Review Jonas' Restaurant - Calgary

We had a group reservation on a Saturday night and they took superb care of us. The menu had an entree for everyone and the wine and appetizers paired perfectly. The service was prompt and attentive and our sever gently encouraged us to get the larger portions. She was 100% right too. The chicken paprikash and the chocolate walnut crepe are my go to dishes but I look forward to trying more. Definitely recommended for a great hearty meal.

Really a must if you like Hungarian food or are willing to try something new and delicious! We got the wiener schnitzel with homemade potato as well as the chicken paprikash with homemade spätzle. They were both delicious and huge portions for about a $50 meal. The paprikash tasted just like my grandmother's which really made it the best.

This small, yet absolutely delicious, Hungarian restaurant is well worth the visit! Traditional dishes make you feel at home and the price is fair for the portion sizes. If you are looking for something different yet familiar, give this hidden gem a try!

Honestly this place makes me wish I lived in Calgary. It was absolutely delicious. I had the Chicken Paprikash Served with Home-made Spätzle and it was very well prepared. I loved every bit of it. The serving was super filling too. An added bonus was that the lady we dealt with at the restaurant was very sweet and kind. Definitely recommend.

Jonas is a very nice family feel restaurant, it reminds me of home comfort - and our server was also very friendly. The lighting was really dark though. As for the food, my girlfriend really enjoyed the schnitzel, and it’s a little pricy for the food on the plate.

Both my goulash soup and wiener schnitzel were delicious. Super cozy place and the owner was very friendly and patient. I will definitely go back.

We enjoyed our meal here, though we weren't searching for "a taste of home" as most reviewers seem to be. The breaded cheese was fantastic; two triangles with melty marble cheddar inside at just the right temperature so I didn't scorch my mouth, along with nicely lumpy mashed potatoes, mixed veggies (carrots and peas), garnished with lots of parsley. The pork schnitzel came with the same side dishes. We found the pork a little tough, hopefully it was just that particular plate, but the crunchy breading was excellent. Wine prices are on par with other places. They had some unusual drink offerings, like apricot brandy, that I wish I had tried. Service is friendly and efficient. Our meal came in about 15 minutes (the restaurant was half full).

Really friendly staff and very hearty meals. Great flavour and many traditional Hungarian dishes to choose from.

I am never disappointed going here! I love the food and the atmosphere. I always want to try other dishes but I keep ordering the Schnitzel because I love it so much. Same with the Goulash as well. I may have to order another meal to go next time so I can try something different but still get my Schnitzel, Hahaha!

Jonas' is one of our long time favourites. Its a warm, comfortable room with a familiar feel and unpretentious service. We've always had a good time here. And have tried and enjoyed much of the menu over the years. I love their schnitzel and usually get that, although tonight I gobbled down a great plate of cabbage rolls. So good with a side of cabbage salad and a pilsner. The chicken paprikash is another fav! Mmmmmm. When we want comfort food we usually think of Jonas'. We recommend Jonas' and look forward to our next visit.

Cabbage rolls!!! I love the giant cabbage rolls here and it makes for a good place for take out. It's got a very homey feeling and I definitely come back here over and over again. would recommend!

Some of the best Eastern European food in the city. Reminds me of Europe and the potions are huge! Delicious home style cooking and can't wait to go again!

Cute restaurant. Reminds me of home (if you're a white person). <br/><br/>Waiter suggested the Wiener schnitzel and the chicken paprikash. The first dish was a bit dry, but the chicken dish was pretty bomb. Nothing super special, but worth the try.<br/><br/>

Had a weekday lunch here.  There was no wait and only a few customers, but I think that's more of a reflection on our economy than the restaurant.  It's very good Hungarian food, great for warming you up on cold winter days.  I had the duck special, which was pretty good.  I really enjoyed the sides (purple cabbage & mashed potatoes), and my partner's paprikash was also very tasty.   The food came out quickly, which is always nice. The highlight for me though was the cappuccino I had at the end of the meal; it was unexpectedly delicious.  Don't leave here without trying one. Most lunch mains are $15-$20, so for me it's more of a special treat than an everyday lunch place, but it's a decent portion for the price.

Friday lunch: Potato Pancake Stuffed with Beef in Paprikash Sauce ! <br/>Owners are really nice and let me order ahead for pickup. Bunch of my co workers and I are hooked on this Friday special.

I've lived in Calgary for almost 16 years, every day of that time in the inner city, and am ashamed to say that until two days ago I had never dined at Jonas. I'd got takeout before and extolled the chicken paprikash with spaetzle but had never eaten in. In anticipation of the Kraftwerk concert some central European food seemed appropriate so off we went. I got the "Wiener Schnitzel" (it's actually pork, not veal, so strictly speaking it's "Schnitzel, Wiener Art" but I prefer pork schnitzel anyway so no biggie) and partner got that amazing paprikash again. Both dishes were stunning! BIG portions for the "full size" orders we both got, nicely plated with some neat attention to detail there. My schnitzel was three cutlets, as good as many I've had in Germany and more tender than some, and the accompanying potatoes were completely delectable. We split a chocolate and walnut crepe for desert and the total damage wasn't even $50. Service was really friendly, endearing even. The space itself is...homely I suppose but it all works, reminded me of mom and pop German restaurants in Wisconsin more than what you'd experience in Europe per se but for Calgary it's unique and pretty amazing as it's Calgary's only Hungarian resto- thank goodness it's good!!

Amazing Food, Amazing Atmosphere and AWESOME Owners!. Came here for my mom's surprise birthday last week and everyone (there was 18 of us) had a WONDERFUL time!!<br/>Since the moment you walk into the restaurant, you are greeted by wonderful owners, Janos and Rosza, wonderful decorations and a great central European atmosphere!<br/><br/>Don't even get me started with the food...IT WAS AMAZING and VERY FILLING!! (We couldn't even finish half of the dishes) Since, we had a big party, we pre-ordered from their menu and were served large plates of traditional Hungarian cuisine (Wiener Schnitzel, Chicken Paprikash, and Hungarian Cabbage Rolls) - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! It was also great because everyone got to try different Hungarian dishes and it gave a really "home-style" experience. The food really reminded me of my backpacking travels to Budapest last summer and I kept on getting thumbs up from the all the family/cousins all night! <br/><br/>Rosza also always kept on checking on us, makings sure everything was all right, and she was the most kind and very accommodating with us! <br/><br/>Overall, I am VERY happy with my experience at Jonas' Restaurant - the food, the decorations, the Hungarian atmosphere, and the wonderful owners - Rosza and Janos; you have made my mom's birthday very, very unforgettable. Everyone left the restaurant with smiles! And we will al definitely be back - THANK YOU SOO MUCH!!! :)

Amazing Food, Amazing Atmosphere and AWESOME Owners!. Came here for my mom's surprise birthday last week and everyone (there was 18 of us) had a WONDERFUL time!!<br/>Since the moment you walk into the restaurant, you are greeted by wonderful owners, Janos and Rosza, wonderful decorations and a great central European atmosphere!<br/><br/>Don't even get me started with the food...IT WAS AMAZING and VERY FILLING!! (We couldn't even finish half of the dishes) Since, we had a big party, we pre-ordered from their menu and were served large plates of traditional Hungarian cuisine (Wiener Schnitzel, Chicken Paprikash, and Hungarian Cabbage Rolls) - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! It was also great because everyone got to try different Hungarian dishes and it gave a really "home-style" experience. The food really reminded me of my backpacking travels to Budapest last summer and I kept on getting thumbs up from the all the family/cousins all night! <br/><br/>Rosza also always kept on checking on us, makings sure everything was all right, and she was the most kind and very accommodating with us! <br/><br/>Overall, I am VERY happy with my experience at Jonas' Restaurant - the food, the decorations, the Hungarian atmosphere, and the wonderful owners - Rosza and Janos; you have made my mom's birthday very, very unforgettable. Everyone left the restaurant with smiles! And we will al definitely be back - THANK YOU SOO MUCH!!! :)

Food. Love it!

Good hearty food. My colleagues and I would often vote to go to this restaurant for Friday Lunches. Jonas restaurant always win most votes. We love your restaurant. Awesome service, great tasting food and most delightful ambiance. Thank you Jonas for keeping it simple, fresh and delicious. We will continue to go there for most of our Friday Lunches just to ensure we keep our long standing attendance record. I will vote for you every time.

Divine chicken paprikash, welcoming owners and a wonderful ambiance. I've been to this restaurant numerous times since my first visit two months ago. A lovely Hungarian couple runs this place and you will be made to feel welcome as soon as you walk through the door. The food and wine are quite affordable and you can't beat this restaurant for ambiance - warm and inviting, just like their food. I have a slight obsession with their chicken paprikash, to the extent that after my first visit, my husband and I went back 4 times in three weeks, just to get more. The liver dumpling soup is also delicious even though it was never something I thought I would like. Very generous portions, so great for splitting between two people with a couple side dishes, or for taking home leftovers! This is the kind of comfort food that warms you right down to your toes - it's going to be a godsend for those winter months when I don't want to cook!

Will be back. I ordered take out from here and was really impressed. Excellent portion sizes and really tasty.

Went here one day after work based on the really good reviews I saw on here. it's a very cute restaurant and the waitress was friendly. I ordered the mushroom paprikesh and my husband ordered the chicken version. we were hungry so we ordered the larger version. the serving size was... very disappointing. also, the mushrooms in my dish were canned mushrooms!! sorry, if I'm paying close to 20$ for some "dumplings" and mushroom sauce, I don't want to eat some canned mushrooms w some sauce that also didn't taste very homemade. my husband got just a couple little pieces of chicken. overall, we weren't impressed w our dishes. we ordered some dessert too, some pancake with chocolate sauce. for how much it was, it was very meh. I wish I liked this place because it's so close to where we live... but our meal came out to over 50$ for some canned mushrooms / couple pieces of chicken... and we didn't even have anything other than water to drink. very overpriced.

Cozy. I take my lunch break early so when I arrived I was the only person there for a bit. But as it got closer to the lunch hour more and more people arrived and I noticed a lot of them had reservations and were regulars, which to me is always a good sign. The restaurant looks bigger on the inside and has a lot of Hungarian motifs for decoration. The head waitress was very friendly and polite. I had a small serving of the Chicken Paprikash. It came with a lot of big, tender morsels of chicken. The dumplings are small egg noodles and while they taste plain on their own they're great with the sauce. It was creamy, but not too rich or heavy and the paprika flavour wasn't overwhelming. It was a very hearty and filling meal; absolutely perfect for warming me up from the chill outside.

This food warmed up my soul. Would go back. Great value.

Interesting. If you want a really tasty carb loading meal. This is it. The chicken paprikesh was amazing! The beef stew with egg noodles is ok. My beef stew was not as tender as I expected. Service was excellent. Nice place to go to if you are with friends and want to share each others meal.<br/><br/><br/>-----19 May, 2013-----<br/><br/>Interesting. If you want a really tasty carb loading meal. This is it. The paprika chicken amazing! The beef stew with egg noodles is ok. My beef stew was not as tender as I expected. Service was excellent. Nice place to go to if you are with friends and want to share each others meal.

A friend and I went to Jonah's for lunch today and we both had Chicken Paprikesh with dumpling's. My friend had the small order and me the regular. It was very good as there was nothing left on our plates. One reviewer said that there was very little chicken and I would have to disagree with that statement. In both of ours there was lots of chicken.<br/> It was a busy place and glad I made a reservation.<br/>Have ordered both take out and eaten in. I can say I haven't got a bad meal from them yet.

Going downhill. We used to go to Jonas often a few years ago. Decided to revisit the place a a couple of weeks ago. BIG MISTAKE. Prices were 50% higher, and portions nothing to get excited over. We had the chicken paprakash. There was very little chicken to be found in the dish, lots of sauce. The service was extremely slow, as the son was the only one serving tables. Not worth returning.

Love it! Have been for lunch several times, and just took my family there for dinner tonight. They loved it too. We all shared dishes of chicken paprikash, schnitzel, and cabbage rolls. Yum!

Love/Hate. I love home cooked good like perogies, cabbage rolls, etc and have been dying to try this authentic Hungarian place for years and finally had the chance for lunch. My experience here was somewhat of a love/hate. I'll start with the love. <br/><br/>Walked in as a single near the end of a lunch rush and got the table right by the kitchen pass. I actually loved the seat because I could see everything come out and hear the hustle of the kitchen. <br/><br/>On the menu, everything looked great. So many authentic items it was hard to choose. I decided on the Friday lunch special It's the beef stuffed potato pancake ($12)....the same that's been reviewed on here a few times. I also started with a small bowl of the chicken noodle soup. <br/><br/>Fresh rye bread, packet of butter and a small dish of sliced fresh jalapenos made its way to the table. The chicken noodle soup was light and tasty however it was just broth and noodles. No chicken to be found. <br/><br/>The waitress dropped off a plate of the Paprika Chicken by mistake but quickly took it back. When I saw it I was second guessing my selection. It looked amazing. <br/><br/>The main dish was delicious. I loved everything about the beef stuffed potato pancake. The beef was tender and the pancake was huge and very good. The goulash/paprika sauce with it was very good too. Saying that, I could tell (and hear) the constant ding of the microwave. There were no left overs for me but I could see that being an issue if you did have leftovers. Who wants nuked food over and over? <br/><br/>Now the hate.....they server frozen, tri color vegetables with it! There is nothing I hate more than that mix of vegetables. It looks disgusting, lasts equally as bad and I just can't believe any restaurant would put frozen vegetables on any plate. My last minor complain...$3 for a can of pop! <br/><br/>Overall, I love the authentic, hole in the wal, family owned feel. The traditional dishes tasted awesome and look fantastic but the the veg was a huge turn off. I'll be back but will be asking for something different on the side.

Love it! The food is amazing. Enough said! Ppl who say its not that great need help! Haha

Great food - poor service. We were heading to Hungary the next day and looking forward to our first Hungarian experience. We asked for a Casear to start (apparently a BIG no-no) whereupon the server just pointed at the drink menu. The regulars were greeted with big smiles but I felt like we were an inconvenience.<br/>Food was very good but don't sit right beside the kitchen!

Microwaved food!. We ate at Jonas for dinner and I was pretty disappointed. We sat next to the kitchen and watched all the food get microwaved and sent out. Maybe our food was okay when it was made that morning, but after being microwaved the potato pancake was soggy and the beef filling was dry. If I wanted to eat leftovers I can easily do that at home instead of going to a restaurant. When I communicated my concerns to the server she was indifferent about our dining experience.

Simply the best. Hearty, home-cooked, generous portions, not to mention absolutely delicious... from the simple but beautiful cucumber salad, to the schnitzel, the paprikash (OMG!), the cabbage rolls... everything is mouth-watering wonderful! The ambiance is homey, nothing fancy, but comfortable. Jonas' is truly a gem.

Heaven on a plate.... THe chicken paprikash was to die for, the cabbage rolls are amazing, and the schnitzel was perfect. HUGE portions for a really reasonable price. The waitress that we always have is wonderful.

Had a deliious family style meal with a large group of friends. The schnitzel was very fresh and crispy, and they did not cheap out on meat in the cabbage roll. Gnocchi was also delicious... Nothing was too salty and everything had great flavour. Definitely good value for the price.

REALLY GOOD. We went there with a big group and the server was gracious enough to provide separate bills which was very much appreciated. I personally ordered their chicken paprikash and LOVED it. The large portion is very large which resulted in a yummy lunch the next day as left overs. Unfortunately, they ran out of the special of the day so I definitely have to come back to try the stuffed potato pancake. The crepes were pretty good as well. Definitely will be back to try something else.

Great Comfort Food. A very consistent place to eat. A well balanced menu some veg dishes, good soups, mains come in two sizes...the large is really for a big appetite, the crepes are excellent.<br/><br/>Decor is simple and homey...service is prompt and courteous.

What a find great people great food the cabbage salad is nice and fresh .their signature dish is Chicken Paprikash very good but do not miss the cabbage rolls. Highly recommended

Great Lunch. One thing is for sure - I will be back to try more items on the menu. We went for lunch and had the Chicken Paprikash served with Home-Made Dumplings. This was a perfect meal for a chilly day. Thick, rich and tasty.

Homey, Cozy. As the other reviews say - great place for a home cooked type of meal - huge portions - had the Chicken Paprikish and dumplings - awesome! The service was terrific and the restaurant had a lot of Hungarian clients (always a good sign). Limited menu - but had all you need. Bull's Blood wine decent - passed on the Unicum. Oh yes, the crepe desert a perfect ending.

I can't recommend this place highly enough. Everything I've tried from here had been incredible, but their duck special is still my favourite. This is easilly one of the best restaurants in the city.

Great home cooking. I have been going to Jonas' since it first opened more than eleven years ago. It have always been a delightful experience. It is a family run restaurant with great homemade Hungarian dishes. My favourite is the Schnitzel & I usually breakdown and have the Palacsinta -chocolate walnut crepes - the best I've ever eaten. They have daily special but you must get there for an early lunch. The bread & peppers are great with the red bull wine. The service is very friendly and efficient. I don't go in for fine dining just good food, so I strongly suggest people give this a try.

Tasty and good value. I hadn't had Hungarian or German food in over a year (my last haunt for this grub was Marienbad in London, Ontario). I had a very enjoyable meal: the frozen-veg side dish is nothing special, but also not awful; the mashed potatoes are VERY tasty (what is that? Loads of butter? Awesome -that's so old school :); and the schnitzel was fantastic. Portions are quite large too, and prices very reasonable. My husband had the Friday special (beef paprikash in a potato pancake) and it was very nice as well. The ground-nut-and-chocolate-sauce crepes are an interesting flavourful treat too.

A Great meal. Jonas' has been on my wish list for awhile and I'm very pleased with my first visit. The staff are very friendly and attentive while the food is very good, it reminded me of my travels through Eastern Europe.<br/><br/>This is a very small and homey store and the decor is somewhat unusual with Hungarian clothes and "art" on the walls. When we arrived the place was nearly full and everyone was happily eating, many speaking to each other in what I'm guessing was Hungarian. Anytime I see the patrons are of the same ethnicity as the food I know it's a good sign.<br/><br/>The Goulash was very flavorful and the Schnitzel excellent. All of us enjoyed everything we ate. I love the rye bread with peppers they serve before the meal. <br/><br/>The Gundel Palacsinta was an absolute treat for dessert and is a must try if you've never had it.

The best (and only) hungarian restaurant in the city. Unexpensive and typical hungarian food. The decor can be a little....well, too much. But the service is great, and the food is exactly what you're looking for, no surprises. Great place to remember eastern Europe.

Homestyle, great schnitzel. This is my go-to place for schnitzel and Pilsner Urquell. Really cheap, friendly family-run place.

I love Jonas'! Every visit is a pleasure. The food is consistently delicious, the service is always friendly and quick, and the value is unbeatable. If you are planning a visit, I would recommend getting a half sized order, as the regular portion is enormous. Both the dinner and dessert menus offer tasty treats, so try and save room!

...hearty Hungarian food that tastes homemade and genuine but don’t expect re-heated leftovers to taste the same.

Crepes are the name of the game for dessert – filled with anything from nuts & chocolate to jam to cottage cheese...

Jonas' Restaurant is certainly not the place to go for fine dining, but it's a lovely, comfortable little place (with Hungarian kitsch on the walls and a waitress who looks at you funny if you don't order alcohol!) to duck into and warm your belly during

Jonas' Restaurant eluded me for months. Years really. I've always meant to go there, and yet each and every time I tried the mission was a failure. When I went there on a spur of the moment it was closed. Then several lunch reservations failed due to work

The location is small and has a very homey feel to it, the Hungarian embroidery on the walls, traditional dance clothing and souvenirs on display while not exactly what you’d expect are interesting while adding warmth and a little bit of a sense you’re no