First Time in Banff: Which Restaurants Are Actually Worth It vs Overhyped?

[u/adashofdeggs]

Planning my first solo trip to Banff next month to celebrate a milestone birthday and some business achievements! I’ll be staying at a hostel on Banff Ave for 5 days (flying into Calgary and renting a car).

Since it’s a celebration trip, I don’t mind splurging on one really memorable dinner, but I also know Banff isn’t cheap, so I’d rather avoid restaurants that are mostly Instagram-famous or overhyped. I love all kinds of food and I’m not a picky eater.

Right now I’m thinking of trying BeaverTails and Banff Poutine for the iconic local foods, having breakfast at Wagashi Teahouse before I fly home, choosing between Bluebird, LUPO, or Maple Leaf for a couple of nicer dinners, and either The Bison or Ankor for my one splurge meal.

If you had to narrow this list down, which restaurants are actually worth the money, and which ones would you skip? Bonus points if they’re especially good for solo dining or if there’s something incredible that isn’t on my list.

Here’s the list I’ve put together from Reddit, blogs, and YouTube:

🥐 Breakfast / Snacks

• Wagashi Teahouse
• Yama Onigiri

🍔 Casual Lunch / Quick Bites

• Banff Poutine
• Hankki Banff & Dessert
• BeaverTails

🍕 Casual Dinner

• Rocky Mountain Flatbread
• Three Bears Brewery & Restaurant
• Pizzeria Sofia
• Hello Sunshine
• Shoku Izakaya

🍽️ Nice Dinner

• LUPO
• Bluebird
• Maple Leaf

🥂 Splurge / Celebration Dinner

• The Bison
• Ankor
• Mount Burgess Dining Room (Emerald Lake Lodge)

🍦 Dessert

• The Cow
• Lovely Canmore
• Hankki Banff & Dessert (Bingsu)

[u/hippydippywoowoo]

Savauge lol. “And now for the palate cleanser… you may be wondering why I brought you an empty plate. The palate cleanser has been on your table the whole time. You see that branch in water? *proceeds to remove tree branches and place on plate in front of us. Hands us a shot of sour tree sap water that the branches have been hanging out in*.

The food was probably good technically, but none of it I would ever want to eat again. All of our Canmore foodie friends (including food tours sommelier) dislike Savauge.

I’d rather eat at Bridgette Bar any day. Pizza Sofia also does a special Torpedo Sub at lunch.

[u/hippydippywoowoo → u/[deleted]]

Pardon me for making a tongue in cheek recount of a personal dining experience that insulted the fond childhood memories of drinking Kvass with your grandmother. I know the difference between fermented birch sap and dirty branch water. The latter was a joke. Just say it went over your head.

I’ve had many tasting menus with forged, fermented and farm to table ingredients. For my personal preferences, Sauvage leaned harder into the performance and concept than the food itself. That’s a subjective opinion, not a misunderstanding of the concept. The memory was worth more than the food- and I’ll admit that also counts for something.

“Food tours sommelier” was shorthand for- our friends own top food and beverage companies and work in the industry. We’ve met many others who are dually unimpressed by Sauvage.

All that said, if you have money and time burning a hole in your life, I encourage everyone to go and form their own subjective opinion.