I will be going to lake louise and jasper and I am interested in casual dining. Any suggestions?

Our family will also be going there next month. Here are some inexpensive to moderate recommendations from the Frommer's Guide. In Banff: Bruno's Cafe & Grill, 304 Caribou St., (burgers, pizza, wraps, Canadian style entrees); Cafe Alpenglow at the Banff International Hostel (international food); Melissa's Restaurant & Bar, 218 Lynx Street (traditional Canadian food and terrific breakfasts). In Lake Louise: Lake Louise Station, 200 Sentinel Road (converted railway station serving pizza and steaks). In Jasper: Fiddle River Seafood, 620 Connought Dr. (seafood and steaks); Something Else, 621 Patricia St. (Greek food, cajun, and pizza); Jasper Pizza Place, 402 Connought Dr.; Mountain Foods Cafe, 606 Connought Dr. (deli).

Lake Louise is so small that your dining choices there are very limited; I would recommend that you drive to Banff (a 40 to 45 minute drive).

In Banff, try Coyote Grill - the food is very good, the prices more or less average, they have very good coffee, but make reservations because it fills up quickly (and yes - it is a casual place for both lunch and dinner).

In Lake Louise Village, lunch at Laggans is tasty and super casual - it's a cafeteria-bakery type of place, and it's not vey big so at lunchtime it can get very crowded (a sure sign of good food!!)

In Jasper for casual coffee with munchies try Truffles and Trout - good coffee, tasty pizzas, soups, sandwiches.

Fiddle River is good but not quite so casual (I'm not sure if they are open for lunch - I don't think so - but it may have changed recently).

Some comments on the other Frommer's recommendations that Laurafromtexas wrote about:

We have been very disappointed with Something Else (Jasper) - when it first opened, it was excellent, but it has been around a long time, and perhaps has been a victim of its' own success. Last time we dined there the food was edible but not inspired by any stretch of the imagination.

Melissa's (in Banff) for breakfast is very popular, the food is OK.

Lake Louise station is fine too - interesting location next to the railroad tracks so that you can watch the trains roar by.

Mountain Foods Cafe (Jasper) was also OK - we have had lunch there, and I can't think of anything that stands out in my mind about the place, so it's most likely just average in terms of food.

My advice - go where the crowds are - a sure sign of good food!! (and conversely, avoid empty restaurants!!).

We were in that area last year and the whole trip was fabulous! When in Jasper we ate and stayed at Pyramid Lake Lodge and were very pleased with view, service, and food. However, dinner there is on the expensive side. We had a great carry-out breakfast (important to get an early start on Maligne Lake Road in order to see LOTS of wildlife) at Bear's Paw Bakery. Not for those on low-carb diets, but delicious nonetheless. Lunch was at Spooner's--good sandwiches but lots of people. It's conveniently located right across the street from a sweets shop! Don't forget to do the Columbia Icefields and Peyto Lake on the way to/from Jasper!

we really enjoyed our lunch at the station in lake louise.
coyote grill in banff always gets good reviews.

Another pleasant place to have lunch is the restaurant at Moraine Lake, 9 miles from Lake Louise. Moraine Lake is beautiful and is worth seeing, with or without the restaurant. The parking lot gets filled up, so try to get there by mid morning. Walk up the pile of rocks at the north end of the lake (there's quite a civilized path on the rear side of the rock pile). Follow that with a walk along the lakeshore path. THEN have lunch.

I haven't had dinner at Moraine Lake, so I don't know what the prices are like at night.

Another nice place to have lunch is Deer Lodge, across the road from the Lake Louise parking lot. It's a rather expensive place to have dinner, but its lunch menu is very pleasing and is moderately priced.

Restaurants throughout the Canadian Rockies tend to be casual when it comes to dress. Moderately priced restaurants usually are casual for both lunch and dinner. Expensive restaurants tend to be casual for lunch and smart casual for dinner.

Anyone know how expensive the dining at post hotel is, and is it open for lunch or breakfast?

I just called the Post Hotel's toll free number (1-800-661-1586). The woman who answered the phone said they served breakfast, lunch and dinner, both to their own hotel guests and members of the public who were not staying at their hotel. She did recommend, however, that summer visitors make reservations for both lunch and dinner. (I note from the hotel's website that there are two dinners seatings, one up to 6.30 p.m. and the other from 8.30 p.m. onwards.)

The woman who answered the phone said that main courses ranged in price from C$33 to C$48 (US$25 to US$36).

I've never eaten at the Post Hotel, but it has been featured in gourmet magazines, and the chef has won several culinary awards. Several of my Calgary friends rave about it, and it has received excellent reviews here at Fodors too.

Deer Lodge is excellent as well. In September 2003 my husband and I stayed there and had dinner and breakfast there. On other occasions we've had lunch there while we've been on day trips to the mountains.

If memory serves me correctly, most main courses were in the C$25 to C$40 (US$20 - US$30) price range at dinner time. We found the wine list on the expensive side. We ordered just about the cheapest wine they had, and I seem to recall the meal came to C$120 (US$90) for the two of us. I had a vegetarian entree. If I'd eaten meat, I think we'd have been looking at another US$10 on top of that.

My husband had elk medallions for dinner, and he said they were out of this world. He claimed they melted in his mouth.

Borealis, thanks for the clarification on the Frommer's suggestions. We have taken note!

Comment on Post Hotel dining: We ate dinner there last week. The food and service were excellent and, compared to other restaurants that have received the same type of awards and ratings, we thought it was reasonably priced. Usually this type of restaurant has an outrageous wine list (price-wise), but there were a number of "affordable" bottles.

The casual restaurant at the Buffalo Mtn. Lodge is good (or was 2 yrs. ago). There is also the expensive one inside the lodge which is overpriced like the lodge.

There is cozy restaurant inside Deer Lodge, about 1 kilometer from Chateau Lake Louise, food is reasonable and good. In Jasper there are some nice restaurants in front of train station, or try Jasper PARK Lodge.

This may not be as casual as you have in mind, but since others have mentioned Deer Lodge and Post Hotel, I must mention Baker Creek Bistro. It's the restaurant among some cabins on 1-A near the Lake Louise end of the road -- off the beaten path just enough to avoid crowds, and along some excellent hiking/viewing areas. The chef is Bavarian, and his wife (Anna Marie) runs the dining room. The duck is wonderful. Pricewise, a little more reasonable than Deer Lodge, especially the wine list. (We also loved the restaurant in Deer Lodge, but the wine was surprisingly expensive.)

I agree with the Baker Creek Bistro. We stayed there last summer and had one meal there...it was wonderful! Just as good as when we were there 15 years before We cooked the rest of our meals in our cabin...but walked past the bistro many times and it always smelled wonderful and it was always full...definitely a good sign!

The Post Hotel serves an absolutely wonderful breakfast, worth every penny!