he Big Apple. To some, it is the center of the world. A veritable zeitgeist of culture with a million stories to tell. Them’s big shoes to fill. Copious establishments of years gone by in the city of Calgary have had names with a certain homage to NYC. There were the nightclubs “The Big Apple”, “NYLA”, “Manhattan’s” and there still is “Belvedere” and, of course, the titular “SoHo” of this review.

To associate yourself with the city that never sleeps is to promise something to your patronage that may be slightly difficult to keep. Unless you’re the three hundredth joint to borrow the allure and mystique of a famous city to boost your image. In this case, every other bar and restaurant around has beat you over the head with it, so you don’t really expect much of anything anymore.

That’s what makes SoHo such an interesting case study. It started out as an after work haunt for the inner city crowd with industry nights and happy hours and parlayed its momentum into one of the city’s hottest and most celebrated clubs. The button-down collars get flipped up as the weekday lunch and after work crowd of pencil pushers mutate into discotheque divas and demigods on weekends when this multilevel joint explodes with vibrant Latin sounds (and a little hip-hop and RNB thrown in for variety). Add to that a brand spanking new menu that has loads of tequila, scotch and wine and all of a sudden we’ve got ourselves a contender here.

Aside from aspiring to the lofty SoHo (South of Houston) aesthetic, this late-night club has a rather basic menu with no entrée over $20. While the focus is on the bar – admittedly people dance better to Latin vibes with a little liquor (or a lot) in their system – the list of dishes has some standout munchies. Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwiches, Bison Burgers, Lamb Kebabs, and Thai Chicken Drumsticks make great conversation starters with ravished partiers (provided you don’t mind sharing with the sexy ladies at the table next door).

Surprisingly, the SoHo Bar & Grill actually does manage to muster up some of the attitude and character of its namesake south of the border with its melting pot masses and recent complete rehaul of the entire design. The new “upscale casual” look actually has more of a SoHo vibe and the ethnically diverse clientele is also emblematic of Gotham’s ever-growing populace of immigrants. Start spreading the news: with some Latin flavour and a new attitude, SoHo Bar & Grill is bringing a little Nuyorican soul to the prairies. -H.J.