Betty Lou's Library

Betty Lou's Library hides in the lower level of the historic Devenish building on 17th Avenue SW. Guests whisper a password into an old telephone beside a tall bookcase, which swings open onto a dim, Prohibition-era lounge that Avenue Calgary called a Parisian salon meets speakeasy: velvet curtains, wainscotting, Tiffany-style lamps, crystal chandeliers and antique furniture on Persian rugs. Owner Blaine Armstrong named it after his mother, Betty Lou, a keen reader and one of the first female bartenders in Victoria.

Nearly every cocktail is named after a woman poet, writer or artist, with sours like the Djuna Barnes and a short Bibliography of gin and tonics named for F. Scott Fitzgerald's novels, including The Beautiful and the Damned with Sylvius gin and cucumber mint tonic. Savour Calgary notes small plates to go with the drinks. Armstrong told Avenue that some regulars drink their way through the whole menu, and the bar placed #36 on Canada's 50 Best Bars in 2023.