The Elk is a seriously fun and wonderful place. The food is delectable and the wide range of drinks is outstanding. I cannot forget the most important part of the experience was the superlative quality of service with a particular mention to JF, Daisy and Will Sim for their extra effort to enhance my experience in anyway. Beers, Darts and Good Times exemplifies The Elk!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Paul Fox
Beautiful views great food!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Terix Fischer-Kobes
Best patio and nachos in town! Server was extremely friendly, had a great experience
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
alison ede
Sitting on a shaded patio on a hot summer day- being served GREAT local beer and enjoyed the ELK dip. Perfect for two.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Julie Ropson
Great! Wonderful views, neat atmosphere, great options for everyone!
Michael Robinson
Lovely bar and restaurant in Banff. The IPA and elk flatbread were delicious. The staff were very attentive and accommodating for our group of over 15 people.
Laura
We had a great experience here a week ago - lots of screens to watch sports, great beer and a good atmosphere. Our waitress in particular (brown hair, tattoos, British) was a credit to the establishment - the friendliest we’ve come across on our travels so far! She was very happy to give us some recommendations when we asked her about spotting wildlife. We saw a black bear on one of the roads she had mentioned. If we are ever in the area again we’d definitely come back! :)
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
Katy Srock
We created an account specifically to leave this review, as our recent visit was quite disappointing. We’ve enjoyed dining at various restaurants in the area without issue, but unfortunately, our experience at this establishment left us feeling unwelcome — particularly because we have four children. Our children (ages 6, 8, 8, and 9) are well-behaved, respectful, experienced with dining out; and presented as such. We are always mindful of where we dine, especially as a larger family, due to the expense and logistics. Upon arrival, we asked about rooftop seating and were immediately told that “80 people” had just been seated and that accommodating a group of six would be “really difficult.” We asked if we could wait for a table to open but were told the rooftop was first-come, first-served— which we respected. We were then seated indoors, in a somewhat isolated corner of the restaurant with constant foot traffic from staff and patrons in multiple directions. It felt like we were being placed out of the way, even though there were other more pleasant seating options available. Notably, a group of eight came down from the rooftop as we were being seated, and shortly afterward, my husband went upstairs and observed that there were indeed open tables. We understand that timing can be tricky, and tried to give the benefit of the doubt. However, service throughout the meal was disjointed. We didn’t receive a proper introduction, and several different people attended to our table — we weren’t even sure who our actual server was. In the end we asked for the remainder of our kids meals and the check. We visited on a Thursday at 1:45pm, which did not appear to be peak hours. While we understand if there are policies or preferences around rooftop seating — especially concerning children — it would be more respectful and helpful to communicate that clearly. If there’s an age restriction or other limitation, stating it upfront would avoid confusion or discomfort. Unfortunately, based on our experience, we did not find the service or environment to be particularly family-friendly. While the food was decent, we will be dining elsewhere in the future — at places where we know the service is warmer and more consistent, and where our family feels welcomed.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 1
Karen Asryan
Very delicious and nice food, we liked pork ribs specially
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Lewis Beaugrand
Rooftop patio is amazing, we were there at sunset.
Shoutout to Billy, who went out of his way to concoct us an off the menu item (chocolate milk). With limited resources and heavy pushback from management, Billy put our best interests first, and got us chocolate milk when the prospect seemed bleak. The man's a gem.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Collin Stewart
Atmosphere was great, but it started to rain so relocated to inside. Service and food both great as well. Price was reasonable given the area.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Cole S
Elk & Oarsman has good food and service! The best part of this restaurant is the roof top patio. It provided an unbeatable view of the Banff area. I highly recommend visiting!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Lucas Welsh Music
We had lunch here on our way home from vacation. Awesome atmosphere, the food was fantastic the kids plates were really small, my 8 year old had to graze off our plates a bit. But the food was great, the staff were super professional. Pricing was better than I expected it to be in Banff
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Charlotte Anderson
Me and my friends did the shaft roulette. Honestly didn’t even feel like I got done dirty the spicy shaft was definitely my favourite out of all the shafts!!
The Elk is a seriously fun and wonderful place. The food is delectable and the wide range of drinks is outstanding. I cannot forget the most important part of the experience was the superlative quality of service with a particular mention to JF, Daisy and Will Sim for their extra effort to enhance my experience in anyway. Beers, Darts and Good Times exemplifies The Elk!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Beautiful views great food!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Best patio and nachos in town! Server was extremely friendly, had a great experience
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Sitting on a shaded patio on a hot summer day- being served GREAT local beer and enjoyed the ELK dip. Perfect for two.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great! Wonderful views, neat atmosphere, great options for everyone!
Lovely bar and restaurant in Banff. The IPA and elk flatbread were delicious. The staff were very attentive and accommodating for our group of over 15 people.
We had a great experience here a week ago - lots of screens to watch sports, great beer and a good atmosphere. Our waitress in particular (brown hair, tattoos, British) was a credit to the establishment - the friendliest we’ve come across on our travels so far! She was very happy to give us some recommendations when we asked her about spotting wildlife. We saw a black bear on one of the roads she had mentioned. If we are ever in the area again we’d definitely come back! :)
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
We created an account specifically to leave this review, as our recent visit was quite disappointing. We’ve enjoyed dining at various restaurants in the area without issue, but unfortunately, our experience at this establishment left us feeling unwelcome — particularly because we have four children.
Our children (ages 6, 8, 8, and 9) are well-behaved, respectful, experienced with dining out; and presented as such. We are always mindful of where we dine, especially as a larger family, due to the expense and logistics. Upon arrival, we asked about rooftop seating and were immediately told that “80 people” had just been seated and that accommodating a group of six would be “really difficult.” We asked if we could wait for a table to open but were told the rooftop was first-come, first-served— which we respected.
We were then seated indoors, in a somewhat isolated corner of the restaurant with constant foot traffic from staff and patrons in multiple directions. It felt like we were being placed out of the way, even though there were other more pleasant seating options available. Notably, a group of eight came down from the rooftop as we were being seated, and shortly afterward, my husband went upstairs and observed that there were indeed open tables.
We understand that timing can be tricky, and tried to give the benefit of the doubt. However, service throughout the meal was disjointed. We didn’t receive a proper introduction, and several different people attended to our table — we weren’t even sure who our actual server was. In the end we asked for the remainder of our kids meals and the check. We visited on a Thursday at 1:45pm, which did not appear to be peak hours.
While we understand if there are policies or preferences around rooftop seating — especially concerning children — it would be more respectful and helpful to communicate that clearly. If there’s an age restriction or other limitation, stating it upfront would avoid confusion or discomfort.
Unfortunately, based on our experience, we did not find the service or environment to be particularly family-friendly. While the food was decent, we will be dining elsewhere in the future — at places where we know the service is warmer and more consistent, and where our family feels welcomed.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 1
Very delicious and nice food, we liked pork ribs specially
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Rooftop patio is amazing, we were there at sunset.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Shoutout to Billy, who went out of his way to concoct us an off the menu item (chocolate milk). With limited resources and heavy pushback from management, Billy put our best interests first, and got us chocolate milk when the prospect seemed bleak. The man's a gem.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere was great, but it started to rain so relocated to inside. Service and food both great as well. Price was reasonable given the area.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Elk & Oarsman has good food and service! The best part of this restaurant is the roof top patio. It provided an unbeatable view of the Banff area. I highly recommend visiting!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We had lunch here on our way home from vacation. Awesome atmosphere, the food was fantastic the kids plates were really small, my 8 year old had to graze off our plates a bit. But the food was great, the staff were super professional. Pricing was better than I expected it to be in Banff
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Me and my friends did the shaft roulette. Honestly didn’t even feel like I got done dirty the spicy shaft was definitely my favourite out of all the shafts!!
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