Best Banff Restaurants for International Food

Author: Dan Brewer

Last Updated:

As a world-class mountain resort town in the heart of the Canadian Rockies, there are no shortage of excellent Banff restaurants for visitors to try. Many of the best Banff restaurants offer Canadian cuisine, but let’s be honest – we don’t want elk steaks for dinner every night. So, what other options do visitors have when they are looking for the best restaurants in Banff?

With so many international visitors to Banff National Park, it’s no surprise that many of the best restaurants in Banff offer international food. To be honest, although I enjoy fine Canadian cuisine, if given the choice, I’ll choose a good Mexican, Indian or Greek restaurant any day.

a lunch Indian food buffet in Banff at the Masala restaurant

Best Restaurants in Banff for International Food:

To help you enjoy some excellent meals during your visit to the Canadian Rockies, here is our list of the Best Banff Restaurants for International Food:

Best Banff Indian Restaurant – Masala Authentic Indian Cuisine

On our last visit to Masala Authentic Indian Cuisine in Banff, all the staff were excited and abuzz about decorating for Diwali, India’s biggest and most important holiday of the year. After our excellent meal, we walked past a different Banff Indian restaurant afterwards and noticed no preparations going on. In my opinion, this nuance helps explain why we feel Masala is the best Indian restaurant in Banff.

butter chicken at the indian food buffet in Banff, Canada

We’ve never been able to resist a good Indian buffet, so when we get the urge we visit Masala for their simple, yet very tasty Indian lunch buffet. Having a high-quality butter chicken is a must for any Indian buffet, and Masala Banff delivers. If you go for a morning hike in Banff, Masala is a great post-hike restaurant for a satisfying meal.

If you prefer à la carte Indian food, visit Masala for dinner, where you can order off their full menu. Masala offers a full range of appetizers, vegetarian dishes, a wide selection of Biryani dishes, lamb, beef, chicken and seafood curries and kormas, and of course a good selection of meats cooked in the tandoor oven.

a plate of butter chicken, daal and palak paneer at the Masala Indian restaurant in Banff, Alberta

Masala Banff is located on Wolf Avenue, just a few seconds away from the new, popular pedestrian-friendly Bear Street.

Best Banff Greek Restaurant – Balkan Restaurant

Ok, ok… the Balkan Restaurant is the only Greek restaurant in Banff, so the competition for the best Banff Greek restaurant isn’t that steep. Thankfully for Banff diners, the Greek food at the Balkan Restaurant is authentic and excellent.

the dining room at the Balkan Restaurant - a greek restaurant in Banff National Park

For as long as I can remember, the Balkan Restaurant has been a fixture on Banff Avenue; in fact they’ve successful family-run Banff Greek restaurant for over 34 years. The Banff restaurant scene is highly competitive, so this kind of longevity can only be attributed to consistent quality and happy customers.

The menu at the Balkan Greek restaurant in Banff is replete with traditional Greek dishes ranging from a mouth-watering Mediterranean salad, chicken souvlaki, calamari, spanakopita, baklava and much more. The dinner menu has a full offering of greek food favorites, while the lunch menu offers a more curated list of Greek favorites.

a plate of Greek food at the Balkan Restaurant on Banff Avenue

We have fond memories of the food during our travels to Greece and we always look forward to visiting our favorite Greek restaurant in Banff to relive those wonderful meals. If you’re looking for a fun evening out in Banff, try dining at the Balkan Greek restaurant on Tuesdays or Fridays, when you’ll be treated to belly-dancing and plate-smashing.

Best Korean Food in Banff – Hankki

Banff’s best new fast food restaurant, Hankki serves up fun and delicious Korean street food. With an excellent location just a few feet off Banff Avenue across from the riverfront Central Park, why not grab some Korean takeout and have a picnic?

the busy counter at Hankki Korean Street food restaurant in Banff

The staff at Hankki were over-the-top friendly and the k-pop videos playing on the TV made for a very fun visit.

We ordered a Korean BBQ and a Chee Bop cupbop. The food was hot, fast and delicious. The Chee Bop was good, but the Korean BBQ cupbop was the best. The portion sizes are generous as well. We were stuffed after our regular cupbops (and a ton of fries)! Hankki offers a variety of french fries, but we highly recommend the honey butter fries. Wow – they were amazing!

Honey butter french fries at Hankki Korean Street food restaurant in Banff

Our kids each had a Hankki Original corn dog. I’ve never seen corn dogs so big! There’s a wide selection of interesting sauces for the corn dogs, although our kids just had boring old ketchup.

A boy enjoys a corn dog at a kid-friendly Korean Banff restaurant

All we could talk about during our delicious meal at Hankii was that we hope they open a Canmore location soon!

Best Banff Mexican Restaurant – Magpie & Stump

The restaurant scene in Banff is highly competitive, with plenty of turnover each year. The Magpie & Stump Mexican restaurant is one of Banff’s oldest restaurants – a testament to its long-term commitment to serving high-quality, delicious food. We love the fun atmosphere at Magpie & Stump, a fun mixture of an old-time saloon and a Mexican restaurant.

the dining room at the Magpie & Stump Mexican restaurant in Banff National Park

The Magpie & Stump offers a wide range of popular Mexican favorites, ranging from tacos on corn tortillas, fajitas, burritos, quesadillas and nachos. Wash it all down with an ice cold Corona or a selection from their incredible collection of over 60 tequilas.

In the summer, the Magpie & Stump opens El Patio – a rooftop taco bar. Enjoy cool cervezas, margaritas and tacos in the fresh air, while enjoying some amazing Banff scenery.

a plate of churros and ice cream at the best Mexican restaurant in Banff

Food can get expensive in Banff, but you can find some great deals on Mexican food at the Magpie & Stump. On Taco Tuesdays and during Happy Hour (weekdays from 3-5), guests can enjoy $3 tacos. It’s a great chance to try them all!

a plate of authentic tacos served at the Magpie & Stump - one of the best Mexican restaurants in Banff

The Magpie & Stump has an excellent location for a downtown Banff restaurant, on the corner of Bear St and Caribou St.

We hope you enhance your trip to Banff National Park with some great meals from our list of the best restaurants in Banff for ethnic food!

You Can Trust our Banff Restaurant Reviews

We support local business and do not accept free food in exchange for reviews. Our recommendations for the best Banff ethnic restaurants are places where we love to eat and are based on meals we paid for.

You may notice on other Banff blogs, the pictures are “photos via Instagram”, or have Photo Credits. All this means is that the authors of the post have never been to the restaurant. You can trust our Banff restaurant reviews as we have personally dined at each establishment and have enjoyed it enough to recommend to you, our valuable readers.

Standing at Aylmer Lookout Banff National Park
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Dan Brewer, a life-long Alberta resident, calls Canmore home along with his wife and two kids. He is the co-owner of Travel Banff Canada, where he gets to share his passion for the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Dan, along with his family, love being outdoors doing one of the many activities they enjoy in the mountains: hiking, mountain biking, paddleboarding, skiing, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.

When he's not in Canmore enjoying one of his favourite local hikes, you can find him hoping on a plane to explore a new country with his family or working on one of their other two travel sites: Family Can Travel and Baby Can Travel.