The Top 24 Places to Eat and Drink Near Charlie's Watch Repair
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Rank 2. DOPO
Tuscan Italian
A subterranean Tuscan tavern where Tony Migliarese channels his late father's warmth and David Leeder's precise hand (fresh from Per Se) elevates rustic Italian into something luxe without pretense. The grilled bread with whipped ricotta and house-made pasta speak to restraint, but the veal milanese—saffron, capers, butter—insists on abundance.
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Rank 3. Eight
Japanese
You phone from a lobby, descend through a maintenance corridor, and emerge into a gilded parlour for cocktails before slipping through a hidden door into a dramatic room where eight stools face an open kitchen across a Douglas fir bar. This is theater as much as dinner—intimate, orchestrated, and operating just four nights weekly.
- Canada's 100 Best 2026 · #9 · Best Restaurants
- World Culinary Awards 2025 · Nominee · Canada's Best Restaurant
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Rank 4. Missy’s This That
Cocktail Bar
Above a convenience store on 14th Avenue, a no-frills room conceals a wine list of disarming depth—twelve pages spanning rare Burgundies, vintage Champagne, and Vin Jaune by the glass. The cocktails match that ambition with playful precision, while toast topped with brown anchovy and cultured butter and a roster of party shots ensure you'll stay longer than you planned.
- 50 Best 2026 · #79 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best International Cocktail Bar – Canada
- Canada's 100 Best 2026 · #9 · Best Bars
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Rank 6. Shelter
Eastern European-ish
Behind the bar, gas masks double as props and promise: here, aroma is the main ingredient. Cocktails are built around volatile compounds and fermentation—a vodka Martini gains fruity depth from honey and melon, a margarita its heat from walnut and muhammara liqueur—turning the invisible architecture of flavor into theater that rewards close attention.
- The Pinnacle Guide 2026 · 1 Pin
- 50 Best 2026 · #98 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Canada's 100 Best 2026 · #20 · Best Bars
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A new-build tavern styled after vintage New York, all tight quarters and photograph-lined walls, where linen tables and a serious kitchen justify the period affectation. Baked scallops wearing pepperoni butter, fried chicken with 'nduja aïoli, and a wagyu-cross burger that earns its prominence on the menu suggest ambition beyond nostalgic décor.
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Rank 8. River Café
New American
River Café sits isolated on Prince's Island, its rustic dining room anchored by a fireplace and commitment to Albertan ingredients. Chef Kristen Livingston executes rural flavours—halibut with two sauces, crab ravioli in corn bisque—with urban precision.
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An art deco dining room wrapped in velvet and brass sets the stage for chef Asher Wilson's tasting menus, where Canadian ingredients—wild mushrooms, Maritime lobster, bone marrow—receive the French fine-dining treatment. The wine program and craft cocktails reinforce the sense of unapologetic luxury, though the real draw is the kitchen's restraint beneath all that glamour.
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Rank 10. Paper Lantern
Vietnamese Cocktail Bar
A basement speakeasy beneath Chinatown serves tropical cocktails inflected with Vietnamese flavours—burnt sugar milk punch, pandan pain killer, Vietnamese coffee spiked with coconut and banana. Red lanterns cast a warm glow while bánh mì and charred skewers emerge from the kitchen, anchoring drinks that feel both playful and purposeful.
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Rank 11. Proof
Cocktail Bar
A soaring backbar lined with bottles and a library ladder sets the stage for an inventive cocktail menu organized by spirit, where classics anchor happy hour and playful drinks like the clarified New York Sour with ginger-raspberry float take center stage. The neighborhood ease of the place—welcoming alike to collectors and newcomers—suggests Proof understands that swagger matters less than craft.
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In Calgary's Chinatown, a French bar where cocktails and cuisine trade equal billing under low light and wood-lined walls. Bartender Nate Wry constructs drinks with precision while chef Garrett Martin sends out lobster rolls touched with lemongrass, steak frites, Bayonne ham over honeyed potato—each component deliberate, nothing casual.
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Rank 13. Nupo
Omakase Japanese
Darren MacLean's sleek omakase bar seats six and moves through 17 to 20 courses of sustainably caught Canadian fish prepared with precise Japanese technique. The main dining room extends his farm-to-table philosophy to vegetables, where braised daikon rivals the sashimi.
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Rank 14. Business & Pleasure
Cocktail Bar
In Inglewood's adjoining bodega and back-room bar, the cocktails trade in nostalgic comfort—a cola-and-tonic shot through with shōchū and umeshu liqueur—while the single malt selection runs deep. The vaulted ceiling and warm, familiar setting suggest a neighborhood joint with genuine craft, one that keeps you talking through dinner.
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Rank 15. Rain Dog Bar
Beer Bar
A loft in Inglewood where Bill Bonar, Alberta's first Certified Cicerone, curates an obsessive list of natural wines and craft beers—Trappist rarities, local finds, global anomalies—organized by style and vintage. The charcuterie, preserves, and chef-driven plates match the kitchen's ambition for the glass.
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- Air Canada 2022 · Top 10 · Best New Restaurants
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best International Restaurant Bar – Canada
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