Elbow River Casino

Usually I’m a big supporter of the Food & Beverage offerings and service at this Casino. As a regular patron of the poker room I consistently promote their F&B offerings. Recently their mgmt made a decision that draft beer would no longer be served in a pint glass but in a 16 oz plastic cup. When I inquire why I’m told it’s just a weekend change. I’m not sure if their draft suppliers would like to learn their premium draft products are being sold this way but I will try my best to inform them since my concerns have fallen on deaf ears. The wait staff try to accommodate me over this but usually their hands are tied. It’s too bad as the $ 50 to $ 100 I spend their on draft each week will be reduced to $ 0.

Fun fact: Elbow River Casino does dim sum Friday to Sunday for lunch and it’s actually pretty good! I don’t gamble so this review is only about their dim sum.
A good rule of thumb for trying Chinese food in any questionable establishment is to look around you. Do you see Chinese people eating here? If the answer is yes, then the food MUST be decent. I arrived at 11 am, right when the restaurant opened, and was seated right away. By 11:30 the place was packed with Asians who knew of Elbow River’s best kept secret.
The menu is surprisingly extensive and the prices are completely reasonable. The staples like shrimp dumplings, shui mai and chicken feet were all good and fresh. Portions were generous. They even have a Hong Kong café menu with noodles, rice dishes and combos. The service is more attentive and the food comes out quick. The atmosphere is much quieter too. Caveat: can’t bring the kids since the restaurant is in the casino. That’s OK, it’s nice to not dine in the presence of screaming children every so often.
Even if you don’t enjoy the ambience or the food because you’ve been spoiled by other dim sum establishments, you can’t complain about the price. You’ll realize how much restaurants like T Pot and Forbidden City are gouging you when Elbow River serves up 6 equally tasty shrimp crepes for the low price of $ 4.99, compared to 3 crepes for $ 5.99 at the aforementioned restaurants. Almost all dim sum dishes were $ 4.25, not more than $ 4.99.
Seriously, go try the dim sum at Elbow River. It’s not a gamble. Your belly will always leave a winner!

I went this past Saturday night after having gone to the Vertigo Theatre and for a bite. It was an impromptu trip. It is a small and easy place to get around and there if free parking. And I won 80 $ with a 20 $ investment on a Slot Machine :-)
Parking is free and is easy to get to within the downtown core. From what I could tell though, it was not very busy, however, this could be a result of the economics of the city… This said, the Poker Room was full as was the Roulette Table and 21 :-)
For my first time, it was a good experience and if asked to go again, I would :-)

Loved the casino! My grandma and I played slots, I take her once a week to various casinos and she loved it here! I lost however she won 3000! The staff here are very friendly and is an elderly-​friendly casino. Next time we go I will thank the staff for their kindness! I would definitely recommend for anyone looking for a nice relaxing day at the tables or slots.

Well, I guess if you like slot machines…
Spent $ 80 on Saddledome heroin beers only to have the Flames lose, and now you want to lose an additional $ 100 at a Casino to make up for the price of your ticket? Here’s a pretty great place to do it! And that’s how the Elbow river Casino always seems to be to me… It’s a place for Flames fans to have a few minutes of fun before getting on their way to somewhere else… In the middle of it all is the feeling of strange sadness that is the local crew who it seems are here day in and day out, regardless of The Flames schedule.
If you’re here to gamble, the Elbow River Casino seems just fine. It’s decently clean and hosts your usual Alberta casino games and your usual Alberta casino crowd. Far from the glitz and glammour that I dream Vegas casino have (still never been to Vegas…) the Alberta casino feels like a Casino pub, a mix of all walks of life and incomes coming together for the same reason. Funny how, for me, a pub feels like a community, but at ever Alberta casino I’ve been to, being there feels like some sort of strange necessity, and it makes me comfortable.
So, it’s clear that I’m not much of a gambler, but I’m very keen to take in the peripherals of a casino. The entertainment, the bar, the food, the overall ambiance that lets people indulge and, well, get the fuel they need to keep gambling. But when it comes to Elbow River, I find that these things are exceptionally average.
Food & Drink — It’s like a tasteless sports pub, serving fast food level pub grub, Want a beer? Well they’ve got 9 taps of the same stuff. Die hard Bud Light fan? Like to have it out with the people who take their Budweiser full strength? Well this place is for you. Spoiler alert — You’re all drinking the same beer and have been duped by marketing, whaaaaa? Coor’s Light is better! You! Go sit in the corner.
Service is pretty painful. Apparently our table had a server, but I’m not really sure who it was. One girl did come over to our table and apologize that the service was so bad, and I feel for her. I’m not one to attack on service, especially if I can see that something came up and our poor server is working her ass off for a section that is impossibly large. I promise you, I look for this, but it really, really, wasn’t the case here. What I felt was apathy, and honestly, I don’t blame them. With so much of their apparent clientele here out of necessity, why bother? They’ll be coming back whether you like it or not.
DRINKS — There’s nothing special. Order a Jack and Coke. Delicious and so simple that you can’t mess it up. Any other highball of your choice is fine.
MUSIC — On the few occasions I’ve been here there’s been live music. Points! But it’s always some super average Classic Rock cover band. Another side note, I love classic rock. But this place seems to play the kind of bands that have succumb to the drunk fan yell of «Play some CCR!», and now, that’s all they play. If you’re lucky they’ll show off their hip and/​or happening-​ness with a soulless cover of a popular «new-​fangled» 90’s hit.
MUSIC NOTE: If you’re 58 years old, have teenage children you can neglect, or are an early empty nester looking to cut a rug after the past 21 (18−24…hopefully not more… Kick ‘em out!) you’ll probably really like cutting a rug here. Sure, the music isn’t fantastic, but the songs are. They’re a throwback to your youth and you love it! And so do I. You, sir or madame’s generation had the best damn music and I respect you for it! I’m just saying that Led Zeppelin wasn’t a bunch of old dudes in a Casino… That’s all.

Great for people watching, not so much for food. I feel like I defiled my body by eating the garlic dry ribs. I genuinely feel like throwing up. The redeeming factor is the people watching, because seeing the VLT players succeed and seniors on the dance floor brought joy to my heart. Also the music in the lounge is pretty decent.

Went on Friday night for the prime rib buffet at Jesters buffet. Good deal at $ 19.95 for all you can eat. Not the largest selection however I was satisfied for the quality and selection of food.
Prime rib 5 Unilocal
Backed salmon 5 Unilocal usually overcooked sitting in warming trays at buffets
Didn’t try and chicken wings or pork loin but they
looked good.
Limited salad selection 4 Unilocal
Soft drink included
Service by two Asian waitresses were very quick 5 Unilocal
I had fruit for desert but enough of cream pies and chocolate products.
Not a huge restaurant but we were there early enough with no problem getting a table.
Ok now its located downtown soooo there may be some sketchy people hanging around the casino.
We were never approached but i was not concerned.
Good valve!!!

The building where I work is right beside this place, so I sometimes pop in to grab a lunch to go when I haven’t brought any from home. The small Chinese buffet (not the dim sum) is $ 3 per item plus tax, so it’s possible to have a filling, tasty meal for $ 6.30 that’s better than fast food, and I haven’t gotten an MSG headache (yet), so I keep going back for Chinese takeout.

*this review is for Dim Sum only!*
we came for DimSum on a Sunday around 11:30am, and were seated fairly quickly, even though it was very busy.
this isn’t the kind of DimSum where they push the carts around and you choose from the carts, instead you just check off what you want on the order slip at your table.
service was a bit slow, but very friendly.
food was ok, and the prices were good.
I might go back if someone else wanted to try it, not I’ll probably stick to chinatown for DimSum.

In Singapore, Hainanese Chicken Rice, Kolo mee, and Yong Tau Fu are some of the staples of fast-​food; so when I saw Hainanese Chicken Rice on the Elbow River Casino Restaurant Menu, I knew that I just had to try it. It’s been years since I’ve tasted Hainanese Chicken RIce, it’s basically chicken boiled to make stock. Uncooked rice, ginger and scallions (green onions) are sauteed in chicken fat before the rice is then cooked in the chicken stock. It is then served with the chicken, a ground up ginger & green onion and sesame oil sauce, some chicken broth on the side, and a chilli sauce.
The rice and chicken tasted close to what you would get in Singapore. The ginger sauce was good too. The chili sauce was nowhere near what you would get. For those of us who grew up with this chicken rice the chili sauce is what makes or breaks it. They used the bottled sweet thai chili sauce that you can get in stores here. The authentic sauce is ground up fresh chili peppers with some vinegar and sugar. The trick is to scald the chilli peppers before you grind them, it is enough to change the flavour of the chili ever so slightly.
The only other thing wrong is that the broth served was a soup made with pork ribs! It should have been leftover broth from the stock made to cook the rice in. It was, however, a tasty soup with big pieces of meat. Considering the miles I’d have to fly to taste the real thing, I can settle with having this when I’m craving Hainanese Chicken Rice. The portion was huge and I had to take half home for another meal. The cost was $ 12.99.
Thursday is Asian Buffet night and if I had been hungrier I would have opted for the buffet. There was Alaskan King Crab and shrimp as cold appetizers and judging from the plates of others a good selection of hot items. Cost for the buffet is extremely reasonable at $ 16.95 considering the crab and shrimp.
There is a different special on each weekday evening. Tuesday is Prime Rib night and there is dim-​sum from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday to Sunday. There are actually 2 different menus: Chinese and Western so if you’re ordering a la carte make sure you have both to look through.
The Chinese Lady serving was very efficient and friendly, automatically switching back and forth from English to Chinese to cater to the predominantly Asian clientele. It is after-​all a casino! There is lots of free parking underground and across the street.

Double Down Dim Sum — The Guru, Sweet Sherry, and I met for Friday lunch & decided to partake in the Friday-​Sunday offering of dim sum. The menu offerings were diverse including all sorts of dumplings, noodles, and even congee (rice porridge); some bamboo steamers even had the more exotic delicacies found in actual Chinese restos. Quality, portion size, and price were good. Service was attentive & prompt. If your cohorts aren’t denizens of the dim sum, a full menu of western cuisine is available: Ketchup and HP sauce on the table was indicative of that. Most importantly, and as expected, the level of cleanliness was great. To top it all off, there’s complimentary parking underground and in the surface lot. No need to roll the dice, dim sum here is not a crap shoot!

Okay so now I’d like to mention the Jester’s buffet in more detail. I have started a list for others who like buffets (so please tell me of ones I’ve missed).
Anyways, this one does a breakfast buffet, a lunch buffet, and a dinner buffet at different times of the day (check
for details).
Rob & I are mostly there for the breakfast buffet on weekends, though I’m pretty sure their other buffets are nice, too.
The customer service is reasonable :) The food offers an interesting variety, including cereal and milk for the breakfast one, so it’s not all «bacon & eggs».
There are other dining options there as well, which you’ll see on the website link above. Hope you win big after eating ;)

This review is primarily for the Bayou Stage in the casino. I was here for the evening because my friend’s cousin plays in a band called Deizel and they were booked for the weekend. I commend the casino for hiring these guys, as they are a tight band with quality harmonies. I appreciated that the volume wasn’t too loud and there is an adequately sized dance floor, which left more than enough room for me to dance and simultaneously avoid the interesting gentlemen who wanted to dance with me. It’s nice that there was good entertainment because I’m not a gambler and would otherwise not care to be there.
The server was friendly enough but her attention to our table was scarce.

Love the place weekend music rocks and yuk Yuks is a blast! Nice friendly staff.

This Casino is just a wee turn off of Macleod and into underground free parking; the spaces are quite small compared to the Calgary Stampede Casino. But it is just an elevator up to what appears to be a huge room that wants to be a cross between Diamond Tooth Gerty’s in Dawson City and a Mardi Gras!
There are saloon like windows looking down onto the Casino area and huge Porcelain masks hanging from certain playing tables. The colors, lights and ribbons make the playing area quite fun in my opinion. The staff feels friendlier than Stampede Casino and they are eager to help you at the tables and at the slots.
Coffee and pop are free here as well which is really nice. The Elbow River Casino is quite a huge space combining slots, tables and private rooms.
Looks like they serve Phở here as well, I saw one guy nestling into the steam of his huge bowl.
As for playing, I really prefer the CS Casino, but that is my own personal taste, or maybe it is because I lost 30 dollars of nickels here. So biased!

This casino gets 5 stars because I believe it to be Calgary’s best.
I’ve been to several other local casinos so I have insider knowledge. Calgary isn’t Vegas so don’t expect Vegas. But, in the right mindframe, a night out here can be a good time!
JOLLEAN’S GUIDE FOR THE CASINO NEWBIE
1. Get gangster with yourself on what amount of money is acceptable to lose, should it happen. Take a set amount of cash with you and don’t deviate from the plan!
2. Perspective is everything! You are paying money to have fun, to be entertained. So, if you don’t win anything, look at it like a movie or other activity in which costs a lil bit of money in which to have fun. Capiche?
3. You are not Joe Pesci and the dealers are not clowns to you. Be respectful, ask questions if you need to. They will answer questions you have and they may have ‘game literature’ for you.
4. Admire Elbow’s facelift as of last year. They’ve gone Mardi Gras on us, complete with giant colourful masks and Bourbon Street-​esque wall décor. It’s festive but no, you will not get beads or chips if you flash anyone.
5. There’s free tea and coffee for the alcohol-​challenged. It’s Calgary’s version of free Vegas drinks haha.
6. I wouldn’t venture into the poker (Texas Holdem, etc.) rooms unless you have a) lots of cash, b) mad skills or c) big kahunas. Those players are sharks and you won’t last 5 minutes.
7. The easiest game to start with is Roulette (my fave). At a minimum of $ 1 dollar per number per spin, it’s one of the most reasonable games to get in on. Soon enough, you’ll have favourite numbers, think you can see patterns like Russell Crowe in Beautiful Mind and you’ll be explaining things to the newbie beside you.
8. If you figure out Craps, call me. You are my God. That game looks the most fun but it’s also the most enigmatic and was conceived by someone really drunk and makes no sense. It’s sure fun to throw the dice though.
9. The slot machines have cute lil mini games if you hit the right things. But don’t caught up holding out for the mini game! Slot machines go from $.01 to $ 2 a go.
10. Have fun and don’t take ANYTHING at the casino too seriously and you’ll have a smashing good time. Would I lie to you? Fergetttt aboud itttttt.

We decided to have a friends impromptu bachelor party at Elbow River Casino. I had been tasked with putting it together at the last minute as a previous attempt to organize a bachelor’s party had failed (I had not been involved in the previous attempt).
I am not a gambler. I have that personality that pretty much ensures if I start gambling, it’s downhill from there. So I hadn’t gambled so much as a quarter prior to this night.
For a bachelor party, Elbow River Casino is surprisingly fun. Sure, it’s not the cheapest night you could have, but if you don’t have a gambling problem it can make for a great night. I ended up winning a few hundred dollars, which was nice. We played lots of different games and spent a lot of time wandering around. The bachelor had a blast, drank way too much, and had a good sized hangover to remember it by. So even non-​gamblers can enjoy a good night at the casino, who knew?