Farm & Fire — Restaurant in Banff

We visited on a Tuesday in the middle of September. Even though it was a larch fall season, it was not a tourist peak season; yet, this place was full.

The waiter was polite and friendly. He introduced us to the restaurant's custom, that was to encourage sharing dishes among friends. He let us know the special dishes of the day, then left us for just enough time to study the menu before reappearing to take our orders. There was a sense of professionalism in each and every way of his service. Along the way, he came twice to check on us regarding food quality and refilled our water vase when it was near empty - showing how attentive he was to the customers.

We ordered a pulled pork pizza, beef tartare, tomato salad, and mushroom loaf to share among us. The waiter immediately asked us in what order do we like our food to come. We said whenever they were ready, just to see how the chef would best arrange our orders. This made the whole experience more adventurous.

The mushroom loaf had a load of mushrooms. There was a taste that I didn't quite get (truffle oil?) but was very harmonious with the mushrooms and cream sauce. The beef tartare was, well, a good beef tartare. It was what you expected it to be. The tomato salad was surprisingly good. It was as good as the best one I had in Sicily, Italy. The pull pork pizza was also good but did not wow me. But I think this is what a good restaurant supposed to be like - good food, good service with a reasonable price.

We ordered an additional dish - pork chop - to share. Again, it was good but it was not the best one that I ever had. The chicharron was a surprise but the chop itself was a bit dry. It was typical in North America where pork tended to be overly lean and therefore not the chef's fault.

Overall Farm & Fire was a nice restaurant that I have no problem recommend. From the city where I live, there are few that can...

We ordered a couple of foods, 3 x Bison tomahawk steak, 1 x fig pizza, 1 x brisket pizza, and 1 x garic risotto. We had to wait a while for the table to be ready for 6 ppl, and since we didn't make prior reservations, which was understandable. Bison Tomahawk was not up to the money for CAD 150. The portion was not as large as expected, but for the experience, we thought it would be worth it, which was failure. Both of the pizzas were good, and the risotto was decent. We were very hungry and ate all the food, though. The terrible experience started at the checkout. The waitress was advising there is 20% mandatory tip for a party of 6 or more?! We were not informed about this when we sat down or ordered food before either. As tourists from Usa, we were expecting to pay for the tip but not forcefully at 20%. We googled and chatgpt to search that Tips are not legally mandatory in Canada but the waitress said "It is legal and Mandatory to include tip" and added 20% of tip in our bill (she's not even Canadian). She then asked us where we were from, which doesn't matter in the first place, then asked us "doesnt Usa tip?" In the Usa, tipping is the usual norm, and we customers decided the amount of tipping anywhere between 15 ~ 30% depending on the experience. Also, if there are certain tips that are mandatory for a party of 6 or more, we are notified advanced or have roemarks in the menu. At this time, we just felt like we had been tricked and forcefully tipped at 20%. I don't know if this is just Canadian thing to not inform ahead or time or just wants to take trouist money by force but overall experience for visitor is to AVOID THIS TERRIBLE PLACE and find a better food and...

It’s a mall food court. Not a romantic fireplace evening. We booked specifically for the one night out with “cozy””romantic “ atmosphere. You need sunglasses to sit in the dining room. The live entertainment was from 6-9pm. We arrived at 615 pm and she wasn’t ready. She Began playing at 625 and stopped at 650. When we left at 730 she was just starting again and we were told she was busy in the bathroom. We asked for drinks before our mains and had to stop eating our food because we were half way done and no drinks in sight. We were told, LITERALLY by Brandon, there was a Xmas party and they didn’t have time to make our 2 drinks. We asked for the bill twice. My partner left to get the car finally as we waited so long. Suddenly 2 glasses of flat sparkling wine arrived,,,,,no explanation, just dropped at the table by pour server Brandon and he walked away. Still no bill. Then finally the bill. I said I want to speak with the MOD. Zero discount. Then Anna the managed showed up in jeans and a tshirt and asked me to come back tomorrow so they could do better. She said it was too bad the bill was paid because she could have done something had she « known ». We are leaving Banff. So. No. Tonight was our night out she reiterated, multiple times, if only we could come back tomorrow so they she would do better. Also offered a « next time ask for me ». We live in New Brunswick and this was our trip to Banff. We don’t live next door. We got the obligatory, oops…sorry, but our $200 bill for 4 drinks, 2 apps and mains saw zero adjustment ,ent. GO...