The Banquet (Edmonton ICE District) — Restaurant in Edmonton

Restaurant Review: The Banquet – Ice District (Post-Oilers Game 2, Stanley Cup Final) ★☆☆☆☆

After the double-overtime Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers, I found myself in need of a quick bite before heading home. Given the late hour, The Banquet – Ice District was one of the only nearby spots still open — aside from a McDonald’s — so I decided to give it another try, despite having had a previous poor experience a month earlier. I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Unfortunately, my second visit mirrored the first — painfully slow service and a complete lack of attentiveness.

⸻

Speed & Service Getting a table was surprisingly fast for a post-playoff game rush — the only thing that was. After being seated, I waited approximately 10 minutes before my server even came to take my order, which for a solo diner is already too long. At that point, I decided to time how long it would take for the food to arrive.

It took 37 minutes. During that entire wait, I was only checked on twice: Once for a drink refill. The second time, 35 minutes in, when the server confusedly asked if I had received my food yet — which I hadn’t.

That interaction made me wonder: how can a server not know whether or not a guest at their table has received their food? Especially when I was seated alone and visibly waiting?

To make matters worse, a table of four behind me, seated after I ordered, received their full meal before I did.

⸻

The Meal I ordered the Sweet & Spicy Chicken Sandwich, a messy item that I had ordered on my previous visit as well. On both occasions, no napkins were provided — not with the food, not during the meal, and not until I flagged down my server after I had finished eating and asked for them alongside the bill. How does a messy chicken sandwich get served — twice — without napkins?

The sandwich itself took only 12 minutes to eat. I couldn’t help but think I could have grilled up a ribeye at home in half the time I spent waiting.

⸻

Atmosphere The vibe? Deafening. I’m all for energy — I was just in Rogers Place, one of the loudest arenas in the NHL — but somehow the music inside The Banquet was even louder than the arena. It was beyond a fun, high-energy bar level — it was full-on nightclub mode without the dancing.

⸻

Management, Training, and Consideration There were no apologies for the delay. No explanations. No check-ins to see how my meal was or if I needed anything. Once again, I was left wondering whether this was a staffing issue, poor training, or a kitchen problem.

I thought maybe the playoff rush was overwhelming the staff, but 15–20 minutes after I placed my order, the place had significantly emptied. Other tables were receiving their food much faster than I was. So, the “rush” excuse falls flat.

This isn’t a one-off. My first visit a month ago was nearly identical in terms of delay, lack of attention, and missing napkins. I came back hoping that visit was just an off night — but now I see it as a pattern.

⸻

Final Thoughts I want to be reasonable — I even left a tip — but something needs to change. Whether it’s training, staffing, or simply caring more about customer service, the consistency of this experience speaks volumes.

If I had known I would waste nearly an hour for a sandwich and no napkins, I would’ve gone home and made a better meal myself.

I hope this review prompts a serious look at how service is being handled. I didn’t want to write a negative review — but after two nearly identical visits, I feel compelled to say something. Guests deserve...

-lack of cocktail knowledge by server/s -disinterested attitude by server -we had come In for food and drinks to enjoy part of the oilers hockey game on TV prior to going to the ‘fan park’ thing they setup in the ice district, we were never made aware that we would have to leave at some point and couldn’t enjoy the game from our table, when I went to order a round of drinks and dessert my server said “I gotta get you guys out of here, can’t do desert, ill take care of that round of shots for you” no solution was ever offered and my server then became the fastest most thoughtful server in the world, my table was starting to get cleaned, we were brought some free shots but the tone my server had was that I as the guest was an inconvenience to her for occupying this table with my partner and my friends.

Ive never been denied being served a dessert and more drinks 4 hours before the establishment closes, she brought our bills and decided upon herself that we were not to be served anymore, it’s not as though we weren’t contributing to her sales, we were a table that had spent at least 350$ in the span of 2 hrs and we intended on drinking and eating more

We had ordered a round of shots with a chaser, one of these food runners brought us only the chaser and since we were not visited by a server for roughly 15-20 minutes our actual shots came to us 20 minutes later when we asked about them, which is clearly that the individual running our drinks to us didn’t read the chit, this same individual ran drinks to us pretty much all night, didn’t know what they were bringing us half the time and would drop drinks off and run away as if they were a vampire that was outrunning the sun.

Overall my experience at the banquet in the ice district was extremely mediocre, my server was super unfriendly and unwelcoming, that can be attributed to them having a bad day so whatever, their delivery of bad news to a guest needs some work and I felt as though I was an inconvenience to my server. The food was pretty okay for the most part, I think most of my experience was pretty alright just the lack of communication between the bartender and the drink runner is silly or the lack of interest of my server in bringing me anything or checking up on us was funny because their income relies on how the guest is treated. To me the most ironic part is how involved my server became in maintaining the cleanliness and quality of my table when they told me that we would have to leave, till then we had an empty plate of nachos and chicken wings sit at our table for 1.5hrs lol

Anyways, overall if you do intend on coming to this restaurant, the food is okay, I assume it’s better on non-event nights, some of the people who work here clearly don’t enjoy it much, I think in a time where spending money and the average Canadian spends 39% of their grocery budget on going out you want to feel welcomed and have a good experience and I just didn’t feel that great dining and spending my time...

We recently celebrated a special occasion at The Banquet and were quite disappointed with our experience. Despite making a reservation well in advance, our visit was marred by several issues.

Firstly, our waitress was unhelpful and disinterested. We had to pass our drinks around ourselves, instead of her walking around the table, and she reached across our faces to serve the food and to hand us the payment terminal instead of walking around. I was really unimpressed by an arm suddenly 2 inches from my face multiple times. When we asked about a dish, she rudely told us to read the menu instead of providing the information. However, she was quick to interject into a conversation between my dad and me about a beer from a different restaurant, mistakenly thinking we were discussing a dish at The Banquet.

We also encountered problems with the restaurant's app. It advertised a free food item upon download and some great deals, but when we arrived, we learned that only a limited number of coupons were accepted per table. Additionally, the app did not specify that the 2 required drink purchases had to be alcoholic, which is problematic for those who cannot or choose not to drink—such as those on certain medications, pregnant, underage, or abstaining for personal reasons (such as not feeling comfortable driving after multiple drinks).

While we did receive a free dessert after requesting it (a small gesture most places offer for special occasions), it did not make up for the lack of service and the unpleasant attitude from our server. The restaurant was largely empty, yet we felt like an inconvenience throughout our meal.

The food itself was delicious.

While we were excited to try this place, our experience fell short of expectations, and we do not plan on returning.

For friendly service and great specials and app deals without needing to purchase alcohol, I recommend The Canadian Icehouse directly below The Banquet. We went the next night with a larger party, and it was fantastic! Our server was delightful and said we were the best group she had ever served. The atmosphere was also...