The Common

Just went to the common last night. normally love their menu their food is very good. a few items changed on their menu. I guess they change it twice a year. Service was great… only thing that made us leave after eating around 11pm was the place turns into a little night life area which is awesome but the bass in the back end of the restaurant is so loud to a point where you can’t hear people talk and you think your ears will explode. Lol. But still an awesome place.

The Common is a cool little place just off 109^th (across from the legislative area)
good selection of beers, interesting menu, and friendly staff.
I’ve enjoyed mostly everything on the menu. (Not the fish sandwich they had on special today however)
In the summer their sangria is fantastic.
Try the chicken and waffles if its your first time.

Atmosphere is great, I found the music to be a little too loud. Their food is excellent! I ordered calamari and mozzarella sticks. Very fresh and not greasy!
I would definitely order and recommend these items again without hesitation.

The ongoing search for Edmonton’s best Chicken and Waffles current leader I tried it in the winter, right after they had changed the menu (after trying the original), and there’s nowhere I’ve tried that really comes close to The Common in terms of the overall dish. The chicken portion is moist and juicy, and the breading is crispy and light. The bacon waffle was delicious, savory and the right amount of fluffiness and crunch. The grilled pear really sets it off and brings it all together. The Common also is a really cool location and set-​up, with walls covered in framed vintage photographs of music icons and Edmonton city-​scapes, as well as a comfortable patio. Staff is friendly and helpful. And they have a great beer selection, which is a win for me! (Hoping they get more Phillips Electric Unicorn). I’d love to check out their brunch and their late-​night scene as well.

We ate here about a month ago but didn’t review, I can’t stop thinking about how bad the food was. The fish from the fish and chips was mushy and had a mold taste. The truffle pasta was a soggy disgusting mess with the thick noodles being extremely over cooked and tasteless, it did not have any truffle flavor at all. They did take the pasta dish off the bill but I am still choked about paying at all. Customers work hard for their money and this was practically robbery. We will never return and have told a lot of friends and family.

This is a great place to have an event. I’ve twice attended or hosted an event here. It’s great and the staff are very helpful.

Decided to bring a co-​worker here for Downtown Dining Week 2016 after last year’s success.
Unfortunately, this year we weren’t impressed with the main of Pork Belly Consommé.
We started off with a delicious warm tomato salad and honestly a giant plate of that would have been better.
My friend only tried a couple bites of her main and waited 15 minutes for the waitress to come back and check on us and by then she didn’t want anything else.
I also have to say the Pork Belly Consommé was not yummy for me either. I usually love pork belly but this one felt like a big slab of gelatin that my spoon couldn’t get through and I had not been given a fork and knife.
My friend and I also didn’t have napkins for the first 30 minutes and our water wasn’t refilled.
If this was my only visit I’d be super bummed but since last time was so great I’m hoping this was just a fluke.
I really don’t think this was a wise choice for the lunch main featured for Downtown Dining Week but perhaps our bowls just weren’t up to snuff.

Had a fantastic evening and night here last night. Impeccable service. Very professional and sincere.
Opted for the mussels without fries and they were delicious. Enjoyed the wine.
It was a rap and hip hop night of old classics and current vinyl hits. Rocking night, kick ass vibe and dance floor. Couldn’t have been more impressed.

One of my regular spots — a great atmosphere with very friendly staff. A great selection of beers and they know how to make a whiskey sour right. As someone who has to eat gluten free (not by choice), it’s great to have a staff that are knowledgeable about gluten free eating and options. Always great options for GF food — my favourite being the Jackson Steak Salad. Truffle popcorn is a must.
Always a great ambiance and great music. A great lunch spot with co-​workers, and then a good date night spot in the evenings, leading into a fun place to stay for drinks and some dancing at night. A very interesting mix of people come here too — there’s something for everyone.

My favorite place to hang out! Great fathom sphere and food– whether going for lunch or dinner or a night out. Provide variety of events including HIp Hop Brunch and Kareoke. Music is great and the service good.

Definitely not a fan of the Common, and I’d go as far as saying it’s definitely over-​rated food wise. I won’t touch too much on how the server asked me «Are you going to order food» after I said I’m fine with water, or the long hair found deep in my food. I’ll just stick to reviewing the actual food.
I had the stuffed sole, with scallop stuffing and «crispy» oysters. The stuffing part of the sole was dry, and the crispy oysters were soggy. This dish was underwhelming. One of the other people I was with had the chicken and waffles, and while she loved the bacon the was mixed in the waffle, the chicken was a mix of dark meat and white meat, and lacking flavour. The waffles were super flat as well. My other friend had the Umami burger, which again was underwhelming, except the bacon. She said the meat and bun were dry, and I could see the bun was falling apart after the first bite.
So overall, maybe this is a hip place to come for some drinks and snacks, but I don’t recommend coming here solely for supper. They did have a pretty extensive list of beers.

Chicken and Waffles.
Haven’t had a better combo anywhere else in Alberta. A really hip place that’s open late. The overall environment is great, very casual, laid back, and relaxing (though I went late at night) which is perfect for having a conversation over drinks or dinner. The décor of the place gives off a vintage vibe, really something to walk in to and look at as you wait for your order.

This was my second time here, as I came here for a friend’s birthday.
I have not eaten here before, as both times it was just to come and have drinks, so I can’t comment on the food. Though one of my friends did have the lettuce wrap and it didn’t look bad.
I can only say that it does give off the «hipster» vibe here, though nothing wrong with that, definitely better than a teeny bopper atmosphere.
It does get very busy as the night goes on and there is a dance floor as well. Even though it got busier, I had no issue with space or ordering drinks from the waitress or at the bar.
This place reminds me of the bars I use to go to on Whyte upstairs, not too big or small, just a comfortable place to have a drink with friends.

Went to The Common on a Saturday night for a late dinner — ended up ordering a pile of appy’s instead. The atmosphere was really lovely, it’s truly a beautiful place to go… however the food was not very good at all. We had:
Calamari — This was the best calamari I’ve had anywhere. Spicy mixed with sweet fruits and a lovely dip. Would order this again.
Truffle Popcorn — A $ 6 bowl of semi-​burnt popcorn. Was not impressed.
Antipasto Platter — Everything on the plate was so spicyyyyy. The 2 cheeses on the plate were blue cheese and another ‘bitter’ type cheese, so we weren’t very happy about that.
Brie Cheese — This was so disappointing. Brie is my favourite cheese, all warmed up and gooey. The plate of cheese we received were pieces of chopped up, hard brie with soggy strawberries. Not impressed, again.
Drinks — We had a LOT of drinks, almost all of the drinks we ordered off the menu tasted very earthy, or like grass. It was not very good. We ended up just ordering plain drinks, not off the menu after the 8 we tried.
Service — Server seemed unimpressed to be there, however was a bit friendlier after she got a good tip from the very drunk guy at our table. When we sat down she took our drink order, but walked away even though we were ready to order appetizers saying she’d «be back». We were hungry and I was confused why she couldn’t just take both.
The general consensus from our table was that The Common is spicy, moldy (cheese) and grassy. I don’t think that we’ll return.

The atmosphere at The Common is lovely; it’s well lit and not too crowded. They don’t play loud music (at least not around lunch), and their dinnerware is just TOO CUTE (their plates all seem to be different vintage looking designs. it’s like a pinterest wedding setup)
The food, however, is kind of meh.
Actually, the Korean Pork Lettuce Wraps were amazing — those I would really really recommend. The flavours were interesting (and actually NOT very spicy, like I thought it would be), and the pork was cooked to perfection.
But the Crispy Chicken Sandwich I had was pretty meh. The bun wasn’t that great — it seemed fresh enough but had kind of a spongy texture to it. The chicken was nice — it seemed like pieces off a rotisserie and then lightly breaded rather than a solid breast of chicken that was fried, so that was nice. But overall, it really lacked flavour. I don’t know what it needed (well, a better bun to start), but it needed something.
As a side I got the house salad and I did not like it all. I found it to be exceptionally bland and overtly bitter. It consisted of a bitter type of lettuce (arugula?), celery, grapes, and radishes. There just seemed to be no flavour to it… it was as tasteless as it was colourless. Several other people at my group agreed — literally nobody seemed to like the salad.
Anyways, 3 stars because they seem to be on the right track and some of the food came out good (the fish and chips looked amazing), but overall, I wasn’t really impressed. I’d go back if somebody suggested it but I probably won’t be the one to.

Place. Unique environment that feels off the beaten path in downtown Edmonton. I really liked the feel of almost being in someone’s house in a nice upscale way. Beer and wine selections is exceptional — local brews and a variety of wines varietals.
Here the starters are killer. Have the calamari, cheese and bread (with awesome smoked grapes), korean lettuce wraps, and of course the white gravy poutine. All worth ordering and the price.
Entrees were a bit of a disappointment. Our party had the burger (which was really dry and didn’t hit the asian flavors that they were going for), chicken meatballs (again here, dry and lack of flavor), veggie dumplings (just nothing special), and tuna tartar with colorful wheat puffs (kudos for the color but the dish needed flavor).
Service was also ok but not enough to make up for the entrees. But, I would def come back for a good local beer and apps.

I had heard rave reviews about The Common’s award winning chicken and waffles, so I had to try them. The «summer version» of this dish is so good! Fresh, homemade waffles come with juicy, battered chicken, goat cheese, berry sauce, and watermelon. I feel like I could eat it at any time of day. The less popular «winter version» comes with a bacon apple chutney instead of berry sauce and goat cheese. The waitress told me they haven’t decided if they’ll bring back the winter version, due to demand for the summer ones.
This time however, I tried the tempura green beans and sweet onion soup. Both really good! Loved the soup especially.
Pub-​like interior with hipster vibe. Small patio and calm atmosphere during the day, but also has loud tunes and a dance floor later at night. The servers are lovely, and I like the unique menu when I feel like something random.

Wow, it’s about time I update my review.
The Common is doing. it. right. They have a great variety of fantastic nights with different DJs, different styles of music and local bands. They have incredible, inventive food and a menu that changes and gets updated. One of my favourite events that they put on is Hip Hop Brunch, which is exactly what it sounds like. The best music paired with the best food on a Sunday is basically the perfect way to spend a day. My favourite night there is Golden Era, playing all of the old school hip hop jams. Cover for these nights is usually $ 7. Drinks prices are pretty reasonable! Just under $ 6 for a regular highball is alright in my books.
The dance floor is small and always packed. The décor is impeccable, minimalist and fresh. Interesting staff with interesting personalities, good people. I always have a good time there. The Common is probably the best lounge/​restaurant in the city right now!

The Common… It’s one of my favourite places to hang out with my friends after work. For a short period of time, we would frequent this place at least once a week after work. We liked the atmosphere, the service was great, and the food was pretty good too. We eventually took a hiatus for a few months though because we wanted to try and be healthier, go out less, and just be more fit in general. I’ve had the chance to try many different things on their menu, but never took pictures before, but I just went there recently last week with Jamie, so I can talk about that experience. Sorry for the poor quality of pictures, the lighting is kind of dim, and I suck at taking pictures.
I started off with a nice bottle of Crabbies Ginger beer. They have a pretty good selection of beer here, but Crabbies is my go-​to beer of choice. As I’ve said before, it’s a nice and light beer. I really like the ginger flavour of this beer, and it’s a great choice to sip on a nice summer day. After looking at the menu for a little bit, we decided to start off with the antipasto. Antipasto and charcuterie boards are one of my favourite things to start my meal off with, because they are usually a little bit different at each restaurant, and they’re really fun to share and start off with.
The Antipasto came with a wide assortment of cured meats, artisan cheese, and pickled preserves, with a side of freshly baked bread. I’ve had the antipasto plate from here before, and my favourite part of this dish would definitely have to be the smoked grapes. They are absolutely amazing. They are nice and sweet, and the smokey flavour is strong and really comes out. I like the combination of the meats and the pickled onions and cheese. The blue cheese was really good, and not too strong. The pickled artichokes were also very light and tasty. Previously, they had a version of the antipasto that had pickled beets instead of the pickled onions, but I would have to say the onions are way way better. This is a nice and fun dish to share with a small group of friends. We got the small size, and it was definitely more than enough for two people! I can’t imagine what the large size would be like…

We were told that The Common was a place we had to try while visiting Edmonton. Everybody brought up the chicken and waffles, so we had to try them. Being from the southern US, we have had quite a few versions of chicken and waffles, so this dish would have to stand out.
We walked in and sat at the bar. We were greeted by the bartender promptly. The place had sort of a hipster vibe. We ordered a few beers while we decided what we wanted. We sat there at the bar wanting to order for some time while the bartender played with her phone and goofed off. We had to tell her we were ready to order. There service was pretty bad at this point. We went with the truffle popcorn and we both got the chicken and waffles.
The popcorn was amazing. Not being much of a popcorn fan, I was surprised how tasty it was. Quite savory. The chicken and waffles came out quickly thereafter. The presentation was unique in that is was served without syrup, had a slice of watermellon, and had some sort of berry sauce on the plate. We both found we loved the way they breaded and fried the chicken, very tasty. The waffles were nice and lite. They had a bacon flavor to them that made them stand out. The berry sauce complimented it well, bit we still felt the waffles needed a bit more sweetness to complete the dish.
Overall, the experince was simply ok. The food was surely a 4 while the service was bad and rated a 2. I had to average the experience and give this place a 3 star rating. It was a decent place to check out, but given the service, I would likely not be back as there are better options in the area.