Mount Pleasant Vintage & Provisions is Comin to Calgary
Calgary is a city that feels a little like Austin, Texas, and it would be so close with just a few more quirky bars worth repeating. Home and Away recently closed it’s doors and it left a cool bar void in the heart of the city. Maybe it wasn’t living up to what it used to be, but it remained a reliable and fun spot for wing night and Blue Jays games.
Vancouver has Mount Pleasant Vintage & Provisions. And now, somehow, Calgary is getting one too.
If you’ve spent any time in Vancouver’s bar scene, you already know the deal. This place isn’t just popular. It’s the kind of spot that shows up on “best bars” lists, but still feels like somewhere your cool friend just casually suggests on a Tuesday. No big speech. It opened in 2022 and didn’t take long to build that reputation as one of Canada’s best bars (now officially so).
It looks like a vintage shop that turned into a bar halfway through the day and never looked back. Old couches. Weird lamps. Wood paneling. And now they’re opening in Calgary. Same concept. Taking over the old Home & Away space. A room that already knows how to have fun. This is a surprisingly good idea that everyone should be extremely excited about.
There’s no big design firm flexing here. No polished, overthought aesthetic, like a few Calgary restaurants I can think of. Thrifted, collected, pieced together. A little chaotic, but in a way that makes you relax the second you walk in.You’re not worried about where to sit or how to act. You just…exist. Drink in hand. Music on.
During the day, especially in the summer, it leans patio. Half inside, half outside. Sun hitting the tables. People ordering beers, boozy slushies, maybe a hot dog. It feels like a backyard that somehow turned into one of the best bars in the country. So many bars try this, or claim to be this, but this really gets there.
Then it shifts. Slowly at first. Music gets louder. Another round shows up. More people squeeze in. By night, it’s not a patio anymore. It’s a party. Not a full nightclub. But a place to mingle, or chill, or dance, or meet people…you know, like in the movies or a big city?
And that’s before you even get into what they do.
It’s also just…fun! Hot dog eating competitions. Actual prize money. Then, a few weeks later, they’re hosting some of the best bars in the world for takeover nights. New York, Mexico City, Toronto. They’ve made the Top 50 bars list and they still serve hot dogs with throwback metal lunchboxes.
Calgary loves a place like this. We always have, especially on 1st Street. Where you can grab a beer, order a cocktail, maybe eat something great, maybe stay too long. Places like Ten Foot Henry, Pat & Betty, Proof. They reward energy. They stay busy because they feel alive.
That’s why this will work here.
It feels very Vancouver. Loose. Social. A bit chaotic. But now it’ll have that friendly Calgary atmosphere and not the, at times, annoyingly cliquey vibe of Van (I’ve lived in both cities for years so I’m saying I’m allowed to say that).
The food and drinks?
You’ve got hot dogs. Tater tots. Cheeseburgers. Then suddenly it’s caviar. Wood-fired steak. Whole fish. It all it works.
The hot dogs come in old school metal lunchboxes. The kind you probably had as a kid or saw in a movie. It’s dumb in the best way. But the dog itself is legit. Snappy. Smoky. Cooked over fire.
Then there’s the “Cost Low” happy hour. Which already tells you the tone. Cheap drinks. Cheap bites. No overthinking. Move into the small plates and it starts to flex.
Fondue with tater tots. Which sounds like a joke until you eat it and realize it’s not. Charred broccoli with real depth. Prawns that actually taste like fire and salt and butter. Beef tartare that holds its own against places that take themselves way more seriously. There’s caviar and chips too. Because why not.
Then the bigger stuff comes in.
Everything leans on the grill. Wood, charcoal, smoke. You can taste it right away. BBQ pork tenderloin. Chicken with proper char. Steak that doesn’t need a speech. Even the fish gets that treatment. It’s not delicate plating. It’s flavour first. You’re not there for tweezers and sauces painted on plates.
The “personal” section sits somewhere in the middle. Burgers. A torta. A banh mi. A Hawaiian-style bowl. It feels like street food that got a little more attention than usual. Honestly, way better than it needs to be.
The drinks are where they quietly go crazy.
The cocktail list reads like a joke at first. Names like “Hot Girl Shit” or drinks that sound like they shouldn’t exist. Peanut butter. Weird fruit. Savoury twists. You almost don’t trust it. Then you taste one. They’ve got all the serious equipment behind the bar, the right techniques, but it’s relaxed. You’re not being lectured about what’s in your glass. You’re just enjoying it.
There are slushies too. Boozy. Cold. Our favourites in the summer. The kind you’d expect at a beach bar, except they’re actually good. Frozen Vietnamese coffee. Mezcal mixes. They still respect the basics. Margaritas. Daiquiris. Beer. Cheap beer if you want it. Wine that doesn’t feel intimidating. Wine that still hopes for reflection.
You can sit there with a hot dog and a cheap beer. Or a steak and a weird, perfect cocktail. And neither feels out of place. Most places pick a lane. This one doesn’t.
We’ve spent enough time in Vancouver to know this place isn’t a fluke. It works. People love it for a reason. So bringing it to Calgary feels… kind of perfect.
It’s hard to think of a more exciting opening right now. Especially if they hit their timing. Stampede. Cowboys, cowgirls, boots, denim. All of it inside a vintage bar that wasn’t built for that, but somehow will be.
Will they change the name? Keep it? I don’t care. Just bring us the same place.
AUTHOR: Hogan short
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