What I Thought of It

Bumper’s Beef House
603 Banff Ave
Banff AB
Phone: 403 762 2622
www.bumpersinn.com/beefhouse.htm

After a day of basking in the fresh air of the Rocky Mountains, the body yearns to wind down with hearty food. We were drawn to try Bumper’s, which claims that “if you haven’t been to Bumper’s, you haven’t been to Banff”.

Bumper’s is not one of the many restaurants in Banff’s downtown core. It’s a bit more hidden but still easy to find. If you follow Banff Avenue heading out of town, you’ll find Bumper’s on the left, just before you hit the woods. It’s basically the last building in town.

Bumper’s Beef House has an airy, rustic atmosphere. The inside is furnished in wood, with a huge wooden man in the middle of the restaurant. As you can deduce from the name, Bumper’s serves everything you’d expect from a steakhouse, plus more. Most items on the Bumper’s menu include helping yourself to the all-you-can-eat salad bar. If you don’t want anything else, it’s even worth going just for the salad bar. The salad bar is one of the biggest and best I’ve ever seen. It’s a generous spread of vegetables, fruits, cheeses, legumes, dressings, soups, and fresh-baked dinner rolls.

For dinner we ordered Pile-O-Bones and Bumper’s Super Burger, and both included the salad bar. It was fairly early (they open at 5 pm) and before the dinner rush, so our food arrived much faster than in the average steakhouse.

The Pile-O-Bones, which are prime rib bones, were massive. The waitress had warned that they would be “chewy”. They did prove to be a workout for the jaw, but my friend gnawed happily on these flavorful beef ribs.

I had the Bumper’s Super Burger, touted on the menu as “one of the burger wonders of the world”. It was far from being so! The bread looked black. I normally like bread well toasted, but in this case the bun was simply burnt. The waitress apologized and explained that the toaster was broken. That’s fine, but how did burnt bread escape the cook’s eyes? I was given a new bun, this one barely toasted, but anything was better than blackened. I could tell after digging in that the bread wasn’t fresh to begin with. I also got cheese on my burger after declining cheese when I placed my order. Overall the burger tasted okay but no more.

Last thoughts: Bumper’s is a nice restaurant in Banff, farther away from the busier tourist hangouts yet still close enough to be a convenient option. Would I go back? Possibly, but if so I’m staying away from their “wonder” burger.

Food ++
Service +++
Ambiance ++++
Washrooms ++++

The Elk & Oarsman
119 Banff Avenue
Banff AB
Phone: 403 762 4616
www.elkandoarsman.com

Our plan had been to eat at The Keg in Banff, but unfortunately for them they are not open that early (3:45 pm). In need of something to fill our famished stomachs, we ended up at The Elk & Oarsman in the building next to The Keg.

The Elk & Oarsman is situated above some shops, and that offers a prime spot for people-watching on Banff Avenue. If the weather’s nice, you can even sit on the rooftop patio, with an even better view of Banff and the mountains.

The decor of The Elk & Oarsman has lots of wood with many antique objects. The result is a cozy and friendly feel. We grabbed a booth by the window so that we could enjoy the view.

The menu offers a good selection of dishes. As usual I wanted a burger, which meant a choice of Angus beef, buffalo, chicken, salmon,…but I went for the elk burger. My friend, on the other hand, looked in the fancy part of the menu and chose the elk rib steak, one of the more expensive items at $27.

With the burger you can choose two sides, so I decided to test the difference between regular potato fries and sweet potato fries. Next time it will be sweet potato fries hands-down. The burger was juicy and very flavorful, definitely a great value choice.

The much pricier elk rib steak was good but just similar to the burger in flavor. In fact, the burger tasted less “gamey”, so burger definitely wins over steak. The vegetables were also underwhelming. They were not fresh and kind of bland.

We had entered The Elk & Oarsman through the door on Banff Avenue. We went up a set of stairs to the pub, but nobody noticed us, and we didn’t know whether to sit or wait to be seated. We waited a bit and then asked. Alternatively, at the other entrance from the mall, there’s a sign that says “wait to be seated”. You’d have a better chance of being noticed that way.

Our waitress was somewhat patient in letting us take our time with the menu. She did forget to ask how the steak should be done, but she fixed that promptly.

Last thoughts: The Elk & Oarsman is a nice location to grab a bite or drink. The food is good, but make your choices wisely. I could come back here but not before trying other places in Banff, because it was also not that special.

Food ++++
Service ++++
Ambiance ++++
Washrooms +++

The Paddock Pub
135 Banff Avenue
Banff AB  T1L 1A7
Phone: 403 760 8543

The Paddock Pub is part of the Mount Royal Hotel. It’s not in the hotel but actually a couple of doors down the street, below ground under the hotel. The door in the photo is the only part above ground. You go through the door and down the stairs to reach the Paddock.

This basement pub is roomy. One side of the bar has lots of seating, and the other side is an entertainment zone housing pool tables, video games, and more. The seating area consists of big benches against the wall and tables and chairs directly opposite. On our visit there was hockey showing on the big-screen TV and a couple of smaller TVs.

When we got to The Paddock around 5 pm on a Saturday, it was not busy but there were enough customers to keep the staff working. After sitting down, we waited a while before the lone server came by our table.

The menu at The Paddock Pub is very limited. It has the basic pub dishes but nothing like soup or desserts.

We ordered the Buffalo Burger and Chicken Philly Sandwich. The food looked great on first sight. I then noticed that my fries were lukewarm, not hot. Luckily the rest of the food was properly hot.

The Buffalo Burger was thick and juicy, served on a fresh bun and topped with a nice piece of melted cheese. The Chicken Philly sandwich was also tasty and well prepared. It was supposed to be on panini bread, but the bread was soft (isn’t panini hard?).

Last thoughts: Although the menu at The Paddock Pub is not extensive, I would go back there. The food was just good, no question, though they should put a couple more servers on the floor.

Food ++++
Service +++
Ambiance ++++
Washrooms +++

Welch’s Chocolate Shop
126 Banff Avenue (see map)
Banff AB
Phone: 403 762 3737
www.banffcandy.com

The Welch’s Chocolate Shop has been a part of Banff since 1965, which means that parents can show their kids the candy they loved as kids.

On top of the eye-widening variety of chocolates, Welch’s Chocolate Shop has a jaw-dropping selection of candies. They are crammed into the walls and the aisles - candy as far as the eye can see. You could easily spend a happy hour browsing and exclaiming over all the goodies.

If you like PEZ, then this is the place to be. An entire wall is devoted to PEZ merchandise, and it’s neat to see the store’s private collection above the ones for sale. A fan of real Dutch licorice? Again, Welch’s has plenty to choose from. If you’re longing for any kind of candy from a place far away, chances are good that you’ll find it at Welch’s.

The shop is small and can get crowded with kindred sweet tooths, but that doesn’t seem to bother anyone.

Last thoughts: Welch’s Chocolate Shop is a child’s (and grown-up’s) candy heaven. Just stepping inside and seeing all that candy will make you instantly happy. The only thing I expected to see but did not find were Kinder Surprise Eggs.

Product Range +++++
Service +++
Ambiance ++++
Tidiness ++++

Find Welch’s Chocolate Shop on the map.