Melrose Cafe and Bar

Description:

• In 2004, the Calgary Flames, the city's NHL hockey team, made an improbable run all the way to the Stanley Cup finals. They came up one win short of victory, but Melrose's fortune was made: A cavernous sports bar with more massive-screen TVs than you could count on both hands, Melrose became command central for the city's impromptu "Red Mile," a stretch of hockey celebrations along 17th that got so large it had to be closed to car traffic on game nights. Fans donned red -- some female fans, famously, only on their lower half -- and the party always centered on Melrose. With its only-passable food, you're not apt to plan a night out for dinner here; but to watch a game -- especially the Flames -- there's not a better spot in town.

• © Frommer's 2012

Other features:

Sports Bars,Wine Bars