It can be tough, in this town, to find someone who’s actually from Calgary. In addition to a sizable immigrant population, our fine town is home to hundreds of thousands of Canadian expats: folks who migrated here from other provinces. And, like Canadians living abroad, these native ex-pats inevitably get a little homesick at times. Here, a look at a couple spots that offer them a taste of home.
The Atlantic Trap & Gill Pub
The vibe: This distinctly blue collar pub, festooned with coastal memorabilia, offers an authentic taste of the Maritimes and Newfoundland. Weekend evenings allow East Coasters a chance to shake loose their barnacles with live entertainment, including world Celtic musicians, Claymore and transplanted East-Coasters, Dorymates. ($5 cover).
Tastes like home: The menu includes ample PEI and Nova Scotia seafood — Thursdays are mussel nights — as well as Halifax donairs ($9.95), complete with that sweet, mysterious white sauce. Wash it down with some Alexander Keith’s, natch. 3828 MacLeod Trail S.E., 403-287-8811.
Pazzer’s Saskatchewan Pub
The vibe: Pazzer’s is a cozy hangout for classic rock-lovin’, sports-mad ex-Saskatchewanians, and a Roughriders garden gnome, sitting regally behind the bar, leaves no ambiguity about this place’s allegiances. (Tears fell like a Prairie storm on Grey Cup night.) It’s pretty much the only place in town where you can wear a watermelon on your head and truly feel accepted.
Tastes like home: Eastern European delights like perogies, cabbage rolls and sausage ($9.99) go down all the smoother with a frosty glass of Pilsner. 5032 16 Ave N.W., 403-286-1500.
Image courtesy of smcgee.
