Food Notes for March 30, 2026

Openings

• In addition to the recent announcement that District Café will be opening a location in Rice Howard Place, it turns out Fox Burger will also be opening a new spot in the same building.
• The long-awaited new Korean fried chicken spot Bonchon opened last week at 10418 124 Street NW. It is an independent brand not affiliated with any international chain.
• Ararat Cafe & Bakery, serving up Turkish coffee, tea, and pastries, opened last weekend at 4460 Calgary Trail NW.
• Kahve, another Turkish bakery and cafe, opened two weeks prior at 16652 109 Avenue NW.
• Walker Lake Meat Shop opened up a restaurant last week called Ghazal at 957 Tamarack Way.
• The former MilkCrate space in the Epcor Tower will be filled by another location of Hearth and Hive this summer (they took over the Dining Car Cafe last year in the CN Tower).
• An American-based Filipino chain called Valerio’s is opening a location in Edmonton on April 5 at 17522 100 Avenue NW.
• Calgary-based Deville Coffee will be opening up another Edmonton location at Southgate Centre this fall.

Closures

• El Taco Loco, a Spruce Grove taqueria, had opened an Edmonton location back in November. Unfortunately, they have closed it due to an issue with the building manager.

Upcoming Events

• Prelude’s Speakeasy pop-up continue into April and May at Golden Sparrow on Friday nights, and feature cocktails and food pairings.
• Eight Edmonton restaurants are participating in this year’s Taste for Life on April 15. These restaurants will be donating a portion of their sales to HIV Edmonton.

Local News

• Congratulations to Ply Pasarj of Rogue Wave Coffee for his win at the 2026 Canadian Cup Tasters Championships. He will be representing Canada a the World Cup Tasters Championship in Bangkok in May.
• Edify interviewed Chartier’s new executive chef Crystal Higgins about the new tweaks she will be making to the menu.
• Boyle McCauley News reviewed Boa & Hare.
• The St. Albert Gazette highlighted several Edmonton restaurants that serve high tea, including The Art of Cake, Cafe Bel-Air, and Lady Bea’s English Tea House.
• Woodwork will be open for dinner on Sundays starting April 12.
• DoorDash awarded grants to 30 Black-owned and Black-led restaurants in Canada, including $10,000 to Habesha Cravings in Edmonton.
• Top Chef Canada finalist Alex Kim was in Edmonton last week to mentor culinary students at NAIT, where he trained. He is the 2026 Hokanson Chef in Residence, and chatted with CBC RadioActive about his experience.

What I Ate

• I went for lunch with a friend last week at Don’ya Ukraine’s Kitchen. Given the fanfare for their grand re-opening the week before, I was surprised at how slow it was on a weekday. I did enjoy the sampler plate (the salad was the standout for me), and the service was friendly. It’s really probably not Don’ya’s fault that I’m still dreaming about the perfect perogies from Jola’s.

Sampler plate from Don’ya

• My office had a work event catered by Himalayan Village, a Nepalese restaurant with a couple of locations in Edmonton. I hadn’t tried their food before, but based on the paneer and the momos, I will definitely seek out the restaurant on its own!

Momos galore from Himalayan Village

• My sister is in town, so we’ve had some family meals out and about. We took the opportunity to try Chinese restaurant 7-Kitchens, located in the Quarters. It looks like the City’s efforts to make the street look closed and inaccessible to pedestrians with fencing was working, as the restaurant was empty apart from our party during our visit. The kitchen was efficient, and the variety of dishes we tried were tasty and well-priced. Our favourites was the fried rice (great wok hei), and the very crispy sweet and sour pork. Our only criticism is that the long picnic-style tables are not conducive to large groups sharing multiple dishes. Think about giving them some love!

Fried rice from Seven Kitchens

• My family also met for brunch at Old Yale Brewing. Such a large restaurant (over 375 seats) in Beaumont is such a curiosity, but judging by their steady business that day, many have found them. It is a stunning, purpose-built facility, and the games area on the second floor was fun for our kids. The food was okay (the Slept in Sando was not the item to order; Mack’s early riser poutine with tater tots was better). However, my parents were happy with the very economical $10 classic breakfast.

Slept in Sando from Old Yale Brewing