The Ship & Anchor Pub

Bar, Eatery

534 17 Ave SW
Calgary, Alberta, T2S 0B1
Canada

(403) 245-3333 | map
shipandanchor.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.78
Reviews:
9
Ratings:
9
pDev:
11.9%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews.
Photo of ascrivens
Reviewed by ascrivens from England

3.85/5  rDev +1.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
The ship and anchor is a great place to have food and drink on 17th. That said, if thats what you want avoid on Friday and Saturday night as it quickly becomes the local hipster hangout. If that scene is what you are after though, do go by cause it is a really good time (though line-ups can be tiresome).

The highlight is the reasonably priced food which punches above its weight. Really good stuff. The deep fried pickles are an odd little item that are very popular because to be honest, they are amazing.

There is a really good selection of brews on tap here. Generally the wildrose seasonal is good. Furthermore, the brews are really well priced relative to the sometimes insane going out prices found in calgary restaurants and bars.

Overall, recommended.

Check website for special events. I usually go to watch champions league and premiership soccer. (Unfortunately no Serie A). Though NOT a sports bar, there is often hockey, basketball, soccer, rugby or whatever else on the screen during the day.
Apr 13, 2011
Photo of CrazyMike
Reviewed by CrazyMike from Canada (AB)

3.73/5  rDev -1.3%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5
Conveniently located on 17th Ave, sometimes wind up here when bar hopping.

Darkly lit rock bar (usually plays punk, hard rock, Indie and sometimes rap). The bar is fairly large with a patio, however it is almost always packed. Don't expect to sit down unless it's a Sunday night or some other time when bars aren't busy.

Service is great, even on busy nights, waitresses frequently come by your table. Beer selection is excellent, counted 31 beers on tap alone. Food is decent, but if you get breakfast there, the coffee is pretty rancid.

Worth checking out if you can get in or can find a seat.
Jan 10, 2011
Photo of irishevans
Reviewed by irishevans from California

3.63/5  rDev -4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5
Awesome pub that I almost didn't go into. looked too snobby from the outside. my band-mate and I had just crossed into canada after quit the ordeal with immigration, and hit 17th st. for a celebratory pub crawl. when we hit the Ship and Anchor we met a guy that had watched us get denied by the canucks while he was denied by the yanks. he however had given up. he sent a few shots and a few alberta micros our way and that was that. the staff was super cool, the one guy who's name escapes me at the moment, was very happy to talk beer, and seemed refreshed to talk to a person who wasn't looking for molson or kokanee. place wasn't too horribly expensive either. all in all, a great stop if your in calgary.
Jun 02, 2010
Photo of berley31
Reviewed by berley31 from Canada (NB)

3.71/5  rDev -1.9%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4
Not a bad spot to visit on 17th ave. We went there during a hot, sunny Sunday, so there was absolutely no chance grabbing a table on the deck. Lots of room inside, however... but it was extremely dark and pretty loud from the tunes blaring over the speakers.

Beer selection, however, was the best of the bars I visited on 17th that day... easily over 20 taps, and not just the usual suspects, either. They had several Wild Rose beers, Unibroue's Blanche de Chambly, and some others that I wouldn't have expected after some of the truly crappy selections from other pubs.

Not a great place to go if you're looking for a quiet beer, but if you want a heavier atmosphere with a very decent selection, check it out.
Jul 23, 2009
Photo of presario
Reviewed by presario from Canada (AB)

2.78/5  rDev -26.5%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 2.5 | service: 2.5 | selection: 3.5
One of my lesser favourites in Calgary. More of the industrial yuppy seventeenth avenue type of places. A good tap selection but how can you worry about ambiance when it is elbow to elbow drinkers, most of which are drinking macro beers and don't care about quality. I have not eaten here but have been dragged through by out of towners and the odd Calgarian who obviously that that this was one of THE places to meet and be seen. If you like a little space and a volume that allows you to talk you should stick to the nearby Hop In Brew or Wildwood.
Sep 16, 2007
Photo of markaberrant
Reviewed by markaberrant from Canada (SK)

3.54/5  rDev -6.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5
I used to live across the street from this place, but I hadn't been there in 6 years until last weekend.

It's a fairly large pub, with a dark, run down decor ("punk" for lack of a better term). They play lots of indie punk rock and classic hard rock (Turbonegro, Misfits, Face to Face, Black Sabbath and Kiss were getting heavy rotation on Friday night). Due to the size and music, it can get pretty noisy, so it's not a place to have a quiet conversation or read a book, but it is lively in a non-mainstream, non-big screen sports way. They also have regular live music. If that's up your alley, you'll love this place.

I'm dropping the quality due to the beer being served way too cold, most of their tap offerings are of the typical variety, and the place is a little run down (ie; wobbly tables, worn out chairs, etc).

Our service was excellent. Despite being a crowded Friday night, we received timely table service and were offered to run a tab. Our questions were all properly answered.

Selection is just above average. Yes, they have a ton of taps, but they are taken up by all the usual suspects. The standouts were just about every Wild Rose offering, Blanche de Chambly, and Alley Kat Aprikat. Why just one Alley Kat? My favourite was the Wild Rose Industrial Park Ale.

I wasn't paying too much attention to prices, but at one point my wife paid for 2 pints (20 oz each) and it came to $11.50 plus tip.

You could do a lot worse than the Ship and Anchor, but it's primarily for punk rockers with somewhat good taste in beer. Very popular with the mid-20s crowd; mature folks should stop by in the daylight hours if they want to check it out.
Apr 09, 2007
Photo of Skidud313
Reviewed by Skidud313 from Colorado

4.15/5  rDev +9.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
Great 17th ave location, lots of brews on tap, had a tough time deciding. Calgary has some excellent local beers, I always look forward to Big Rock and Wild Rose. Great food and very casual atmosphere- good place to go and just hang out without any pretenses.

Sitting outside in the summer is really nice with a Velvet Fog. My local friends say it gets crowded on weekends but then again, isn't that what one generally looks for on weekends? This would be a good place to be during a Flames game (red mile!) or any weekend.
Jan 16, 2007
Photo of TheLongBeachBum
Reviewed by TheLongBeachBum from California

4.28/5  rDev +13.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5
I got to work at 8:30am Pacific Time on Tuesday 21st October, 3 hours later I was at LAX, and 4 hours after that I was in Calgary, Canada heading out to the Calgary Energy Centre to clear up some problems on some of our installed Equipment. I left the Power Plant at about 7:30pm local time, and got to my Hotel by 8pm. Totally unprepared for the last minute trip, and not even having a Laptop, I was completely lost. But a well-timed call from my good friend StoutLove77 who was sat in front of his PC at the time & logged onto BA, meant I had a list of possibilities, addresses and phone numbers in 5 minutes flat.

So to cut a long boring story short, the first place I could find was the Ship and Anchor, as I headed West down 17th Ave. SW it was on my right hand side near a junction with some sides streets. It took me a while to park, but I made it in. By now it was getting late-ish, it was dark and the whole long day was starting to catch up with me. A beer was desperately needed.

There is an outside patio area that was full, a surprise for a crisp Tuesday night, but I spied a table and grabbed a seat. I did not venture inside as it looked even busier than outside. In fact, it looked darker inside than outside. I could just see the Bar, and there were plenty of Taps to hand, I never counted ‘em but a local Cowtown geezer told me it was one of the best selections in town, I wouldn’t question that. I had an Alley Kat brew; it was the Full Moon Pale Ale I think as well as an Alexander Keith’s brew. By now I had grown really tired, the flight and crawling around a red hot humid Steam Surface Condenser was taking its toll on me. Time to head back to the Radisson Hotel some miles away before the infamous LBB Sumerian Beer Trance took hold. I wish I had been here under more relaxed circumstances, and had more time to study the beer list – but that’s life, take it while you can. A down to Earth happening Beer Bar that I would like to visit again.

The real surprise is that I made here at all. Thanks to StoutLove77 for his sterling BA Roving BeerFly Technical Support and Serious Kudos to the Bros. for creating the truly awesome BeerFly on BeerAdvocate.com. It really does work wonders and never disappoints. Wherever you are in the World, under Whatever circumstances, at Whenever time – BeerFly *Really* Kicks Ass!!!
Oct 30, 2003
Photo of IronDjinn
Reviewed by IronDjinn from Canada (AB)

4.38/5  rDev +15.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5
The Ship and Anchor is where it's at in Calgary, you won't find a more eclectic combination of ambience, people and beer selection in the whole province of Alberta. I used to nearly live here back in art college, even had my 4th year major critique held here. I've picked up and been picked up here, been dumped here, saw some of my favorite bands here, met the most fascinating people here, even spotted a few celebrities filming movies locally here, as well as watched world cup rugby, and merely killed an afternoon on the patio. It's like a home away from home that you have to stand in line to get into on a Friday night. The draught beer selection is rather immense, I've never been able to squeeze my way close enough to the bar top itself to count, but the taps run the whole length. However it's almost all Canuck micros and premium imports. I heard that quite a while ago one of the major macros tried to strong arm their way into knocking off a bunch of the little guys and imports, so the Ship completely stopped carrying or serving anything from that brand as a response. Integrity! The service is also pretty damned good considering the few waitresses to the packed-to-the-rafters customer ratio, I make sure to tip well for the effort. The food is also most impressive, pub fair of a much higher quality, some thought went into this menu. When it comes to pubs in Cowtown the Ship and Anchor is like the Great Wall of China, like the Taj Mahal, the Rock of Gibraltor, or the Grand Canyon--something you have to see and experience at least once in your life. Chances are you'll be talking about it for quite some time.
Aug 21, 2003
The Ship & Anchor Pub in Calgary, AB, Canada
Place rating: 3.78 out of 5 with 9 ratings