18 Best Restaurants in Alberta, Canada

Victor and Cathy Caracciolo opened Mercato 20 years ago and it has been a local favorite ever since. Mamma Cathy is still in the kitchen every day, whipping up delicious contemporary Italian fare for a constant stream of regular customers; try the family-style mixed grill or Mamma’s handmade gnocchi using the same recipe she learned from her own mama. There’s also a spacious market that sells cheese, meats, fresh-baked bread, handmade pasta, and ready-cooked meals to take home. Either way, you can’t go wrong.

One of the best restaurants in town, Uccellino’s prepares traditional Italian fare with a modern flair like buckwheat pappardelle and ricotta- and mascarpone-filled ravioli, but try the Chef’s Tasting Menu to get the most out of your visit. Innovative cocktails and an excellent wine list only enhance the dining experience.

Just off Main Street in a quiet alley, this restaurant gets its name from the elevation of Canmore, and Chef Blake Flann focused on creating an elevated dining experience when he opened the place in 2020. Flann describes his contemporary Asian-influenced cuisine as "pop culture cuisine" because it is inspired by the ever-changing global food scene. The innovative menu features a regular, vegetarian, or vegan chef's choice menu or guests can order shared plates like hand crab rolls and pork belly candy. Bar Déjà Vu, the speakeasy lounge within the restaurant, puts great emphasis on its cocktail list and a partnership with Wild Life Distillery led to the creation of Elevation 4296 Vodka, a black-colored vodka that is a nod to Canmore's history as a coal mining town. This restaurant is not recommended for children under 12.

Beautiful views of Pyramid Lake and Pyramid Mountain are complemented by a menu of gourmet comfort food with a Canadian twist. Breakfast options include brioche French Toast with a haskap berry compote and maple syrup, while dinner offers a five-course carnivore tasting menu or a five-course vegetarian tasting menu; you can also order à la carte. Other dinner specialties include duck breast with sweet potato fondant or Rocky Mountain Trout with roasted fennel.

Named for the now defunct 27th letter of the alphabet, this Whyte Avenue restaurant is a local favorite. The creative menu is varied and contains lots of vegetarian and vegan options that even meat lovers will enjoy. Great for a date night or special occasion, ask to sit on the charming and private patio, and don't miss half-price bottles of house wine and 2-for-1 appetizers on Thursdays.

If you’re in the mood for a taste of Europe, take a trip to this pub-style bistro for French-inspired cuisine. Situated in a remodeled building from the 1920s, this restaurant serves modern riffs on classic French dishes like Baked Brie, a great French onion soup, and Lobster Provencal. There's also a lengthy list of European wines and beer to pair with your meal.

This second-floor restaurant has great views of Banff Avenue and incredible steaks—namely Angus and Wagyu prime beef—that are sourced from ranches along the Cowboy Trail—the heart of Alberta's ranch country—dry aged in-house, started on a mesquite-wood grill, and finished in a copper pan with herbs and butter. Servers are well-versed in the various cuts of beef, but if steak isn't your thing, alternatives include pistachio pesto gnocchi, bourbon barbecue beef ribs, and wild British Columbia salmon. Appetizers and side dishes are served family-style. An extensive wine list and an in-house sommelier ensure perfect pairings. Mud pie is the signature dessert, and it's exceptional. This restaurant also has a roof-top patio open in summer.

A funky atmosphere and an "evil"-inspired menu make this Jasper restaurant a fun place to dine. Local favorites among the globally inspired, locally sourced entrées include the Malevolent Meatloaf (Alberta bison wrapped in wild boar bacon), Nefarious Chicken (fried chicken with chili bourbon maple sauce, served on a toasted waffle), and the gluten-free El Diablo Bowl (marinated free-range chicken, chipotle sauce, jasmine rice, corn salsa, black beans, and corn tortilla sticks). There's always a chef's cut steak special as well as a seafood feature, and the Cowboy sushi made with grilled beef tenderloin is a fun appetizer. Save room for WTF dessert---fried banana spring rolls with chocolate and caramel sauce.

This pine-finished, second-floor dining room has great views of the railway station, downtown Jasper, and the mountains. The Canadian seafood, wild game, and Alberta beef dishes are classic and delicious, and daily specials are noted on a chalkboard menu. This is a good place to sample halibut or lobster from Atlantic Canada or enjoy Alberta game meats like elk or bison. The wine list includes some noteworthy Canadian wines.

Named for the former dairy it now inhabits, Model Milk serves upscale comfort food (think burgers, fried chicken, and roasted cauliflower) beneath chandeliers made of glass milk bottles and brick walls, concrete floors, and steel beams that recall the building’s industrial heritage. This trendy restaurant has been on every best restaurant list since it opened in 2011; don't miss the small plates to share like the Savoury Fry Bread and Organic AB Beets. Some Sundays, the chef whips up prix-fixe three-course meals served family-style.

With water from six Canadian Rockies glaciers and grain sourced from high-altitude family farms, Park Distillery produces spirits with aromas and flavors like no others. Its restaurant features a fun campfire-cuisine theme with classic coleslaw, warm potato salad, or mac and cheese served alongside rotisserie chicken, salmon, ribs, burgers, or steaks. There's a nice selection of vegan and gluten-free options as well. Sprawling over two floors, the restaurant has picnic tables and wall decorations that look right out of a kids' summer camp, though the lively main-floor bar reminds patrons of the grown-up pleasures to be enjoyed.

If you’re looking for authentic Neapolitan pizza, look no further than Pulcinella, one of only a few Associazione Pizzaiuoli Napoletani--certified pizzerias in North America. Chef Domenic Tudda, whose parents owned an Italian restaurant in the same location for decades, trained in Naples, and locals rave about the pizza, as well as the fabulous wine list, calamari fritti, and caprese salad.

This intimate dining space combines delicious with nutritious, using regionally sourced seafood, beef, pork, and game to create Mediterranean-fusion fare. Consider the seafood pot, with ingredients simmered in a broth made with tomatoes, coconut, and kaffir lime and served over sweet-potato noodles with Asian vegetables; just save room for the delicious chocolate-pecan tart (surprise . . . it's vegan and gluten-free!). Creative cocktails are served at the large wooden bar, where there's also a nice selection of wines by the glass.

The cozy main-floor lounge serves casual comfort food. The top-level restaurant serves more elaborate dishes—perhaps maple-rosemary braised short rib with Saskatoon berry sauce or grilled arctic char with beetroot risotto—in a modern dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows, wood-plank walls, and dark-wood tables. The nightly, three-course, "trust me" menu is a good value for adventurous eaters who don't mind letting the chef decide what's for dinner. There's a nice selection of reasonably priced wines (by the glass or bottle), cocktails, and craft and draft beers.

You can't beat the panoramic mountain views from this restaurant on the third floor of the Banff Gondola at 2,281 meters (7,486 feet) above sea level. There are floor-to-ceiling windows on all sides and the cuisine is just as elevated as the scenery with a regularly changing menu that features local ingredients like Alberta beef, British Columbia salmon, and prairie-grown vegetables complimented by local craft beers, craft spirits, and Canadian wines. There are vegan, gluten-free, and vegetarian menu choices as well as a children's menu. You can also purchase packages that include the Banff Gondola ride and dinner. Reservations are recommended; request a window seat if you can!

Dine on the patio or inside at this restaurant serving classic Canadian food in a unique setting: the original Lake Louise Railway Station. Daily lunch specials round out the menu of salads, burgers, steaks, and salmon. Save room for the rhubarb-strawberry pie, just like grandma used to make—if your grandma made really good pie from scratch.

Just outside the Jasper National Park gates, this gourmet farm-to-table restaurant is a hidden gem with wonderful mountain views. The menu changes often, but the food is always made from locally sourced, seasonal ingredients (try the bison burger) and everything, including the desserts, is prepared fresh on-site; there are also about two dozen beer choices including an extensive locally made craft beer list and a fun cocktail and martini menu. The restaurant received the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence several years running and the carefully curated wine list features over 300 well-priced wines—some served by the glass and some by the bottle. There are two seatings for dinner—one between 5 and 6 pm and a second after 7:30 pm.

Located on the third floor of Grizzly Paw Brewery, this restaurant embraces craft beer culture with a seasonally inspired menu that pairs well with the beers made at the brewery. Each dish has a suggested pairing and the menu includes salads, a wide array of pub-style starters, oven-fired flatbreads, burgers, steaks, pasta, and other dishes. If beer's not your thing, wine, spirits, cider, and craft cocktails are also on the menu. The brewery is also known for its non-alcoholic craft soda and can prepare a flight of sodas instead of a flight of beer. If you sit near the window, you'll enjoy views of the Three Sisters, Ha Ling Peak, and Mount Rundle from the restaurant and the outdoor patio.