BANFF NATIONAL PARK - Canadian Rockies: Including Banff and Jasper National Parks - page 98

downtown is Barpa Bill's (223 Bear St., 403/762-0377, 11am-midnight daily, $8-12), a
hole-in-the-wall eatery with a couple of indoor tables and a menu of inexpensive Greek
dishes. Cash only.
The main reasons for visiting the Banff Centre include attending the many events, ex-
ercising at the fitness facility, or wandering through the grounds. Add to this list having a
casual meal at Le Cafe (Banff Centre, Tunnel Mountain Dr., 403/762-6100, 10am-10pm
daily, $6-11), overlooking the swimming pool within the Sally Borden Building. Sand-
wiches are made to order, or try a minipizza or bowl of steaming soup. In the adjacent Kin-
near Centre, Maclab Bistro (Banff Centre, Tunnel Mountain Dr., 403/762-6100, 7am-2am
daily, $14-23) is a much larger space with tables spilling outside onto a patio.
Cougar Pete's Cafe in the Banff Alpine Centre (off Tunnel Mountain Rd., 403/
762-4122, 7am-1pm and 5pm-10pm, $11-18) offers free wireless Internet and a great out-
door patio. The menu features all the usual café-style dishes, such as a pile of nachos for
$11.
Aardvarks (304 Caribou St., 403/762-5500, noon-4am daily) is a late-night pizza
hangout.
Family-Style Dining
Children will love the food and parents will love the prices at Old Spaghetti Factory (2nd
Floor, Cascade Plaza on Banff Ave., 403/760-2779, 11:30am-10pm daily, $9.50-20). The
room is casual-rustic, with a few tables spread along a balcony. Sort through a maze of
combinations and specials (kids get their own color-in menu), and the most you'll pay for
a meal is $20, which includes soup or salad, a side of bread, dessert, and coffee.
Steak
Alberta beef is mostly raised on ranchland east of the park and features prominently on
menus throughout town. Finely marbled AAA beef is used in most restaurants and is un-
equaled in its tender, juicy qualities.
M Saltlik (221 Bear St., 403/762-2467, from 11am daily, $23-46) is the perfect choice
for serious carnivores with cash to spare.
Considered one of Banff's most fashionable restaurants, the room is big and bold, and
the concrete-and-steel split-level interior is complemented by modish wood furnishings.
Facing the street, glass doors in the street-level lounge fold back to a terrace for warm-
weather dining. The specialty is AAA Alberta beef, finished with grain feeding to enhance
the flavor, then flash-seared at 650°C (1,200°F) to seal in the juices, and served with a side