shane eaton 8/4/26 shane eaton 8/4/26

Calgary

Most people think of Calgary as oil and gas, the Stampede, or maybe the Plus 15 network linking downtown buildings so you can cross the city in winter without stepping outside.

But Calgary runs one of the most interesting food and drink scenes in Canada, and most people have no idea. It's home to my favorite ramen (Shiki Menya) and pho (Pure). More importantly, it's home to Missy's This That, a bar built around an outstanding wine and spirits menu (9th on Canada's Top 100 Bars 2026 and 79th on North America's 50 Best Bars 2026).

Then there's industry darling Shelter (20th on Canada's Top 100 Bars 2026 and 98th on North America's 50 Best Bars 2026), and the talk of the town Eight (2nd on North America's 50 Best Restaurants 2026 and 9th on Canada's Top 100 Restaurants 2026), one of the hardest reservations to land anywhere in the world.

Even Mount Pleasant Vintage, the beloved Vancouver bar-lounge-thrift store, has just opened a Calgary outpost. All of which makes the case that this city is fast becoming Canada's most exciting food and beverage destination.

Cocktails

Missy’s This That

If you know you know. Missy’s This That is Calgary’s industry darling thanks to the best value spirits and wine menu in Western Canada. Coupled with the positive energy of the staff, it’s no surprise that hospitality professionals love stopping by on their off days. Missy’s keeps things simple with an understated decor but executes food and drink to perfection. Well-balanced drinks, great wines, beers, and spirits and the best olives and cheese plate in town. I suggest stopping by Missy’s during the day for its great natural lighting and a view of Calgary’s hip Mission neighborhood.

After Eight

Adjacent to EIGHT, the 8-seat restaurant in the ALT Hotel from Chef Darren MacLean, is the slightly less exclusive after EIGHT. As the name suggests, after EIGHT opens to the public once EIGHT's guests have left. From 10 PM, staff take names for a waitlist and accept walk-ins as space allows. To get in, call the after EIGHT parlour using the white phone in the hotel lobby.

After EIGHT has just eight bar stools, an intimate setup that gets guests talking to each other. The cocktail menu draws on Satoyama, the transitional zone between mountain and sea, pairing foraged ingredients with premium spirits and local elements. Co-created by MacLean and Yoshinobu Kimura, each drink is served in custom Kimura glassware.

Highlights include the Sakura Blossom Martini, floral and savoury, made with vodka and white vermouth infused for seven days with sakura blossoms. MacLean's Manhattan reworks the classic with Dalmore 18-year-old Scotch infused with sakura leaf, Cocchi di Torino, and bitters. From the latest menu, don't miss Bar Chef #2, inspired by Chef MacLean's visit to the Canadian bar of the same name. A nod to the Toronto’s modernist cocktail institution, it combines Asian pear-infused Suntory Toki whisky, saffron brandy, and Lillet Blanc for a boozy after-dinner sipper.

Shelter YYC

Shelter quickly became a staple on my Calgary bar list, thanks to the warm and welcoming team of Paulina Arteaga Vazquez, Zaren Klamer and Ryan San Diego. Shelter serves a mix of prohibition-era classics alongside modern, exquisite signature cocktails, complemented by rotating food pop-ups. The interior is dark and atmospheric, featuring a striking wall of gas masks behind the bar and a stunning light installation with over 5,000 individually hung bulbs, evoking the legendary Operation Dagger in Singapore. The cocktails, however, are anything but somber, highlighting agave spirits inspired by head bartender Paulina’s Mexican heritage.

Mount Pleasant Vintage

Mount Pleasant Vintage marks Vancouver's leap into Alberta, arriving in Calgary's Beltline as the brand's first location outside British Columbia. The Vancouver original landed a spot on North America's 50 Best Bars extended list, and Calgary gets the full package: cocktail bar, patio, and thrift shop.

The concept grew out of founder Cam Bogue's memories of throwing house parties in the '90s, inside parents' homes decorated in '70s style, with the design, branding, and menu all handled in-house. It's a neighbourhood cocktail bar and grill that blends hospitality with retail in a space doubling as a working thrift shope.

We're thrilled to welcome Mount Pleasant, Frozen Vietnamese Coffee and all, to the thriving First Ave strip, joining Shelter, Proof, and First Street Market.

Proof

Sitting at the corner of 1st Street and 13th Avenue SW, Proof has been one of Calgary's defining cocktail bars since it opened in 2015.

The space splits into two areas, a bar side and an open kitchen seating area, kept deliberately stripped-back so the drinks stay front and centre. The signature menu rotates often, but one glance at the back bar, stocked with more than 350 individual spirits, and you'll be reaching for an old favorite instead. If you happen to visiting on a Monday, you’re in luck as it’s All Night Happy Hour with 50% off anything on the back bar!

What makes Proof work is the balance. The team is fully immersed in cocktail culture and happy to geek out with anyone who wants to go deep, but just as comfortable serving someone who only wants a well-made drink in a fun room. Pair that with small plates like pork buns and a charcuterie board, and it's easy to see why it's landed among the top bars in the country.

Francine’s

Francine's, the French bar from bar manager Nate Wry and chef Garrett Martin, has graduated from a six-month pop-up inside Meat & Bread into apermanent room in Calgary's historic Chinatown. The pitch is simple: French food and old-world spirits, but cocktail-first rather than bistro.

The Francine's 75 is the signature and the smart order, a riff on the French 75 built on St-Rémy brandy with blueberry, basil, lemon and sparkling wine. It reads sweet on paper but is bright, with the basil cutting through and the bubbles keeping it lean. The wider list runs to aperitifs and classics with a French accent, all made from fresh ingredients.

The food is built to drink alongside. The ham and chips is the standout: Bayonne ham, honey butter chips and 15-month Comté, salt and fat and crunch stacked into one plate that disappears fast. It is exactly the kind of snacky, indulgent thing the concept is built around.

Coffee

Phil & Sebastian coffee roasters / Sidewalk citizen bakery (Simmons Building)

The Simmons building houses Sidewalk Citizen's baked goods and coffee from Phil and Sebastian, Alberta's best-known specialty roaster. Right now Phil and Sebastian pour batch brew, espresso and Aeropress. Sidewalk Citizen's sandwiches are inventive and nearly always work; the grilled cheese, brushed with a little honey, is worth the trip on its own. Don't skip the scones either, which might be the best in Canada.

Sought x Found

Sought x Found has become one of Calgary's most reliable specialty coffee stops. The original shop on Centre Street North roasts its own beans and builds its menu around rotating single-origin pours. Baristas know their stuff without being precious about it.

Sought x Found also has a new downtown location at 1107 4th St SW with the same roasting program and same care, just more central if you're staying or working downtown.

Food

Eight

Eight, arguably the most coveted reservation in Canada, is worth the effort. Chef Darren MacLean has redefined Canadian cuisine in a way that makes me proud to be Canadian and proud of the ingredients this country produces.

Any doubt that this would be a great meal was gone by the time Darren's Innisfail Peas arrived, a course that turns a humble ingredient into something remarkable. Drawn from his childhood memories of shucking peas in his grandmother's garden, the dish pairs Alberta peas with buttermilk, black garlic, sake, and mint, joining local terroir with global technique in a way that is both nostalgic and inventive.

The Wild Oregano course, with garden tomatoes, Chî Farms lomo-cured lardo, ajo blanco, and green romesco, balances vegetable-forward freshness against richness. It will please diners who love produce as much as those who appreciate technique and layered flavor.

Other standouts included the NS Lobster (hargow, xiao long, lobster liver espuma, Hokkaido uni), which I can confidently call the best dim sum I've ever had, and the QC Duck (master stock jus, Taiwanese cauliflower, pancetta), which balances the richness of Quebec duck against the freshness of the cauliflower.

And if you're lucky, don't miss Darren's agnolotti, one of the finest pasta dishes I've had in Canada. Thanks again to Adrian Brijbassi for the recommendation.

After your meal, have a cocktail in the private den. The MacLean's Manhattan is the perfect nightcap, a fitting end to a remarkable evening.

Nupo

Nupo sits inside the Alt Hotel in Calgary's East Village, the fish-and-vegetable side of Darren MacLean's operation, with his eight-seat tasting room next door. The kitchen pairs Japanese technique with Canadian sourcing, and the omakase runs across seven movements built around nigiri. The best way to take it in is at the intimate six-seat omakase bar, where guests work through 17 to 20 courses of premium fish that is always sustainably sourced, usually domestic, and dry-aged in the fish chamber at the centre of the dining room when the cut calls for it.

One of the standout bites was the seven-day aged Ora King salmon belly, part of the second movement of light nigiri. Dressed with nothing but lemon, wasabi and salt, it shows Nupo at its best: excellent fish aged to the right point.

The premium dry-aged bluefin, PEI tuna, comes in the third movement. Deep colour, clean flavour, dense and settled in texture.

Around the food, the room holds its line. GM Jiwan Choi keeps the floor calm and welcoming. Chef Yoseb Park works the counter with the same economy, letting the fish carry the plate. MacLean's stamp is on the concept, but the day-to-day execution belongs to this team, and it is steady.

Rouge

Set in an 1891 Victorian farmhouse in Calgary's Inglewood neighbourhood, Rouge is a French-inspired fine dining room rooted in Alberta terroir. From the porch and the canopy of mature trees around the garden patio, the restaurant carries a sense of heritage, warmth, and quiet elegance.

Under co-owners Olivier Reynaud and Chef Paul Rogalski, with Chef-de-Cuisine Dean Fast, Rouge follows a seasonal, garden-to-plate approach. Herbs and vegetables grown onsite, along with produce from local farms, feed a tasting menu that turns with the seasons.

The first course, Tomato and Chicken Consommé, is a standout. The clear broth carries the sweetness of local tomatoes, paired with house-made ricotta-and-borage-leaf gnocchi, sorrel fluid gel, and torch-touched confit tomatoes. Each spoonful is delicate and bright, the kind of dish you want to last.

The Black Apron Beef Tenderloin lands just as well: tender Alberta beef with red beet purée, cauliflower, and roasted purple fingerling potatoes. Chef Dean's read on late-summer produce brings colour and nuance to every bite.

The meal closes with a tasting of Canadian cheeses from Fromagerie Le Charlevoix, paired with rhubarb compote, red onion jam, Saskatoon berries, and raw honey cut from the frame at the table by Chef Dean.

Every course at Rouge points back to local terroir, careful sourcing, and refined technique. Dining here stays with you well after the last bite, a reminder of why Calgary belongs on Canada's culinary map.

Class Clown

Class Clown in Calgary's Mission neighbourhood (1711 4 St SW) has quickly become the city's go-to burger spot. The room is small, so arrive early or late to skip the line. Inside it's all retro: 1970s wood panelling, a padded bar, and warm, low lighting.

The burgers are the reason to come. Class Clown grinds its own Alberta chuck and brisket in-house and smashes each patty on a hot grill for a crisp edge. The standout Donald McRonald, a nod to the Big Mac, stacks two patties with American cheese, ketchup, mustard, raw onion, and pickles on a buttered bun. Another standoud is the Smells Like Someone's Barbecuin with cheddar cheese, grilled onions, bacon, BBQ sauce, and house jalapeños.

Add a cold craft beer or a glass of natural wine and you've got the mix of nostalgia and new school.

Shiki Menya

Shiki Menya sits in Bridgeland at 1 Avenue N.E., opened by Koki Aihara, whose father Tsukasa previously ran Shikiji. Each morning the kitchen boils enough tonkotsu broth and rolls enough house-made noodles for roughly 150 bowls, serving from 11 a.m. until the day's batch runs out. The recipes trace back to Tsukasa, but Koki has given them a modern spin to suit Calgary's international crowd.

The Char Siu Musubi is a delicious way to start the meal, a compact block of rice topped with barbecued pork and wrapped in a nori sheet that diners close themselves just before eating.

The standout, though, is the Chili Goma Ramen: a sesame, pork-bone tonkotsu broth simmered for 24 hours and topped with ground pork wrapped in scallions. The chili oil delivers slow, building warmth rather than a sharp burst of heat, while the sesame lends real depth and richness. Honestly, this was the best ramen I've ever had, so do yourself a favor and stop by.

Shokunin

Located at 2016 4th Street SW, Shokunin is chef Darren MacLean's yakitori-focused izakaya and the first Calgary restaurant built entirely around the robata grill. Ten years on, it's still the city's benchmark for contemporary Japanese cooking, and MacLean's precision with fire remains the reason people keep coming back.

The Yakitori Omakase is the best way to see that precision up close. Seated at the Chef's Bar, guests work through a twelve-plus course menu, starting with a raw scallop in yuzu kosho and a handheld sashimi cone, before arriving at the skewer course, the true centerpiece. Each morning the kitchen breaks down roughly thirty chickens into more than twenty distinct cuts, grilling everything over binchotan with only salt, fat, and fire.

The bite to know here is the chicken ass, the fatty tail cut that's built a cult following of its own. It's reserved for omakase guests, portions are limited, and it often disappears within minutes of service starting, so book the Chef's Bar if that's your target. Add a pour from the sake list or one of bartender Paige Polacik's signature cocktails, and the meal becomes something genuinely memorable.

Pure Street Food

Lam Pham's Pure Street Food puts a modern spin on casual Vietnamese cooking. The interior is dark and plain, not especially welcoming, but the flavors are the real draw. You'll find it inside First Street Market. The dish to order is the beef pho, with sliced beef, brisket, beef balls, tendon, and a spicy sate broth. The broth is rich and deep, and it's the best pho I've had. If you don't want pho every time, go for the No. 4 Hu Tieu Mi Kho noodle bowl, loaded with char siu pork, ground pork, and crispy pork spring rolls. It's hard to stop eating.

Pure has also reopened its standalone restaurant. Now called Pure Saigonese Kitchen, it has moved from the original downtown spot to 722 85 St SW.