Chakalaka Tapas Restaurant & Bar

Came for diner yesterday and it was a fantastic experience. Severs are attentive, knowledgeable, and personable. Food and cocktails are both delicious! Looking forward to dining here again once lockdown is over!

It was pretty underwhelming for the price point unfortunately. $20 for a drink alone. It cost $120 for two of us to eat and then go home and have another full mean due to leaving without feeling satiated. The staff were lovely though I think the service time wasn’t optimal considering there were only 6 tables while we were there. I’d like to revisit and see what the experience is like when there aren’t so many restrictions in place and after they’ve had a chance to iron out the kinks.

I would recommend the gyoza but skip the ceviche - a shrimp on a tortilla chip is not ceviche.

I made a reservation and indicated it was for our anniversary (when booking it asked if it was a special occasion). When we got there they mentioned clearing tables on the rooftop patio and we were happy to wait as that was the patio we hoped for. We waited about 10 min then they took us to the ground level patio which we were confused about and sat at a 4 person table with another couple (plexi glass divider). It was so awkward and not the best ambiance at all to celebrate an anniversary which was never acknowledged so not sure why they even asked. The food was good as well as the drinks except the Larissa cocktail tasted like soap. Our server was great as well.

Kitchen was a little backed up so our food took very very long. People that came after us got their food before. But besides that it was a really really good experience!

The concept is on point and the service was stellar! Lots of safe, open-air eating areas and plenty of wide, generous plexi-glass. The heaters were perfect to take the chill off. The food was fairly good, though I would have preferred some texture with the fare. Some tremendous ideas, but for the price I expected more flavor. It was great to cook our own proteins on smoking hot stone slabs - that was entertaining indeed! For an engaging, interactive meal, I would recommend Chakalaka, but manage your flavor expectations. No Maillard reaction here.

We had a lovely time and the food and drinks were really good! Our server was prompt and very nice ☺️
My only complaint would have to be that I reserved a table in advance but they had given it to another customer
We sere put in a corner facing a wall with no heater and it was quite cold and windy, plus it felt like all the action and ambiance was behind us
This would have been okay if we had been moved to a table as promised but we spent our entire evening staring at the wall which was unfortunate
I've worked at a busy restaurant so I totally understand that these things happen! And will still be back to try the desert ferris wheel

Best Tapas restaurant in Calgary . I will definitely be going back once these covid restrictions are lifted

Great service , good food!

We arrived a little late for our 9 PM reso which seemed cool with the hostess as they were absolutely slammed. She was friendly and personable and asked if we minded waiting for a table to be cleared. She then asked if we minded sitting on the front pat

Great service. Vibes were perfect.

Good interior and it’s a trendy place but food is below average and desserts and drinks are way below average. Tres leches cake was nothing like an actual tea leches cake should be.

The best place in Calgary!!

Highly recommend. Even though this was the very first time I've gone. But it was excellent. The food the service and the rooftop view..what was not to like? I'll definitely be returning.

The price for the food and what you get is a joke ! They also didn't have printed receipts for the customer it was hand written?? How can you run a business like that ? 🤔 would I go back nope ! 🙅🏻

Amazing drinks food and service !

I will start by saying that our server Enrique was great. We ordered the steak and lobster fondue - please keep in mind this is probably a better portion for one person and not to share. We also ordered the chicken tikka and shrimp skewers. The shrimp skewers were mostly raw and still contained the GI tract of the shrimp, I would not recommend these. Even though we did not eat them and let our server know (and they were taken back to the kitchen), we were still charged for them. The chicken skewers however, were quite good.

For drinks we did try a handcrafted Shaft cocktail, I also would not recommend this if you’re used to Calgary-style shafts as it does have mint liqueur in it. Although, if you like minty coffee drinks, this could be just the drink for you!

Overall, I would say it’s not worth the price. Not a great place to go for dinner as they do not have any mains/entrees on their menu, and the portion sizes for the fondues are quite small. (Our fault for not looking at the menu beforehand) Also not the best place to celebrate birthdays as they didn’t particularly have a cake option!
If you were in the area and wanted to enjoy some hand crafted beers for happy hour and maybe some small plates, this would be an alright place for you.

The over all experience was good. The staff was friendly, the drinks were good. We didn’t get any food so I can’t comment on that. My only issue was our seating. I had a reso booked a week in advance and we ended up sitting on the patio by the road at the very end table. It was wobbly, and the plexiglass panel attached to our table kept getting caught in the wind and spilling our drinks multiple times. I asked to be seated somewhere else but it never ended up happening. I saw customers walk in without resos who got better seating than us. I probably won’t go back just because I’d be worried about getting a bad seat again. Not really sure what the point of the reservation was.

The food was superb. Chicken skewers were melt in the mouth tender and the marinades delicious. Our server was attentive and friendly without being overbearing. Great experience all round.

Due to only being able to use the patio it's unfortunate because our food was instantly cold. Flavor was great, we had jerk and tandoori skewers with a side of yellow rice... SO GOOD! service was awesome! And food was still good.

Service can be a lot better. Waited for our waitress for a good 20 mins then when she finally got to us another 20 mins just to get a beer and then another 20 mins to get served raw meat that we had to cook ourselves. Im not complaining about cooking the meat myself but does it really take 20 mins to bring out some raw meat? There’s no cooking done on the restaurant’s part, I don’t see what the wait is for. Also very overpriced for the amount of food you get. This place is way to overhyped by everyone and Instagram. I don’t recommend coming here and would rather just go to a pub and have some nachos.

Overpriced for food .
Drinks are very good
Service was soooo slow and server acted like he didn’t care about serving us . Almost as if he was annoyed to be working there . Hostess were very kind though !

Food did not worth the money. Not too many options for vegetarian and vegan. I Ordered tofu. It disgusting.

The cocktails are over priced for sure, for the value they are bringing to the table. Lots of over priced food items. In my opinion it’s just a one time experience for sure. Will not recommend, unless you like to waste your money.

The waitress was rude and condescending. We had barely sat down when she came over to introduce herself and we let her know we were waiting on one more. She proceeded to tell us we only have an hour and a half there. We felt unwelcome even before we ordered. This was my 3 time making a reservation with them, the first two times they cancelled the reso due to Covid and once due to weather. The food was delicious though and we enjoyed that but the waitress completely ruined our experience. She then came over again and asked if we were done when we still had skewers coming to our table. The patio wasn’t even full as it was cold and windy that day. She rushed us out of there and we were happy to leave as her attitude towards us was horrible. Shame on you, you are in the service industry during Covid and we were nothing but nice to you

Overall experience was good. I would love to give it 5 stars because our waiter was amazing. He was new but he definitely did he best to accommodate our requests especially when it got very cold and windy. He brought the heater closer to keep us warm. The table however was not made for what we ordered. My hot lava plate which tasted good but definitely would be better in warmer weather. We ordered 2 appetizers and a main and skewers. I think if possible it would have been better to serve the starters first and remove the plates to make room for the main but everything came at once and at one point I had to hold a plate in hand for most of my meal.

Small menu, with only a cocktail selection and bottles for order. Good for a stop to have drinks and conversation, not really a dinner place.

Our second time has the same issues as first time at this place. Probably won’t comeback anymore. Also don’t like being rushed with dinning and wanted to get a desert, but apparently we run out of time. Well next time we will go other place.
Otherwise food is good and they never have beef kebab available.

They were out of a lot of items we tried to order. Food was good though. Cocktail on draft was watered down. Beautiful rooftop but it’s small and VERY loud music. Service was good and efficient.

We got kicked out

Food and drinks are good. Front staff was extremely rude, server did not come over for nearly 15 mins upon us arriving and after that the service was very slow.

Our server John was excellent! We went for happy hour and were happy with the 5$ specials. Made a reso beforehand and the only complaint I have is that we werent allowed to sit on the rooftop patio booths as a couple even though the rooftop is supposed to be first come, first serve and there was no one sitting at them. Other than that, the food was good as well as the drinks!

Cool ambiance, yummy food. Will definitely go back!

Neat drinks, descent food, caution ⚠️ you have a strict time limit and they continue to remind you of that which ruins the moment, we could not fully enjoy ourselves for our anniversary dinner as we were rushed, weren't even able to have our last drink or dessert. They didn't have all the exotic meats they advertised. Our table was so small we couldn't fit the meat and stone, Manager would not allow us to move even though there were tables available. Wont be back.

Reserved for roof top was put on street
Forgot our salad 🥗

Was super excited about going to Chakalaka, I understand it was really busy but the service was lacking, whilst sitting down waiting to be serviced there was lots of employees standing around talking. The food was yummy but the drinks are definitely overpriced, when we were paying a man that worked there came up to us and was telling us that we had to leave despite the fact that we were obviously paying and the reason why it was taking so long is because the waitress couldn't figure out how to divide our bills, he was very rude especially because we're obviously about to leave. Overall it was way too overpriced for poor service, and took forever to get asked what to drink or eat.

Great evening food delicious ambiance
Perfect on the corner on the upstairs patio

Service was good. We just didn’t like the vibe and the staffs are not very welcoming. I guess they don’t appreciate 2 people coming in there they preferred like group of 4-6 to get more money which is understandable.

It was my wife‘s birthday so we decided to try out Chakalaka as the images of the food and cocktails looked quite good on Instagram. Upon arriving at Chakalaka, even though we had a reservation, we were told by the hostess that the only spot they had for us was at the rooftop patio bar. Eventually after much negotiation we were able to get a seat inside near the open windows leading to the outdoor patio. In terms of service, our waiter was awesome and very attentive. However, the food left much to be desired. Although the flavour of the food was on point, our chicken gyoza was cold (perhaps it had something to do with our food being accidentally delivered to the wrong table twice). Additionally, we ordered various chicken skewers that had good flavour. However, the consistency of the chicken was off. To put it plainly, it was mushy. Overall, the highlights of the night were the African sausages (warm and flavourful), the cocktails (lots of variety), and our server.

It was fun, for it being just opened. The vibe was nice, they were out of tables & so they put us in the corner facing a wall. It was bad.. the waiter even gave us a shot to accommodate. A table opened up beside us & remained empty the whole time we were there but when we asked to sit there they said no.

It would have rather just ate somewhere else if I knew the experience was going to be like that.

plus side- Drinks were fire!!

I booked a spot for 2 on the patio over a week in advance for my boyfriends birthday, but ended getting shafted to the side street patio when we got there, as there was no room on the actual patio. More annoyingly, they wouldn’t allow us to move up to the actual patio once a seat came available, which in my experience is common practice amongst other restaurants. We are in Calgary, not Miami Beach.

We didn’t try any food. The drinks were ok, nice presentation, but pricey. The server was friendly enough, but didn’t come around that much.

Because it’s new, I suppose it just needs to work out a few kinks.