Habitat

I love Habitat. It reminds me of the old Halo in Edmonton before it got all hipster. Always good music, and good people. The place is small and mostly dance floor with some tables and plenty of bar space for socializing. The décor is plain but classy and the bathrooms are always clean. The crowd is a little older, which is the best part. If you want to go out and fist pump to Tiesto, this is not your place. If you want to go out and dance to great music and not feel like the spinster chaperone in a Jane Austin novel, go here.

Best place in cowtown to hit up some amazing house. Habitat is reliably an awesome joint to chill at and get your dance on. This place isn’t filled with kids or douch bags but attracts music loving, soulful individuals there to enjoy some good sets and interact with interesting, intelligent people. It’s small venue is perfect for getting intimate with the DJ and seems to keep the top 40 loving party junkies out. Love the atmosphere, the crowd and the staff are always friendly. Keep up the good work :)

I love habi! It’s been my favorite place to go in the city for the last couple years. You can drink, dance like a crazy person, and be free, and no one judges you, or is rude or snotty to you. Yes, it is small, but they make it work.

Thursday eve found me at Habitat. Why? Dancing! There were a couple of DJs playing, so a $ 15 cover was the charge at the door. The cheap old person in me wishes that came with a drink, but the music appreciator in me luckily drowns out the cheap old person 98% of the time so long as the tunes and DJs are actually any good. Thankfully, this was the case last Thursday.
The front area isn’t all that big. I can imagine it’d be pretty tough to move through when they’re at capacity. But as it was, there was enough room to dance without bumping into too many people.
I forewent (first time I’ve ever used that word I think!) any drinks for the night, so no comments from me there. But those in our crew headed to the bar always came back pretty quickly with drink in hand.
Would I go again? Probably. Would I visit often? Probably not. The average age that evening was a bit too young for this girl… as was the average sobriety level. What? I want drunk people? Oh crap…
(Note: Drunken level not to be confused with a more mainstream bar experience in Calgary. There weren’t THAT many of them here… just enough of them to notice a few stumblers).

It’s loud, it’s small, it’s sticky (and I don’t wanna do it if it’s gonna make me sticky!), but dang it, Habitat; I like you. Friendly and adorable bar staff, reasonably priced drinks, NOT swarming with 18 year old bubblegummers on uppers.
And apparently, no dress code, since I saw someone with a backpack and gym clothes dancing her little heart out. No Time Lord bans either, because someone dressed like Kate Schellenbach from Luscious Jackson circa 1997 was pounding them back and grooving like it was almost 1999. The bathrooms at Habitat are kept remarkably clean, too.
If they instituted a mandatory deodorant wear rule, this would be an instant 5 (because HOO BOY, who the hell told you that leaving your house smelling like canned chili and graphite pencils was acceptable?!), but so far, they’re an excellent 4.

I’m so happy I found Habitat!
I am going to be the engineer that I am and bullet-​point my list today, if that’s okay with everyone:
— The size: It is not THAT small (Van, I’m looking at you)! Back in Montréal, there are dozens of clubs this size that rocks it out every weekend, and has a huge following! So Habitat threw me back to those good ol’ days!
— The crowd: They’re all OUR AGE (finally)!! And they had a cool vibe that I can definitely mesh with. I think I mentioned this to Angelo at least 8 times throughout the night.
— The music: Its no secret that I love my house music, so I was down with the music over here. But like Van mentioned, I like my house a little grittier, and bass-​ier. Nevertheless, the DJ did do a few drops that made the crowd go wild. Good stuff DJ Mikey!
— The drinks: SMOOTH tequila, and we know tequila is hardly ever smooth haha! Also, the prices were not jacked up! My friend bought 4 drinks and paid $ 22 bucks for them, which is really good for a club. And no, the drinks were not all for me.
— Ambiance, décor, and everything else: Getting in was super easy. We went at 11pm exactly, and got in no problem because I had a guestlist. Staff was chill, and not arrogant or ridiculous like how some clubs can be. I really liked the décor. High high ceilings made the club seem larger than it is and the funky balls hanging from the ceilings were awesome. The dance floor, although small, had enough room for everyone to dance in and avoid the dreaded sardine-​effect. When not breaking it down on the dance floor, my group ended up taking over almost the entirety of the private room, which was awesome.
Habitat is a sick place for a weekend night out. I’m glad I checked this place out for my birthday, because it will be one of my go-​to places whenever I need my ‘fix’ in Calgary.

What’s not to like about a place where all the patrons inside think I am the owner of Habitat. Every few minutes I get a tap on the shoulder or a girl looking at me with a seductive smile only to be disappointed when she looks up at the stage and sees my exact double spinning on the ones and twos.
We came to Habitat last night for Sabz birthday and it was my second time back there in one night (technically inside only once) and Angelo’s third time back inside there hahaha. Three times is the lucky number of tries right?
The place was fairly busy with people plastered out of their minds doing the hoedown throwdown. The music was pretty good although for me when it comes to the House genre I generally like it a little dirtier and a bit harder.
It was fairly easy to get drinks, not too big of lineups and if there was you can just squeeze yourself inbetween other people and skip the waiting part.
This place is not bad at all if you need your House fix on a weekend night. Just expect if you have a haircut like mine random girls are going to pet your hair. Weird, I know.

I’ve never heard of Habitat until Sabz decided to have her b-​day throwdown here. And I gotta say, this place is a bit odd. I strolled in here @10:30 pm and found the place absolutely empty. Van and I were worried no parties were going to happen here and decided to take the adVANture elsewhere.
But finally we came back and found this place packed to the brim with people. It was 11pm. I’ve never seen a late-​night club achieve a high-​ass rate of arrivals within half an hour. My imagination is going to run rampant on the possibilities as to where all these people came from.
Anyways we found the party and it didnt’ take long to really get down. I’m not into house music since I don’t quite get dance music, but I didn’t have to force myself to dance and really enjoyed the vibe of the small dancefloor. This place has some characters. I remember Sabz coming up beside me yelling «this guy weirds me out» and I turned around to find a 7 foot tall bald guy wearing a black tuxedo vest just standing over the dance floor. Dance dude, they girls can tell your scoping them out.
They only have one bar over this place. I was quite impressed to see them serving us smooth shots of tequila from a bottle that I could see was «reposado» grade.
Finally after a week of Van asking me how «i’m good with women» (which I think meant I’m good with screwing up with women) I’m happy to see that I don’t have to give him advice given how many times girls kept coming up to stroke his mohawk and giving him hugs. The DJ also looked like him and I’m sure the DJ was working the ladies off Van’s mojo

I went here one night for a friends birthday and he was also spinning that night, otherwise I dont know if I would have gone here on my own.
VERY small venue, compared to some of the other bars in town and kinda of hard to find, as it is stuck between to lounge type places.
They have good service, bartenders didnt sting you on your booze, so i felt I was getting what I paid for.
There wasnt coat check when we went, which kinda sucked and there isnt alot of seats but they do have some so we were able to store out jackets there.
Overall it was an OK bar, although I doubt I will go back unless someone specifically wants me there.

I discovered this microclub one night with a friend as my curiosity got the best of me. Walking into the club you realize how small it actually is. One room which has the bar, some seating, and the DJ on a raised platform. There’s another room beside the washrooms, but I’m not a fan because you’re off to the side of all the action.
Despite its size, the lighting and layout of the club give it a very comfortable feel. The staff is always a pleasure to chat with and drinks are pretty standard.
Habitat brings in some interesting DJ’s and I appreciate the frequency of the local underground stuff that plays. Wednesdays can start off a bit slow but this place always seems to be full of electro loving locals each night the club is open.
As a photographer and fashion lover, those who can be seen at Habitat are quite trendy and it’s a great place to chill and people watch (But no creepy staring and you have to dance!). I’ve noticed that the cliental can seem a bit pretentious at times, but no matter how wild, awkward, intense, or conservative you like to dance everyone is there for the music and it’s only the beats that will be judged.

My friend who was down from BC and I went to boogie at Habitat when Jody Wisternoff was playing. The atmosphere in that place was electric!
Everyone was dancing and grooving to his tunes all night!
The dance floor was packed! I’ve never had so much fun dancing in my entire life, yes, that might sound over the top, but its true!
The place isnt very big, but i’m glad its not. There are places to sit, a little back room to cozy down in with your friends, but the dance floor was THE place to be!
They have difference DJ’s everynight and you can always buy tickets at the door (if they are required).
This place is def. going to be on my top 5 places to go when I need to «dance it out»

SHOCKER: I don’t love dancing. I’m just not that coordinated. But every now and then, when the mood strikes me, I have been known to head out on the town and dance it up.
The last couple of times I’ve done so, I’ve always ended up Habitat to finish up the night. Why? I think it is because it is just so much fun. It is tiny, personal and incredibly entertaining. I’m not sure if Mikey is the regular DJ but he is there anytime I’m there. By the time I leave, I’m always covered in sticky sweat but it is always completely worth it.
It is just down the street from the equally fun Drum and Monkey (when did 1^st become so freakin’ cool?). If you aren’t looking for it, you’ll probably miss it. But I’m telling you, if you are looking for a great place to dance far away from those «other dance clubs», you’ll have an awesome time at Habitat.