Elite Event: March Madness at the Mercer Tavern

I loved the Mercer Tavern! The beers were wonderful, though I was mostly partial to the Sapporo. The staff were friendly, the atmosphere was inviting, the venue itself spacious and rustic.
I was surprised to learn the history of the building, including a previous fire. And oh, that Reuben sandwich!
Got a great pic at the photo booth with my wife punching my lights out.
The sports jersey theme was a great idea and I look forward to returning in the near future.

As per usual Jennie knocked this event out of the park (pun intended as I wore a NY Yankees jersey). the food score board was fun & guranteed a taste of everything. awesome turn out & a fun vibe!
The sports equipment in the photo booth area made for a playful photoshoots. Mercer was a fun event that showcased some great eats and drinks as well as allowed me to see the space better. I had only ever been there quite late at night when it is busier. very cool space, great way to bring one of our beautiful downtown buildings back to life.
The assorted Unilocal swag was fun. the sweat wristbands were fun and extremely appropriate for the event, I was wishing I had brought a larger assortment of Jerseys so I could of won a prize! Congrats Jennie for a great event!

Jennie knows how to throw a party. Wait, Jennie knows how to party! I think the Elite Event at Mercer was a very interesting experience. I for one do not regularly follow any sport but found the sports theme beautifully executed that night. March madness and all… done perfectly.
I’ve not really been impressed with Mercer in the past and with an ordinary list of beer and semi-​decent food choices I was left wondering if I’d be back. I think they are striving hard to do a good job at what they do but I do feel that their focus, from the get-​go, has been more on ambience than actually churning out quality.
Mercer were great with their service to us. Free stuff for a few hours, even on a Wednesday night, makes me think that they are serious about what they want to be — a cutting edge sports bar. I know that if I was going to watch a sporting event at a bar, it would probably end up being the Mercer. They ha

I’m not a hockey fan anymore but I’m from Toronto so I had to dig into my closet and pull out my once revered Leafs jersey. I topped it off with a Team Canada fleece helmet; boy did I look classy.
As always, it was fun to hang out with other Unilocalers, take pictures, snack and drink. Mercer brought out a new menu for us to try and to be honest, I wasn’t blown away. I do like the idea of local places using us as guinea pigs for new menus as the Unilocal crowd does have a lot of foodies. My favourite was the tomato soup… nice texture and taste.
Mercer is a beautiful space; they really invested a lot in their décor. I’d like to try their regular menu one day.

First Elite event in 2013 for me! Man, I’ve been neglecting Unilocaly duties. I had a lot of fun and Mercer is such a great venue. I liked the sports theme and it was interesting to see what people brough to wear for their sports shirt or jersey.
I liked the tons of swag that was lying about, and really, the staff at Mercer were super attentive and great. No attitude, all smiles, frequent refills without having to ask.
Really enjoyed sports-​themed photo booth where I left with a super great shot of me punching my husband in the face with hockey gloves. That’s going on the mantle.
As for food, I wasn’t blown away, and this is why I have to dock off 1 star. We enjoyed the sandwiches the best — the grilled cheese and the reuben were perfect bar food — but I wish the food was served a bit more timely and some more order without having to awkwardly make eye contact with a waitress who may not have seen you sitting off to the side. I did like the feedback aspect of the evening and am hoping that some suggestions were considered.
I also agree with Karlie that it would be nice to have more mingling/​interactive components as it was easy to see people just huddle over with people they were comfortable with as opposed to reaching out. Maybe sports-​related Ice breakers could have been cool.
Thanks Jennie, Wendy, and Mercer for the event!

I’ve been an Elite for 2 years but this is the first official Elite Event I’ve been to and if this is any indication then I will make it to every future Elite Event!
It’s a great thing when your server comes over to you and says… «Here are your drinks, I’ve comped them for you since everything is on us!» We had ordered our normal drinks and she hadn’t realized that they would only be serving a selection of 2 beers, a white wine and the unveiling of Cherry Vodka. But she still brought us our drinks for free! Our server (Michelle) also continued to bring samples of each of the free drink options so that we could try each before committing to a whole drink. Unfortunately the Cherry Vodka reminded me of when I was 8 and had a cold so like the cough syrup we decided to get it over with and just shoot it. haha
Free food was also a nice surprise since I didn’t have a chance to have dinner earlier. I tried 4 different items and completed a comment card on each so that the Mercer staff could make the necessary adjustments. I’m not a fan of Tomato Soup and this one was ok but had some flaws. The best part was the pesto oil (?) on top. Next they had a 4 cheese dip with a marinara centre. It got a ⁴⁄₅ from me. Then I had their two sandwiches. 4 Cheese Grilled Cheese with Ham and Grilled Reuben sandwich. Both were good enough for me to take a second offering when another server came around. I missed the Steak but I’ve had many Sirloin’s in my life and I’m sure another one wouldn’t have blown my mind. The dessert was a Red Velvet cake with ice cream, whipped cream and a berry sauce I couldn’t quite make out. As desserts go this was the perfect size for me.
The Mercer has a great vibe with a big bar, multiple areas, big windows, wood and exposed brick and really nice staff. I think I saw only one annoyed waitress the whole time I was there and honestly who wouldn’t be annoyed handing out free appies to a crowd of Unilocalers that will definitely be reviewing each and every aspect of the night?!
Finally, the Edmonton Unilocal Ambassador Jennie M., did an amazing job bringing out approximately 80 people to this Elite event. There was great energy, music, and ambiance to the event and I felt welcomed immediately. The jersey idea helped ensure that there were immediate conversation topics with friends and foes you’ve never met. My theme was ‘3 red jerseys’… I started off with my die hard Habs jersey, pealed it off for my Team Canada jersey, and brought it home with my Red Devils Korean Soccer jersey. All three represented who I am and for that I won a $ 50 Mercer gift card! I’m still not sure what category I won for but I wasn’t going to split hairs when someone is handing me $$$!!!
Thanks Jennie M, the staff and the Mercer and to new friends I can share my love of the Habs with!

Looks like 2013 is going to be a great year if we keep getting these elite events!
Knowing Jennie, I wasn’t too surprised that this event is sports themed (Go FGCU!). The Unilocal Elite were faithful and came out in proud Oilers, Team Canada and a couple of custom and football jerseys! Even the staff at Mercer had some fun with it and donned some good ol’ NFL jerseys.
Tables were Unilocaled out and we even got to see the ol’ Retro Unilocal fingerless gloves! Hooray for swag!
I did get to try the feature cocktail and it did make me feel an extra classy with the lemon zest, a great touch. My favorite though, was the white wine. I like my whites sweet and this one was light and delectable (anyone know which wine it was???)
Since Mercer was trying out their new menu, I thought it was a great idea to get feedback from the party goers:
–The roasted tomato soup had a home cooked taste and served in shot glasses (I wonder if that’s how they will be served: P in the future)
–If you’re a cheese lover, the grilled 4 cheese sandwich will make you say, «I fromage you» because you’ll love it like the sandwich child you never had.
–The reuben (my favorite) had mouth watering soft meat with a nice subtle kraut. Just take money!
–The steak dish was surprisingly very positive. Although I did find the steak a little dry, the potato and corn avocado mix evened it out quite well.
The much expected photographer was there shooting great shots with props (I’m thinking from United Cycle?) and I can’t wait to see what other Unilocalers did for poses. Printing on the spot? Yes, please. I thought this was super cool.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to talk to Don Cherry but that was a creative idea, Jennie! Did not expect a coaches corner!
Can’t wait to see what other ideas Jennie’s got cookin up.
(PS. I had no idea the owner of Corso was mingling among us. I should have asked if I could get a table next weekend…)

Having a March Madness themed Elite Event was a great idea. It was fun to see some of the different and cool jerseys people showed up in. The prizes and categories for the jerseys were fun and Dave won the hockey tickets! Woo woo.
Mercer is a beautiful space and it was spacious enough to accommodate all of us well. The tunes were good and there was tons of swag (MINTS) everywhere. The staff at Mercer were great, and the bartenders were very attentive about refilling my wine glass.
I recognized Dave Tameling, the photographer from the last event, and I have to say I really like him! He takes great photos and helped me out with ideas a little bit. Him and his assistant are fun guys.
It was really cool that we got to be the ones to try out some of Mercer’s new menu items and to provide some feedback. I have to say, I wasn’t blown away by anything, though. I did quite enjoy the tomato soup, but found the other items to be fairly average.
Overall this was a super solid event of Jennie did a really great job with it. I would like to see some more interactive components at an event in the future, though. Get people mingling a bit more!
Thanks Jennie, Wendy and Mercer!

Had an absolutely fabulous time at the March Madness Unilocal Elite event tonight at Mercer Tavern.
First of all, the door prize give away was a pair of Oilers tix — who wouldn’t go for that?
And then it was March Madness jersey themed!
It was so fun getting to see everyone’s jerseys! Hubby and I scouted out vintage jerseys at Value Village and decided on a pair of coordinating His and Hers WartHogs jerseys and a little googling revealed that they were likely an Alberta Men’s Hockey League jersey! I added a little Unilocal flair to them — check out my pics!
The atmosphere at the Mercer Tavern was kicking! The bar manager Jason was a wealth of knowledge and even pointed me to the newspaper article printed on the wall (you can read it when you first enter) about the fire that took place there in 1922 in the historic building; you can even see the charred remnants on some of the columns!
We were lucky ducks tonight getting to sample Absolut vodka’s newest flavour: CherryKran
I personally found it best when served mixed with cranberry juice, sprite or soda, and 2 lime wedges :-)
My hubby enjoyed sampling the beers of Sapporo (
) and Creemore Springs (
). Hubby’s favorite was Sapporo and our friends liked Creemore Springs (more bite definitely but were are lightweights).
The bartending staff was super friendly and quick on the draw; could not have asked for more attentive service!
We were spoiled tonight by Flirt Cupcakes (
) — a great way to end the night.
For me, the highlight of the night was getting to sample and review the new menu about to be released!
The homemade tomato soup was spot on — great texture and creaminess plus I loved the cuteness of being served in shotglasses for the Unilocal Elite event!
The Reuben — I must admit — it was the first Reuben I have ever had (I know, right… And I call myself a Unilocaler?) was awesome! I guess I do love sauerkraut after all! They housesmoke their meat for 24 hours over maple! To die for — and not overly smokey at all. And even though Jason assured me there was loads of sauerkraut — could you just add a little more, pretty please? Or maybe serve an additional side of it when you order it as a main?
the 4 cheese grilled cheese didn’t win my heart, as I found the cream cheese to be the overwhelming flavour but my comrades loved it! Maybe I just snagged a piece that wasn’t a fair representation of all it’s cheesy goodness?
Ooh and I almost forgot the sourdough? and cheese dip with marinara; this particular dish didn’t win me over. I found the cheese grainy and bland, the marinara too sweet, and the bread — I thought the waitress said was sourdough but I’m not sure. But hey, you can’t win ‘em all!
The angus steak was cooked to medium perfection accompanied by potato pave (a bit too salty) and corn succotash.
The house made chocolate brownie with white chocolate chunks and housemade vanilla bean ice cream kicked some serious ass — need I say more? Warm, soft, fluffy and chewy — Mmm… I can’t wait to go back for more!
I wish I had snagged more pics of the awesome photo ops! Jennie, our fabulous CM had set up a Don Cherry action figure with foam microphones for interviews — simply killer!
And DAVE the man had a killer photobooth going on! I wish I could remember his link for fb right now — I’ll have to come back and update this later when some awesome possum Unilocaler posts his deets for me!
He had the best hockey set up sponsored by United Cycle for killer pics!
And can I jus say the washrooms were fabulous, clean, and spacious!
Check out all my pics :-)
I can’t wait to come back and watch an Oilers game at the Mercer Tavern!
Thank you Unilocal for introducing me to a gem of a local bar — with tons of bar space and tables — in a down to earth astmosphere with killer grub. Did I mention they even have a Vegan section on their menu? Not that I’m Vegan… But Damn! Mercer, you thought of everything!
P. S. Please forgive any grammatical errors or anything I have left out — I’m still in lala land from all the fabulous eats and drinks!
Addition — The name of the awesome possum photographer was Dave Tameling!
Check out photos from the event at: