Toque Canadian Pub

This place is the epitome of all flash and no substance. The atmosphere was fine, if you’re into Canadian clichés, but everything else about our experience was pretty disappointing.
After waiting for 10 minutes for menus and another 15 without service, I just went up to the bar to put in our order– at 8pm, with only one other group in the entire place. The staff was friendly, but I would not recommend eating here if you’re wanting to finish in under two hours.
The duck poutine was delicious, the herb chicken was way over cooked, and the burger that my girlfriend had was nothing special.
Two stars– one for the atmosphere and one for the poutine.

Ok so we were in Banff for a couple of nights, went to Toque first night because our hotel gave us a couple of $ 20 coupons, was in a promotion when we booked our stay. The first night was ok, sat at the bar and had drinks.
Went back second night because we still had a coupon to use, had to seat ourselves and got water but didn’t see our server for 15 min, so we left. This place isn’t going to be around long term unless they change something with staff.
Décor isn’t very Canadian unless you think Canada is barren ice and snow, which some of if it surely is but not the nice parts!

I love the theme of this place, The Canadian Pub. Reading the menu before entering had us laughing. When I went in I was shocked, though the place is really cool with dancing water speakers and ice light bar, it felt more like a club vibe than Canada theme pub. There were cool dictionary posters on the wall with Canada slang and old Canada made cartoons on the tvs which I really loved. The place was dead on a Saturday night which surprised us but we decided to sit at the bar and get a few drinks.
The bar tenders were really friendly and nice to chat with. I had the Canadian ceasar and lemonade. Both were delicious and made perfectly. But while we were sitting there we noticed little cleanliness things that put us off a little. Just little things like wiping down the bar and behind the bar looked a little dirty.
I want to like this place but I found it confusing in what vibe they were trying to go for. The atmosphere was dead but its hard to figure out why exactly that is.

From Eh to Zed, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at the Toque pub!
I think if you are a tourist in Banff, Toque is a perfect place to experience what everyone thinks Canada is like. There is a real cheekiness to this pub. From the artwork with common Canadianism like the definitions of «double-​double» and «zed» to the lumbersexual bartenders.
I am so use to pubs in the traditional sense, sports playing on TVs in the background, wing-​nights, foosball tables and a conventional décor. I don’t think I would classify Toque as a pub– it’s far too pretty! It’s actually how I would do a pub, if I owned a pub. It’s fancy but not snobby. Cool lighting. A water wall with uplighting. Just really gorgeous. I really really liked the atmosphere of Toque.
The food was great! There are beers and cocktails. Nachos and Naan. Burgers and Grilled Salmon. Again, not what I was expecting from a pub. I had the Grilled Salmon. It was plated beautifully– I found myself thinking about the plate like the judges on Masterchef. And my critique is that is was simply gorgeous! Great use of colourful veggies. The mango salsa complimented the fish, the only thing I didn’t like was that my mashed potatoes were cold. But it didn’t bother me enough to lose a star in my review.
I want to go back to Toque for dinner. I think it would a really fun place to have a birthday party or start off a night of partying. I’m so happy I got to experience this pub, it has set the bar for my expectations of the Pub Life!

Toque has a really good marketing campaign — they have ads in all of those bathroom stall mini-​billboards everywhere. They infiltrated the minds of a girlfriend and myself, so we went for dinner on a Saturday night.
When we walked in there was no sign re: seat yourself/​please wait to be seated, and there was no host/​ess, so we scoped out a table and sat down. It hadn’t been cleared yet and it took several minutes (5+) for someone to notice us and clear the table. A waitress took our drink order (two waters and a Caeser) and we didn’t see her again for a long time. We didn’t have menus, so I eventually went up to the bar to ask for a couple. Man, did we ever wait a long time. When I did get my drink, it was the wrong type of Caeser. We ordered poutine and a chicken caeser salad. The salad I had was small for an entrée and there wasn’t enough dressing. It wasn’t BAD but mildly disappointing as I was fairly hungry.
Our waitress was charming in a weird goth sort of way and we had good banter back and forth, but when you really get down to it, she wasn’t a good server. The people at the table next to us looked very unhappy and complained to her before they left.
The décor of the restaurant is cool and slick and wasn’t what I was expecting of a Canadian pub. I liked that aspect of it. Perhaps if I had a different server and had chosen a different meal, my experience would have been better. It might be worth giving them another chance just because I do like the venue.

We picked this restaurant to have exotic meat like bison. I was impressed by the interior and design of the restaurant. I had the elk stew, which was okay, but it was like my mom’s ox tail stew. I was excited to have poutine for the first time. We had duck and bison poutine, but it’s just potatoes, gravy, and cheese. My sister didn’t like the chicken prairie pie. My sister’s husband and my sister had bison burgers, but weren’t completely satisfied saying it was chewy and dry. Kids got food from kids menu like sliders and fish and chips. You can try their brews. Banff is a drinking town!

Very cool décor and fantastic service. Was only there for drinks, not food but our waitress was helpful, pleasant and prompt. Will definitely be back.

My wife and I ventured into this cool looking pub while we were on a much needed R&R weekend. From the outside this place seemed pretty interesting. But when we entered the basement of this place we were greeted with a huge space that bordered on night club. I’m not a fan of restaurants that are so spacious and this place made you feel so small and lonely. They could try and tighten up the place by crowding people in one area to make it more intimate.
As for the food, it was good. Your typical pub style food. The menu was mediocre. Nothing on it stood out for us. They did have a good selection of beers though.
I am not sure I would come back to eat here. Wild Bills is the best spot on the strip in Banff in my opinion. This place seems like it’s trying to do too much. Are you a night club or a restaurant? Time to choose I think.

I had the fish sandwich with house salad. Fish could have used another 30 seconds in the fryer, but it was still tasty. The maple tartar aioli was on point! The Okanagan salad was lovely!

Bön endroit pour manger un bout à Banff. La nourriture y est bonne (sans être exceptionnelle). Les prix sont raisonnables et l’eau est gratuite. Cependant l’endroit est très bruyant (on né s’entendait pas parler lors du Superbowl) car l’établissement retransmet les évènement sportifs.

Might be Banff’s best kept secret. They had a great selection of beer and food. The waitress was really helpful and attentive. She did disappear a few times but I assume that she was helping with a party in another room.
There are many tvs available to watch sports which was great. The prices were pretty reasonable and the atmosphere was great!
Toque also provides souvenirs and toques for sale!
I would go back

Looking for a casual, moderately priced place for dinner — the interesting menu drew us in from the street. We liked the modern décor of the place. The server was friendly but inattentive (they looked under staffed). The smoked duck poutine was very tasty — a great blend of flavors. The salmon was less successful — over cooked and dry though the side veggies were great. This place feels so close to being a home run…
August 2014