The Grizzly House
The Grizzly House things to do, attractions, restaurants, events info and trip planning
Description
Landmark eatery serving fondue & exotic meats like alligator & rattlesnake in a lodgelike setting.
attractions: Banff Visitor Centre, Cascade of Time Garden, Banff Park Lodge Resort Hotel & Conference Centre, Moose Hotel & Suites, Fox Hotel & Suites, Elk + Avenue Hotel, COWS Banff, Central Park, Banff Ptarmigan Inn, Banff Trail Riders - Stables, restaurants: Indian Curry House-Banff, The Old Spaghetti Factory (Banff), PARK Distillery Restaurant + Bar, Magpie & Stump Mexican Restaurant + Bar, Masala Authentic Indian Cuisine, Saffron Indian Bistro, Tooloulous, Melissa's MisSteak, Bear Street Tavern, St James's Gate Irish Pub
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Description
Landmark eatery serving fondue & exotic meats like alligator & rattlesnake in a lodgelike setting.
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⛰️ Top things to do in Downtown Banff! 👇 🌷Walk the quaint streets. Honestly we could just come and walk around and be happy. It is so charming and right out of a hallmark movie. All the flowers and views of the surrounding mountains are breathtaking! 🍫🥐 Get a famous Beavertail! A beavertail is a sweet, flat, thin, crispy yet chewy pastry. It’s served with all types of delicious toppings! The dough is hand-stretched and shaped to look like a beaver’s tail which is one of Canada’s national symbols. 🛍️ Go Shopping There are countless shops in downtown! So many options for souvenirs to remember your trip by, definitely soemthing for everyone. 👩🏼🌾 Farmer’s Market In the summer, a Farmer’s Market is held every Wednesday from 10am-6pm! There are several awesome vendors with hand made crafts, unique foods, art, photography, and much more. There is also a beer garden with live musicians! 👙 Bow River We stumbled upon this beautiful river while we were at the farmers market! It has that famous turquoise color and we saw people picnics g and swimming. Would be a great place to spend the day after exploring the shops. 🍴Local Restaurants There are SO many incredible restaurants here! A famous one is the Grizzly house fondue 🫕 We went to Brazen and absolutely loved it. However if you’re wanting to budget there’s always McDonald’s! 😂 we went to the Banff McDonald’s one day and it honestly hit the spot after a hike haha. If you are planning a trip to Banff, we highly recommend visiting downtown! 🤍 #banff #banffnationalpark #downtownbanff
georgeandcrisgeorgeandcris
25136
It is on rare occasion that on travels I find a restaurant that is so fantastic, that in and of itself becomes a basis for a return trip to that part of the world. Grizzly House has earned a spot on what can only be deemed a very exclusive list. My family and I discovered Grizzly House on a recent visit to Banff. Discretely hidden on Banff Avenue, the Grizzly House is a Fondue restaurant with Swiss Alp origins that does not disappoint. From the moment we entered we felt welcome and transported to a different time and place. Having looked at the somewhat unorthodox origins of the establishment (born as an alpine nightclub disco in the late 1960's), we were immediately enamored with the atmosphere and incredible food odors. The staff acted more like owners or family who displayed an unusual sense of pride in their establishment. Literally everyone we spoke to was fully knowledgeable about the menu, but more importantly the wine list. The interior decor transports the patron to a simpler place and time that glows with warmth and glad salutations. I kicked off with a chocolate martini, but entrusted the wine pairings to our table attendant and was decidedly impressed. My son went with the exotic Fondue and had alligator, kangaroo and venison. My wife, chose the Ostrich Fondue and I went with the Hunter's Fondue option and we all experimented with both the hot rock and hot oil options. The Prix Fixe was undisputedly the way forward. Four Courses at a fixed price. The French Onion Soup was absolutely heavenly. Throughout the entire experience we never felt neglected or rushed. The chocolate Fondue was sinfully delicious and the presentation was fantastic. As above, the whole team was adamant that we get the full experience. In my personal travels, I have discovered that this is an absolute exception. It literally felt like a home catering experience. I personally do not know what Michelin or Zagat standards are for restaurants are, but this for my family and I was perfect. My bias is that when I travel, I look for local flavor. That is not always successful. In this case, it absolutely was. Grizzly House is a dining experience that in my opinion has become rare in the modern world. It is clearly a favorite amongst locals. Nestled quietly in and amongst the Rocky Mountain Village that is Banff, one will be enamored with the experience that is alpine dining at Grizzly House. It is very popular, so early reservations should be encouraged. But, no visit to Banff should be deemed complete without a visit here. Do you Fondue? We Fondid!!! and can't wait to visit again. If we are able to book another ski trip for the Spring, the decision to go to Banff will literally be largely based on our ability to visit Grizzly House again. Thank you to all at Grizzly House for hosting what was an unforgettable and fantastic evening. Julian
Julian McMillanJulian McMillan
10
I came here in 2015 the first time I visited Banff. It’s been my favourite restaurant I’ve ever been to since that time; I tell so many people about it and couldn’t wait to come back when I passed through Banff in August 2024. For food, my partner and I got the fondue dinner. He got the hunters fondue, and I got the exotic fondue (they were out of rattlesnake so I was given kangaroo instead), we also got 1oz of Caribou as an add-on. The appetizer is a cheese fondue, which was really yummy! They use homemade bread which I appreciated. I did think it was too dense of a bread to be good for cheese fondue though, I would have preferred a lighter/fluffier bread to compliment the hearty cheese. I’d still eat it again though! Main courses were of course our meat on a hot rock. We both shared all of the meat, so we could try everything. It was SO fun! We both loved that it comes with a tray of various different dipping sauces. My fav was the teriyaki, and my partners was (I believe) Dijon mustard horseradish sauce. He said he’s not usually a fan of horseradish, but he loved that sauce. For dessert you get a chocolate fondue with fruit & wafer cookies. It was really good! Atmosphere: wait staff were very friendly. It is VERY dark inside though, so if you have an issue with seeing it can be hard to see. The lighting is very dim. My only MAJOR disappointment with my visit is that the phones were disconnected!! My favourite part of this restaurant (and the reason it was so memorable for me) was because every table has a phone on it. The menu includes a map of the restaurant with the number to call each table so you can call random people. When I went previously on a big family trip we had SO much fun calling people and saying funny, random things, asking how their meal is, etc. It is a core memory of my teenage years, and I couldn’t wait to show my boyfriend after telling him about it for so long. But nope :( disconnected after covid and never set back up. I’d still recommend coming, the food is delicious, it’s a really good time with the different kinds of fondue! Just no longer my favourite restaurant in the world.
Kali AnyxKali Anyx
00
It might be one of the best place to eat in Banff but don't let it fool you. Wished me and my friends have read the reviews first before coming here. Yes it may seem fully packed but it's not worth it in the end. This how it went down. 1st: once we got our seat I asked the waiter what is thr drink in that tall glass as I was curious and he said I don't know. How can a waiter not know what drinks they have in a tall glass? Could have said a beer or long Island ice tea. When it came to the food to ask for their best seller still don't have an answer. (As a first time timer and not able to answer my questions. That was a let down already. ) 2nd: We were seated at the Patio.It rained and they don't have alternative option as it was "FULLY BOOKED". A family of 3 next to us (they had a baby with them). The father asked for help and told the waiter if they can be seated inside. They just said we don't know. We are fully booked. Instead of saying please wait inside while we find a table for u. So the family don't know where to go or if they can wait inside at the receptionist area or not. They don't have choice but to go inside because they have a baby with them. While we were waiting for our turn we are told as well that they are fully booked. So we waited down the pouring rain while our fondue was soaked in the rain along with the bread. Thank goodness we didn't eat our main course outside. (My point is we are paying so much yet your service sucks that if we are fully booked we cannot accommodate you even if its pouring rain you are invisible and won't get sick and it's not our problem. Then why accept us in the first place?) 3rd: Me and my friend ordered 4 main courses off their menu which is $60 per person. I choose beef and lobster (include in the pics 2nd slide) while my friend choose hunter fondue which has venison, Buffalo and wild boar (not included). Which you won't know because the waiter didn't point out which is which. While my brother had a Alberta Rib Eye steak (didn't took a pic coz I was already annoyed with situation from pouring rain to the meat we are served with). We ate the main course inside and their ambience is too dark for me to see if my meat is fully cooked or if my brother's Rib eye steak was cooked. We had to turn on our phone flashlights. Overall, their French onion soup was good and bread and fondue was okay til it rained. I hope they make some changes though. I thought the previous reviews of this place will be a different experience for us but it was not. What other people reviews about this place is not far from how I reviewed the place. It is definitely a tourist trap. It my look full on the outside and the people lining up don't let it fool you. The cheese fondue is only on the bread and the chocolate fondue is on the desserts. The rest was a flop. Maybe one day I would love to go back and try some of their menu. But I really hope by then. They make some changes. It has so much potential.
Angel ThereseAngel Therese
00
This was a dining experience to remember. Firstly, the restaurant is located non Banff Ave. it looks very cute from the outside. The tables on the outside look great especially when the weather is good. But it is the ambience inside that really makes the experience worthwhile. The restaurant is dark. There is a story of how it used to be a Swinger’s Bar. Each table has a telephone that is still working. The placemat had the map of the restaurant and the table numbers and how to call. We could not resist and tried out the phone and called one of the neighbouring tables. Moving on the food, we got the set meal (complete fondue dinner). This came with an appetiser that you can choose between a soup or a salad. We got the soup which was a tortellini soup. The second was the entree which was a choice between a cheese or vegetable fondue. We went with the cheese of course. This was soooo good. The cheese had a strong wine taste. We dip bread in. And best part was, when the cheese gets more harden and fried at the bottom, this taste good as well. For mains we had the Alberta dinner (beef, venison, elk and buffalo) and the exotic dinner (frog leg, alligator, tuna, venison, ostrich, buffalo and kangaroo). We chose to cook on a hot rock. Every single meat was just so delicious that we didn’t even really needed the sauces they gave us. We ended our meal with a chocolate fondue (came with fruits). The dinner was just amazing. The meat was so fresh and well marinated. We enjoyed our night thoroughly and we would highly recommend this place if you are in Banff. Do make a booking.
Sharon TSharon T
00
The Grizzly House was a must-do experience for your first time in Banff…however, the food itself is fairly lackluster. The good, as I mentioned, was the uniqueness of experience. Choosing what to order, sharing and exploring the fondues with your fellow guests and cooking (or trying to) with the provided hot plates. It was fun, the staff were great and it was very memorable. Now, the food itself seemed a bit overpriced, taste was underwhelming and portion sizes were small. For what we paid per person, we shared what seemed like pretty small portions of vegetable and cheese fondue… the starter Caesar salads were fairly bland, and the house tortellini soup served lukewarm. Following the starters and fondue, we received our 6-7 ounces of protein per person (which felt quite minimal once served)… but as I said, it was fun to cook and eat, so not a wasted experience by any stretch. We had made a reservation, but be prepared to wait until the exact minute your reservation begins. Understandable given the busy nature of the place, but something of note nonetheless, as we had been accustomed to being seated 5-10 minutes prior at most other restaurants. One tip I read that I was happy to have followed: skip your fancy clothes! Due to the hot plate cooking, our table and surroundings collected some cooking grease… nothing to bother us, but we were glad to have known this prior, and dressed accordingly! Thanks for a memorable experience! We had a good time - likely wouldn’t return, but grateful for it nonetheless.
Lauren FernandesLauren Fernandes
140
Nearby Attractions Of The Grizzly House
Banff Visitor Centre
Cascade of Time Garden
Banff Park Lodge Resort Hotel & Conference Centre
Moose Hotel & Suites
Fox Hotel & Suites
Elk + Avenue Hotel
COWS Banff
Central Park
Banff Ptarmigan Inn
Banff Trail Riders - Stables

Banff Visitor Centre
4.6
(1.7K)Click for details

Cascade of Time Garden
4.7
(1.4K)Click for details

Banff Park Lodge Resort Hotel & Conference Centre
4.1
(1.1K)Click for details

Moose Hotel & Suites
4.6
(854)Click for details
Nearby Restaurants Of The Grizzly House
Indian Curry House-Banff
The Old Spaghetti Factory (Banff)
PARK Distillery Restaurant + Bar
Magpie & Stump Mexican Restaurant + Bar
Masala Authentic Indian Cuisine
Saffron Indian Bistro
Tooloulous
Melissa's MisSteak
Bear Street Tavern
St James's Gate Irish Pub

Indian Curry House-Banff
4.4
(1.9K)Click for details

The Old Spaghetti Factory (Banff)
4.3
(1.8K)Click for details

PARK Distillery Restaurant + Bar
4.4
(1.6K)$$
Click for details

Magpie & Stump Mexican Restaurant + Bar
4.3
(1.5K)Click for details