Barbarella Bar: Inside Calgary's super exciting new Italian restaurant

Barbarella Bar is the newest restaurant opening from the highly distinguished Concorde Entertainment restaurant group.

The team has been keeping details under wraps… until now.

This new Italian restaurant concept is located in the same building (Stephen Avenue Place) as the best new restaurant in Canada, Major Tom, another Concorde spot.

A few other notable spots from this restaurant group include Lulu Bar, Lonely Mouth, and Surfy Surfy.

The opening was originally set for the fall, so it’s been a long-awaited grand opening and Dished had the chance to check the place out.

Like other restaurants from this team, the food menu has snacks, pasta, pizza, vegetables, and small plates.

We started with the crispy artichokes with rosemary aioli, which were great to share, and the steak tartare that was topped with parmesan, chili, and garlic. It came in lettuce wraps, which was an interesting twist, and the crisp on top made for a perfect texture.

Dished Calgary

Dished Calgary

Most restaurants from this group have a version of a burger, and the one here is decadent and rich, topped with truffle, fontina cheese, brioche, and French fries. It came with a double patty and was smashed perfectly for crusty edges.

Dished Calgary

Nothing says Italy like pasta and pizza, and Barbarella has eight different kinds of pasta and six pizza options that are going to make for some difficult decisions. We tried the campanelle with crab, shrimp, yuzu, and baby spinach, and the Calabrese sausage pizza with fior di latte, tomato sauce, honey, and parmesan.

If you’re feeling adventurous, go for something entirely unique, such as the date and gorgonzola pie that comes with parmesan cream, provolone cheese, and rosemary.

Dished Calgary

What truly separates this new food concept from others like it is the crudo options. Crudo is an Italian and Spanish word for raw, and most restaurants have one option for it, whether it’s scallop, tuna, or oysters — but this place has all of the above and more. We had the albacore (green tomato, basil, sesame) and the scallop (fennel, sour orange vinaigrette, olive oil).

For drinks, you can look forward to a massive selection of highballs, cocktails, beer, and wine, with a certain specialty in spritzes. There are eight of them, like the Passionfruit Spritz with vanilla vodka, sparkling wine, pink peppercorn, and of course, passionfruit.

We tried a few, like the tonk bean old-fashioned, the espresso martini with Nutella, and the sangria made with vodka, watermelon, peach, white wine, raspberry, and more.

Dished Calgary

You might also like:

This has been an opening many have been looking forward to all year long, so it’s an exciting relief that it’s nearly here. There’s a very good chance it quickly becomes one of the most popular and best restaurants in Calgary.

Make your reservations now because it’s going to be very in demand.

Barbarella Bar

Address: #110, 700 2nd Street SW, Calgary

Instagram