There are so many incredible restaurants in Calgary. Truly, there are. So many, in fact, it is hard to keep up! If ever I wonder where I should go for a meal, there is only one source I trust to send me to the right place— my mother. Mom somehow knows about all the newest, trendiest, and most delicious restaurants in the city. So, naturally, for her birthday, we went to the newest, trendiest, most delicious restaurant on 17th Ave. SW, Trolley 5 Restaurant & Brewery.

We sat upstairs in the wide-open restaurant, and I perused the menu, my eyes drawn immediately to the barbecue section. I laughed at my dad’s somewhat jokey suggestion of sharing the big barbecue platter, the Pit Master’s Platter, for four people. Mom just rolled her eyes. When the server came over, I asked, “what is Trolley 5 known for?” Her answer was music to my ears, “definitely our barbecue.” Awesome. We talked about sharing a few plates, a few different meats, and maybe a salad (although who are we kidding). In the end, the somewhat jokey suggestion of sharing the Pit Master’s Platter for four ended up being not so jokey, and we told our server this is what we desired. Salad shmalad.

The platter arrived. Both my dad and my eyes lit up. Chicken, smoked turkey, ribs, pulled pork, beef brisket, beans, potato salad, coleslaw, and cornbread. Holy moly. We made a promise to each other in that moment that we would make sure we took some food home. We couldn’t possibly eat all of this meat. The platter, served alongside Trolley 5’s fleet of house-made barbecue sauces ensured our mouths were watering.

The meal was delicious! The brisket was so tender, it didn’t even require chewing, the cornbread and beans were mouth watering, and the pulled pork was a perfect example of why I am not vegetarian. Sure enough, we could not finish the meal, which relieved mom. We packaged the rest of our meat up and I dreamed about the amazing meals I was going to have the next few days.

Alongside the ludicrously tasty barbecue, Trolley 5 is the newest brewery in town. Growlers, that hang on the trolley snaking through the restaurant and over the bar are, of course, for sale, and for the true beer connoisseurs, brewery tours are available for booking.

Thanks for the delicious beer and barbecue, Trolley 5!

There are some moments in history for which I wish I could have been a fly on the wall. Like when the first person decided to ride a horse! Was he drunk or just gutsy? Or when they first lit the flame on the Calgary Tower, as the tallest tower in Western Canada. Or when those brilliant folks in Quebec decided to put cheese curds on top of fries and melt it all down with gravy. I, like many other Canadians, are happy those folks did that because we just can’t get enough of it. The world calls it ‘exotic’; we call it poutine. Summer is rapidly approaching Calgary, and what better way to celebrate the upcoming bathing suit season than with an entire week dedicated to the cheesy goodness that is this Canadian classic.

To start off my week right, I went to Flipp’n Burgers with my dad. We ordered their poutine week special, the chilli poutine. It was $9.75 and the least expensive dish on the poutine week website. It was delicious.  A classic poutine— fries, swiss cheese, gravy, and with chilli as an extra. Plus jalapeños and sour cream. I sat there, eating poutine with my pops, drinking our hipster colas from glass bottles and listening to the sweet sounds of the Breakfast Club soundtrack.

I figured poutine number two should be completely different, so Chris and I went to the Coup on 17th Ave. I may be a proud animal byproduct eater and lifelong bacon lover, but I am absolutely not closed-minded. Our server was a little pretentious and not as friendly as we hoped, but we were pleasantly surprised by the poutine. The potato wedges were giant and smothered in mushroom gravy and the smoked tofu “bacon” bits almost tricked me, lover of bacon.

I decided poutine three would be from the other side of the spectrum. I rallied up my four favourite poutine people and we headed to Cleaver on 17th Ave. Cleaver with their house made cheese curds, their treacle gravy, and their whiskey duck. The only problem with this dish was that it had to end. You think you’ve felt heartbreak? Try seeing the bottom of your plate through the duck fat fries. Accompanied by incredible service, and a total adventure of a cocktail list, this was my favourite poutine experience so far.

The week is young! Poutine Week goes until April 23. Go find your fave poutine and indulge in a guilt free snack, for this is more than just a celebration of a delicious dish. In fact, every poutine sold during Poutine Week in any of the participating restaurants provides a free meal to someone in need, thanks to local non-profit Mealshare. “Poutine with purpose.”

Check out the participating restaurants and their menus here: http://www.calgarypoutine.com and let’s talk about it! #PoutineWeekYYC