If this is your first time to Canmore on vacation, your dining experience probably won't be bad- but if you are a local of Canmore, you would know that this is NOT A PLACE TO EAT. My experience of the service was awkward, weird, and downright unproffesional. I have also heard stories similar to my own from locals of Canmore, so I am not alone.
Our dining experience began being awkward even before my friend and I decided to eat there. This was in July when we were on Main street and were scanning across the menus posted on the patios of restaurants to see what we wanted to eat. A man (who we assumed to be the host of Graze) came up to us saying "What are you waiting for? Comon, the food is great, there's a seat right there".
I was hiking around Kananaskis country all summer so I had a journal to document my hikes, it was in my arm as I was walking. As we were starting the conversation with the host, he glanced at the journal, said "What's this?" Took it OUT OF MY HAND and then proceeded to flip through it. After a few moments and seeing my surprised face, he said "Oh.. this is a journal" and then handed it back to me.
Despite this awkward incident, we still decided to eat there since there was a table open on the patio he had gestured to. The patio was nice and had good seating and there were umbrellas to block the sun on the hot days. Since the host had gestured to this table, we assumed he would come over and bring menus with him, but we did not see a single server, or the host, for ten minutes. We began to doubt whether this man was ACTUALLY a host or just a random guy on the sidewalk telling people to sit down. Finally, a server came, but not without his fare share of awkward incidents as well.
First of all, when he was handing out the menus and asking us what drinks we would like, my friend had asked what the special was for the day. He then gestured towards a server next to him that was walking by and said "She's special". We realize he was trying to be humorous, but at this point the two of us were hungry and just wanted a recommendation of what to eat.
Then, of all things to happen, this server looks at my hike journal on the table and PICKS IT UP AND LOOKS THROUGH IT TOO. The same thing happened where he proceeded to flip through the book, say "oh, this is a diary", and then put it back down. By this point, I had given up trying to journal during my wait because obviously I wouldn't be getting any privacy.
The food came in a reasonable amount of time and the server came to refill our drinks in a timely manner. When it came to the food, it was fine but not something that I will remember forever. The price is higher than average places considering that it's in a mountain town. Also, with a name like Graze, I was expecting this restaurant to be vegetarian, but it is typical pub food variety with some fresh twists. I had a calamari salad which was neat to have calamari in a salad.
I have one more incident to report of this dining experience. My friend and I were sitting on the patio where half of the table was next to a bench/booth style seating and the other half of the table was chairs. I was sitting on the booth side and she on the chair side. While we were halfway through our meal, the server comes over, fills our drinks, and then plops himself down on the booth next to me and stretches his arms out. He lets out a sigh and says "I gotta have my 15 minute break sometime" and pretends to take a nap. Again, I think this was him trying to add humor to our visit; but when you are trying to eat- you don't want to sniff a guy's armpit next to you. When describing this incident to other locals from Canmore, they have said they had that same server do a similar stunt to them at the restaurant as well.
My final remarks:
If you go here once, you may have a nice time so maybe risk it, but if you come multiple times you may notice how awkward and unprofessional the service is here.
DONT BRING JOURNALS WITH YOU
My remarks for Graze:
Make your host look professional, like a host. And bring menus with you when you seat people.
Dont take "naps" next to customers.
Don't take people's personal items out of their hands. Please.
Either the host or the server I had are an owner of this restaurant, because to hear multiple bad experiences from people in Canmore, it means someone needs to be fired. Or please relearn how to be professional.
Don't take people's personal items out of their hands. read more