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cost of living/food in banff

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Hi , we are going to Banff in March and would like some info on the cost of living, mainly food and also any recommendations for good places to eat in the town. We are staying at the Inns of Banff-Swiss Village which I believe is on the outskirts.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
you probably would be better posting this in the 'Resorts' area.....

If you are looking for the cost of eating out, then it will be somewhat cheaper than in the UK. If you go to somewhere like Tony Romas (one of my faves) you would have difficulty spending more than £15 per head.... I suspect most would be somewhat less. It all depends what you want to do.... if you want, im pretty sure you could do it alot cheaper, but I like to enjoy myself to the full.... I think about money 50 weeks in the year, so i think i deserve to just enjoy it for the other 2!
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I would recommend Saltliks as one of my fave restaurants in Banff, it is quite expensive but well worth it. Other good ones are the Keg and the buffet restaurant at the Banff Springs Hotel is excellent value. The Maple Leaf is meant to be very good and is very expensive but have never really enjoyed the two meals we have had there. As to prices - I just can't remember! I seem to remember taking £300 cash for 2 weeks and then having to get some more from the cashpoint. And putting some on credit card. £200/week?? That probably sounds about right. Although exchange rates were better then. You can do it a lot cheaper, there are much cheaper restaurants around but we like to just enjoy ourselves and worry about the money when we get back. And I'm sure others spend a lot more Very Happy
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Oh yeah, the Keg chain is great for a relaxed atmosphere and inexpensive (but good quality) grub
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Mmmmmm the steak at Saltlik is fantastic, the Keg can be quite pricey and all they do is steak, try Earl's they always have stunning bar maids !
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Earls restaurant was a favourite with us and always had a queue for tables during easter holiday period. Nice looking waitresses always well received wink . Say hello to my brother working in the Shell garage for the season if you see him! Jealous face.
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I've stayed in The Inns of Banff 4 or 5 of times; it's perfectly OK, altho' not particularly special. It's built into the hill and consists of four (?) buildings joined by a mixture of bridges and passages. It's astonishingly easy to get lost. There's a reasonably jolly pub called the Bear's Den (renamed the Milngavie by us), which does OK food, and an OK restaurant. There's also a goodish Japanese restaurant. A brekkie buffet is available which is OK, although we preferred to eat up the mountain.

The pool is fine for kids to caper about in, but is not for proper swimming. The outdoor hot tub is great, fantastic view. There's a very respectable rental shop in the hotel. The hotel is about 15/20 mins walk from the town centre. There's a cheap bus thing which does the trip, and cabs are cheap for the ride home.

There are loads of good (in a N.American way) and cheap bars and restaurants in Banff. Earls is good, and there's a place on the main street (Banff Aveneue) which does fondues and hot stones, I can't remember the name. There is a Keg steak place next door to the filling station opposite the hotel, which is good (for steaks). There are loads of Japanese restaurants (lots of Japanese visitors in the summer). The Maple Leaf is good, but not cheap. The Magpie and Stump is supposed to be good, but I've not been. There's also a good Italian, also on the main street, but again I can't remember the bloody name. You should visit the Banff Springs Hotel; it's a fine building, and dine in the Bow Valley Grill; it's the best buffet I've seen, bar none. The Sunday brunch buffet there is excellent as well. Great value. The view from the main bar (Rundlestone?) is amazing.

If you visit Lake Louise, try the LL station, one of my favourite bars/restuarants anywhere. The food is good and it's a lovely building with a great atmos and the occasional ridiculously long train passing by. The train guys sometimes stop for a coffee.

It's difficult to give costs. It's certainly cheaper than UK, like for like, and the quality is excellent, even if there isn't the same variey. In most places you're struggling to pay more than £20/head, all in, for dinner, a good deal less in some.
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After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
richmond, You mentioned the Magpie and Stump which I had forgotten but that is definately worth a visit, excellent Mexican food with good (if a little cramped) atmosphere.
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Just back from Banff.
Found I was typically spending 20-25 Cdn a head as a minimum (2 people who like good food and wine).

For example, at the Caribou they do the hot rocks/fondue dining, the 'exotics' dish (alligator, caribou etc) is 55Cdn.
Wine seems quite pricey, anything from 35Cdn (at Caribou) to 45+ (Saltlik).

Don't forget to factor in 15% service charge, and often 7% GST, for all food bills.

Prices compared to the UK obviously vary depending on where you live.....

2 recommendations for fine dining:
Beujolais - around 100Cdn per head for 'fixed price' menu, plus wine - that bill was around 330 for 2 people
Fuze - 95Cdn for 'table d'hote' WITH wine.. that bill around 220 for 2. Both serve EXCELLENT food.

will try to publish a proper summary in due course.

Oh, and the Inns is part of the 'free shuttle' service running into town via the Caribou and Ptarmigan lodges - every 30 mins from 4pm 'out', and quarter to and past 'back', from the town information booth in downtown.
h.
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Try the Grizzly House, decent price, good food and atmosphere.
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Grizzly House, that's the place with the fondues and hot rocks. Thanks Ken Lingwood. The atmosphere is good, although predominatly of grilling meat; our vegetarian cab driver knew exactly where we'd been, even though he picked us up somewhere else. I though that vegetarianism was illegal in western Canada, but apparently not.
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Thanks all, lots of usefull info Little Angel
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A bit more info on 'cost of living' in Banff:
(all prices in Cdn)

Groceries:
pack of 'select' chocolate cookies 3.59
bananas 1.30 per kg
granola bars 3.30 for 6

Eating out (all prices excluding the 'not really at all discretionary' 15% service unless stated)
Banff Springs Buffet (xmas 'special' price) 49
Chilean Red to go with (on promo, and one of their cheapest) 35
- food is 'to die for', and the best buffet bar none, and worth the LONG walk from town (25 minutes stroll.... and thats from the Beaujolias end of town)

Grizzly House (not the Caribou as I erroneously mentioned above). On Banff Avenue
- 'exotics' hot-rock (alligator, shark etc) 57
- beef and scallops 42
- litre of house red 44

Sukiyaki (Japanese!) (Banff Avenue, just up from Grizzly)
- deluxe sushi & sashimi (I think this is a 'two person' dish) 32
- tempura 17
- special sake 14
(total for 2 people was 73Cdn, making it one of our 'bargain' meals out!)

Beaujolais (the 'best' restaurant, i.e. fine dining.... well, it was xmas eve! River end of Banff Avenue.)

'classic' 3 course menu, mini a la carte 69
wine (a very nice botttle, so nice I now cant remember what it was!) 85....
with service and aperitifs we totalled out a shade over 300.....
(the winelist is more of a novel... and has some awesome (and awesomely priced) wines....

Fuze (just across from Beaujolais, in the very unprepossessing mall... but 2nd best restaurant in Banff... would not be out of place in the sleeker parts of london.

'degustation' menu (i.e. with varied wines)95 a head... and the wines were VERY good

Saltlik (THE steakhouse in Banff... if you _love_ steak)

steaks are 15-27
wines START at 35 (and rise to the several hundreds)
dinner for 2 here was 120 including service


... and just to prove we weren't splurging ALL the time

Spaghetti Junction (Cascade Plaza)
lunch for 2, including beers & service 32


Hire
Lake Louise: normal board and boots..... 42
You can get slightly better rates in town, but there is a frustratingly small selection at each shop (e.g. Ski VIP only had the Bandit's and Rossi Vipers, and none in the size my g/f wanted). Mondano on Banff Ave had Dynastar, GS (in the first mall) had very little available to demo. It proved impossible to do a sensible 'demo' of different skis... but the advice available at GS and Mondano was excellent. The boot fitters at GS in particular REALLY know their stuff... if you're ski boots are feeling off, go and chat to them, they can work wonders with a few bucks of foam and decades of boot fitting experience....
Oh, and Sunshine have a Salomon demo shack at the Village, didn't check prices here though.


all opinions etc my own, E&OE,
pax,
h.
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Just got back and stayed in the Inns Banff. My 9 year old daughter and myself. We found:-

Bumpers (just over the road) to be excellent food and value
Hotel Bar to be OK for food and ale (although service was poor)
Pizza place in town good (think it was Athena)
Spaghetti Factory good for kids

Free bus from hotel to town is frequent and easy.

Hotel is first pick up and drop off for ski bus which is very convenient. We caught an early one and had breakfast at the slopes.

Hotel has its own hire shop which makes things easy.

Not normally up at this time but still jetlagged unfortunately.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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My favourite place to eat in Banff is Coyotes Southwestern Grill. https://coyotesbanff.com
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Quote:

Don't forget to factor in 15% service charge, and often 7% GST, for all food bills.


And the very much expected tip!

Quote:

Spaghetti Factory good for kids


Is good for anyone! Although sure by no means fine dining. But cheap and big portions (mains come with soup/salad starter, bread, and ice cream). It used to be unlimited bread, but seems like they stopped that.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I'm particularly smitten with the Caribou to stay in and the food is good ...
Buffet Breakfast for about £10 from memory... I cant be bothered to send the photo of it.
But you have to be hungry.
Other people have shared loads of info here.
The Irish pub . St James's Gate does very good and filling bar snacks ...
i.e. small yourkshire puddings stuffed with roast beef and horse raddish sauce.
worth a try especially if they have live music on.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Bit of a thread resurrection - I'm sure the OP has been and gone by now Toofy Grin Toofy Grin
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@DrLawn, the other shared info is 18yrs outta date though wink
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@Bones, you pipped me at the ‘post’ Laughing
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Oh dear.. and @Claude B's daughter is 27 now Shocked
He may even be a grandad now!

But the prices are about the same Very Happy
@Bones, & @dode

The old ones are the best!
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I looked into a Banff ski trip recently, and another zero has appeared on the price tag compared with 20 years ago.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
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Was just reading this thread thinking what good value Banff was Smile
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hamilton wrote:
Just back from Banff.
Found I was typically spending 20-25 Cdn a head as a minimum (2 people who like good food and wine).


Unlike me. I like 5h1t food... rolling eyes
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I may bother to do an update for my current roadtrip... Typical wine prices in BC (revelstoke, sunpeaks etc) are 70Cdn for a starter red... A very good ribeye at sunpeaks was 58, soup and chips on the mountain was 22.... Hot chocolate is about 5cdn (all prices plus tax)
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Holy necromancy! So someone registered on SH just to post on an 18-year-old topic? That must be a record.

How does that even happen?

(that said, SH probably has the highest percentage of necro-threads of any bb I frequent. I wonder why that is...)
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Pasigal wrote:
Holy necromancy! So someone registered on SH just to post on an 18-year-old topic? That must be a record.

How does that even happen?

There's no time limit on Spam.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
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If you're going to Banff/Lake Louise for skiing and want to save money, consider staying in Canmore. Price of accommodations will be much less than Banff, you can still walk to a number of restaurants, and there is transportation to the mountains available.
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 You know it makes sense.
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2006 was my first of many trips to Banff (number 9 coming up in March!). I had to check this thread to see if I had posted on it. Or started it!

Whilst the skiing has remained amazing and the location is simply stunning the prices have sadly not remained so low!
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Locking this topic due to the resurrectionists, please start a new one for current information or queries,
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