Angel’s Drive In

Disappointing and boring food. Generic French fries that were undercooked and over salted. Milkshakes were as sweet as suger, which means they were total garbage. Burgers were frozen and bland.
Best thing about this place is I don’t have to go back.

Hidden? Yes. Gem? Nope. With frozen beef patties and fries equivalent to Wendy’s, I really don’t understand why this place has a high rating. Anyone can make this food at home with little effort. Peter’s is better.
The only positive about this place is the interior décor ’cause it looks like you’re eating at a blast from the past even though some areas need some repairs. Unfortunately, the menu is also a blast from the past.
I thought Calgarians had a much higher standard on burgers, given the options we have in this city.

Very, very good!
Bowness burger and shake was the best!
Maybe the best little drive-​in in Calgary now.
JC

The place was really busy so I took that as a good sign, but the food turned out to be pretty sub par. Not sure how it has 4 stars!
First off, I found it pretty pricey considering it’s more like a chip truck than a restaurant. There’s a drive through and about 6 small tables inside. You order yourself, and they bring you the food. I also have to note it’s pretty grimy in there. Old splashes of crap on the walls and layers of dirty fingerprints all over everything. It needs a DEEP clean.
I’m not a vegetarian, but I like veggie burgers sometimes. The bun was WAY too big for the tiny veggie patty. It tasted like a bread & mayo sandwich. If there was like 2 massive beef patties on there, it probably would’ve been great, but otherwise not so much.
The poutine had shredded cheese instead of cheese curds. To me that is not a poutine, it’s fries with cheese and gravy. From the road this looks exactly like the type of place that would have a killer poutine so I was pretty disappointed.
We ordered 3 pieces of deep fried mac & cheese, and 3 pieces of deep fried ravioli.
The mac & cheese bites were yummy, but definitely cooked from frozen/​not homemade.
I’m not sure if we actually got the fried ravioli or they made a mistake but it tasted like plain mashed potatoes inside. Weird right? The picture looked so delicious but what we got was nasty.
Finally, the owner walked by and asked how the poutine was. I said jokingly that it needed cheese curds. His response was «we’ve been doing it like that for 17 years…» Why bother asking for my opinion if you don’t want to hear it?! Lol.
Won’t be back.

Best deep fried mushrooms!!! They always have the best food and service. I strongly recommend this place for some greasy indulgent food.

Angel’s Drive In is a gem in deep Bowness, walking distance from Bowness Park. The burgers here are pretty good. I ordered the double Mozza burger without onions and it came out right, even with that alteration.
The onion rings were excellent, but back to the burger. It tasted homemade which was exactly what I was looking for. It was slathered with melted mozzarella and a blend of mayo and other sauces. It wasn’t the healthiest but hey, it’s an old fashioned burger joint so you can’t expect it to be healthy. It was tasty though.
The place is in major need of repair and some consistency in brand. Nothing a good paint job, some landscaping and a bit of renovations couldn’t spruce up. The food is excellent though which is the main thing.
Angel’s Drive In is worth the drive over to Bowness. On Wednesdays they advertise a show & shine; however, the Wednesday we were there they only had two classic cars and they left within ten minutes of us arriving.
We will be back for sure!

We live across the street and absolutely love going to Angel’s! Very friendly and great food! Milkshakes and ice cream are absolutely amazing and we love the poutines!

This is a Calgary staple, a great hidden gem that has been around for a long time and has great character and ownership. i’m happy to support small local businesses and feel they have given so much back to the community.
Their menu is a good size and food tastes great. They are not just an ice Cream stop, they have awesome burgers and great sandwiches. Not always fast, but always friendly and i leave satisfied.

We head out on a pretty regular basis with friends on the weekend for brunch. We try to hit local businesses with character and try something new each time. Well, this place has character as it is quite old and quite dirty as well! The owners have not kept this place up and perhaps that is part of the charm~ for some.
It is a tiny diner and there is no where for a group of 5 to sit. There is no wait staff, so you need to stand in line for a good 10 minutes to place your order if there is one or two people in front of you. Then you get to wait 20 – 30 minutes for your food to come out to you and then the order isn’t right.
Now seriously people, I can make this exact meal at home for a fraction of the price. I will need to run to Safeway first however and grab some frozen burgers and some powdered gravy mix and there you have it, same meal! You may actually prefer my house, it is clean!

Awesome milkshakes with options for fresh fruit! great hard ice cream flavours! Awesome variety of fresh food! Gotta try this!

After a beautiful day skating in Bowness the crew and I were hungry. We were trying to think of what was close by and we must have been pondering loud as another skater overheard us and mentioned Angel’s Drive In. We took the advice of this random person and headed over for a bite. Angel’s Drive in is located on the corner of 47^th Avenue NW. They have their own parking lot and theres parking in the back as well. When I first pulled up, I was wondering if we were able to sit and eat as the place seems quite small. Sure enough, we walked into what reminded me of a retro old school diner joint. There was about 6 booths which was surprising to me as coming from the outside, this place looks deceiving!
We were welcomed at the front by a smiling man. The menu is quite extensive ranging from breakfast (served until 11:30am) to dinner entrees, donairs, soups, sandwiches, fried chicken, burger combos and a bunch of great sides. Ice cream, floats, milkshakes are also available for those with a sweet tooth!
We were all in a burger mood so we each got a different burger that suit our preferences. I went with the mozza burger and battered mushrooms. After we all ordered we went to have a seat and they brought the food to us. It wasn’t busy on a Saturday midafternoon so we didn’t wait long. My mozza burger was delicious! The burger wasn’t super thick but it was sure tasty! There was this mayo based special sauce which was delicious, onions, mozzarella cheese, bacon, lettuce and tomato. The battered mushrooms were yummy! Be careful, as they are quite hot at first bite from the mushroom juices but definitely a must try with cool ranch dip! The rest seem to be enjoying their burgers and fries. My one girlfriend noticed that they arrange the pickles just the way she likes them (not overlapping but in a circle) so she told the guy she was quite impressed and he mentioned that they serve food at Angel’s just the way they like to have it themselves which I thought was a great statement! Our waters were always topped off and they were always checking on us to see how everything was. We were all pleasantly surprised by the food quality and service attentiveness.
Angel’s is definitely a place to hit up after spending a day in Bowness Park or even if you’re craving a burger or something different — It’s worth the drive where ever you are. Next time I will get a milkshake and try something new!
Peter’s definitely has some competition because Angel’s is really a great diner with delicious burgers, milkshakes and much much more!

WOW!!! Pleasantly surprised!
Seen it a million times driving by but after Bowness park we were all a bit famished and stopped in.
First — it’s really retro in here and I like old school so this is something I enjoy. Sat in a booth, that needed a bit of work but still, it fit with the atmosphere.
Had a great server. Very friendly and sweet.
Ordered up a milk shake and some lunch. Good old cheese burger with onion rings. Everyone else had cheese burgers with fries. Milk Shake was yummy and my husband ordered a float, which I tasted and was really good too. Mental note for next time.
When it all arrived I thought, I cant eat all of this. It was sooooo good, that in fact I did eat all of it. So many things on the menu I want to try for next time so I’m going to have to come back a few more times.
Great little retro gem!!!

We stopped by Angels for a milkshake. We had never been before. The shakes we ordered were both good and the menu looked like it had a great selection of good. The price was a little high for what we got but they were tasty. We will come back again to try food one day!

Pretty good for an old fashioned hamburger!
Great Shake! (Calgary, Alberta)
We enjoyed this 20 min on the run lunch.
Nice people!

This place is automatic. It’s systematic. It’s hyyyyyydromatic. Well, it’s… not nearly as cheesy as that 1978 musical, but has all of the same classic vibes from the timeless baby-​boom era of of all-​american fast cars and cold root-​beer… but in an authentic way. When I go to angels, I not only want a good old fashioned cheese burger and a root beer float, I want a sea foam bel-​air with a drop top to order it from.
Angels is a popular meeting spot and parking lot show’n’shine location for Calgary’s Classic Car Culture, boasting classic cars and hot rods every wednesday night. And rightfully so. Angel’s been around since the 50’s! Remember that when you’re sitting on there in the cracking vinyl booths and the faded, greyish black and white checker floor — yah, it’s starting to look a little old as well as retro… but that’s it’s because it is!
Their real fruit shakes are so good. SO good. I think it’s well worth the limited number of flavours to go with the real fruit ones. After a real fruit shake from Angel’s Drive In, I I bet you’ll have trouble even remembering who «Peter» is.
If you don’t have cool wheels to stop at Angels while you’re out for a classic Sunday drive, you can use you feet to walk over for a nice stroll just around the corner at Bowness Park.
While I wish they were able to give Angel’s a bit of an interior update, (an original 50’s update of course), and fix the table side juke boxes so I can happily plug it with loonies all lunch and listen my favourite…2PAC Classics? Seriously, Angel’s… what the heck is up with your playlist? Why does the Jay-​Z selection outweigh the Elvis? …I’m just happy to have a place like Angel’s around, helping to keep Bowness feeling like a good ol’ small town community amidst the ever expanding surrounding metropolis.

A bit of an institution worthy of a visit and a place I’ve gone for years. The only problem is I often don’t remember how badly I feel after eating here. I’m not sure what it is but 75% of the time I end up with my body scolding me for stopping here. Maybe it’s the fact I combine fries, burgers and milk shakes when I can only get away with a few bad foods at a time? I dunno… and I don’t know anyone else that makes similar complaints.
That being said… I do keep going back… and that’s because it’s yummy.
I like mixing milk shake flavors and the spicy fries here the best. There is not one iota of health in this food … so keep that in mind but it’s fun occationally.

Great, friendly service. Just stopped in for an ice cream. Great prices, and good portion for the price. Very cool décor, has feeling of the movie Grease, but also looks like it could use a deep clean. Feels like a mom and pop shop, I will be back.

Tried this place after reading the rave reviews and wanting a diner with a decent hot hamburger nearby. Anticipation was high and reality was a very cold shower. Granted I arrived an hour before closing but the meal I received was not very good. The burger patties must have been precooked as they were dry and crumbly. The frozen vegetables were freezer burnt. But the gravy was the most disappointing, as it was a dark salty Bovril based premix.
Hoping to wash my disappointment down with a tasty milk shake once again it did not live up to expectations. The shake was nicely thick but had hardly any flavouring, it was a good vanilla shake but I wanted pineapple.
It does have a cozy diner feel and the drive thru is still operational but the food is not fresh and up to par.

BEST milkshakes in town! No contest.
You order a chocolate banana milkshake and guess what’s inside? A REAL banana! (I know! Novel concept that most places haven’t figured out yet!).
This is my go-​to place whenever I want a milkshake that will satisfy me and cool me down.

Many times a person just feels like a good burger and onion rings!
Yes, my daughter used to work there years ago (sometimes babysitting the actual ‘Angel’) and because of that our family knows the owner who’s a very nice guy.
Barring all that, I’d STILL love going to Angel’s because the food is so much better than a fast food joint. I’m not quite sure what people are fussing about when they say they waited longer for their food than they expected. If you cook a good burger in your own home, do you expect it to be ready in 5 minutes?
That’s WHY those ‘other’ places are called ‘Fast Food’ joints.
I find a French fry to be a French fry (I love almost all of them anyway), but the onion rings here are the BEST, and if you happen to like deep fried mushrooms like I do, this is your place!
For a small drive-​in, there are surprisingly many choices, and I have to say I’ve never been disappointed!
The first Saturday of Stampede they have a live band on the roof which is so entertaining and a great time to buy an ice cream and stand or sit outside and enjoy the music!
Do yourself a favour and stop in for a great meal before the Summer is over. (Even though they’re open all year long!)