When a small historic building came available in the heart of Bridgeland, business partners Mike Hope (owner of Murdoch's Bar & Grill) and Shayne Perrin (owner of Blue Star Diner and Dairy Lane Cafe) jumped at the opportunity to finally launch an experimental venture they’d been discussing – a combination cocktail bar and barbershop inspired by the speakeasies of the prohibition era. “It kind of happened over a game of tennis,” Mike explains. “Shayne and I had been talking about doing something for a while and he mentioned that this space was coming available. We thought a cocktail bar would be cool in here, and to have a barbershop as part of the cocktail bar.“
Inspired by a little bar in New York City called Blind Barber, Mike and Shayne (whose grandfather was a barber) opened Cannibale as Calgary's barbershop-fronted modern speakeasy. “A lot of the old barber shops were fronts for speakeasies,” explains Mike. “When the chemicals and stuff were being shipped in, it didn’t look suspicious. It was actually hooch, but it being guised as Barbicide and other chemicals for barbering.”
True to its speakeasy origins, Cannibale is, in fact, fronted by a single chair barbershop entrance that offers haircuts, shaves and beard trimming services. Appointments are recommended and can be booked online, but walk-ins are usually available on Sunday afternoons as well as at the barbershop’s second location inside Kent of Inglewood.
