Calgary has a pretty spectacular collection of bars. Our bar scene is very much our own: from craft breweries and pubs to chic cocktail and wine bars, our best watering holes have been recognized on multiple prestigious “best bars” lists thanks to their creativity and down-to-earth vibes. But we’re also a welcoming sort of town, so while we don’t need other cities’ bar brands planting flags in Calgary, it’s not necessarily a bad thing when they do creep into our local market. Provided they come in as earnest community players, of course.
Which is the case with Mount Pleasant Vintage, a new bar that just set up shop in the former Home and Away space on 1st Street S.W., right in the heart of Calgary’s most vibrant strip of bars and restaurants. MPV’s Cameron Bogue opened his first location in Vancouver in 2022, and the bar and grill has been a rousing success: earning a spot on the extended list of North America’s Best Bars as well as Canada’s 50 Best Bars. The concept — a vibrant cocktail-focused bar filled with vintage decor that’s all for sale — has been a smash hit, and Bogue has long known he wanted to expand. When the Home and Away spot became vacant, and that bar’s ownership group (Radio Block) offered to partner with Bogue, he knew Calgary was his next home.
Head chef Richard McLaren of Mount Pleasant Vintage, a new bar/restaurant, that doubles as a vintage store located near 1st Street and 12th Avenue S.W. in Calgary on Thursday, August 6, 2026.
While dreams of a multi-city bar empire aren’t a realistic goal for most, if anybody has the know-how to turn a concept like MPV grow, it’s Bogue. He’s been in the industry for decades, working in fine dining restaurants like Canoe in Toronto and in New York opening restaurants with chef Daniel Boulud before spending most of the 2010s running the beverage program for Earls. That depth of experience prepared him to run a business that not only offers tasty food and drinks in a fun setting, but also feels tangibly well run.
MPV’s massive new three-level (including a stunning rooftop patio) Calgary location is immaculately designed, with bright retro colours, rumpus room-style wood panelling, an astro turf and lawn chair-laden faux patio facing the street, and gobs of vintage lighting fixtures, black velvet paintings, old bar signage, and kitschy knick-knacks. Yes, all of the vintage gear really is priced to sell: Bogue says there have been instances in the Vancouver bar where customers have had to pick up their drinks off of coffee tables purchased by other patrons ready to carry the furniture home.
Mount Pleasant Vintage is a new bar/restaurant, that doubles as a vintage store located near 1st Street and 12th Avenue S.W. in Calgary on Thursday, August 6, 2026.
“I wanted to do something that kind of felt like a house party,” Bogue says. “Being a kid that was born in the ’70s, grew up in the ’80s, and is a product of the ’90s, we threw house parties in our parents’ homes that looked like this.”
Because MPV is in such a buzzy location, right next door to Ten Foot Henry and across the street from Shelter, a great room would be enough to bring in a busy drinking crowd. But Bogue doesn’t just want his bar to be busy; he wants it to be great. The cocktails are probably Mount Pleasant Vintage’s top concern, with remarkably complex concoctions incorporating flavours ranging from cocoa butter, curry and lemon to sour apricot and shiso. One of the most impressive is a beeswax-infused gin martini, though Bogue is particularly proud of the “Tiger Claw,” a homemade vodka soda, run through a Japanese highball machine for maximum fizz. Everything is prepped in advance so the bar flows with remarkable speed and efficiency.
The Beef Tartare from Mount Pleasant Vintage.
Bogue describes Mount Pleasant Vintage as a “bar and grill,” signifying that the food is much more than an afterthought. Richard McLaren (a familiar local face best known for his Knotted Roots pop-up concept) is the head chef and is currently serving a menu similar to that of the Vancouver location, but Bogue says McLaren will bring his own flair as the bar gets its footing. For now, expect above-average bar snacks like gruyere fondue with garlic toast and tater tots ($22), caviar with chips and French onion dip ($25, unless you want to level up from lumpfish to sturgeon for $99), and burrata with roasted beets ($26), as well as larger plates of Alabama BBQ chicken ($26/$38) or Carolina-style pork tenderloin ($32).
The Flame Seared Prawns from Mount Pleasant Vintage.
There’s also a very reasonable happy hour menu featuring drink deals as well as $1.50 hot dogs, discounted beef tartare and other cheap eats.
Mount Pleasant Vintage is located at 1207 1st St. S.W. and can be reached through mtpleasant.bar/yyc. The bar is open daily from 11:30 p.m. onward.
Mount Pleasant Vintage is a new bar/restaurant, that doubles as a vintage store located near 1st Street and 12th Avenue S.W. in Calgary on Thursday, August 6, 2026.
Mount Pleasant Vintage isn’t the only new out-of-town bar expansion. Edmonton’s Sea Change Brewing Co. just opened its Calgary location at 820 11th Ave. S.W., in the former Inner City Brewing location. One of Edmonton’s most popular craft beer brands, Sea Change is brewing beer for its small Skelly Club taproom onsite and also brought its food provider, Flatboy Burgers from Edmonton. The newest entry into Calgary’s ongoing burger wars, Flatboy is already turning heads (and creating line-ups) with its Angus beef smash burgers.
Elizabeth Chorney-Booth can be reached at elizabooth@gmail.com. Follow her on Instagram at @elizabooth or sign up for her newsletter at hungrycalgary.substack.com.
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