Come take a ‘flight’ (🤭) around Edmonton with me using my…
Guide to FUN FLIGHTS (Food and Drink) in Edmonton!
We’re all pretty familiar with a beer flight—this is the term for a sampling of smaller portion craft beers at your local brewery. You’ll find this sampler at any brewery as a great option to try a few different drinks before perhaps committing to a full size of your favourite.
For my people who love to try new things and as many things when they go out like I do—flights and samplers are definitely appealing. Edmonton’s actually got a lot of them!
And they’re not just beer flights!
When I started looking for sampler items at local restaurants across the city, I was delightfully surprised to find so many options, from yes of course your beer flights and coffee flights, but also your cheese flights, poutine flights, sake flights and more!
Use my Guide to Fun Flights (Food and Drink Samplers) in Edmonton to make your way through sampling all of these awesome flights! Some of the locations are in similar neighbourhoods too so I’ve noted at the bottom of the blog potential Flight Crawl opportunities!
Lindork’s Guide to FUN FLIGHTS
(Food & Drink) in Edmonton
Last updated: March 31, 2024
Listed in alphabetical order based on the restaurant name – scroll for details + links + photos
- Coffee Flight at Aspen Coffee Roasters
- Coffee Flight at Boxcar Coffee Shop
- Wine Flight at Buco Pizzeria & Vino Bar
- Sangria Flight at California Pizza Kitchen
- Craft Beer Flight at Campio Brewing Co. (and literally any other craft brewery!)
- Cheese Flight at Cavern
- Mimosa Flight at Dogpatch Bistro Pub and Rooster Kitchen
- Taco Flight at El Mariachi
- Sake Flight at Japonais Windermere
- Margarita Flight at Julio’s Barrios Mexican Restaurant
- Salsa Flight at Julio’s Barrios
- Poutine Flight at La Poutine
- Espresso Martini Flight at Rhubarb Cafe & Cocktails
- Lavender Flight at Rhubarb Cafe & Cocktails
- Toast Flight at Rhubarb Cafe & Cocktails
- Ice Cream Flight at Twice Cream
If you know of any food or drink flights in the city that is not on this list, let me know so I can try it and add it!
Aspen Coffee Roasters provides whole-bean, hand-roasted coffee and espresso drinks in south Edmonton, using a variety of fair-trade beans from different regions around the world.
The Aspen Flight includes four mini drinks well worth trying! The Maple Bacon Latte, Pistachio Latte, Lavender Honey Iced Latte, and Mint Mocha. You can also of course get a full size version of any of these drinks.
The Pistachio and Lavender Honey were my favourites of this flight. You can also get some doughnuts and breakfast items as food here.
Coffee Flight at Aspen Coffee Roasters
- Price: $13
- Flavours: Maple Bacon Latte, Pistachio Latte, Lavender Honey Iced Latte, and Mint Mocha.
- This is a super cute space in an industrial-ish part of south Edmonton, steps away from Happy Beer Street, Edmonton’s unofficial craft brewery district—so you could plan to have beer AND coffee flights while in the neighbourhood.
Coffee Flight at Boxcar Coffee Shop
📍 Boxcar Coffee Shop – Location: 11926 129 Ave. – Instagram
Boxcar Coffee Shop is such a gem in the north Edmonton neighbourhood of Calder.
Recently named the Best Coffee Shop in the city, this community hub is a must-visit. Great drinks, snacks, decor, and vibe (seriously love the pops of colour, local art floor + walls by Eunji Park) annnnnd they offer a fun flight called The Boxcar Hopper which features both caffeinated and non-caffeinated drinks!
The Boxcar Hopper isn’t actually listed on their menu so you’ll have to ask for it. This flight comes with four drinks, Boxcar’s Horchata, Chai, a Caramel Macchiato and a Mocha, in to me—what feels like full size cups lol. On its own, these individual drinks range from around $4.75 to $5.75—so you’re getting a good deal with their sampler.
Coffee Flight at Boxcar Coffee Shop
- Price: $14
- Flavours: Horchata, Chai, a Caramel Macchiato and a Mocha.
- This was probably one of the cutest presentation flights on the wood board with hand-drawn flowers. I also appreciated the half caffeinated / half non-caffeinated options for even more variety.
- Boxcar has limited seating inside the coffee shop but a nice, enclosed and heated patio!
If beer can have a flight why can’t wine?! The Wine Flight at Buco Pizzeria & Vino Bar is only a Tuesday or Happy Hour Special, where you get four different 3oz wine samplers for $20. The flavours are bartender’s choice, but we’re told it’s always three reds and one white.
When we tried it, we got a ‘Chloe’ Pinot Grigio, Santa Cristina Sangiovese, Chloe Cabernet Sauvignon and La Linda (Malbec). We both prefer white wine so the Pinot Grigio was the flight favourite!
Buco conveniently has multiple, very nice locations. I like to get their ‘Assagini’ (little tastes) – three items for $13 or six items for $26 (pairs great with the drinks!), which is also technically a sampler / flight as well lol. For this visit we got the Italian Sausage, Arancini, and Prosciutto Mozza Ball (honestly could also eat up just three of the Prosciutto Mozza Balls lol).
Wine Flight at Buco Pizzeria & Vino Bar
- Price: $20
- Flavour: Bartender’s choice (usually 3 reds and 1 white)
- Pair your wine with the Assagini (little tastes) food sampler (two flights in one meal!)
- If you’re dining at their downtown Edmonton EPCOR Tower location – DON’T PAY FOR PARKING. They can register you for free when you get to the restaurant.
- Also be sure to check out the magnificent “Bear and Salmon” art sculpture inside the lobby of EPCOR Tower before or after your downtown Buco meal.
The popular U.S.-based California Pizza Kitchen opened up a south Edmonton Windermere location to much fanfare back in 2022. It’s a huge space and they have a beautiful covered patio (sun room) area that I was thinking would be great for parties.
We learned that CPK offers a Sangria Flight which features four 2oz pours of their Beehive, Red Berry, Strawberry Rose and Sugar Plum Sangrias!
The Beehive is a sweet blend of white wine, Cointreau, Monin Lavener, honey, lemon and Perfect Puree Strawberry. The Red Berry is a red wine, Remy VSOP, Monin Blackberry, cranberry juice, lemonade and Perfect Puree Raspberry, the Sugar Plum is red wine, Barcardi Spiced Rum, Elderflower, cranberry and lemonade with a little bubbly, and Strawberry Rose is citrussy with Rose, Cointreau, Monin Lavender, lemon and Fresh Strawberries.
Personally, I always feel like flights always feel like great value because often (I feel) you get such a generous portions of each thing you’re sampling.
In this case, all of the individual Sangrias (6 oz) are $15 each. The Sampler of four 2oz is $14. More drink, variety and fun for less money! That’s a win.
Plus we paired it with pizzas and pastas and had a great brunch (including Breakfast pizza!)
Sangria Flight at California Pizza Kitchen
- Price: $14
- Flavours: Beehive, Red Berry, Strawberry Rose, Sugar Plum Sangrias
- Actually more than half of the CPK menu is not pizza – so if you’re not into ‘za but want some sangria there’s lots of options for you!
As mentioned, beer flights are likely the first thing you think of when someone is talking about flights in relation to food and drink. This Miriam-Webster Dictionary entry on the origin of flights (as a sampler) is super interesting! The term flight as it connects to food and drink is derived from “a group of similar beings or objects flying through the air together,” which was incubated in the nest of Old English flyht—itself related to flēogan, the Old English verb meaning “to fly through the air.” Fun right?
It was very hard to single out just one craft brewery / flight offering to feature in this post but I decided to go with Campio Brewing Co. located in Downtown Edmonton. Established in 2018, Campio offers 16 rotating craft beers on draft brewed right in the heart of downtown. They’re very well known for their Detroit-style deep dish pizza and their awesome (huge) parking lot patio. I am also partial to their deep fried pepperoni. Part of an Alberta family of craft breweries, you won’t go wrong with a visit to Campio. I do not remember which flight flavours we sampled in the photos pictured here but the flight costs $18 for your choice (or bartender’s choice) of six 4oz beers—which is pretty decent since a 12 oz single flavour is $7, and a single 16 oz is $9.50.
Craft Beer Flight at Campio Brewing Co.
- Price: $18
- Flavour: Lots to choose from!
- Enjoy your flight and food on the Campio patio in the summertime. The vibe is incredible!
Cavern is a Cheese Shop, Wine Bar, Cheese School and Cheese Club in downtown Edmonton! (Safe to say they are your local cheese experts lol).
At Cavern you can order a variety of cheese boards featuring two, three, or four cheeses. Browse and select cheese from their cheese case or as I like to do—leave it up to the cheesemonger!
You can also upgrade to premium cheeses, add side baguette, crackers, cured meat, smoked salmon, or more. Of course they also have charcuterie (cured meat and pickles) and although unrelated to the board but still cheesy—you have to get their ‘Alpine Nachos’ which are crispy potato chips topped with melted raclette cheese, saucisson, cornichon (pickles) and onion—it’s SO GOOD!! Going in my favourite chips list blog (future post lol).
For our visit, our three cheese selections represented brie, gouda, and firm paste cheese. Our favourite was the Canotier de l’Isle, the firm paste cheese that is smooth and creamy with a fruity tang, inspired by an ancestral recipe perfected by the first cheesemakers who arrived on the island l’Isle-aux-Grues in Quebec at the beginning of the 20th century.
Cheese Flight at Cavern
- Price: $18 (two cheeses), $29 (three cheeses), $35 (four cheeses)
- Flavours: Cheesemonger’s choice or select from a variety of cheeses in their cheese case
- Cavern is located in the basement of the Phillips Loft building on 104 St. You need to go down stairs to get to the cheese, so it may not be the most accessible for all cheese lovers.
- It’s not a huge space so depending on when you go you may not be able to get a seat. Luckily, you can also order any of their items to go!
In one of Edmonton’s most oldest and arguably most cutest neighbourhoods–Riverdale–you will find Dogpatch Bistro Pub, a bustling brunch spot and neighbourhood pub just steps away from the North Saskatchewan River, with a menu featuring handmade food and handcrafted drinks including a Mimosa Flight!
The Dogpatch Mimosa Flight features four 2.5oz samplers of the bistro pub’s four mimosa offerings—Classic Orange, Grapefruit, Cherry Vanilla and a Rotating Feature, for $18. These typically come as 5 oz individual drinks for $10-$11 each. For me, orange always comes out on top in the Mimosa Wars lol but as I’ve said, it’s always fun to get more flavour options!
Dogpatch has a great brunch menu on weekends 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., where really anything will pair well with this Mimosa Flight. I am also very partial to their housemade salt and vinegar chips.
Mimosa Flight at Dogpatch Bistro Pub
- Price: $18
- Flavours: Orange, Grapefruit, Cherry Vanilla and Rotating Flavour
- On Mondays the Mimosa Flights are $5 off!
- They get busy on weekends! Be prepared for a wait.
- Located in the same building is Bread + Butter bakery, and they are also connected to Little Brick (also located in Riverdale).
It’s also worth noting the Rooster Kitchen also offers Mimosa Flights!
Rooster Kitchen’s Mimosa Flight is a $14 flight of three flavours.
Choose from: Orange, Pineapple, Grapefruit, Cranberry, Passion, Mango, Guava or a Feature!
This Old Strathcona restaurant also offers All Day Brunch and regularly host Paint Nights.
I haven’t tried their mimosa flight yet but I did have a great brunch there awhile back.
Quite possibly the very best Taco Tuesday deal you can find in Edmonton is at El Mariachi Mexican Restaurant, who do $2 tacos every Tuesday!
Now, there are many Taco Tuesday deals in town, so why did I single out El Mariachi on 124 Street? Well, it’s because of a combination of 1) the price which is pretty much unmatched 2) the taco choices (17!!! so much variety) and 3) the fact that you can order each taco individually (many places require you to order a certain number of tacos for the set price). Plus the family and servers are really sweet, they do live music on Taco Tuesdays and the space / vibe are really fun!
You can choose tacos in four categories which I’ve listed below (and included a photo of the Taco Tuesday menu), and I just absolutely love that we can mix and match for the $2 per taco price! Typically an order of these tacos on another day would cost $17.33 for four which works out to around $4.33 per taco, so still pretty well-priced normally and they do allow you to mix and match for their non- Taco Tuesday tacos too.
Taco Flight at El Mariachi
- Price: $2 per taco (!!! Easily the best deal of all items featured in this post).
- Flavours: 17 taco toppings in 4 categories (beef, chicken, pork and vegetarian)
- Beef
- Asada grilled beef
- Bistek Mexicana beef stew with tomatoes and onions
- Desebrada shredded beef in a savoury tomato and guajillo sauce
- Picadillo ground meat in a tomato sauce with potatos and carrots
- Pork
- Chorizo seasoned ground pork
- Carnitas roasted pork
- Chicharron en Salsa Verde pork belly in a tomatillo sauce and onions
- Cochinita Mexican style pulled pork
- Chicken
- Tinga chicken
- Barbacoa chicken seasoned with dried chiles,
- Pibil Mexican style chicken
- Mole chicken in a mole sauce with cheese and sour cream
- Vegetarian
- Rajas pobalo pepper wioth corn
- Champinones al Ajillo garlic sauteed mushrooms
- Papa a la Mexicana potatoes with onions in tomato sauce and
- Calabacitas zucchini with corn and chile poblano
- Beef
- You can absolutely expect a line-up at El Mariachi on Taco Tuesdays so be prepared to wait. They do not take reservations on Tuesdays!
- Taco Tuesday is served from 11 a.m to 8 p.m.
- Be sure to tip the musician too!
One of the best Japanese restaurants in the city—Japonais Bistro / Japonais Windermere—is not only home to delicious, fresh seafood and specialty rolls, but they also offer something local sake lovers will want to try!
Japonais Windermere’s Sake Sampler is $18 and lets you choose from three kinds of 6oz sake – hot or cold. This restaurant (and specifically the Windermere south Edmonton location) actually offers quite an expansive selection of sake to begin with – broken down into taste including Light & Refreshing sake to Fruity sake, Big and Juicy to Elegant and Clean, or Textured and Expressive.
We just asked the server to choose for us! Kanpai 乾杯 Cheers!
Sake Sampler (Flight) at Japonais Windermere
- Price: $18
- Flavours: Hot or cold – 18 types to choose from
- If you want food recommendations – consider sharing their massive Pressed Platter (it’s not listed on the menu, just ask for it but be prepared to eat a loooot of pressed sushi lol), Japonais Ceviche (in a delicious you totally should drink it Katsuo fish cream), and Tuna Nachos (tuna on wonton chips with avocado, black sesame dressing and jalapeños).
- Tuesday is Seafood Night where you can get discounted Salmon Sashimi (dine-in only).
We’ve covered beer, wine, sangria, mimosa and sake flights—whew—what drink could be left? Well, margaritas of course!! At Julios Barrios Mexican Restaurant on Whyte Avenue in Old Strathcona, you can enjoy a Margarita Flight which is a $28 trio of 4oz craft margaritas on the rocks: Coconut, Hibiscus & Honey Jalapeno all featuring El Jimador Reposado tequila.
Julio’s is always bumpin’ (busy lol) and has some fun vibes to go with their Mexican cuisine. They are very well known in the city for their drinks including their famous Bulldogs (A double Margarita with a Cerveza beer) and a ton of tequila.
The Hibiscus was my favourite of this flight and it went great with Julio’s Salsa Flight too! (keep scrollin’ for details!)
Margarita Flight at Julio’s Barrios Mexican Restaurant
- Price: $28
- Flavours: Coconut, Hibiscus & Honey Jalapeno
- Make a reservation—they get really busy!
So initially I had only earmarked Julio’s Barrios as a location for Margarita Flights, but while there and about to order chips and salsa, we noticed this Mexican eatery also does Salsa Flights!! So obviously, how could we say no?
For $10, you can get a sample of four of Julio’s Barrios housemade salsas – Julio’s signature salsa, verde, roasted chipotle, and roja, or customize your combination! This order also comes with corn tortilla chips and it was so much fun sampling these mild to spicy salsas! Honestly I think better than just ordering Chips & Salsa (for $7.50) which only allows you to pick one salsa flavour.
Salsa Flight at Julio’s Barrios Mexican Restaurant
- Price: $10
- Flavours: Julio’s signature salsa, verde, roasted chipotle, and roja (or customize your salsas!)
Poutine Flight at La Poutine
- Price: Two poutines for $13, Three poutines for $18
- Flavours: Choose from 15 flavours including the three we tried, or a Vegan poutine, a Big Mack poutine, a Donair poutine, and more!
- I *think* this flight can come in bowls if you dine-in (but there is very limited dine-in spots)—I was expecting that presentation-wise when I saw their Poutine Flight post but I think I needed to specify we were staying to not get it in the to-go container lol, although the to-go container is convenient if you are eating this alone and probably will end up taking home some because it’s a lot of fantastic poutine!
At Rhubarb Cafe & Cocktails, located at the very lovely Manchester Square, you will find a series of Flights starting with the Espresso Martini Flight! Rhubarb actually offers six different Espresso Martinis but for the Flight you pick three to get three 3oz samplers for $15.
For our visit we chose The Classic (because you have to try the classic!), Orange Creamsicle and Chocolate Covered Strawberry. I think Lavender would have been nice too but we knew were also ordering the Lavender Flight so didn’t need another lavender lol. All of the Espresso Martinis were great but the Orange Creamsicle was the standout at our table. Espresso Martinis seem to be SO popular these days—I’m seeing it on every menu at so many restaurants, so it is pretty fun you can try a few different ones in one go, at Rhubarb Cafe & Cocktails.
Espresso Martini Flight at Rhubarb Cafe & Cocktails
- Price: $15
- Flavours: Choose three from:
- The Classic, Salted Caramel, Lavender, Orange Creamsicle, Chocolate Covered Strawberry, and Dirty Chai
- This is a note I’d share about all the flights experience from Rhubarb is that it may be slow to arrive and you may or may not get the best presentation. When we went they were quite busy (which is great for them!) and I actually think every single person at every table had a flight lol so it took quite a while for our drinks and toast to come out (almost 30 minutes) and while this one was at least on a flight board, the others just came on plates I think because they had run out of their flight boards (I also noticed other flights at tables came with chalk writing indicating each Flight flavour but we didn’t get that lol).
Another Flights option at Rhubarb Cafe & Cocktails, is their Lavender Flight. You get three 6oz Lavender drinks for $15, choose from four drink options: Lavender Matcha, Honey Lavender Latte, Lavender London Fog, and Lavender Chai.
Similar to the Espresso Martinis, we thought all of the three Lavender drinks we selected (Lavender Matcha, Honey Lavender Latte, and Lavender London Fog) tasted great! Though I’ll be the first to admit I’m not a Lavender aficionado lol.
The space is cute, with high ceilings and a second (a bit darker) floor with more seating. You can also choose to sit in Manchester Square itself—they’ve created a super cute little indoor but looks outdoor courtyard that’s a communal / shared space with a few of the businesses.
Lavender Flight at Rhubarb Cafe & Cocktails
- Price: $15
- Flavours: Choose three from:
- Lavender Matcha, Honey Lavender Latte, and Lavender London Fog, and Lavender Chai
- Similar note to the Espresso Martini above and Toast flight below is that depending on how busy they are your presentation may not be the best—but the taste should be!
The third Flight option at Rhubarb Cafe & Cocktails is their Toast Flight!
This flight is $15 for four 1/2 slices of toast—Pumpkin (Roast Pumpkin Spread with Feta and Tahini Drizzle, Banana Chai (with Cinnamon Butter, Banana and Chai Spice), Not a PB&J (with Sunflower Butter Spread with Rhubarb Chia Jam), and Wild Berry (with Feta and Blueberry Spread). The toast and toppings were pretty tasty (Banana Chai is my favourite!) but similar note as the above flights, if they’re busy you might not get the best presentation. It’s a great dish to go along with your drink flights at Rhubarb!
Toast Flight at Rhubarb Cafe & Cocktails
- Price: $15
- Flavours: Pumpkin, Banana Chai, Not a PB&J, Wild Berry
I am absolutely obsessed with north side Edmonton ice cream shop Twice Cream‘s Quad Taster Ice Cream Flight!
I feel like the Quad Taster really exemplifies this ice cream shop’s name—Twice Cream for ice cream so good you’ll need to go twice or ice cream so good you’ll need to try four of them at once lol. This very cute ice cream shop is located in a quiet street in Westmount. You will fall in love with Twice Cream’s handmade from scratch, small-batch ice cream!
I’ve personally always been the type to get kids size ice cream because anything bigger just felt like a lot of ice cream (I know that not many people can relate to this because ice cream is life lol), and I had always wished I could get a few smaller portion ice creams in one order. Twice Cream read my mind obviously lol, and the Quad Taster is the answer to my desire to try as many flavours as possible in a realistic portion size lol. For my visit, my Quad Taster included the Saigon Cinnamon, Matcha Moroccan Mint Chip, Mayan Chocolate, and Rose Saffron Pistachio. Such FUN flavours and so happy I could try all four in one go!
Ice Cream Flight at Twice Cream
- Price: $9.50
- Flavours: At any given time, choose from eight ‘Forever’ flavours, two Vegan flavours and six Rotating Flavours!
- It’s super cute in this neighbourhood + inside this ice cream shop!
It is also worth noting that Made by Marcus does a Quad Taster four flavours flight too—and Kind Ice Cream does a ‘Split Scoop’ for two flavours!
Fun Flights Food Crawl!
I’ve grouped together flights in similar areas of the city if you wanted to try these as crawls!!
OLD STRATHCONA / SOUTH SIDE
- Coffee Flight at Aspen Coffee Roasters
- Margarita Flight at Julio’s Barrios Mexican Restaurant
- Salsa Flight at Julio’s Barrios
- Poutine Flight at La Poutine
NORTH / CENTRAL
- Coffee Flight at Boxcar Coffee Shop
- Ice Cream Flight at Twice Cream
- Espresso Martini Flight at Rhubarb Cafe & Cocktails
- Lavender Flight at Rhubarb Cafe & Cocktails
- Toast Flight at Rhubarb Cafe & Cocktails
DOWNTOWN / CENTRAL
- Craft Beer Flight at Campio Brewing Co. (and literally any other craft brewery!)
- Cheese Flight at Cavern
- Mimosa Flight at Dogpatch Bistro Pub and Rooster Kitchen
- Taco Flight at El Mariachi
WINDERMERE
- Wine Flight at Buco Pizzeria & Vino Bar
- Sangria Flight at California Pizza Kitchen
- Sake Flight at Japonais Windermere
And honourable mention goes to…
Obviously there are different flight options to be found all over the place, including in the Central Alberta City of Lacombe at Cilantro & Chive! Really they’re only considered ‘honourable mention’ because this an Edmonton-focused guide so it wouldn’t make sense to just include them with the Edmonton offerings. Patiently waiting for an Edmonton restaurant to offer a Mocktail Flight like Cilantro & Chive—or just plan a day trip down and try theirs!! You can use my 2023 Guide to Exploring Lacombe, Alberta to plan your visit.
Our mocktail flight flavours were (from left for right in the photo): cherry lemonade mule, lavender lemonade, berry mojito, and fuzzy peach slush (their choice)! My favourite was their fuzzy peach slush followed by the lavender lemonade. I wish more places did mocktail flights—so fun and refreshing. It’s also only $12.50!
They also do Flights, Caesar Flights, Cocktail Flights, and of course Craft Beer Flights!
Cilantro & Chive is well know known for their food + extensive drink menu, epic Caesars (seriously, they’re kind of wild lol), tons of craft beer, great burger options including a rotating feature burger with proceeds on its sale going to charity, weekly specials (like prime rib Wednesdays), and a delicious beer cheese dip with Blindman Brewing IPA I also recommend.
Mocktail Flight at Cilantro & Chive
- Price: $12.50
- Flavours: Lavender Lemonade, Berry Mojito, Fuzzy Peach Slush and Cherry Lemonade Mule
- I seriously think this is such a good deal for how much drink you get!!
So that’s my Guide to FUN FOOD AND DRINK FLIGHTS in Edmonton!
Is this guide missing a Fun Food or Drink Fight?
As more fun flights pop up in the city, I’ll be sure to try them + update this post as well.
Linda
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