If you live in Edmonton, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve been to the city of St. Albert.
I mean, it’s *right* there!
Our beautiful neighbouring city to the north is the sixth largest city in Alberta, part of the Edmonton Metro Region (comprised of 13 communities around Edmonton), known for its botanics + arts, great food and is literally just minutes from Edmonton. The convenience!
It’s super easy to pop into St. Albert to try their delicious restaurants, shop their cute boutiques, experience their arts and attractions, and more and this guide will help you do that.
This Fall 2023 I partnered with the city of St. Albert to explore the city and share about it in what you’re reading right now—a Guide for Things to Do and Food to Eat in St. Albert.
The best part about how close St. Albert is to Edmonton, is that you can plan to check out these different local businesses and attractions over many days—or as a full day trip or weekend. You’ve got some pretty good exploration flexibility here!
If you live in Edmonton, heading into St. Albert would take no longer than heading to another quadrant of the city. It’s a super easy destination to be a tourist that’s close to home. And if you’re planning a visit to Edmonton—maybe consider adding some St. Albert stops to your itinerary!
I hope this guide helps you plan your visit!! ENJOY.
Note: my tourism partnership does not affect the opinions stated in this guide. I love exploring Alberta and St. Albert (literally in my backyard), is no exception. Also!! Although I think this post is pretty comprehensive, it certainly does not cover ALL the great restaurants, shops and experiences you can do in the city of St. Albert, but it’s a pretty good starting point.
Explore Alberta: Guide For Things To Do And Food To Eat In St. Albert
Note: everything is listed in alphabetical order under each respective section.
Where should you eat in St. Albert?
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Cajun House
- Location: 7 St. Anne St., St. Albert, AB
- Website | Facebook
- If you’re in the mood for some authentic Cajun and Creole cuisine, look no farther than the Cajun House in downtown St. Albert. They offer authentic specialties not found anywhere else in the Edmonton area from alligator to frog legs and dishes we ordered including the Shrimp Po’Boy with a cup of gumbo soup, and a Seafood Jambalaya. I like that you can get gumbo with the Po’Boy so you can really get a taste of a lot of Cajun classics in just one order. Portions are big! And they make all their sauces and desserts in-house too, and include gluten-free options. Our dishes were so well spiced—we loved it all! Enjoy looking at Mardi Gras masks and hot sauce artwork on the walls, and you can also buy Cajun spice to take home.
Cerdo Tacos + Tequila
- Location: 15 Perron St., St. Albert, AB
- Website | Facebook | Instagram
- Cerdo Tacos + Tequila has been serving authentic Mexican cuisine in St. Albert for more than five years. The menu is small and focused, a few starters, a few salads, a few tacos, and housemade salsas. They boast ‘bigger than average’ tacos that come on corn or flour tortillas. I really liked my Carnitas rich confit pork cheek tacos, and my friend and I really liked their housemade salsas! Would also recommend the tasty ear of corn, smothered in housemade creamy ancho spread.
Confections Cake Co.
- Location: 15 Perron St., St. Albert, AB
- Website | Facebook | Instagram
- There’s a lot to love about Confections Cake Co. in downtown St. Albert—from their (obviously) beautiful and delicious cakes, to their all-day breakfast menu, to their cool artwork on the walls and just lovely service, we had a really great visit to this St. Albert bake shop and restaurant and I think you will too. How could I resist ordering the Skycraper Breakfast Bevie with Creme Brulee Waffle stacked atop a mimosa??? You can also get this as a savoury Benny Waffle atop a Caesar. My waffle stack + drink were really good. And my friend’s Breakfast Waffle Sandwich was delicious too! With the perfectly oozy soft poached egg. Confections Cake Co. has some fun and tasty creations here. They also do custom orders and hold a lot of great events in the space!
Grandin Bakery
- Location: 11 Bellerose Dr., St. Albert, AB
- Website | Facebook | Instagram
- Oh it smells so good when you walk into the Grandin Bakery, an absolute institution in the city of St. Albert, celebrating more than 52 years in the bakery business this 2023. The Grandin Bakery is well known for their doughnuts—which use a yeast base instead of a cake base which makes them lighter and airier—plus their popular sausage rolls. This bakery is tucked in an unassuming strip mall. They also do a variety of pastries including regular and specialty cookies (generous on the chocolate chip + sprinkles, cute on the cookie designs). And nothing they bake fresh in the bakery contains peanuts or tree nuts.
Jack’s Burger Shack
- Location: 15 Perron St., St. Albert, AB
- Website | Facebook | Instagram
- Known for slinging some of the best burgers in Canada, Jack’s Burger Shack is a popular stop on Perron Street in downtown St. Albert, serving burgers and milkshakes since 2013. They partner with other high quality, local businesses like D’Arcy’s Meat Market and Jeff Nonay’s Lakeside Dairy and freshly bake their buns, hand cut their fries, and make their sauces in-house. If you like burgers, you’ll like Jack’s Burger Shack. Probably if you don’t like burgers you’ll like them here too lol.
Note: these Jack’s Burger photos are from their downtown location as I didn’t get a chance to stop by during my St. Albert tourism trip! lol
La Crema Cafe
- Location: 44 St. Thomas St., St. Albert, AB
- Instagram
- If you’re looking for a ton of gluten-free and vegan dessert options, La Crema Cafe should be a stop on your St. Albert itinerary! We were surprised (and impressed) to see that the majority of the items in this cafe are or can be made gluten-free in particular. Along with the inclusive dessert menu, find some light breakfast and lunch options at La Crema Cafe. They have a spacious patio too!
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Pizza Garage
- Location: 31 Fairview Blvd., St. Albert, AB
- Website | Facebook | Instagram
- *The* place to get pizza in St. Albert (and really, the Edmonton area) is the Pizza Garage, who make Detroit Style, Chicago Bar Pie Style and New York Style pizzas. We’ve tried a few different options here in the past in both Detroit and Bar Pie style (including Porky’s Revenge, Via 313, and Nice 2 Meat You and the Lamborghini) and they were all really excellent. Mike’s preferred style is Detroit while mine is Bar Pie. They also make gelato in-house here and they do pizza by the slice (I am told by the slice is just on school days/weekdays though!)
Riverbank Bistro
- Location: 8 Mission Ave., St. Albert, AB
- Website | Facebook | Instagram
- Located along the Sturgeon River in the heart of St. Albert, you’ll find one of St. Albert’s most iconic buildings—a Victorian style home that’s home to a few local businesses including the Riverbank Bistro. The restaurant first opened in 2017 and offers a menu featuring fresh regional ingredients. They’re a more ‘fine dining’ pick for food and that’s reflected in higher entree price points. I like that they offer a feature two-course menu for seniors age 60+, offer Sunday roast beef and yorkshire dinner, and Sunday brunch options too. My root beer glazed beef short rib was great, and we enjoyed the crispy Korean fried chicken and charred cabbage wedge to start as well.
Tealicious Blend
- Location: 11 St. Anne St., St. Albert, AB
- Facebook | Instagram
- Run, don’t walk to try the really good Korean style fluffy egg sandwiches from Tealicious Blend in downtown St. Albert. Tealicious Blend is the only place in the Edmonton area serving up these massive, delicious, buttery brioche thiccc (three cs!) toast sandwiches with your choice of filling. I picked spam and egg but some other options include smoked salmon, beef triyaki, BLT, garlic bacon cheese, and more. Several of the sandwiches can also be made gluten free (I assume with a gluten-free bread!) Their bubble tea is also excellent. I loved my mango dragonfruit!
Tryst Wine & Small Plates
- Location: 21 Perron St., St. Albert, AB
- Website | Facebook | Instagram
- One of the best restaurants in St. Albert (and Edmonton even!), is Tryst Wine & Small Plates. Here, they cook the food they want to eat and serve the wine they want to drink, and it turns out their tastes are pretty damn good so that’s a good thing for patrons to Tryst. This restaurant opened at the start of the pandemic and it is likely a testament to how good they are that they’re still around today. I first tried them when they were offering an Alberta on the Plate food festival special celebrating local ingredients. At the time I remember both my friend and I saying, definitely worth a drive up to St. Albert! Try Tryst’s craft cocktails, local beers, carefully selected wines and really good (and beautiful) small plates.
Turkish Coffee House
- Location: 24 Perron St., St. Albert, AB
- Facebook | Instagram
- If you’re looking for a different breakfast / lunch experience, you’ve got to try the really lovely Turkish coffeehouse!! Owner Esra makes pretty much everything from scratch, including these awesome dishes we tried: Egg & Sujuk (Turkish sausage), Lahmacun (Turkish flatbread with tomatoes, lettuce, onions and parsley), Menemen Turkish Omelette (with tomatoes, green pepper, onion and eggs), Knafeh (a Turkish sweet and savoury baked cheese syrup pastry) and Borek (a flakey savoury Turkish pastry with different fillings-vegetarian or meaty! kind of like Spanakopita). Plus you can’t go to a Turkish Coffee House without ordering coffee, right? The Turkish Coffee is like a black coffee / espresso) while the Ottoman Coffee is a blend of 7 coffees with cream, like a Turkish take on a latte (delish!) They come in super cute cups too with a square of Turkish candy (a Turkish delight). Loved the seasoning / flavours and textures of the dishes we had. The Turkish Coffee House is the longest restaurant to operate in that particular downtown space (it’s rotated through many different businesses over the years). They’ve been serving Turkish cuisine to the city since 2019.
And I also want to shout out to two of my Edmonton favourite eateries Bodega and XIX Nineteen, who also have locations in St. Albert!
These locations would be excellent picks for your St. Albert eats as well, I just didn’t visit them for the purposes of this travel guide as they do already have Edmonton locations and I have been to them *so many* times before. But if you haven’t, I certainly recommend them!
Browse even more St. Albert dining options!
Where should you shop in St. Albert?
Candy Bouquet
- Location: 12 Perron St., St. Albert, AB
- Website | Facebook | Instagram
- The family-owned Candy Bouquet has been selling British sweets, Retro Treats and more for more than 25 years (since 1996) in downtown St. Albert! Get hard-to-find treats, British grocery sweets and grocery items, bulk candy (pay by weight!), well-known candy brands as well as rare chocolate bars at the Candy Bouquet. Items here will make the perfect (albeit short-lived) souvenir / gift (short-lived because you’ll probably be tempted to devour your sweets as soon as you leave the store lol).
Mission Fun & Games
- Location: 560 St. Albert Trail, St. Albert, AB
- Website | Facebook | Instagram
- This is long-standing, family-owned and operated board game shop inside a castle! That’s right. You can’t miss Mission Fun & Games from the road because of its unique exterior. Find literally all sorts of games for sale inside, knowledgable and helpful staff, and gaming events too. Geek out at Mission Fun & Games! Also they somehow have the web link boardgames.ca—just to show how OG they are.
Seasons Gift Shop
- Location: 8665 McKenney Ave., St. Albert, AB
- Website | Facebook | Instagram
- Seasons has been St. Albert’s go-to gift shop for 23+ years! It’s a big space filled with everything from kitchen to home, wellness to kids/baby! I actually spent the most time in the kids/baby section—there were just the prettiest baby mobiles, stuffies and cute books to browse. I also loved looking up and browsing the shop’s selection of quirky clocks. Often people pop in and head straight to the back where the greeting cards are as this shop is said to have the ‘best cards in town!’ You can also find seasonal decor and gifts here (for instance, during my September visit, there were some cute Halloween items out!) Plus: gift wrapping is free!
Simone & Ivy
- Location: 580 St. Albert Trail, St. Albert, AB
- Website | Facebook | Instagram
- Simone & Ivy is all about Beautiful Living. Here you can find curated home decor, furniture, furnishings, and gifts. They also offer custom sofas + sectionals, fresh florals, and carry ‘pantry’ items featuring local makers covering chocolates to coffee, snacks and more.
Sweet Boutique
- Location: 200 St. Albert Trail, St. Albert, AB
- Website | Facebook | Instagram
- Sweet Boutique is an awesome clothing store off the main road in St. Albert. It started as an online store and grew into its popular physical location thanks to its sweet selection (see what I did there lol) of women’s clothing ranging from sizes XS up to 3X, with new items arriving weekly. You can also find nice earrings, handbags and other accessories to complement the look here! Find a piece to commemorate your day of touristing in the city—or just as a great boutique to browse when you’re feeling like your wardrobe needs a new addition.
XO & Mane
- Location: 20 Perron St., St. Albert, AB
- Website | Facebook | Instagram
- In a historic brick building in downtown St. Albert you can browse XO & Mane, a gift boutique carrying wedding, home, and baby gifts. The shop doubles as a space for local wedding planner Sandra Bettina Weddings and Events, and we were told during our visit that their holiday stocking stuffer ‘bar’ is pretty popular.
Browse places to shop in St. Albert!
What else should you do in St. Albert?
- Check out all the public art!
- St. Albert is home to some beautiful public art. When you visit, plan a little art tour or just keep your eyes (and cameras!) open to notice the art that pops out around you as you explore. You can use their Art in Public Spaces Virtual Tour to help plan!
- Here are a few of my favourite St. Albert art pieces:
- Blooms Bench by Karen Ho Fatt (44 St. Thomas St.)
- Mother Bear Prays for Earth Healing by Stewart Steinhauer (5 St. Anne St.)
- Migration by Jean-François Cooke & Pierre Sasseville (1 St. Anne St.)
- Threshold at Median Park at St. Thomas St. & St. Anne Stt.
- Angel Wings (Instagrammable Wall) at BreadLove at 48C St. Michael St.
Catch a performance at The Arden Theatre!
- The Arden Theatre in St. Albert is a gem of a performance venue—an intimate theatre nestled in the heart of downtown St. Albert, with programming year-round that covers music, dance, theatre, cirque, family programming and more! Browse their events and plan your visit around an upcoming show!
Experience the Art Gallery of St. Albert!
- While exploring downtown St. Albert, be sure to pop into the historic Banque d’Hochelaga building that houses the Art Gallery of St. Albert. Admission is free and the space is open for all. There’s an Art Nook for hands-on arts activities and some of the gallery space is actually located inside a former bank vault, which is neat. Exhibits rotate throughout the year (check the list of current exhibitions). It’s located near a lot of my favourite St. Albert restaurants so worth a pop in especially if you’re walking downtown!
Kayak Big Lake
- St. Albert is home to a big lake called Big Lake (lol) that is really popular for water activities. The one side is the lake but the other side of the lake/water system turns into the Sturgeon River. It’s super easy to rent kayaks or paddleboards to do some adventure on the water in St. Albert—just off their Riel Recreation Park. I have experienced just the most stunning sunset by light-up kayak (Edmonton Kayaks) as well as had group kayak afternoons through rentals from Fusion World Rentals (who rent for both Big Lake and nearby Cardiff Pond). Super fun summer / autumn activities to try!
Visit A Boutique Gallery Bar
- Certainly one of the most eclectic places you can visit in St. Albert is A Boutique Gallery Bar by Gracie Jane. This is a really cool dive bar where the walls, ceilings, floors, really everything in the space, is adorned with art or is art itself. “The only bar in town where you can own the chair you’re sitting on.” And the majority of the artwork in the space is created by artist Gracie Jane, who is now over 70 years old. Her daughter was working when we popped in and was super nice! They open at 3 p.m. and there was already a group of folks at the bar. Regulars! Learn more about this unique art gallery + bar here.
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Walk / bike / explore the trails!
- Did you know: St. Albert is home to the Red Willow Trail System, which spans 99.5 kilometres of the city—stretching down the river valley and connecting many of St. Albert’s major parks, neighbourhoods and urban areas.
- An awesome seasonal activity to try is renting e-bikes from local company Riverbank E-Bikes and exploring the city with electric ease! I love exploring a city by e-bike because it often allows me to go much farther and much faster than I ever could imagine going on a regular bike. They’re flexible on booking times and also offer discounted rates for group bookings (3+ riders) It’s super fun but just note Riverbank’s e-bike fleets are a touch taller than what I’m used to (I’m 5’2 so I’m pretty short lol) so just in case you’re a shortie like me, it may be a bit tippy toe when you’re balancing on the bike.
- The walk along the river from St. Albert’s downtown is also really lovely.
Browse Things to See and Do in St. Albert!
What else should you know about St. Albert?
- St. Albert is one of the Tree Cities of the World! This is an international recognition of cities and towns around the globe who demonstrate commitment to ensuring their urban forests and trees are properly maintained, sustainably managed and duly celebrated. So you should definitely plan activities in and around the city’s many forested and treed areas!
- St. Albert is home to the Largest Outdoor Farmers Market in Canada! That’s right, The St. Albert Farmers’ Market features more than 275 vendors, 10+ local food trucks, multiple buskers and an amazing vibe, every Saturday from June through October you might join between 10,000-20,000 people browsing, buying and enjoying the market.
… and more!
Given it’s close proximity to Edmonton, this is obviously not my first or last time visiting St. Albert, nor does this guide (even though I feel like it’s pretty comprehensive) even begin to cover all of the great restaurants, shops and things you can do in the Botanical Arts city.
Here are also a few crowd-sourced suggestions followers shared when I asked what their favourite places or things to do in St. Albert were!
Note: I didn’t include recommendations for places already featured in this post.
- Visit the Grain Elevator Historic Site – @thechintzyginge
- Sushi Park – @c.barrios_
- East Side Marios (the only one left!) – @she_wak1112
- Arby’s – @garlicandchocolate
- Toast – @yegmama
- Endeavour Brewing & Coffee Roasters – @dykstrat
- Socrates – @sciorra11
- Nellos – @araecamp
- Mercatos – @harpandluc
- Black Diamond Distillery – @sejesmyth
- Red Brick Wall is my favourite Vietnamese restaurant in St. Albert. – @_brittany.long
- Glasshouse Bistro at the Enjoy Centre – @_thisisbre_
- Taste of Ukraine – @olijaykay
- Sushi Yuzen – @yegmagpies
- Buco and Luisa – @danilynneiseke
- Ice cream at Redder Food Store – @danellerae
- Pho Ang Sang, San Remo – @nicci.6
- Songkran Thai – @gillrob85
- Whisk Bakery – @heartherlangdaleart
- Donuts from Mercato can’t be beat – @e.chessor
- Ridge Social Eatery, Macarons & Goodies – Janice McGregor
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You can check my social media for more current food + travel recommendations and stay tuned as I hope to do more St. Albert Travel Guide follow-ups in the future!!
If you have a favourite St. Albert place to eat or thing to do, leave a comment to help others plan their visit!
Thanks to the city of St. Albert for bringing me out to explore.
Note: My September 2023 visit to St. Albert was sponsored by the city of St. Albert. This does not impact opinions or views stated in this post—I love exploring Alberta and St. Albert was an awesome destination to explore.
—
Linda
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6 Comments
One of St. Albert’s best kept secrets. Macrons and Goodies located downtown on Sat. Thomas Street.
Authentic French pastries, cakes, macrons, and great breakfast and lunch menus. Cute decor. Perfect for a ladies’ date spot. If you haven’t tried it you really should. http://www.macaronsgoodies.com/about-us/
Very interesting
Luisa Risto is a family owned business that is first class!
I live on the South side of Edmonton, close to the airport. But I will make the drive to St.Albert to eat at Thai Mekong restaurant! They have the best authentic tasting Thai and Lao food!!
Location: 131 Forest dr, T8N 3E2 St. Albert (Forest Convenience Market)
This place has so many different food and drink options that you can find in just any convenience store. Also has the only place to get hard ice cream ! Definitely worth checking out
Love this, Linda My absolute fave clothing store is in St. Albert—Cerulean Boutique on Joseph Street. Locally owned, internationally sourced-it is amazing.