Greta Bar YYC – Trendy Beercade in Downtown Calgary

Greta Bar Arcade is ALL Fun and Games

For the second time since moving to Calgary we had the chance to visit Greta Bar YYC. This cool little downtown venue on 10th Ave SW, just South of the Calgary Tower, is a trendy little place with a fun and entertaining twist on a pub theme. Forget all the Calgary sports bars you have been to, or the many Irish Pubs, or even the trendy Calgary Dance Bars, Greta does things completely differently.

One Big Rec Room

While Greta bar is definitely a pub for those over the age of 18, it serves up a heap of entertainment along with its usual pub fare. The interior of the bar is full of a large variety of video games and other electronic entertainment games. There are a lot of the classic games from the 80’s there, including ones like Ms. Pacman, Mortal Kombat and Bubble Bobble. There are also a whole variety of pinball machines spanning a couple of generations.

He Shoots He Scores

Along with all of the video games, there are physically active games like skeeball, basketball, and a few others where you can compete individually or against your friends. The entire place is designed to keep you busy and active. To play the games you simply buy a rechargeable card with credits stored on it. It can be activated for a fixed amount of time, so you can buy an hour of unlimited play or more if you wish, then play any of the games that appeals to you. There is a lot of room in this old deep commercial building, and then surprisingly the basement of the place is also full of additional games. There’s definitely something for everyone.

Experience Downtown Calgary, Vroom Vroom

There is much more seating available in Greta than I realized the first time I had visited the pub. My original visit there we spent most of our time in the basement area which only has a handful of tables and maybe seats about 30 people down there. However upstairs there are a huge number of seating options. Firstly, there is an outdoor patio right on the sidewalk of 10th Ave SW if you want fresh air and the weather is cooperative. The only problem sitting outdoors is that there is the constant complaint of traffic noise and random pedestrians who stroll right through the seating area cluelessly. Both are equally annoying really so we moved inside.

Greta Bar Patio

A second option is to sit in the covered patio space which is massive and covered by a large skylight. You get all the atmosphere of being outside but without suffering the weather or experiencing the environment that is downtown Calgary. This nice area has a lot of space, its own dedicated bar which opens when it’s busy, and easy access to the washrooms. i have to say I love this space, it has a ton of potential to be a great party spot. There are also a few tables spread throughout the bar amongst the games for those who want to sit in the action. Plus there are a few bankettes and a ton of bar stool seating around the main bar area.

Burgertime, Nom Nom Nom

Maybe you’re hungry as Ms. Pacman and looking to gobble up tacos like they are Pinky the Ghost. Well Greta has you covered. They have a bit of an unusual menu for an arcade, with a few ethnic dishes on the menu that don’t seem in anyway related to the name of the place or its niche market, they should really ask King Calgary to help them jazz that up a bit. Which leads me to my only complaint about the place. While I have only been there twice, both times there were multiple menu items on the small menu that they couldn’t offer. If the menu was pages deep and diverse I could understand, but the fact that you can’t make tacos at 3pm on a Sunday? Somebody should drive their ass to the grocery store and get some shells. Or call Instacart. There’s really no acceptable excuse for it in the food and beverage game so I don’t feel bad for pointing it out. I like the place, a bit of minor marketing input and it could increase its cool factor by 6.9. I am sure I will be back there with friends again very soon. Hopefully they up their game a little before then.

Location, Location, Location

Despite being right in the core of Downtown Calgary, the parking situation at Greta is not bad. First of all the City street parking is free in the evenings in the commercial zones, but even during the hours that there is paid parking there is a large lot right across the street North of the pub. Now of course this paid parking lot is the type where you should have one of the 2 apps to pay for parking, neither of which works worth a shit, ever. PS. Calgary is home to the worst parking apps and services in the world bar none. Literally the most horribly organized shit show private parking anywhere on earth, its here in Calgary. If you combined the ‘dont give a shit’ attitude of Air Canada with the ‘ i’m ripping you off’ strategy of Tickemaster, whatever resulted would look a lot like Impark. So I don’t like them, but you know, I could be jaded.

~ King Calgary

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