Banff Canada April 2026
I decided to take a sharp pivot with my blog. A dear friend suggested I start a travel blog. I have been doing a lot of “content creating” lately and have been having a blast. So, it makes sense to streamline some of my go, go, go antics.
Concerts, traveling, flying, and general shenanigans. So, here we go. My Second Verse 2.0.
I just returned from a last minute whirlwind road trip to Canada. The absolute highlight was Banff. Talk about stunning. I had planned to stop off for a couple of hours and stop for the night in Calgary. NOT SO FAST, Banff whispered.
So I stayed for two nights. This town is absolutely breathtaking. I stayed at the Banff Aspen Lodge. The nightly rate was crazy reasonable. Ana was working the front desk for the majority of my stay and she was a delight. Very professional and helpful. She gives off that “polished yet not overly stuffy” kinda vibe and I’m here for it.
I checked in and the room was clean, spacious, and very well laid out. I decided to walk around the town and everything is very centrally located. The “downtown” area is about a mile long. As expected, the stores are mostly souvenir shops, but I love looking for fun, interesting, and unique items.
There are many restaurants as well. Just about every cuisine was represented. I stopped at St. James’s Gate Irish Pub as I love a good Irish pub. I typically will gauge authenticity by asking if they have Ribena. Ribena is a popular British brand of black currant based fruit juice concentrate. It is often added to Guinness and called a “black” or something similar. While most bartenders will simply say they don’t know, when I explain what it is they tend to get snarky and say to just order a Black. Well, yes, duh. But I am looking for your knowledge of it, because if your establishment knows the brand name, they are more true to the UK than others.
Is this always true? No. But when I was in Epcot at the Rose and Crown, I asked for Ribena and was asked by the lad behind the bar if I had a preference as to the amount because his Mum always told him with Ribena “you pour with your heart.” I love that idea and asking about Ribena always reminds me of him. The bartender did know what this was and condescendingly told me to just order a black. So she got half of it right. But condescension ain’t gonna get you a good tip.
This was a Thursday and this pub has “Irish Night” on Thursdays with live music. I decided to come back to partake and two things stood out. First, the service was absolutely atrocious. I was alone and completely ignored for several minutes by the bartenders. I have worked in the service industry for decades and know the difference between being too busy and being too disinterested. They had the time but chose to ignore me. I used to always tip well regardless of service. This is no longer the case. As someone you used to serve at Disney for years, I will not tolerate incompetence or rudeness.
Second was the music was fine, but not at all the Irish vibe I had thought it would be. The guy was ok, but the atmosphere just wasn’t what I expected. I quickly left, mostly from the negative energy from the bartenders.
During my trip I had the opportunity to visit Beaver Tails. One visit I got the Maple BBQ Bacon dog and it was delicious. The flavors all worked well together. The Maple and BBQ added a tangy sweetness that I loved. On subsequent visits I tried the Apple Pie and the Maple Chocolate Beaver Tails. The napkins say “Messy Is Good” and talk about goodness. These treats were remarkable. I absolutely despise finger-licking but was forced to after the Apple Pie Beaver Tail. Worth it though.
Friday night I went to The Grizzly House. They were busy with reservations but the heated patio was available. While it was 8pm, it was still light out and the weather was not cold. It was quite pleasant outside.
I ordered the Complete Four Course dinner and started with the soup of the day which was a delicious Chicken Tortellini. The server indicated it was “as homemade as homemade could be” and it was very good. Next was the Neachatel fondue, which is cheese, wine, and Kirsch. It was served with pieces of bread to be dipped in and I enjoyed the flavors. It was very heavy on the wine flavor, but I love wine so this was not an issue for me.
For my main course I chose the Beef and Lobster and the quality was good, but not excellent. The sauces that were served with it were fine, but I did not use them much. Dessert was a chocolate fondue with melted Belgian chocolate and fruit. My favorites were the strawberries and bananas, but the cantaloupe was a very interesting choice.
Our server was very attentive and professional. He checked on how things were going without being overly pushy. He was friendly without being fake. I strongly feel that dining out is partly food quality and partly service quality. A bad server can absolutely ruin the entire experience, it does not matter how phenomenal the food may be. And conversely, a good server can help out mediocre food quality.
Comments
Post a Comment