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    Home » Lifestyle » Adventure » Travel » North America

    The Best Restaurants in Canmore, Alberta, Canada

    January 20, 2017 / Updated Jun 08, 2020 / by Carolyn Gratzer Cope / 4 Comments / This post may contain affiliate links. Learn more.

    Here’s a quick rundown of the best restaurants in Canmore that we enjoyed with family and friends.

    Best Restaruants Canmore Alberta Canada Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co 780 | Umami Girl

    On our summer vacation to the Canadian Rockies, we “discovered” Canmore, a welcoming, down-to-earth mountain town just a few miles east of Banff National Park. To be more honest than necessary, we only ended up staying in Canmore because we booked the trip late enough that there wasn’t a lot of availability in the town of Banff. That was a lucky turn of events. After two nights at the schmantzy Rimrock Resort in Banff, we decamped to Canmore. Turns out Banff, for all its beauty, is SUPER touristy, and we found the food options to be pretty meh. Canmore, though, is fabulous. A real mountain town. A real town in general, which Banff is…kinda not these days. Here are the best restaurants in Canmore to visit with a family (and, if you’re lucky, with friends from Calgary who come to hike with you and stay for dinner and ice cream).

    Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co.

    (Pictured above and below.) Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co. needs to happen for you, okay? After a day of hiking or skiing, I can’t imagine anything better than sitting down to a lovingly made personal pizza or bowl of pasta and a Big Rock IPA. (Because pasta and beer is a thing? I don’t know. Blame me for that one.) This is one of those places where the back pages of the menu introduce the farms and producers from which ingredients are sourced. Staff is friendly, crowd is reasonably diverse and the vibe is great. That photo above shows Cope ringing in his 42nd birthday at our low-key table for four in this converted garage. If you ask me, it doesn’t get much better than this.

    Best Restaruants Canmore Alberta Canada Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co 780 | Umami Girl

    The Range Artisan Roasted Sandwiches

    Soup, sandwich and décor nirvana is yours at The RANGE. This relatively new shop with just a few tables specializes in sandwiches made from slow-roasted meats. Their soups smelled great, and the roasted vegetable sandwich, pictured below, was delicious and didn’t read one bit like a second thought. We took sandwiches to go for a hike. Things got hella rainy, but we were full and happy.

    Best Restaruants Canmore Alberta Canada The Range 780 | Umami Girl
    Best Restaruants Canmore Alberta Canada The Range 780 | Umami Girl
    Best Restaruants Canmore Alberta Canada The Range 780 | Umami Girl-5

    Tavern 1883

    I forgot to get a picture of this place, which is a shame, because they have a great beer garden and a cozy vibe inside. If only there were a way to see it on the internet, right? We ate tacos and mac and cheese, salmon burgers and truffled fries. I enjoyed the Village Maiden ISA. They were crowded but still fit us in at a table for eight with virtually no wait.

    Old School Bus Ice Cream

    As you probably know by now, it’s not a Cope outing without ice cream. We tried two places in Canmore, and Old School Bus was the hands-down winner for ice cream quality, price, blue tongues and general awesomeness.

    Best Restaruants Canmore Alberta Canada Old School Bus Ice Cream 780 | Umami Girl
    Best Restaruants Canmore Alberta Canada Old School Bus Ice Cream 780 | Umami Girl

    Blake Canmore

    Right, so we didn’t actually eat at Blake Canmore, which didn’t exist yet when we visited. What happened instead was this: we walked past this rad-looking pop-up restaurant built in an old English bus, I noticed they were serving “Umami Fries,” and I put a photo of it on Instagram. Turns out the bus is a seasonal pop-up run by the same folks who now own the full-fledged restaurant Blake Canmore. They’re super-friendly on Instagram, and their food looks fabulous. If we ever go back to Canmore, this spot will definitely be on our list, and I’d suggest you put it on yours too. That’s it! Don’t forget to check out our other Canada posts, which will be multiplying on the regular.

    Best Restaruants Canmore Alberta Canada Blake Canmore 780 | Umami Girl

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    About Carolyn Gratzer Cope

    Hi there, I'm Carolyn Gratzer Cope. Welcome to Umami Girl, where I've been sharing recipes and more for thoughtful folks since 2008. Learn more.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. James says

      August 02, 2022 at 2:55 am

      This list is very outdated. I'm sorry, most of the restaurants have changed/changed ownership/or closed over the pandemic. Please visit Canmore again shortly!

      Reply
      • Carolyn Gratzer Cope says

        August 02, 2022 at 9:33 am

        I'm sure you're right, and I'm sorry to hear it! This post is from a different era in travel, blogging, and the world in general. I do hope to visit Canmore again, but wouldn't presume to update the post without doing so.

        Reply
    2. Candace says

      May 21, 2019 at 8:58 pm

      Ok...first of all, I sort of secretly dream of being considered a domestic goddess...but *sigh*...the title just hadn’t fallen upon me yet...UNTIL you so thoroughly explained basic pancakes to me in a way I could understand! ?? I just needed that one person to explain to me “why” room temperature was best for eggs and milk and the art of affecting gluten the way you so scientifically did! I finally get it;) I cannot wait to try out your other recipes - there is hope for me after all!!! Yeehaw!!! ...and I live in Cochrane, AB...and love sitting and having a beer in Canmore at the Tavern pub:) Glad you enjoyed travelling here!!!

      Reply
      • Carolyn Gratzer Cope says

        May 26, 2019 at 1:18 pm

        Hi, Candace! Yay, I'm SO glad you found the pancakes post useful. Hooray for Alberta. We will be back one day soon, I'm sure.

        Reply

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