Tired of the same old poutine featuring just fries, cheese curds and gravy? These unique poutines in Calgary are innovative, gourmet versions of this classic Canadian dish.
Canadians may debate over the best way to have poutine, but the truth is there are no limits on what you can add to the dish. So why settle for something ho-hum when you can eat creative poutines made with premium ingredients?
From breakfast poutines to Asian-inspired creations and poutines big enough to feed an entire family, these are 11 of the most unique poutines in Calgary that you need to try at least once.
Ajito
Price: 💸💸
Cuisine: Japanese
Address: 7212 Macleod Trail SE #110, Calgary, AB
Why You Need To Go: Just finding Ajito is an experience in itself. This secret Calgary restaurant is hidden behind a door in Sho Sushi that looks like a vintage Coca-Cola machine. Step inside and you find yourself in a sleek, softly lit spot.
Ajito's menu features fresh sushi and sashimi, as well as Japanese-inspired dishes with modern twists.
The Takoyaki Style Poutine is an East-meets-West creation featuring french fries topped with cheddar cheese curds and sliced octopus. It's all drizzled with Japanese barbecue sauce and mayo and topped with green onion, seaweed and bonito flakes.
Shawarma Barlow
Price: 💸
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Address: 106 Meridian Rd NE, Calgary, AB
Why You Need To Go: As you might guess from the name, Shawarma Barlow specializes in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine. You can grab wraps, salads and platters with falafel, donair meat and chicken shawarma. There are also several poutines on offer.
You could go for a traditional poutine with gravy and cheese curds. However, many say Shawarma Barlow's beef donair and chicken shawarma poutines are to-die-for. The poutines come piled high with meat, cheese and your choice of toppings like red onion, parsley, tomatoes and garlic sauce.
Leopold's Tavern
Price: 💸💸
Cuisine: Comfort food
Address: Multiple locations
Why You Need To Go: Ask Calgarians what their go-to spots for poutine are in the city and Leopold's almost always makes the list. The laid-back chain of bars is known for its OTT poutines that feature unique flavour combos you won't find in too many places.
Leopold's offers several poutines that are always on the menu like the perogy poutine, cheeseburger poutine and buffalo chicken poutine. The chain also comes up with a new poutine creation every week. Previous poutines-of-the-week have included the Dorito Taquito, Garlic Parm Mozza Stick and the BBQ Brisket Mac n' Cheese.
If you really want a challenge try ordering the famous Punchbowl Poutine, which is a massive bowl filled to the brim with poutine. It consists of five pounds of potatoes, a pound of cheese curds, and a litre of gravy — so good luck!
The Big Cheese Poutinerie
Price: 💸
Cuisine: Poutine
Address: 738 17 Ave SW, Calgary, AB & 207 10 St NW, Calgary, AB
Why You Need To Go: The Big Cheese isn't the first restaurant chain to focus only on poutine, and it certainly won't be the last. However, it may be the first to come up with some of the unique poutines on its menu.
The menu is divided into veggies and meats like chicken, beef and pork. If you want to skip the meat, you can try the Loaded Veggie with mushrooms, caramelized onions, roasted peppers and baby peas. Meat eaters have tons to choose from including poutines with pulled pork, butter chicken or strips of steak.
Prairie Dog Brewing
Price: 💸💸
Cuisine: Barbecue
Address: 105D 58 Ave SE, Calgary, AB
Why You Need To Go: Prairie Dog Brewery is known for its excellent craft beers and barbecue. The poutine makes for a perfect side for smoky grilled meats like pork ribs, pastrami and brisket. You can also get the poutine as a main dish.
If you want to try something different, consider the Playoff Poutine, which consists of hand-cut fries with smoked chicken, brisket, chorizo, cheese curds and gravy.
The Extreme Poutine is another option, but you may want to share this massive dish. The platter features hand-cut fries with beef gravy, beer cheese sauce, fried cheese curds, brisket, pulled pork, bacon and green onions.
OEB Breakfast Co.
Price: 💸💸
Cuisine: Brunch
Address: Multiple locations
Why You Need To Go: OEB is one of Calgary's top brunch spots for delicious eggs Benedicts, scrambles and breakfast poutines. There are tons of poutine options to choose from, including seafood, meat and vegetarian creations.
The Gold Digga gets a lot of hype from diners with many gushing over the squeaky cheese curds, flavourful Berkshire roast pork and black truffles with a brown butter hollandaise sauce. You can also have your brekkie poutine with duck confit, fresh avocado and tomatoes or Maritime lobster and shrimp.
Penny Black Bar & Kitchen
Price: 💸💸
Cuisine: Pub food
Address: 11520 24 St SE, Calgary, AB
Why You Need To Go: Fancy your poutine in a pub-like setting? Penny Black Bar & Kitchen is all about contemporary comfort food, craft beers and casual tavern vibes.
There are three poutine options to choose from at Penny Black: the traditional, butter chicken and Philly cheese. Each features cross-cut fries and cheese curds. The butter chicken has tender chunks of chicken in a creamy curry sauce, while the Philly cheese has shaved roast beef and red and green peppers in a rich gravy sauce.
Blowers & Grafton
Price: 💸💸
Cuisine: Halifax Street Food
Address: Multiple locations
Why You Need To Go: Blowers & Grafton brings a taste of the East Coast to Calgary. The chain focuses on Halifax-style street food like donairs, garlic fingers, pizza and poutine.
The classic poutine at Blowers & Grafton is pretty tasty, but if you want to eat outside the box, give the donair poutine or bacon cheeseburger poutine a try.
The donair poutine is topped with donair meat, onions, tomatoes, cheese curds and gravy with sweet donair sauce. The bacon cheeseburger poutine has a ton of toppings including burger meat, tomatoes, green onions, pickles, cheddar, mozzarella, gravy, avocado sriracha crema and chopped bacon.
Last Best Brewing
Price: 💸💸
Cuisine: Contemporary
Address: 607 11 Ave SW, Calgary, AB
Why You Need To Go: Last Best Brewing is a great spot to hit up with a group of friends for craft beers and bar bites. The beer gets most of the accolades, although the food is nothing to sleep on either. The poutine is a good choice if you're feeling peckish.
The great thing about Last Best Brewing's poutine is that it's customizable. You can have it traditional style with fresh-cut fries, cheese curds, gravy and crispy onions or throw in some add-ons. Additional toppings could include truffle mushrooms, crispy bacon, harissa pulled pork and a fried egg.
The Bro'Kin Yolk
Price: 💸💸
Cuisine: Brunch
Address: Multiple locations
Why You Need To Go: You've got to love brunch spots that incorporate poutine into the breakfast offerings. The Bro'Kin Yolk is another spot that excels at indulgent breakfast poutines.
The Bro'Kin Yolk may not have as many options for breakfast poutine as OEB, but each of the four choices comes with a base of duck fat hash, soft poached eggs and roasted garlic hollandaise sauce. You can choose from house-cured bacon, sous vide fried chicken, Cali-style veggies or truffle, ham and wild mushroom.
Myhre's Deli
Price: 💸💸
Cuisine: Montreal deli
Address: 1411 11 St SW, Calgary, AB
Why You Need To Go: Montrealers missing a taste of home often head to Myhre's Deli for delicious smoked meat sandwiches and classic poutines. The deli also has some interesting takes on poutine that go beyond the typical cheese curds and gravy.
The smoked meat poutine is pretty substantial with ample portions of authentic Montreal smoked meat flown in from Montreal. The house poutine is a little more edgy with all the traditional toppings, plus spicy banana peppers, green onions and a Nathan's Famous hot dog.
