Gluten Free Travel Tips for Banff

We went on another trip to the mountains, this time to Banff.  With the help of Twitter, I was able to gather some information about where to go in Banff for gluten free meals that are fit for a Celiac.  We thank everyone that was tweeting the gluten free hot spots in Banff to check out.  Unfortunately we were not able to check out every place.


Wild Flour Bakery
Gluten free chocolate chocolate chip
banana muffin
Wild Flour Bakery Cafe on UrbanspoonWild Flour was highly recommended but various Twitter followers for great baked goods.  We decided to go there for a breakfast.  There were quite a few options to select from for breakfast:
  • Banana chocolate chip muffin
  • Cranberry muffin
  • Mexican chocolate cookie
  • Brownies
  • Mini cheese cakes
  • Crumble pie
  • Nut bars, and more
Grizzly House
Grizzly House on UrbanspoonGrizzly house is a fondu restaurant that Amanda insisted we had to try. She called ahead and made sure that the ingredients used were all gfree (except the bread of course). We ordered the beef & chicken 4 course meal. Included in the meal was a salad (no croutons obviously), followed by a cheese & bread (or raw vegetables) fondue and a cooked vegetable fondue selection, loaded wtih garlic and tons of flavor.The main course was beef & chicken and we opted to do the "hot stone" cooking method. Lastly and most spectacular was the toblerone bar chocolate fondue with fresh fruit.  The banana & strawberries are Amanda's favorite.

Eddie Burger
The Eddie Burger & Bar on UrbanspoonEddie Burger is a great tasty organic burger shack with plenty of options including build your own burger.  Eddie Burger does not use any breadcrumb filler in their patties, and they will serve it on lettuce.  We would recommend that you ask for more lettuce as it was a bit sloppy with a couple pieces of lettuce but it was still a tasty burger.  The fries are gluten free, but we recommend eating them with caution as there may be cross contamination.  They were not able to guarentee that the sweet potato fries being gluten free.
Gluten free menu at
Magpie & Stump

Magpie & Stump (May no longer offer a gluten free menu :-( )
Magpie & Stump on UrbanspoonMagpie & Stump is a Tex Mex restaurant with a gluten free menu.  It is one of those places that makes you feel good by being able to order 'normally' off a menu.  They are able to do this because they serve both corn tortilla's and flour tortilla's.  They are essentially able to swap out flour tortilla's with the corn tortilla's.  Unfortunately they do not have gluten free cerveza.

Melissa's Restaurant
Melissa's Restaurant on UrbanspoonMelissa's restaurant is a steak house that serves a mean breakfast.  There was nothing standout that says gluten free, but the staff was friendly and accomodating with the menu.

Cows
Cows on UrbanspoonWho wants ice cream? We do we do!  Cows is definitely the best place for ice cream in Banff.  They have an allergy guide for gluten free ice cream choices.  However, they keep the cones on the cases of ice cream so there is a high possibility of contamination for Celiacs.  I would recommend extreme caution when having a snack.

Another recommended restaurant that we were not able to check out is the Bison Restaurant & Lounge and any of the restaurants in the Fairmont

Have you visited any of these places in Banff?  Let us know what you thought about their meals or of any other places to visit.

Comments

  1. Tried the Fairmont - Had most of my meals when I was in Banff last year and the chefs are well educated and provide things like bread and pizza as well. Melissa's - As long as you tell them you are celiac, they will substitute out toast. Their breakfasts are excellent. Try the roasted tomatoes and omlettes. The wild flour bakery has a nice tasty selection of treats. Finally, note that the Greek restaurant has a superb celiac friendly menu with tasty, tasty items. Try the Athena chicken.

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  2. The greek restaurant I mentioned above is called the Balkan restaurant. If you are there on a busy weekend, make reservations. You will not regret their food.

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  3. Thank you for the great feedback. We are glad you had a positive experience at some of these places as well!

    --Abisaac Saraga
    Gluten Free Edmonton

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  4. Just spent the last few days in Banff. They served me a wheat pancake at Touloulou's even though I told them I could stop breathing if I had wheat. Then tonight, at Chili's they served me wheat tortilla chips (of which I ended up taking a bite of) even though I had an extensive conversation about being allergic to wheat. Be VERY careful in Banff. Transient staff mean that they aren't necessarily well trained.

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  5. We stayed for two days at the end of our Railroad trip on the Rocky Mountaineer and wish we stayed for three. Such a beautiful town. So very clean and life is so very simple there.

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  6. @Anonymous - That is an unfortunate experience. But a good observation that Banff employers get world and cross country travelers as employees, which could mean less training for those that turnover quickly.

    @Tien - I can't wait for my next trip to the mountains. Was so happy at how accommodating some of the places are to Celiacs.

    Cheers,

    --Abisaac Saraga
    Gluten Free Edmonton

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  7. Went to Magpie and Stump today and was told they no longer have a gf menu. The only thing they can do gf, according to the server, would be a salad. We went elsewhere.

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