If Toronto is Canada’s metropolitan center and Vancouver is the country’s dramatic coastal city, Calgary both figuratively and literally sits somewhere in between. Densely packed into a relatively small urban core, Calagary is Canada’s big small town and with that distinctions comes a unique distribution of neighborhood pubs if not an over abundance of gritty dive bars.

While a comfortable spot to grab a beer and an affordable bite to eat can be found in every neighborhood across Calgary, the standard currency-stapled-to-the-wall dive bar is rarity in the city. Vern’s is the city’s dive bar gem to be sure, a cymbal-lined, subterranean music venue that doubles as a sometimes eerily quiet dive bar easy to miss on an otherwise nondescript Calgary city block.

A spot like the Bear & Kilt Freehouse is a bit more indicative of the typical Calgary dive bar, if it can be called that. Bear & Kilt (also coincidentally underground) is more of a classic pub than a true dive, down to the faux English vibe, classic food menu and pervasive reliance on deep, brown wood. There are nicer and not as nice versions of this same template found all across Calgary, each home to a unique set of regulars (and probably a unique set of food & drink specials too).