The Loop Eating & Drinking

OUT OF BUSINESS, replaced by a «games» café whatever that is.

Has been closed twice now when we’ve tried to go on a Sunday. Today the day after halloween and it’s closed… newspapers stacked outside and piled up inside. Looks like the place has been closed for days! Disappointing for sure and they lost a ton of business as myself and lots of other people walked across the street to their competition!

The food is poor quality, and tastes like it was cooked the night before. The service is slow, and we waited for over 20 minutes to get our check, before having to get up to bug the waitress for it.

We have been coming to the Loop since it opened. We used to love the food, ambiance and staff. Unfortunately, for the last few months the service and food have been going downhill.
Today, after waiting 10 minutes to be sat in a fairly empty restaurant and eating some poorly prepared food (burnt omelette, curdled milk for coffee) we decided we just can’t go back again. Sorry Loop, we loved you but it’s time to move onto new brunch restaurants.

Went here for breakfast and left hungry.
The menu came with a forewarning to basically anticipate slow service and «be polite». Food at other tables looked great. It took an hour to get our food and noticed that a table beside us was seated, ate, and paid before we got our meal. I ordered an eggs benedict with soft poached eggs and when our meal arrived it looked like it had been sitting out for about 30 minutes. My eggs were very over cooked (hard and cold) and hashbrowns were cold as well. Both of us had a few bites and decided it wasn’t worth eating. Told the waitress it was really disappointing and she decided to tell me she had got really busy when we walked in. She offered us something else, but I really didn’t feel like waiting around another hour. She did comp our bill, but it was a waste of time and went elsewhere to eat after. I hate complaining and will always eat what I’m served — even if it’s the wrong order (I’ve been a server before and know things just get messed up sometimes)
Note to servers at the Loop (or any server) — when I come to your restaurant it’s because I’m hungry and am willing to pay for a quality meal. It doesn’t matter if you are busy, your kitchen is skill less, or you think I’ll just eat whatever you put in front of me. I don’t want your excuses — a simple apology and some genuine customer service will suffice.

Went for breakfast Saturday morning. Arrived at 10am of course there was a line up and we were 3 the third person being a 9 yr old so several people waiting for 2 seater tables were seated ahead of us, we ended up waiting 45 mins for a table and a further 45 mins for our food. The food was not worth the ridiculous wait. Feel like they could have added an extra chair for my grand daughter at any of the other tables or at least offer that option. Also parking is a struggle in the area. Wont be back !

The Loop is in the old Nellie’s location, and what an improvement! I mean seriously, I used to love Nellie’s…but I adore The Loop.
I immediately noticed how bright and inviting the space was. We got a little table in the nook and had a great server named Kelly. She was alone on shift (and she was BUSY), but still managed to serve us quickly and with a cheerful smile! Our coffees were always full and the food arrived fresh and hot.
I chose the waffle and added a side of duck. Duck… mmmmmmmduckygoodness…Since I’m intolerant to chicken and rarely eat it anymore, it is always a blessing when restaurants have duck on the menu! The waffle was light and crisp on the outside, and the inside was very tender. Best waffle I’ve had in a long time for sure.
My friend had the veggie Benny, which was served on falafel with a touch of mango salsa and duck-​fat hash browns. So delicious!
I also noticed that they had a shelf full of board games. Spending some time eating and having coffee over a game of Scrabble would be so delightful in the great little spot. Be sure to check it out!

A group of us (4 adults, 1 toddler) went for brunch on a Sunday in July. Finally getting around to putting in a review.
We got there about 10 AM and were seated on the patio right away.
The staff was friendly but service was a bit slow, though not horrible. It did take a little longer than hoped to get our drinks, orders in, and food. The coffee drinkers in the group could have used quicker service for refills but they are an antsy bunch anyway.
Everyone enjoyed the food and some of the specialty drinks.
We were in and out in under 2 hours, which was perfect as we enjoyed the morning sun and some cocktails.

Across the street from the Belmont Diner lies this not so little place called the Loop. From reading other reviews, it sounds like there were previous owners and many people liked it better. I tell you, at first, I was a bit skeptical but I love the Marda Loop neighbourhood that I figure my fiancé and I should give it a try.
The ambience of the place was great despite a rather empty restaurant. Some good throwback music for a child of 90s hip hop. Some funky utensil wallpaper and a pretty large dining area. The menus were not in the best condition and the server mentioned that drink menus were an endangered species (menu poachers?!), but I managed to try a Fuller’s Honey Dew organic beer & looked past the smeared menu to choose a cheddar bacon burger.
Moist patty, good tasting bun and not too greasy! Signs of a good burger. I did enjoy the touch of what I believe was pickled beets as well. It wasn’t mind blowing but with the advertised homemade patty, I was expecting some homemade mayo-​type concoction to put it all together. But it was good!
Overall I would give the Loop another go. Apparently board game night is every Saturday, can’t go wrong with an obvious pairing of food and hungry hungry hippos.

Went to the Loop today for a late breakfast. Not too busy. About half full. Ordered a farmers omelette with Italian sausage. It came very quickly. Unfortunately it was a vegetarian omelette. I let the waitress know, and she came back with the same omelette with 2 breakfast sausages on top and said «there’s meat in there! But I got the kitchen to give you some more.» And left. I called her back over opened the omelette for her and proved that there was no meat at all and was loaded with mushrooms, which are not on a farmers omelette. She said «what do you want me to do?» I said «I would like the correct order». She said «I can discount it.» I said «no thanks. I want what I ordered and I’ll just take my bill for the coffee.» And then left. Very poor service. Even when I gave a second chance to fix the order. I went across the street to the Belmont Diner and had a much better breakfast.

I emailed this restaurant about my experience and they never contacted me so I have pasted my email here. This was my complaint verbatim:
«Myself and a companion visited The Loop for the first time today. I have to say our experience was far less than pleasant. We had a brand new server who was pleasant but seemed to need more training before being allowed to take tables of her own, and apparently there was a brand new cook online by himself. As a result our service was very slow both with service and food times, and my food was not very good. I ordered the veggie burger, which was supposed to come with cheddar cheese, banana peppers, and grilled pineapple. It did not come with any of the items mentioned. I informed the lady who dropped off the food what was missing. She seemed to be somewhat in charge and quite overwhelmed. I watched her go to the kitchen and talk to the cook, and then went to the bar to pour drinks. She never came to talk to me. I had no idea if they were making me a new one or what was happening. I went up to ask her if they were making me another burger and she said that he was just putting what he missed on a plate. I informed her I was concerned that the veggie patty would be cold by the time it came out and she said it wouldn’t as it would only take two minutes. The cook rang the bell and I saw my plate on line. No one was there to grab it and it sat there for another couple of minutes while she was on the phone, which was very frustrating. By the time it came to me my veggie patty was completely cold and I had to apply the banana peppers, grilled pineapple, and shredded cheddar cheese to the burger. This was a mess. The cheese obviously was not melted and fell out everywhere and the burger was cold. When we asked for the bill it was not discounted, which I was expecting seeing as I was clearly upset. I then asked to have it discounted and when the bill returned it was discounted 25%. I ended up paying $ 10 for a cold burger that I had to wait forever for, and I had to put it together myself. As someone who has been in the food service industry for a long time I am very empathetic towards these sort of things, however the full price of this burger should have been compensated. The shocking thing is that I think she called a manager to discuss how to handle the situation.
I understand that the server and the cook were both new, and considering the setbacks each kept their composure. However I am shocked that any person creating a schedule would think it is ok to schedule one brand-​new server, and one brand-​new cook to handle a dinner rush. I hope you reach out to rectify this situation but if you choose not to I hope for your customers’ and employees’ sake you are more supportive with your scheduling. »

I wanted to like this place a lot. The restaurant is super cute and the service was very friendly. However, the food was a big letdown. Everything we ordered were below expectation (do NOT order the chicken and waffle — you’ll be disappointed and end up regretting your life choices). The wait for food was super long as well. The wait could have been excused if the food was super good… but when you pair mediocre food with long wait, you end up with customer dissatisfaction.
How the staff was allocated was also puzzling. Inside there were maybe 7 or 8 tables with 3+ people waiting. Outside seating had just as many tables but with maybe 1 or 2 people. Bizarre.

I miss the old Loop! Bring it back!
The good: interior has been updated and looks really nice inside.
The bad: wait staff was snobby and had an attitude. Rolled her eyes when I asked her to repeat something. Waited on food for 40 min even though it was a quiet Tuesday afternoon, had to ask for a drink refill. My mother in law ordered an omelet and the cook forgot an ingredient. The waitress said that was the second time today and blamed it on the new menu. Old menu had lots of breakfast options so I was disappointed in the new choices. This place just isn’t the same.
I could probably accept most of this as growing pains but because The Loop was perfect before new management took over, I really can’t overlook this experience. Sadly, I won’t go back. Have to find a new favorite brekky place I guess.

Came here for lunch the other day. We waited over 30 minutes for our breakfast lunch to arrive. The wait was worth it though food was good, I has the breakfast burrito.
Overall good food but don’t go here if your in a hurry or really hungry.

I just visited the Loop for my first time today. When we walked in there were 3 of us with 2 babies, we were instantly greeted, and the server promptly brought over 2 high chairs for us. All of our service was quick, and she was super friendly!
I ordered the Mission eggs benedict. It was super good. I was really impressed with the number of vegetarian items on the menu! Usually you don’t find more than one or 2, but this place had so many yummy sounding ones I’ll be back a bunch more times to try them all! It was great that we could get breakfast or lunch. It was a little pricey, and it would be nice to be able to order a half eggs benedict. A whole one is a lot of food. But that’s my only negative comment about the place. They also have a nice little patio that I’m sure will be a welcome treat in a couple weeks :)

I’m one of those few Calgarians that doesn’t love brunch. I know, weird right? For whatever reason, brunch isn’t party of my weekend routine. Having said that, I would never turn down the opportunity for a morning coffee and conversation with friends, which is exactly what we did this weekend!
The Loop was recently opened by the same owner as Mission Diner — which sadly was badly destroyed during the June floods. So rather than lay off all of their staff, they opened a new spot in Marda Loop called ‘The Loop’. It is a cute little place, right off 33^rd Ave that is slightly larger than some of the other boutique brunch spots, thus having a much smaller line up! Although they have a bit of work to do to finish the décor, it is fully operational and the service is good.
The menu was pretty typical for a brunch spot. They were super accommodating with our special requests, and delivered exactly what we asked for. They even have gluten-​free toast, though you won’t see it on the menu. The coffee was pretty strong, but everyone seemed to drink it so no complaints.
Overall, it has good food, friendly service, a convenient location with parking and no line. They’re just missing that ‘so what’ factor to make it really stand out in the customer’s mind! So yeah… I say it’s definitely worth a visit.
–
L

Want a good breakfast? Pop on in.
I have really only been to the Loop for breakfast but they always keep me coming back. They have quite a large selection of dishes available and they’re all generally quite good. The wait staff are always very nice and manage to keep my coffee cup full at all times. I don’t really have a favorite dish to recommend, but if you’re looking for a good place for breakfast you won’t be disappointed.

Came in at 8 am sun, it wasn’t busy, I ordered a Bennie for 14.25. I started to get irked when three tables that came after us were served before us. When the Benny finally showed up it was awful, the tiny eggs were rock hard, they put two little rounds of chorizo on one side of the Benny and three on the other. The hash browns were cold, i think they put my brekky to the side for some reason and forgot about it, then sent it out anyway. we heard the table next to us complain that there was no egg in his omelette. The waitress was great but had to keep going to the line to give the cooks hell about the complaints
Will Definatly not be going back

My favourite part of this place was at our table for 4, there were 4 very different, very funky coffee mugs. It’ isn’t a huge thing but just added to the ambiance of the super neat brunch space.
My eggs benny was good, didn’t knock my socks off though.

I have been to this restaurant two times.
Both times, I had issues with my food. I’m not a big complainer at restaurants. I am a good ukranian girl that will usually plow through my meal without noticing a problem. However, both problems were noteworthy to slow down the windmill of noshing and alert a waitress. Neither were high alert infractions, but in both cases, the waitress brought the correct meal, but the kitchen forgot an integral part of what I was paying for.
I’m not going to get into what happened in either instance. However, the reason why I have gone back more than once, depsite some issues is because of how they handle problems.
Both times, they were champions.
The first time, I was offered a replacement meal, plus my item was removed from the bill (wow!). Second time, they simply, yet quickly replaced the item on my place that had issues, (still amazing). They toook ownership, apologized and made it go away.
This is not my experience everywhere, so I want to give The Loop kudos on service and accountability.
The other thing I would like to comment on is the waitresses. They are friendly, helpful and accountable. however, most of them are in yoga pants and a tank top. They do kind of present themselves the same way I would on a sunday afternoon on my couch with a cup of coffee. I’m not suggesting they need to dress up, but it may not be a bad idea for the Loop to put in some type of dress code. Even if it is jeans, it looks better than sweats and a tank top. Just a thought… :)