The Grizzly Paw (Canmore)

Cross-posted from Calgary is Awesome.

A few weekends ago, B. surprised me with a weekend getaway to Canmore as a belated non-birthday present (I had asked for nothing for my birthday) as well as some quality do-nothing time before the busy holiday season. Obviously for me the most important part of any trip is what we will be eating, so I sent a call out to the Twitterverse for help. My friend and fellow blogger Cheryl suggested The Grizzly Paw. We hadn't felt like pub food all weekend, which unfortunately led to a few not-so-good dining experiences, so we finally made it there for brunch on our last day in Canmore. This was a little unfortunate because it was a little too early for us to try the famous Grizzly Paw house-brewed beers and sodas.

The Grizzly Paw is also known for their burgers ($13.25, or $12.50 for vegetarian) - diners can choose from four different types (beef, which is ground in-house, chicken, bison or veggie) and from four topping combinations (classic - back bacon and cheddar cheese; mushroom & swiss, a spicy "angry" burger or Baja - salsa and guacamole). I had a mushroom & swiss bison burger, which was served with their house salad - "Granny Bee's Mountain Roughage".


It was a delicious burger - the meat was tender, flavourful and not too gamey, and the bun was soft and fluffy, but not soggy. It faced some stiff competition from the salad though, which was filled with uncommon but yummy ingredients, such as beets, hard-boiled egg, shredded carrots and cheese, all tossed in a balsamic dressing.


B. was not in the mood for a burger that morning, so he had a Chicken Ranch Pizza ($13.95), which is made with flatbread from the Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co., another restaurant that we'd heard good things about but didn't have a chance to go.


The pizza uses chipotle ranch sauce in place of the traditional tomato, giving it an interesting, smoky flavour. The chicken, bacon, green onion, tomato and drizzles of honey garlic sauce on the pizza completed the sweet, savoury and smoky "southern BBQ chicken" theme.

Despite being a brewery, The Grizzly Paw had more of a family restaurant feel as children are allowed to dine for most of the day, and are provided with colouring books and crayons. Though the food was a little slow, overall the service was very friendly and I can't wait to go back to Canmore to try their brews and the rest of their menu!

The Grizzly Paw
622 8 (Main) St
Canmore AB T1W 2B5
(403) 678-9983
Open Mon-Sun 11 AM-Midnight. Kitchen open Sun-Thu 11 AM-10 PM; Fri-Sat 11 AM-11 PM. Minors allowed to dine until 10 PM.