As I note in further detail below, longevity doesn’t guarantee that a restaurant can survive the kind of turmoil seen over the last five years. COVID-19 (and its long tail in the form of pandemic loans) wreaked havoc on restaurants’ bottom lines, and on dining habits, accelerating consumer reliance on third-party delivery apps. Consumers, in a period of economic downturn and instability, are eating out less frequently, and are being more selective with their dollars.

Some of the restaurants that were able to open or expand in 2024 serve up comfort food, like burgers – Fox Burger opened their third location in the Edmonton region, Woodshed Burgers their fourth, and Flat Boy Burgers found a full-time home with Shiddy’s Distilling. New pizzerias serving up their twist on a perennial favourite included California-inspired fn’za, Roman-style Va, and Chicago/New York/pizzettas at Lore (opened in December 2023). In a time where purse-strings are being tightened, it wouldn’t be surprising to me if diners are gravitating towards hearty dishes from known entities or familiar products, minimizing the risk of disappointment and wasted dollars.

Slice from Va

Looking back at the conversations I had with chefs and restauranteurs this year, most of whom are taking risks – either with their concepts or the neighbourhoods they are trying to revitalize – one quote sticks out from Steve Brochu, whose sit-down restaurant PlayWright opened inside the Citadel Theatre in June.

“We need people to invest in new ideas,” Brochu said. “There are eight pasta restaurants between here and the Convention Centre. We have a problem. People love pasta, but there’s so much other food. It’s a very big step to change your menu and see what happens, and there were restaurants that pushed the envelope and had to move it back. We want PlayWright to have tasty food and to challenge people.”

The hope is that Edmonton continues to harbour interesting and diverse hospitality businesses. But it will take a conscious effort from diners to ensure they can endure and thrive.

Other notable items from 2024:

• Daniel Costa had a banner year, opening Bar Henry in Ice District, and a trio of restaurants in the Citizen on Jasper (the rebranded Uccellino in Olia, café Va, and lobby bar Mimi).

• Other notable openings were Scott Iserhoff’s follow-up to Pei Pei Chei Ow in Indigenous restaurant Bernadette’s, and Menya Mori, a success story from an upstart ramen enthusiast who was able to transition from kits to a brick and mortar shop in a few years.

• As has been observed over the past number of years, independent cafes continue to gain traction in Edmonton, including The Colombian opening their fifth branch, and readying for their sixth in 2025. This year, however, it was great to see more distinct cafés open, offering their unique take on coffee, such as Korean-influenced Liberta Coffee Lab, Scandinavian-inspired Strom, and Mokha Coffee House, serving up Yemeni treats.

• Similarly, Korean cuisine continues to see no bounds in Edmonton, with several independents expanding (Hanjan’s third location, Nara Katsu’s second), new concepts opening (Nabi, Sang, JMT, Sam’s on Whyte), and Korea-based chains setting up shop here (Makchang Dodook, BBQ Chicken).

• It is also no surprise that international chains made waves in the news, with Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, Krispy Kreme all garnering attention for their long lines upon their entries to the Edmonton market.

• The food scene has seen an explosion of focaccia this year, with focaccia sandwiches being the focal point at Tiramisu Bistro’s sister restaurant Lift Me Up, prominently on the menu at Va and Bar Oro, and a za’atar-crusted version permanently on the menu at Little Wolf.

• There were a number of high-profile closures this year, including Biera’s award-winning restaurant in Ritchie after 7 years. Longevity wasn’t enough for several others either, including Dalla (originally Zenari’s, 40 years total), NongBu (9 years), Gravy (8 years), Northern Chicken (7 years). Some restaurants closed after the proprietors decided to retire or pare down their operations, including Take 5 (40 years), Chicken for Lunch (32 years), and GaYa (20 years).

• Speaking to the fraught nature of the hospitality sector, two well-known owner-operator couples announced this year they were divesting their interests, with Darren Cheverie of Chartier and Amy Nachtigall of Sugared and Spiced stepping back from their businesses.

• Still, there were some businesses that were able to celebrate notable birthdays, such as Red Star’s 20th, Duchess Bakery’s 15th, and District Café and Coffee Bureau’s 10th.

• The storied 120+ year history of Edmonton’s Downtown Farmers’ Market came to a close in January after an ill-conceived relocation to the Quarters. The Downtown Business Association resurrected the idea of the market and brought it back to 104 Street this summer.

• It was also a year for higher-end grocery stores offering more of an experience rather than a means to an end, with Lucky Supermarket’s third Edmonton location, Freson Bros.’ second Edmonton location, Tesoro (an Italian Bakery offshoot), and L’OCA’s flagship in Sherwood Park all opening this year.

• For the first time, an Edmonton-based competitor made it past the initial episode of Top Chef Canada, with Shane Chartrand placing in the top 5 of season 11.

You can check out previous year in reviews here (though I missed last year!).

The Edmonton food scene in 2022 was a year full of tension. While this blog is primarily about restaurants, it is impossible to ignore the ballooning disparity between those who can eat out and those who can eat at all. It was reported that Albertans have the highest rate of food insecurity in Canada, while food bank usage in the province more than doubled the national rate of increase.

On the restaurant front, several long-standing restaurants closed, some due to declining revenue, while other independent restaurants were able to embrace opportunities to expand. Blue Plate Diner, an 18 year veteran, shuttered over the summer, while The Nook, Pho Boy, and Ono Poke all closed after five or more years in business.

Despite the losses, it was a pleasant surprise that so many small restaurant groups were able to grow their footprint in our community, and offer more unique choices for diners all across the city. These included: El Corazon and Leopard in Glenora; Takam Market at MacEwan University; Hayloft and Woodshed Burgers in Cameron Heights; Seoul Fried Chicken, Northern Chicken, and Birdog on 104 Street Downtown; Pal’s in Old Strathcona; and additional locations for The Colombian and Remedy Cafe in Parkallen and the University of Alberta campus, respectively.

Leopard was among the new additions to Edmonton’s food scene this year (photo credit: Mack Male)

It’s also worth noting that Windermere in particular had a banner year in attracting hospitality brands. The chain-loving spirit in Edmonton was in full force with the openings of California Pizza Kitchen and PF Chang’s. But those splashy outposts were joined by independents Black Pearl, Hello Mochi, Flame & Barrel, and Japonais Bistro (to open in 2023).

As inflation continues to increase, the reality of operating food businesses will be even more challenging. But after talking to many restaurant owners over the year, my takeaway was their gratitude towards their loyal supporters in these times. I am hopeful that this theme will continue into 2023.

A few other notable items from 2022:

• The provincial vaccine passports (aka Restrictions Exemption Program) ended up being short lived, ending February 8, 2022, after being instituted in September 2021.
• Most pandemic-related pivots restaurants had made in the previous two years ended, such as in-house delivery from Filistix and Duchess.
• Some restaurants, such as Northern Chicken and Chartier, were transparent about why they had to increase their food prices.
• In April, it was announced that Giselle Courteau and Jake Pelltier were stepping away from Duchess Bake Shop.
• The Lingnan reached the incredible milestone of 75 years in business.
• In October, Tres Carnales had to manage a high profile health-inspection related closure of the restaurant. This month, they announced their permanent closure.
• No less than six Calgary-based brands set up shop in Edmonton, including Flirty Bird, Deville Coffee, Jerusalem Shawarma, Home & Away, Blanco Cantina, and PACT Coffee.
• Many new national and international chains also opened in Edmonton this year, such as Fuwa Fuwa, Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, Vish, Mogouyan, Community Taps and Pizza, and El Furniture Warehouse.
• Planned development in Strathearn led to the closure of community favourites Ralph’s Handi-Mart and Juniper.

You can check out previous year in reviews here (though I missed last year!).

The pandemic wreaked havoc on life as we knew it. As Alberta exceeds 1,000 lives lost to COVID-19 amidst a holiday season under near-lockdown, it feels somewhat trivial to reflect on the food and hospitality scene in Edmonton.

Still, there is no doubt that COVID-19 will have a lasting impact on how we dine out in the future, even post-pandemic. For businesses that are able to outlast the successive waves of the disease as we await mass immunization, some of the pivots fulfilled out of desperation may become permanent.

Restaurants such as Corso 32 and Tokiwa Ramen continued to produce meal kits even after indoor dining was permitted again in the summer; these specialty items will appeal to those more comfortable in their homes or as an entertaining fail safe even after the “new normal” returns.

It was no surprise that delivery services took off this year, with many people reducing non-essential trips outside the home. Although Skip the Dishes made concessions late in the year to temporarily decrease their commission fees, the 20-30% cut taken by third-party delivery apps has severely impacted the bottom line of many businesses. As a result, bakeries like Duchess, fast-casual restaurants like Filistix, HanJan, and Meat/The Next Act/Pip, and fine dining establishments like XIX Nineteen, chose to adopt in-house delivery (joining the ranks of pizza joints and Chinese restaurants). It isn’t an easy undertaking, but hopefully it can be more financially sustainable for them in the long run.

Some chefs, including MilkCrate’s Steven Brochu and Shaw Conference Centre’s Serge Belair have staked out a greater online presence in the form of personalized cooking tutorials or demonstration videos. Food Bike Tours rebranded to Chef Table Living, providing home cooks with chef-created recipe kits and instructional videos. This continues the trend (albeit virtually) of what chef table dinners started by further closing the gap between the diner and the chef.

One of the pandemic adaptations that has been most transformative to the consumer experience has been the upgrading of online ordering systems. Sugared and Spiced, Cartago, and Bon Ton Bakery were among those who debuted more seamless ways for customers to pre-order items for pick up, minimizing time spent in line and indoors. The convenience of pre-paying and access to visuals that aid in product selection will likely prove to be an essential and worthwhile investment.

Here are a few other items notable to me in 2020:

• Curiously, the pandemic pivot that didn’t take to a greater extent was outdoor dining spaces and winter patios. Some, such as Little Brick and Rocky Mountain Ice House/Cask and Barrel have invested significantly in their outdoor spaces, but given all the talk in the fall about the need for winter patio extensions it doesn’t look like many have taken the City up on this. It would be interesting to know if this relates more to the City’s aversion to approving requests on certain types of streets.
• Considering the pandemic, it was another banner year for the expansion of some local businesses: Workshop Eatery grew with two locations of Woodshed Burgers and three branches of The Greenhouse; Culina on the Lake opened in Hawrelak Park; RGE RD added The Butchery; the folks behind The Sugar Bowl opened up Eleanor & Laurent; Love Pizza added outposts in southwest Edmonton and in Spruce Grove; and Calle Mexico and HanJan extended to three locations each.
• Independent cafes continue to pop up in all corners of the city, and perhaps none too soon, given the rate Starbucks and Second Cup have been closing shops. This year, we welcomed The Dapper Beaver, Amandine Cafe, Krew Cafe, Mood Cafe, Cafe Neo, Intent Coffee, La Bosco, Bistro 99, Belge Cafe, Ch, On the Edge, and additional locations of Square One and Remedy Cafe. Not to mention CoffeePass launched in November, which intends to help promote some of the same independent cafes.
• Given the hardship the hospitality sector has experienced this year, the number of closures may not seem as high as expected. However, this may change in 2021, depending on the length of lockdown-like measures. Among the businesses we lost in 2020 were Al Centro, Barking Buffalo Cafe, Dauphine, Die Pie, Doan’s, Doppio Zero Pizza, Il Forno, London Local, Prairie Noodle Shop, Royale,  Veggie Garden, Wishbone, and ZINC.
• Collaborations between local businesses continue, but this year, even more so to help other independents when possible. The #eatloveeatagain initiative in December was one example, while Yelo’d has leveraged their delivery service to help other brands. In a creative twist, MilkCrate and Why Not banded together for a friendly burger competition.
• In June, Linda Hoang set off a social media firestorm for Yoshii Express, an Old Strathcona eatery that was struggling. The public response to her posts was unprecedented, with line-ups at the restaurant for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, that level of support wasn’t sustained in the months following. This illustrates both the brilliant possibilities of social media but also its fickle, top-of-mind nature.
• On a related note, advocacy for local restaurants formalized in the Edmonton Independent Hospitality Community, led by Cartago and Fleisch owner Katy Ingraham.
• The Edmonton food media scene contracted again this year, with Liane Faulder departing the Journal for a second time. Graham Hicks, who wrote a regular food column for the Edmonton Sun, re-retired in June, amidst some controversy when two local food writers re-surfaced troubling previously published reviews.
• The Province relaxed regulations on low-risk home-prepared foods in June, paving the way for many home-based “pandemic businesses”, such as Kryzy’s Kitchen and Bonne Vie Bakery. Time will tell if they can maintain and grow a foothold in the crowded market.
• Similar to the appetite for food delivery, grocery delivery services exploded in the last year, with more than a dozen new options available in the Edmonton area. These include independents like Italian Centre Shop, Meuwly’s, Steve & Dan’s, and Effing Seafood, and big players like Sysco and Gordon Food Service offering direct-to-consumer options. Bountiful Farmers’ Market also became the first market to offer delivery.

You can check out previous year in reviews here.