BANFF NATIONAL PARK - Canadian Rockies: Including Banff and Jasper National Parks - page 83

Around the corner from Banff Avenue, the St. James Gate Olde Irish Pub (207 Wolf
St., 403/762-9355) is a large Irish-style bar with a reputation for excellent British-style
meals and occasional appearances by Celtic bands.
One block back from Banff Avenue are two excellent choices for a quiet drink. Relative
to other town drinking spots, prices at the M Bear Street Tavern (Bison Courtyard, 221
Bear St., 403/762-2021) are excellent. Add funky surroundings and a sunny courtyard to
the mix, and you have an excellent choice for a drink and meal. Saltlik (221 Bear St.,
403/762-2467) is best known as an upscale (and upstairs) steakhouse. At street level, the
lounge opens to a streetside patio.
Around the corner from these two choices is Melissa's (218 Lynx St., 403/762-5776),
which is a longtime favorite drinking hole for locals. It has a small outdoor patio, a long
evening happy hour, a pool table, and multiple TVs.
Hotel Hangouts
Many Banff hotels have lounges open to guests and nonguests alike. They are generally
quieter than the bars listed previously and often offer abbreviated menus from adjacent
restaurants. For old-world atmosphere, nothing in town comes close to matching the Sir
William Wallace Room, in the Fairmont Banff Springs (405 Spray Ave., 403/762-2211,
4pm-midnight daily). Another place to enjoy a drink in the park's landmark hotel is
the mezzanine-level Rundle Lounge (Fairmont Banff Springs, 403/762-2211, noon-1am
daily), an open space with views extending down the Bow Valley. Below the hotel is the
Waldhaus Pub (Fairmont Banff Springs, 403/762-2211, from 11am daily in summer). It
has the best deck in town, but it's mainly the haunt of locals coming off the golf course or
savvy visitors (such as those who've read this topic).
Downtown, the Mount Royal Hotel (corner of Banff Ave. and Caribou St., 403/
762-3331) has a small lounge off the lobby, while below, accessed from farther up Banff
Avenue, is the Buffalo Paddock (138 Banff Ave., 403/762-3331), with pool tables. At the
opposite end of the style scale is the lounge in the Voyager Inn (555 Banff Ave., 403/
762-3301), which is worth listing for the fact that it has the cheapest beer in town and drink
specials every night (and a liquor store with cheaper prices than downtown).
Nightclubs
Banff has three nightclubs: Cavernous Aurora (downstairs in the Clock Tower Mall at
110 Banff Ave., 403/760-5300) was formerly an infamous gathering place known as Sil-
ver City, but renovations in the late 1990s added some class to Banff's clubbing scene.