Jasper National Park

MALIGNE LAKE

Jasper National Park Best Restaurants

If you’re looking for the best Jasper National Park restaurants, it’s easy to find somewhere to eat in the town of Jasper, but not necessarily easy to find a memorable meal. To make things easier, on this page we present Jasper’s best restaurants. These recommendations come from experience—through the years, our writers have eaten at all of these places, but are not affiliated to any of them, are not beheld by advertising dollars, nor expected to promote them as tourism organizations are—they are simply what we believe to be the very best places to eat in Jasper.

 

Best Jasper Bakery

Open daily at 6 am, The BEAR’S PAW BAKERY (4 Cedar Ave., 780/852-3233) is a standout for light meals and European-style breads (the muesli loaf is a delight) that are perfect for a picnic lunch. Operated by the same owners, THE OTHER PAW (610 Connaught Dr., 780/852-2253) has a slightly more contemporary feel, but more of the same great baked goods, as well as delicious salads.

Bear’s Paw Bakery, Jasper National Park

Bear’s Paw Bakery.

Best Café Food in Jasper

SUNHOUSE (610 Patricia St., 780/852-4742) has an inviting vibe under a glass-topped ceiling that fills the room with natural light, or sit out on the balcony overlooking the bustling street scene below. Coffee drinks and smoothies are all fantastic, but this place really shines with breakfast choices such as roast mushroom and pesto hash topped with a poached egg.

Jasper’s Best European Restaurants

On the east side of downtown is Jasper’s oldest restaurant, PAPA GEORGE’S (Astoria Hotel, 406 Connaught Dr., 780/852-3351). Don’t come here expecting fine dining and innovative cooking, but instead enjoy traditional European cooking at reasonable prices.

A big step up in ambiance (but also in price) is SYRAHS OF JASPER (606 Patricia St., 780/852-4559), a elegantly casual eatery offering a wide range of uncomplicated dishes using Canadian game and produce prepared with Swiss-influenced cooking styles. Syrahs also has one of Jasper’s most impressive wine lists. Also notable at Syrahs is the staff, who seem experienced and knowledgeable.

Best Pizza in Jasper

Pizza lovers congregate at JASPER PIZZA PLACE (402 Connaught Dr., 780/852-3225). It’s a large and noisy restaurant with bright furnishings, a concrete floor, exposed heating ducts, and walls lined with photos from Jasper’s earliest days. Regular thick-crust pizzas are available all day, but it’s not until 5 p.m., when the wood-fired oven begins producing thin-crust pizzas with adventurous toppings, that this place really shines.

Jasper’s Best Asian Restaurant

Asian choices are limited in Jasper, but KIMCHI HOUSE (407 Patricia St., 780/852-5022), a Korean restaurant, is my pick for large servings of tasty Asian food. The setting is typical of westernized Asian restaurants, but service is friendly and prompt.

Dining at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge

The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, Jasper’s premier accommodation, across the river from downtown, offers a choice of casual or elegant dining in a variety of restaurants and lounges. On a warm summer’s day, head to THE GREAT HALL and its outdoor section, which spreads along the front of the main hotel building, from where views over picturesque Lac Beauvert to distant mountains are uninterrupted. Both lunch and dinner menus feature imaginative modern Canadian cuisine, but with dinner (from 5:30 p.m.) being decidedly more expensive. At lunch, salads can be made into a full meal by adding extras such as smoked salmon and slices of chicken breast or stick to mains such as bison burger.

Jasper’s Best Out-of-Town Restaurants

This is where Jasper’s dining scene really shines. Pricing is generally on the higher side at these restaurants, but the trade off is a genuine Canadian Rockies experience.

One of Jasper’s best restaurants, BECKER’S GOURMET RESTAURANT (780/852-3535, May to mid-Oct.) is six kilometres (3.7 miles) out of town to the south along the Icefields Parkway, but well worth the short drive. From this cozy dining room, where the atmosphere is intimate, or the adjacent enclosed conservatory, the views of Mount Kerkeslin and the Athabasca River are inspiring. This restaurant is a throwback to days gone by, with an ever-changing menu of seasonal game and produces that includes a wild game platter. A menu staple is the pesto-crusted rack of lamb. For dessert, the strawberry shortcake is a delight.

Back toward town from Becker’s, on Highway 93A, is the dining room of historic TEKARRA LODGE (780/852-4624, mid-May to early Oct.). The setting may be mountain-style rustic, but the cooking appeals to modern preferences with combinations like prosciutto-wrapped chicken with pear and smoked gouda.