has a fairly good following of regulars, which oddly enough always welcome new people to their favourite hangout.
I highly recommend that you order a pint next time you are in the area!

A fun place to watch a game and get some incredible deals (Wed wing night — $ 3 a pound and $ 4 a pint of PBR/​Bud; half-​priced apps on Thurs; $ 4 breakfast between 11−3pm on Sat/​Sun). The service has varied a bit, but mostly has been good. Regarding the wing flavors:
Honey mustard — good
Jerk — very clove-​ie, average
Thai — Sweet, not much heat, but not bad
Tandoori — Just a lot of raw tandoori spice rubbed post fry (just overpowering and not easy on the belly)
Apple BBQ– the clear winner so far, a mild bbq sauce, not cinnamonie
Curry — Forgettable, similar problem as with the tandoori
Peanut + Hot — Fantastic, reminiscent of chicken satay
Hot — Good, similar to Frank’s Red Hot
Honey garlic — Very sweet, lacking in the garlic flavour
The nachos are huge, easily enough for two to fill their stomachs and reasonably well topped. Hummus was decent, but the dippers to dip ratio was off, with more dip than you can use (or not enough stuff to dip, depending on your perspective). Breakfast is good, but the bacon tastes like the Maple Leaf ready-​crisp prepackaged bacon.

This place was recommended as a chill place to catch up before the actual night of festivities for my friend’s bachelorette party.
I think advertising this place as a club (just because it has a dancefloor and music in the back) is quite a bit of a stretch. And as far as pubs go it’s okay. There is quite a selection of beer on tap. I was also surprised by the amount of vegetarian options on the menu.
There were two types of veggie burgers on the menu, grilled cheese, veggie quesidillas, etc., which I didn’t expect. The Santa Fe Veggie Burger was okay, but not great. I feel like they just use those Yves burgers you find at the grocery store and there was too much sauce. The fries were saturated in salt to the point that they were almost inedible. I would definitely not recommend this place for its food.
Pubs are usually dark, but this one was almost black and the décor was grungy and interesting to say the least.
If I’m in Calgary again I don’t think I’d come back.

I’ve only been here once and the service was mediocre, but I would give it a second chance. It was a nice day so I sat on the patio. It’s cramped and I always felt like someone strolling down the sidewalk could grab my stuff and run. Not a fan of that. I primarily chose to sit outside because it was really noisy inside. I know it’s a small pub so the noise level was not a surprise, but I didn’t have the energy to yell my conversation that day.
I ate the half Taco Salad with chicken and holy toledo, that was a spicy meal. It was really good though but it certainly wouldn’t be for everyone. I think the house dressing for it was almost as hot as the jalapenos, but I would order it again. My spouse ate the Gorilla Burger, which was gigantic. I took a bite and the patties were flavorful. He thought it was decent and was enjoying the fried egg.
Another downside can be looking for parking but if you’re open to walking a few blocks, you can find free 2hr space on 14^th and 15^th Ave.

The Drum made me a quesadilla with bacon in it. For that, they deserve four stars. We had a whole conversation about bacon and I even got to bring up «bacon-​wrapped» as a term from the urban dictionary. Two sentences later, when our lovely server guy was asking me if I wanted to add chicken or beef to my quesadilla he jokingly added «or bacon?» Like a cat waiting at a mouse hole, i pounced at the meow-​ntion. With bacon it came. That totally bacon-​wrapped my quesadilla.
Besides bacon quesadillas with a tall boy of Steamwhistle, the Drum has been my after event watering hole on a few occasions. With the right crowd, it’s a fun time. On the weekends, the Drum is a 3 star kind of spot. Things get better when there’s a good band playing at the attached Bamboo Tiki Room. But really, the best part of the weekend at the Drum is the $ 3.99 breakfast every Saturday and Sunday from 11am-​3pm. Yep, that’ll do the trick every time.
Late night eats, afternoon bevvies (note, on weekdays, the specials don’t kick in until 4pm), it’s good times! I’ve got the scarf and toque to prove it.

We had a half hour to kill before moving on to another venue and we did not want to drive too far and pay again for parking. Enter this interesting looking place, the Drum and Monkey! For sure, as soon as you see it, it looks like a British pub, no mistaking it. I was a little overdressed but what the hell. Went in for quick 2 drinks each — AND it was Happy Hour! Each day 4 – 8 on weeknights! The servers were friendly enough, talked to me a bit about the food for next time, if there is a next time. Apparently, they have very good soups made fresh each day. What was coming out of the kitchen for others did not look too bad. Laid back crowd, no pretentiousness here, just a good ol’ pub (small but cozy but clean) where you can come as you are and drink the day away for cheap.
$ 15 for 4 drinks = yay!

Until my visit to the Drum & Monkey I had never ever seen anyone spinning nu-​metal tracks using Serato Scratch Live. Seriously.
This bar was right near my hotel in Calgary and in need of a place to sit, grab a drink and get a little work done, I wandered in to this ruckus spot. I was immediately out of place amidst a crowd of what seemed to be 20-​year olds getting shit-​housed on a random weeknight. Shots! Shots! Shots! Sitting at the bar I had some prime real estate to observe with amusement the mating rituals of young drunken Calgarians. All with a head-​thrashing metal soundtrack.
Did I get much work done? No. Did I enjoy my relatively cheap drinks and entertainment? For sure. Would I make this a regular spot in Calgary? Naw. Well, maybe. If they found something better to pump out of that Serato.

This used to be a classic hangout joint for me and my old call-​center co-​workers. I’ve never had the chance to try the food, even the one time we managed to score the back room for a private event and snacks were served.
But the scene was great. No better way to burn Friday pay checks than getting boozed at the Drum. It’s always packed with wily and frisky characters. The service was quick but the bar can get a little crowded, but after a few drinks it becomes the pond where strange conversations can be fished out from. Music is great as well, I recall a few times a DJ was playing some tunes, but the Drum has always been the last stop for me so at the state I was always in, I can’t confirm this.
It’s also easy to catch a cab from here at night, just stumble out of the door and you’ll hit the street curb. And within seconds a cabbie will pull up right in front of you.