The Ironwood

Friday night I went to the Ironwood Grill. It's located in Inglewood, an area in Calgary that is like a little city in a city & pretty low key. Way worth the trip there

The Ironwood looks like an old tractor barn. It has that rounded roof & steel walls that you'd see on a farm (like a storage shed). Inside, the floors are old beat up hardwood & the chairs and tables not much different. Sorta has the odour of "old west" inside. At the front of the bar is the stage and a cupboard with a stereo in it with CD's from the acts that have played there recently (presumably).

The food is great. For starters, a pint of Grasshopper is 5 bucks. That's cheap in Calgary. They serve flatbreads (you'd call them pizzas) and they're awesome. I had one with Artichoke & Portabello mushrooms on it. It's THE best pizza I had in Calgary so far. I also had a Buffalo burger, smeared in cheese and Chipolte Mayo. Again, like all Calgary burgers, it was excellent. If Calgary can have a claim to fame, it's the locally raised meat. Until I moved to Calgary, I rarely bothered with meat when I ate out, that's completely changed now. I'm sure some vegans get uneasy over this, but hey, the meat is locally grown & the veggies are not, so from an overall environmental impact, which is worse?

The Ironwood is pretty run down looking, but that's what gives it the charm. It's low key and the kinda place you could go watch live music alone if you wanted. People just do their own thing. To get to Inglewood in Calgary, it's 9th Ave SE, or you can take the bus there by getting on Number 1 Forest Lawn. There is parking in the back.