Dickens Pub

Simpsons trivia night. Need I say more?
This hole-​in-​the-​wall would be my kind of pub if two key elements were vastly improved.
The food is nothing special. The sliders consist of pre-​cooked ‘meat’ and leave much to be desired. I suppose for a buck a piece I shouldn’t be picky.
The main problem was the service. It was abysmal. By 6, she was completely overwhelmed. It was taking 15 minutes to get to us. By 8, even longer. After 25 minutes ignoring us, she came by and asked us if we’d like our bills because we’d «significantly slowed down». Really? We slowed down because you ignored us, and we were staring at empty glasses for so long. It was actually another server that had cleared many of the empty dishes from our table. Wish we had sat in her section.
The trivia is the only saving grace this pub has.

This is one of my favourite hide-​away pubs, mainly for a chill Sunday with friends. You can pass several hours away enjoying the consistently good pub fare (love the yorkies), and the homey couches for the «Gamer Sunday» feel. Their RPG/​gamer-​themed drinks are fantastic (love the Health Potion!) — I especially relish the fact this is the only place I’ve been in Canada that offers candy as a drink garnish (even though I hope there are others). Fantastic.

I used to frequent Dickens for their fantastic pub fare, a couple games of pool, and some great local live music. The last time I went was with a couple friends for $ 0.25 meatball night. The night started off great, with a couple orders of balls: sweet and sour & Swedish style. The balls were delicate, juicy and I give the chefs a thumbs up for their work. This is where the night started to go sour. We tried to play a round of pool and the 8-​ball was missing. When I went to ask the bartender if they had an extra 8-​ball, some guy in a kilt broke my leg. Never going here again. Shame, cause the meatballs are delicious and great value. Check it out on a Friday or Saturday night for some great live music and free assault from the bouncers included with cover charge.

Let me start by saying i love going to shows at this place and was really looking forward to trying the new menu, in fact a facebook ad about a Unilocal review was what brought me in on a Wednesday night. It was moderately busy which is nice to see, ordered drinks and wings and…
Well the wings were tasty, nothing special. Ranch was not ranch but more of a dill sauce.
Beer was good, it was at this point we placed an order for mains and were told that they weren’t «serving anything grilled tonight» I was in shock… no burgers, no steak sandwich no… Chicken and waffles.
So after much deliberation we decided on some appies, Deep fried pickles and fries with roasted garlic and gravy, simple right?
The batter on the fried pickles wasn’t sticking to them making them basically just hot pickles, and the batter that was there was half cooked and raw, the fries (shoestring) were very plain and not garlicky whatsoever. they were however very soggy and not crispy as i would have expected, we were having to fold them in half to dip in the gravy. Gravy was good.
I feel that the new menu is adventurous but lacked in execution. I will be back for shows but ill probably eat elsewhere. Server was nice, but neglected to tell us ahead of time that they don’t have debit, forcing me to spend an extra $ 2 to take out cash to pay for my sub par meal.

I’ve always loved Dickens for their underground feel, which is literal since they are actually located in the basement! I’ve seen live music from acoustic to funk to metal to electronic and I’ve had the best time every single time I go. The layout makes it an incredible live music pub. There’s an elevated stage, and the further you get from the stage, the more chill the room becomes. A substantial dance floor for the people who are really into the music right up front, a side stage lounge-​ish area with couches, bar tables for the sit down and enjoy crowd, pool tables at the back and even a ‘library’ section that is almost and entirely different room. Energetic live music at the front, and enjoyable live background music that won’t interupt your conversation at the back. Well done Dickens.
I never realized it before last night, but Dicken’s food menu is actually awesome! They have a fry bar where you can choose you cut of potato, your topping — ranging from choices like «Christmas» which looked to be a sugar cinnamon thing or Truffle Parmesan. You can even get sauces like Guiness Curry to dip them in. It’s going to take me a long time to get through all these combinations.
I ordered the chicken and waffles for $ 12 and really enjoyed it. Blackened grilled chicken, cornbread waffle and a spicy Cajun sauce!
I think I will check out the pizza next time as it looks like they’re something a little special as well.
You do a live music bar really really well, Dickens. It’s ridiculous that I don’t spend 5+ days a week here.

I have been here a couple of times, so I feel comfortable in saying this is a great bar, mostly aimed at the punk/​alternative/​goth crowd but there is always a little something for everyone.
So for some reason on the Unilocal page it says this place is closed on Sunday’s. Not true as the doors open for your nerd crowd and there are board, video, and tabletop games for all to enjoy. I really like coming on a Sunday (as I love board games) because it’s a nice atmosphere to enjoy some different games and meet people. If you’re not there for a specific group, though, you can’t be shy. You will need to be a little more forceful in trying to get into a game but everyone has always been friendly and willing to teach games to newcomers. Plus, I like it better than Sentry Box simply because you can delicious breakfast for $ 8, drink, AND play board games. Like I said, I think it’s a great way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Anyway, if you’re not into board games the rest of the week it has a much more bar like atmosphere. There are specials everyday (including wing Wednesday’s) and on the weekends there is usually live music to enjoy. Definitely check the website, though, to see if it’s a bad you would like because that would definitely color your experience. From what I can tell its a range of musical styles but leaning more into the alternative crowd.
There are pool tables, darts, and a couple of arcade machines to keep you active as well. There is a good floor for dancing and some comfy seating in the back. The food is pretty good bar-​style food and the drinks are usually pretty strong. If you’re looking for a good bar with some diversity and a great place to be a regular, I really think dickens is your place. If you’re looking for a typical sports bar, though, keep looking as this isn’t necessarily aimed at that crowd.

Stopped by on a Monday evening for a tech meetup. Pool tables dotted the place. The chicken bites I ordered turned out to be dry, small, panko-​crusted breast meat pieces served with a spicy sweet dipping sauce. Portion size could’ve been bigger for the price. Next time I think I’ll try the personal sized pizzas instead.

I came here for The Planet Smashers concert.
Before the concert we got some hot wings. The meat wasn’t great (it was sinewy), but the sauce was pretty amazing so it made up for it.
Drinks are about average price, but they generally use the cheapest liquor. Beer is a good price and there is a beer for every basic taste. As a venue, it is EXTREMELY loud and at about 11:00 pm the place filled up with a truly unbelievable number of people. The bar was lined up five rows deep and the dance floor was difficult to navigate through. In my opinion it was too crowded, but everybody has their own tastes when it comes to that.
Service was average. They were fast and efficient, although not necessarily all that friendly. Not really rude though.
Cleanliness was also average. Not sparkling by any means, but food and drink safety was perfectly fine. Bathrooms weren’t bad by any stretch.
Overall: A good place for a rowdy night out, but if you are claustrophobic or have sensitive ears it is not for you. Also, while the bar seemed safe enough, the area surrounding it is pretty darn bad so make sure you go with a relatively sober group.

This place is one of the best live music venues in the city. Sound is great every time, the stage set up rules and there is always a cheep beer option. I haven’t tried the food and the barkeeps seem like they have a stick up their behinds every night but I still love it there!

I SO want to give this place a five star review… But I’ll tell you why I went with a four.
Four stars are still pretty damn good as far as I’m concerned. I’ve been to this place six times over the past few years (I’m an out of towner). All six times, for live shows. Excellent live stage and lights. The sound was decent for sure. Service is pretty bang on, though the servers aren’t always on the same page. Example, some will refill your pop for free (designated driver that time), while others still charge. The remedy to that is to try and get the same guy/​girl each time, to ensure you get that kind of service. And still tip them!
The only real knock was that pizza I ordered. It was pretty forgettable. I’ve ordered other food there and it was pub-​quality, as you might expect it to be.
One bonus is the amount of pay parking (I don’t mind paying, though there were some undesirables leaning against my new car the one night). Hard not to find a place to park in that area. Also, easy to get to, from out of town.
Can’t wait for the next time I see a show there.

I met my boyfriend & his coworkers here for drinks and some pool on Friday night. It was really easy to find, which is unexpected given it’s prime location in DT Calgary, and parking was no problem as there was a huge lot right across the street. The pub is located down the stairs, nothing fancy but pretty good size with a stage area, plenty of pool tables and a decent sized bar.
The first thing I noticed when I met up with the group was the smell — everyone had commented on it and it seemed to be coming from one corner. Not sure if something was spilled on the carpet and was rotting, or if (like someone had mentioned) the ceiling was leaking, but it smelled awful! So bad that our group actually moved to a different area of the pub. We could still smell it, though.
Our server seemed to be tending to most of the tables in the place (even though it wasn’t that busy) and definitely took her time to take our orders. We got some drinks and an order of calamari, which seemed to take a while to come out, but may have just seemed that way as I was pretty hAngry at that point. I ordered a grape vodka and soda, tasted like watered down pool water. No hint of grape, or vodka, whatsoever. Our calamari came out hot and it was really tasty — served on a bed of lettuce and tomatoes, which I thought was odd — but it definitely helped my growling tummy!
We were having a good time playing pool, drinking, and hanging out, when I mentioned to one of the people in our group that it looked like they were setting up for a band. Pretty cool, I thought, as we all enjoy live music. The kicker was when one of the employees came over to our group and asked us if we were staying for the band (which was due to start in about 45 min — we had already been there for at least a couple of hours). We said we weren’t sure, perhaps, why did he ask? «Oh, because there’s a cover.» UMMM. Ok? They were actually walking around demanding cover from people who were ALREADY INSIDE THE BAR and had been for HOURS, who had been ordering drinks and food and spending money all evening. WTF? I have never heard of a place doing that. I found it incredibly rude. So instead of our big group staying all night, enjoying the band, and continuing to spend money… we all just left and went somewhere else. When a place gets greedy like that it just totally turns me off. For that reason I will never come back here.

My first experience with Dickens was seeing one of my favourite bands, Cursive there a couple years back during Sled Island, which was so great there is no way I could have had a bad experience there. This is a great, intimate show venue and I have come to really enjoy watching music here.
It also isn’t a bad place to just grab a drink with friends. Last night I popped by, and was a little disgruntled to be charged cover for a band I’d never heard of when I was just popping in for an 8:30 pm beer. However, the chill environment in comparison to other pubs in the area was probably worth it. Our server was slow as molasses and didn’t really notice when I joined my friends, so I ordered up some pints of Velvet Fog from the bar tender who put on a tolerant face to these stupid drunk girls spilling their shots as they took them. So friendly was this bartender, that I didn’t even mind being called «sweetheart» by a stranger a bunch of times.
The price of Wild Rose on tap is average, which is just fine with me. And the band who had set up, actually turned out to be pretty good, and not some shitty black metal or something like we had feared.
The only downside to Dickens, is the stamp they gave me upon paying cover hasn’t quite come off even with a shower, so now it just says the word DICK in caps on my hand. Life could be worse I guess.

I very much like Dickens. Not because the food is excellent (which it is), not because the drinks are amazing (they’re pretty normal) but because on Sunday afternoons this metal bar totally geeks out for games day.
Walk in to find people huddled around Rock’em Sock’em robots, Risk, Chess or Settlers of Catan with EVE or WOW playing on the big screen from the Lan room.
If you didn’t understand any of that, then Sunday at Dickens probably isn’t your thing.
But if your eyes got a little wider with excitement, then Sunday afternoons at Dickens is the place to be if you’ve always wanted to play extended edition Settlers over a pint and a hellava an all day breakfast.
See you there, bring your dice/​cards/​space edition Monopoly!
T.

I primarily come here for Gamer Sundays, where gamers from all walks of life (board, tabletop, video, card, etc) unite and take over the pub one day a week in an orgy of nerdom.
The brainchild of Miles and Ryan (who double as servers and barkeeps), Dickens used to be closed on Sundays until they asked the boss if they and their friends could use the venue to play Heroscape (a tabletop game). Now Dickens is open to the public and everyone’s invited to bring their own games to play, and Miles and Ryan have an assortment behind the bar if you didn’t and want to play something (My favourite is Mr. Bacon’s Big Adventure; a Snakes-​and-​Ladders type game but with various meats).
Starcraft commentary courtesy of GSL runs on all the house video screens (live combat when available), and some people bring their XBox 360s and arcade sticks (and their own LCD monitors) to play Street Fighter tournaments. Some even hook up their video consoles to the bar’s LCD monitors for quick local gameplay action.
The special of the day is an $ 8 dollar all-​day breakfast consisting of a half-​pound of hashbrowns, two strips of bacon, two eggs done your way and a couple of slices of texas toast. Note that while the bar opens at noon on Sundays, the kitchen opens at 1 p.m. and closes around 8:30 p.m. unless there’s a concert happening that night (in which case, it closes around 11 p.m.). Ryan will even whip up gamer-​inspired drinks and cocktails if you’re looking for Mana Potions or various coloured Elixirs to drink.
My favourite part is that everyone comes there to play and it’s very easy to walk-​in on a game and join in, or even engage the barkeepers in a game or two (in between their serving runs). It’s the highlight of my week (especially the breakfast; those hashbrowns are amazing!) and I try to drop in whenever I have Sunday free. If you’ve never been, you should visit on a Sunday and check it out. Be warned though: If you show up, you show up to play. If you crack open a laptop to do stuff like *gasp* check email or, heaven forbid, catch up on work, you *will* get razzed. Bring your A-​game, leave the work at home, and GAME ON! :-)

Please note that any recollection I had of this pub is fuzzy due to intoxication involving copious amounts of alcohol. I do however remember having lots of fun catching a reggae band here on a Friday night. The pub isn’t anything out of the ordinary, it’s pretty standard. I will say that it had a good selection of beer, though any place that serves Wild Rose is usually ok in my books. A pint of it will set you back $ 6.25 and they will serve you pitchers of it as well. Nice bonus!
What is awesome about Dicken’s is the service. Our waitress was on the ball. Taking orders, following up, making sure we had what we needed even though it was pretty busy. What is also awesome about Dickens is that it has a pretty decent sized stage. Enough to support a large multi-​piece band.
Atmosphere here is also killer. Met a lot of nice people here who just were dancing hanging out and having fun. Nothing wrong with that, unless you over do it. Killer hangover the next day!

Did you know you can play board games here on a Sunday afternoons? It’s genius. Quiet time, beer and nummy food (and cookies that Tiffany N bakes if your birthday happens to be coming up… well, my birthday anyway)
My visit to Dickens this afternoon was short and sweet, but I’ve heard and read good things in the past, those combined with my pop in to board game Sundays is enough to have me heading in again sometime soon.
Our friendly server was Unilocaltastic. Despite the fact that there were only 10 or so of us in the entire place, he was on the ball with drinks and food… and also pleasantly conversational. He’d pop in with comments on the games, and even asked me where I was headed on a flight I had mentioned when I first walked in the door.
Me likey. See you again soon Dickens!

I used to walk by this pub all the time and not really think about ever going inside. I’m glad my first experience here was during a quiet, Board Game Sunday. The bartender was awesome, friendly and remembered my name (without shortening it to that nickname that I HATE).
Food is really good; they don’t have any vegan-​specific things on the menu, but I’m going to add them to my F, F, D, HK list anyway, because they made it a point to ask if I was vegan and adjusted the wrap I ordered accordingly. And I got the last order of sweet potato fries! Win. I’m also glad no one gave me a hard time for bringing homemade cookies for Wendy and Co. (and if you missed out, well, neener neener). Their coffee is nice too, and they have Wildrose on tap. I didn’t try it, but their house brew is reportedly good as well.
Mr. Bacon’s Big Adventure is surprisingly challenging.

I had my doubts about Dickens Pub being able to handle a hip-​hop concert, especially with the legendary magnitude of GZA the Genius. But kudos to Dickens for being able to hold it down! The same goes for the hired security who ran a tight shift in that place. It must be the age I’m getting to but I swear there were some shady characters in that place
I also have to give credit to the waitresses who were able to snake their way through the thick, heat emitting crowd in order to serve drinks to impatient patrons. GZA took his time getting to the stage, he didn’t lay it down until 1am!
Again their impressive stage and sound set up made for an amazing concert. Although the floor was packed with hip-​hop renegades, including this insane fella who had a massive ODB tattoo on his arm, we were able to see a great view of the stage from the left table area.
Unfortunately because of the ATM breaking, I couldn’t’ withdraw any money to hit the swag table :(Imagine my disdain for not having the opportunity to cop a Wu-​Tang shirt! OH THE HUMANITY!

I’ve known Dickens Pub for a LONG time. Back in my early years, I was a regular, and took in many a great band, and had a lot of great times.
Then Dickens just kind of «went away.» The name changed as well, if I recall. The last time I was there, it was a shell of it’s former self: empty, and dead.
However, somewhere along the line it was reborn and restored by what I assume were new owners. I had just never bothered to go back.
On a whim, I checked it out recently for the first time in years. And I am regretting having scratched this pub from my to-​do list.
A lot has changed from my hazy memories, but all for the better. It’s now physically reorganized to maximize itself as a true live music venue. Bigger, better, and with a new layout to emphasize the show. Even a private room for parties.
Yes, Dicken’s is largely hidden away in an office basement. But as Dustin H commented, it’s a «hidden gem.»
With so many corporate faux-​Irish pubs around, it’s nice to walk into a place that’s different. There’s a very definite vibe & buzz here. Atmosphere. And the window-​less world means the stage lights and music are going to be the focus.
Checking out the list of upcoming acts on their website, they do book a very eclectic mixture. So it’s wise to see who’s playing on any given night, and whether or not that’s your «thing.» And by eclectic, I’m talking metal, to rap, to «roots,» to whatever else.
So pick your band, and enjoy the party!

This place brings new meaning to the phrase ‘hidden gem’. Sure, theres a sign that can be seen fairly easy from the street, but you’ll never see the door to this place until you’re right in front of it, and even then you’re a hallway and a flight of stairs away from actually getting into this nichey little underground haven.
But once you’re there… damn, it’s worth it! I’ve been coming here for almost six years now, and it’s honestly one of my favorite bars in the city. The food is standard pub fare, but done incredibly well and at a pretty good price (especially if you time your visit to coincide with your choice of specials), there’s always some kind of entertainment going on, the pool tables, darts, and other little time killers are very well maintained and easily accessible, and it’s got a cool little «mock hole-​in-​the-​wall, but with style» sort of look to it.
But the major selling point is the staff. Hell, last time I was there I did nothing but sit at the door and chat with the doorman about everything from movies to music to stand up… and previous visits haven’t been much different. The servers are the kind of people you get to know by name (and sometimes get disappointed if they’re not working when you come in.) Even though my visits there are a bit less frequent, since the stopped hosting a regular comedy night a couple years back, every time I walk in feels like coming home. I’m greeted with a smile, and I leave feeling a lot better than I did coming in.
Granted, this place lately has become incredibly reliant on their live music and entertainment choices… so make sure you scout ahead and know what’s going on that night before you come down… but otherwise, you can’t really go wrong at Dicken’s.