The Juniper Bistro

The service and food was top notch but the view was unforgettable. I made a reservation and received a patio table. Their burger was well presented and arrived promptly.

A beautiful view with fresh, creative food. The menu includes smaller plates, larger plates, desserts, and cocktails. They had a kids menu with pasta, grilled cheese, and chicken fingers. The ambience is fantastic with every detail carefully thought through to compliment the gorgeous view! Wonderful service — I definitely recommend it!

DEFINITELY AVOID THIS PLACE.
I’ve never left any Unilocal reviews, this is my first one as I really had to say something about one of the worst experience we had.
When we arrived for our reservation, we were seated promptly, but things started to go downhill from here. The restaurant was half full but it still took the waitress 20 minutes to arrive at our table to take our order, at which point we were already starving. We then waited a total of 52 minutes for our dishes to arrive (52 minutes!!). While we were waiting we asked the waitress about when our food would arrive, she said it was taking a while because everything is «made from scratch»…
When we finally got our food, I was really hoping the food was worth the wait and this experience is not a complete disaster, but is was disappointing!
I had ordered the duck breast, which the waitress told me they cook it to a lovely medium rare… turned out to be overcooked rough and chewy duck breast, I had only two pieces that was nice and didn’t take strenuous chewing to swallow the meat. We also had orders of the wagyu beef burger, the lamb chop and the vegetarian creation, which all turned out to be mediocre tasting dishes that you could easily get somewhere else with a much lower price.
My biggest problem is still the wait, I can see the waitress running around to different tables apologizing about the food taking a while, so if they do know it takes a while for the food to get to the table, why not at least provide some bread so we don’t starve while waiting or simply figure out what the problem is? We ended up with a bill of around $ 150 for 1 appetizer and 4 mains, at this price range, making your customers wait for 20 minutes for service to come and another 52 minutes for food to arrive is simply not okay.
Bottom line, NOT WORTH IT, there are many other much better choices in Banff.

Is this restaurant the best restaurant in Banff as Trip Advisor ranks it to be? Maybe. Maybe not. There’s a lot of fine restaurants in Banff.
But after visiting I can understand why they promote themselves online. If they didn’t they probably wouldn’t recieve as many customers. That’s because their location is off the beaten path and not mixed in with the other restaurants on Banff Avenue. You really do need to have a car and be in the know when finding this place. So I don’t blame them for promoting their online exposure.
Actually being away from town works to your advantage because the pace is a little slower than the in-​town restaurants.
The interior is nicely decorated in a very contemporary clean style. It’s classy but not stuffy. The layout lets in a lot of natural sunlight and offers great views of the Vermilian Lakes area. If you look and listen hard, you’ll notice the highway isn’t very far away.
They have three menus: breakfast in the morning, apres ski from 3 – 5 PM, and dinner starting at 5 PM. I opted for the apres ski menu and found the place to be empty. It was in-​between seasons so I wasn’t all that surprised. But it was nice because I got the bartender’s undivided attention and got a chance to chat with the other staff as well. Great people.
Food and drinks were top notch. No complaints there. Interestingly the only beers on their menu are craft beers from Alberta and British Columbia.
You bet, I’d return again. I’ll have to try their dinner menu next time.

I would not recommend this place at all. The service was horrible and the food was barely average. How this restaurant achieved high ratings is joke. Stay away!

The manager Hillary did make it right and refunded me the money. She was very apologetic and promised to retrain /​train the staff better. It was nice to be heard.

This is a really good place to eat. I had the salmon Benedict. The eggs were poached beautifully and had dark yokes so I’d think they are locally raised. The hollandaise sauce was creamy and rich. It was served on a toasted French bread with nuts and poppy seeds that added a great texture to the soft eggs/​salmon.
The waiter was friendly, professional and attentive.
I would live to eat here again… And I got to.
For Dinner I had the pork ribs for an appetizer and the wagyu burger. Both were presented beautifully and tasted even better. The ribs had an Asian sesame sauce that was so good and the ribs were very tender. YUM!
The Wagyu Burger was also very flavorful. It came very rare by my standards but I knew the chef was good so I ate it as is and it was fantastic. The fries that came with it were amazing. I don’t know how someone can make a potato that good.
The waiter for dinner was also very good and friendly.

I’ve only recently started posting Unilocal reviews, but I simply had to post a review for Juniper Bistro despite visiting here almost a year ago.
In March 2015, my friend and I spent three days in Banff and ended up staying at the Juniper Hotel, which houses the Juniper Bistro. During our last night, we decided to try out the bistro, and boy were we pleasantly surprised!
This place is a hidden gem! I say «hidden» because its location is a bit out of the way for anyone staying in the Banff downtown area, but I would say it’s definitely worth it. With a stunning view of the mountains and beautiful interior décor, I was excited from the moment I walked in.
Although I don’t remember the exact names of the items we ordered, what I do remember is that they were delicious! The soup of the day, a mushroom-​based soup, was absolutely DELIGHTFUL and definitely stands out as the winner in my opinion. There was such depth to the flavour and it was unlike any other mushroom soup I’d tried. I ordered the burger for my main (I believe it was called the Juniper Burger or something similar), which was quite good, and the potato wedges that came on the side were huge!
We enjoyed our dinner so much that the next morning before check-​out, we couldn’t help but order room service from their breakfast menu!
4 stars because we had to wait an unusually long time despite it not being too busy, and the duck appetizer was way too salty for our taste. If I could though, I would give the place 4.5÷5 despite these cons. Thanks for a memorable dinner, Juniper Bistro!

Atmosphere is classy and peaceful as well as inviting.
The food is phenomenal and the staff is great.
The old fashioneds are classic and the mulled wine goes great with the fireplace in the lounge.

Pros:
Awesome killer view of the mountain ranges. Great patio settings!
Very presentable, gourmet, tasty dishes for breakfast. The meals are $ 14.00 on average.
No addl charges for tea or coffee refills.
Cons:
Teapots have no lids so your tea gets cold almost right away, and it wasnt even hot to begin with.
We were given re-​fried hollow oily home fries/​taters with our dish. When we ordered a fresh serving at additional cost, those were freshly made.
Recommendations: have the berry waffle. *mmmm

The food here, although expensive, is fantastic. My family has a sensitive taste for food. I suppose you can say we’re picky. In other words, we’re pretty strong critics whenever we go out to eat. However this place met, if not exceeded, everyone’s expectations. Based on the time it took for our food to arrive (not unreasonably long, maybe 10 – 15 minutes tops), you can tell the food is freshly made, right on the spot before it’s served. My mother ordered the ribeye and my father, the duck breast. Both were tenderly cooked, perfectly roasted, and delicious. However my family agreed that the best dish that night was the pork wellington my brother ordered. There was ample meat, softly cooked on the outside with a fancy side of a foie gras gravy.
In my opinion, (well obviously since I do not eat meat) I thought the best dish was my sister’s mushroom gnocchi. I had wanted to order it myself but ended up getting the fettuccine alle vongole. The fettuccine, although big ample servings, was nothing compared to the gnocchi. The gnocchi sauch was perfect, rich and creamy. The gnocchi itself was made just right, not touch or chewy yet also not overcooked to the point it was too soft. I knew I should have went with my gut. Lesson learned: always go with my first choice.
Great service. The waitress, realizing we were tourists, was very eager to offer her opinions on drinks and dishes. I ended up ordering a local Canadian drink with rum and apple cider. I’m not a huge drinker but it was a well-​appreciated recommendation. Lastly, the view outside the windows overlooks the Canadian rockies. Absolutely breathtaking while enjoying a delicious meal. Definitely recommend coming here! Worth the money, the food, and the experience.

Don’t get suckered in by the whole «4.5÷5 on TripAdvisor» bit they have printed on certificates and hanging everywhere. The first thing we noticed is that the place was completely empty when we arrived – dead – even after the strange 3−5pm lunch began. The waitress was rude to us even though we were told we could sit down. When she finally deigned to approach us, she took our drink orders but also tried to take away the menu before we could even order some food. The drink my wife got was basically just rum with a tinge of juice instead of orange juice, pineapple juice, and lemon, as advertised; it tasted like garbage. The service was so slow we eventually cancelled our food order, paid up, and left. This is a pretentious place with terrible service that should be avoided at all cost.

The staff are a joy and the food is delicious! I’ve done breakfast and dessert here and have not been disappointed any of the times. The staff are so friendly!

We stopped here for some appetizers and drinks. Lovely! The food was delicious and service top-​notch. I would definitely return for a full meal. And do not miss the photo opp outside. The view from their patio is incredible!

First let me say the food here is fantastic! My steak was cooked perfectly, as was my wife’s pork wellington. I had the lamb/​clam app and my wife had the cheese/​meat plate.
But, the service was horrible!!! The waitress NEVER refilled our water and the only time I was able to get more coffee was when I asked for it. Just sucks the food was great but the service was sub-​par.

I’ve been here twice and both times were mindblowing! I got the duck this time and was almost unable to comprehend how delicious it was. Seriously. Gorgeous quiet setting, roaring fireplace, and our waitress Natasha was one of the best servers I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. She even sent us back to our hotel room at the juniper with proper wine glasses to enjoy our evening wine. Amazing! Do yourself a favor and get your butt over here!

On a 4-​day visit to Banff, we ended up eating dinner here twice — it was that good! We tried 4 different dishes, an appetizer, and 2 desserts and each was spectacular. Creative food that tastes absolutely phenomenal. My favorite might have to be the gnocchi — red pepper sauce and mushrooms — actually, the only time I can say I’ve loved gnocchi. The lamb and mussels were also perfectly prepared and flavorful.
The views from the restaurant are incredible — the lakes down below (yes, past the highway but we couldn’t see or hear it) and the snow-​capped mountains framing the view. To add to the relaxed ambiance, the service was outstanding. Our server was helpful, funny, had great recommendations, and seemed to know when we needed him to come by without being there too often.
I’m really surprised by some of the other reviews given how wonderful our experience was. Really glad I didn’t see them before trying this place out b/​c this food and setting were the perfect endings to long days of hiking. Hope to make it back here some day!

We had 2 breakfast there. Nice environment especially if you sit at patio. Food is okay, nothing special, just regular breakfast. Servers are friendly.

Well that was disappointing. And by disappointing I mean disgusting.
I had the Blueberry, Banana & Buttermilk Pancakes. Boy, those were dark, flat, pieces of grossness. Didn’t really taste like buttermilk pancakes — and I grew up being fed buttermilk pancakes by my mom. Didn’t really taste like banana. Very few blueberries. But it did taste pretty awful. By the end I figured out that the taste was… it was the grill they cooked on. Gross.
Wife had the Slow Roasted Pork Hash. While this was better but not great. Overall the dish was bland. The pork was fairly rubbery.

I LOVED how Juniper had loose leaf tea served in a nice pot for around $ 3 or so. I thought the prices would be jacked up because they do Trazelzoo deals (which is why I stayed and ate there in the first place) or because they’re part of a hotel. I’m glad I was wrong. A good breakfast for two was just a bit over $ 30.
Even though it was quiet as I went in March, it still took a few minutes for someone to come around to get us menus, but our waitress was really pleasant and had no problem refilling our water bottles and tea, and even offered to heat up my tea again towards the end of the meal. I didn’t feel rushed or anything, even though they were apparently «closing the kitchen» just before 11 am. Not sure what they do for lunch then.
For breakfast, my friend and I both had their eggs benedict with the seasoned potatoes as the side. Oh man, those potatoes were quite delicious and filling. I wish the eggs were runny though, as I even specifically asked about that. :(The hollandaise sauce was really, really buttery tasting. Other than that, I think this was pretty standard but I’ve had better bennies.
Overall though, it was nice, peaceful meal with a lovely view and a good way to start the day in beautiful Banff.