Good looks, great food: Dine with a view in Calgary

For a city so close the Rockies, restaurants featuring mountain views are surprisingly hard to find in Calgary. Though a couple of the Calgary restaurants below do feature westerly alpine sightlines, most of the great views are inward looking, focusing on some the city’s best features, from pedestrian promenades to neighbourhood lakes and the Bow River.

Good looks, great food: Dine with a view in Calgary
Ian Doig By

Murrieta's Inc

1
200-808 1 St Sw, Calgary, AB T2P 1M9

Situated in the lovely old Alberta Hotel, Murrieta’s shaded second-floor outdoor patio overlooks busy Stephen Avenue Walk in summer. On the casual side of contemporary fine dining, this hopping downtown restaurant and lounge is a great spot to unwind. At lunchtime, enjoy a glass of wine or a pint of ale, a lamb burger or a marguerite flatbread, and just watch the world stroll by.

This business is featured in the following Smart Lists:

Lake House

2
747 Lake Bonavista Dr SE, Calgary, AB T2J 0N2

Located on lovely Lake Bonavista deep the city’s deep southeast, this Canadian Rocky Mountain Resorts (CRMR) restaurant is almost too pretty to be true. With the complexion of a cozy mountain lodge, the second-floor dining room overlooks the lake. The menu features seasonal ingredients including bison produced on the CRMR ranch near Calgary, Alberta duck and chicken, as well as wild caribou from the far north and West Coast seafood.

This business is featured in the following Smart Lists:

Sky 360

3
101 9 Ave SW, Calgary, AB T2P 1J9

An elevator ride up the Calgary Tower ought to be mandatory for Calgary visitors. Also a must, is enjoying its sprawling city view over a meal at Sky 360, the rotating restaurant at the top of this well-known architectural landmark. Its contemporary Canadian cuisine features Italian touches and includes dishes such as Alberta bison flank steak, Arctic char with crab risotto as well as fusilli Bolognese. For guests with children, this fine eatery in the clouds serves a crowd-pleasing kids’ menu.

This business is featured in the following Smart Lists:

The Canadian Brewhouse

4
1200-9650 Harvest Hills Blvd NE, Calgary, AB T3K 0B3

With locations across Alberta, The Canadian Brewhouse in Harvest Hills is a particularly big house. As it’s situated on the high north side of Nose Creek Parkway, this clubby beer mansion comes with an expansive view of the city and the Rockies to the west. Take to its second-floor patio in warm weather.

This business is featured in the following Smart Lists:
More from Ian Doig Ian Doig
Ian Doig’s week may include dim sum lunch with friends, rummaging through indie bookstore shelves as well as scribbling in his notepad at Calgary shops and farmers’ markets. It most often concludes with a relaxing Friday evening pint of locally brewed craft beer.
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