I’m excited to share the results of some very ‘big’ (get it 🤭) blog research I’ve been doing…
I hope you’ll have fun using my Guide to Giant Food and Drink in Edmonton!
These big, massive, gargantuan, gigantic, colossal, oversized food and drink are jaw-dropping!
And delicious!!
My worry with novelty type of food (like silly sizes lol) is that chefs sacrifice some of the taste for presentation, because surely the sheer volume of ingredients means something will go wrong in the making of it??
But I’m happy to report that in pretty much all of the Giant Foods listed I tried for this guide (listed below), the dishes checked off both quality and quantity!
You will want to plan to experience these giant dishes with a friend, or two, or three, or four, or more because they are way too big for one person to finish on their own lol (or maybe you’re up for the challenge?) Either way, these are going to bring a smile to your face! So fun.
Guide to GIANT Food and Drink in Edmonton
Last updated: March 19, 2024
Listed in alphabetical order based on the restaurant name – scroll for details + links + photos
- Giant Croissants from AYCO Cafe
- Giant Pressed Sushi Bridge from Dorinku Tokyo/Osaka
- Giant Punchbowl Poutine from Leopold’s Tavern
- Giant Pizza from Lore Pizza
- Giant Margarita / Bulldog from Maria Northern Mexican Restaurant
- Giant Margarita / Bulldog Julios Barrios
- Giant Calzones from Sal’s Famous
- Giant Bowl of Vietnamese Pho from XO Bistro + Bar
- Giant Bowl of Vietnamese Pho from Miss Saigon Vietnamese Restaurant
If you know of a GIANT food or drink in the city and it’s not on this list, let me know so I can try it and add it!
@lindorable NEW BLOG POST! 🎉 Tap the link in my bio to check out my Guide to GIANT Food & Drink in Edmonton!! 🤯 From Punchbowl Poutines 🍟 to Massive Margaritas 🍹, Big Pizza 🍕, Croissants 🥐, and MORE, head over to my blog for all the details and plan to make your way through these jaw-dropping oversized items around the city. 🤪😋 These big dishes not only have incredible presentation but they’re really tasty too! And you’ll definitely want to bring people to help you finish everything, lol. And let me know if there are any giant food or drink I’m missing! 💛 #ExploreEdmonton #ExploreAlberta #LindorkDoesLife #LindorkEats #yeg #yegfood #yegfoodie #yegfoodblog #yegfoodblogger #yegblogger #yegblog #canadianblogger #yeglocal #yegeats #yegbiz #edmontonalberta #edmontoneats #explorecanada #giantfood #bigfood #yegdt #edmontondowntown #oldstrathcona #whyteave #southedmonton @ExploreEdmonton @LorePizza @Travel Alberta @Leopold’s Tavern @Ayco Cafe @Salsfamous ♬ OMG – NewJeans
At AYCO Cafe in downtown Edmonton, you can order massive sweet and savoury croissants that technically feed 12-15 people?! 😅
AYCO Cafe offers over a dozen giant croissant flavours like the turkey and cheese savoury and matcha strawberry ones we got. The croissants range from $45-$65 and you must pre-order and pre-pay in order to get your hands on these flakey, delicious treats. Ordering and getting the giant croissants was a super smooth process. I like the variety of fillings you can get!
As mentioned, when I saw these massive croissants I thought maybe the cafe sacrifices some taste for incredible presentation but the two giant croissants we tried tasted good too!
We tried the turkey cheese in-cafe so it tasted fresh and was super flakey. This was my favourite of the two giant croissants we tried!
The matcha strawberry was good but I’d say didn’t hold up as well because it sat for about 10 hours when we finally brought it to a friends house for a holiday party lol.
I think those sweet ones with cream need to be eaten right away to maintain the right texture and flavour lol. I think the savoury ones without cream would hold up well though, depending on what other ingredients are in (like something tomato / wetter fillings maybe wouldn’t work not eaten right away).
No matter the flavour you choose, these giant croissants are super sure to impress a group / party / your cafe date!!
AYCO Cafe – Giant Croissants in Downtown Edmonton
- Pre-order and pre-payment only
- More than a dozen sweet and savoury flavour options
- Price: $45-$65
- Technically feeds 12-15 people
- Take-out available (they have boxes big enough!)
- But I recommend eating as soon as possible for freshness + best croissant texture
- Sweet croissants with cream or savoury with wet ingredients should especially be eaten sooner than later so it doesn’t affect the croissant texture
Giant Pressed Sushi Bridge from Dorinku Tokyo/Osaka
📍 Dorinku Tokyo – Location: 10205 82 Ave. / Dorinku Osaka – Location: 10328 Jasper Ave. – Website | Facebook | Instagram (Tokyo) | Dorinku (Osaka)
At two of my favourite Japanese restaurants in Edmonton (and just in general—great restaurants in the city), you can order this giant (loooooooong) Pressed Sushi Bridge!!
The Tokyo or Osaka Bridge from sister restaurants Dorinku Tokyo (Whyte Ave.) and Dorinku Osaka (Downtown) features 30 pieces of pressed sushi—six pieces each of five types/flavours—presented on a 4-foot bridge!!
The pressed sushi flavours are:
🐟 Pressed Salmon
🥑 Pressed Avocado
🍣 Pressed Spicy Tuna Tartar
🐠 Pressed Hamachi
🥩 Pressed AAA Beef
This is such an impressive display of delicious pressed sushi— you can share it with a group as an appetizer or attempt to crush it with just one or two people. Think of it like a shotski but with sushi (so like, better! lol) I give it a 10/10 for both presentation and taste! You can also get a similar giant Pressed Platter at Dorinku’s other sister restaurant (they’re a tasty family lol) Japonais Windermere (it comes on a thick square marble slab).
It takes the top spot in this list for ‘longest’ giant food lol.
Giant Sushi Bridge from Dorinku Tokyo or Osaka
- Five pressed sushi flavours
- Six pieces of each flavour
- 30 pieces total on the 4-ft bridge
- Price: $74.80
- Easily shared with a group
- But if you have it just a few of you then you don’t need to share as much lol
Love poutine? Then you’ll want to try the Punchbowl Poutine from Leopold’s Tavern on Whyte Avenue in Old Strathcona!
This poutine features:
- 1 lb of cheese curds
- 5 lbs of potatoes
- 1 litre of gravy
Plus additional toppings based on which poutine you order—all layered tall inside a clear punch bowl (more like a trifle container lol) so you can see each ingredient in all its punchbowl glory. The dish comes with big tongs to pull out the poutine. 😂
This Punchbowl Poutine is advertised as a food challenge but if you eat it all by yourself you don’t really win anything (except bragging rights lol). The tavern walls are already decked out in Polaroids of customers so your photo isn’t really a stand-out lol. Our server told us she had only heard of one person at the Kelowna location who had successfully completed the challenge!
You can get this massive stacked poutine as traditional or plant-based and choose from five topping options. We chose Cheeseburger with ground beef, cheese curds, pickles, onions, tomatoes, beef gravy and smash sauce on house cut fries.
The traditional or plant-based punchbowl poutine is $59. Any other type / topping is $69.50.
The top layer of this poutine is the tastiest but of all the giant things on this list, this dish probably doesn’t keep as well as long compared to the rest. The lower in the bowl you go, the soggier the fries get under the weight of the gravy and other ingredients.
So if you want to be strategic I think split this with a table of six people and everyone portion out your section to eat right away while everything is still hot and crispy lol.
Leopold’s Tavern – Giant Punchbowl Poutine in Old Strathcona – Whyte Avenue
- Five flavour options
- Price: $59-$69.50
- Eaten as part of a challenge – winner gets photo on a ‘Wall of Fame’
- Would recommend 4-6 people can share this poutine
- Would not recommend this as take-out due to sogginess potential the longer it sits out
Lore Pizza is an awesome west Edmonton pizza joint and gathering space for Trial & Ale Brewing Company. While the pizza is new as of December 2023, the brewery itself—which makes 100% sour and wild fermentations—has been selling its funky fermented beer flavours across Canada, Europe, Asia, and the US since 2019.
Owner Ryan tells me sour and wild beers aren’t for everyone, so they knew they wanted to bring in beers from other breweries and give people food to pair with their drinks. Since they’re already fermenting drinks they thought—why not pizza? And not *just* pizza—GIANT pizza!
I think they must call it Lore Pizza because their gargantuan 24” pizza offerings are a thing of lore and legend—you seriously have to see it in person to truly believe it lol.
The giant pizzas only come as New York Style, with six flavour options like just pepperoni, just cheese or a veggie pizza, or you can build your own ($4 per additional topping), though depending on the number and type of toppings you choose, they might suggest some swaps so the integrity of the giant pie remains in tact lol—they really know how to cook these giant pizzas!
At 24” in diameter, these authentic New York style pizzas weigh around eight pounds (the dough alone is over three pounds!) They’re so big they don’t fit in a regular pizza box! In fact we had three slices leftover from our meal and those three pieces basically formed a regular size in a regular takeout pizza box. 😂
Lore Pizza also slings regular size Thin Crust Chicago Tavern Style and Detroit Style thick pan pies but if you’re coming here you’re coming for the giant pizza!
My pizza loving husband Mike gave Lore’s giant pizzas a big stamp of approval. Our baby Benjimin also enjoyed the sausage (meatberries we call them, as he’s big into berries right now lol). Even my in-laws were super impressed!
As stated, you always think taste is going to be sacrificed to something as novel as a giant pizza but nope—definitely not the case here. This pizza is really freaking good and presentation (size) will drop jaws.
It’s also worth the wait!
The space is pretty tiny and they’re only taking walk-ins. If everyone’s ordering giant pizzas (which is likely), then you can expect to wait up to an hour for your giant pie like we did. Lots of drink options while you wait!
Lore Pizza’s 24” ridiculously good large New York Style Pizzas range from $44-$48.
Lore Pizza – Giant Pizza in West Edmonton
- Six flavour options or Build Your Own with selected toppings
- Price: $44-$48 (or more $4 per additional topping for Build Your Own)
- Recommend sharing one giant pizza with approximately 4 people
- Dine-in pizza does reheat (air fryer) well if leftovers are taken to-go
- You can also order the giant pizzas to go but they can’t find a box big enough for the one pizza so it gets split into two halves in two 12″ x 24″ boxes
- Side note – they do giant pizza by the slice for lunch time too!
When thinking about giant food in Edmonton, a few giant drinks come to mind too—like the giant Margarita (Bulldog) from Maria Northern Mexican Restaurant downtown.
Maria is a Mexican restaurant in downtown Edmonton with a wide menu specializing in Northern Mexican cuisine. It is also home to the only Mexican Breakfast Buffet in town and on Saturday nights they have live music!
The wicked Maria’s Bulldog—a 3 oz blended frozen margarita (three flavours, we chose mango), with a Corona on top is officially suggested to be shared among two people but I think it is easily a drink to be shared by three people lol.
The comically sized giant glass is part of the fun, and when I first sipped it on Maria’s patio on a hot sunny summer day in July, I get a lot of impressed (and inspired? lol) passerby comments. It’s definitely attention-grabbing and bigger than even your typical bulldog!
Maria Northern Mexican Restaurant – Giant Margarita (Bulldog) in Downtown Edmonton
- Price: $27
- Choose from three flavours
- Share between 2-3 people
ALSO WORTH MENTIONING in the Giant Drink Category:
Julio’s Barrios does Fishbowl or Pitcher-Size Margaritas & Bulldogs!
📍 Julio’s Barrios – Location: 10450 82 Ave. in Old Strathcona / Whyte Ave – Website | Facebook | Instagram
Julio’s is the proud home of the Original Bulldog! And today offer eight different types of Bulldogs (that’s a Double Margarita + Cerveza) plus a variety of Frozen and On the Rocks Margaritas as Single, Julio’s (2 oz), Fishbowl (3 oz), or Pitcher (8 oz) sizes ranging from $8.25 – $28! Something for everyone. Julio’s Barrios also does a Margarita Flight which is super fun and while not giant individually, if you consider them together, that’s a big portion of alcohol lol.
Perhaps the best value for ‘giant’ thing on this list can be found at Sal’s Famous on 82nd Street and 128 Avenue in north east Edmonton. Sal’s is well-known for their massive (compared to typical calzones) 12″ calzones that come in under $20.
Choose from 13 different calzone fillings including Meat Lovers, Tropical Hawaiian, Tour of Italy and Vegetarian. Or you can Create Your Own Calzone (up to 5 items!)
We got the Meat Lovers Calzone and it seriously hit the spot.
Sal’s is generous on their filling (ours was oozing with meat and sauce!) Every bite was delicious. Two people can easily share this (or one person will get at least two meals out of it).
Admittedly this is smaller than the other ‘giants’ on this list but it’s definitely bigger than your average calzone and you can’t beat that price!
If you’re in Morinville or Gibbons, the Sal’s locations also offer the Giant Calzones!
Sal’s Famous on 82nd Street – Giant Calzone in North East Edmonton
- Price: $16.82-$18.50
- 2 people can share this (or 1 person who wants leftovers)
- Order like I did: “I want the giant calzone!” lol
- Reheats (air fryer) very well!
In downtown Edmonton at XO Bistro + Bar Vietnamese Restaurant, you can try their Giant Pho Bowl Challenge!!! 😮🍜 This massive bowl of Vietnamese beef noodle soup (only available at XO’s Downtown Edmonton location) comes with:
- 2 lbs beef
- 2 lbs noodles
- 2 L of broth
Technically it’s meant to be a solo diner challenge that more than 100 people have attempted but you can just order it without doing the challenge lol.
If you do it as a challenge and finish the $75 bowl (down to the very last slurp!) in under 45 minutes then it’s free and you get swag and a gift card to come back too. But for a probably less stressful and more enjoyable experience, do what I did and share the bowl with friends!
We are told this big bowl is the equivalent of six large bowls of pho. The four of us finished most of the bowl (just some noodles remained) and each of us were able to go for a second serving.
Like a lot of the giant foods listed, despite the insane size, this was a great bowl of soup! Obviously no pho is ever as good as my mom’s at King Noodle House Pho Hoang (family plug lol), but the one at XO Bistro + Bar hit all the pho cravings, and yielded similar reactions we have given for all giant foods—eyes wide, mouth open, shock and delight!
Ordering giant things is so fun!
We’re told only six people have actually completed XO Bistro’s pho challenge, including two people who finished their massive bowls in just 9 and 10 minutes! Personally I think you can’t really enjoy the pho if you eat it at that fast but it is a fun thing to try if you dare (and a fun thing to try even if you’re just sharing and/or doing it for the ‘gram lol).
XO Bistro + Bar – Giant Pho Bowl in Downtown Edmonton
- Price: $75
- Eaten as part of a challenge – winner gets the meal comped, a gift certificate & shirt/swag
- Would recommend 5 people can share this bowl of soup
ALSO WORTH MENTIONING in the Giant Pho Bowl Category:
Miss Saigon Vietnamese Restaurant also does a Giant Pho Challenge!
📍 Miss Saigon Vietnamese Restaurant – Two Locations: 10355 78 Ave. & 6187 Currents Dr. – Website | Facebook | Instagram
This big pho bowl at Miss Saigon Vietnamese Restaurant features 1 lb of sliced rare beef, 1 lb of beef brisket, 2 lbs of noodles and vegetables in 4L of broth. You can order it as a challenge for $65 or as a shared bowl for $75.
Miss Saigon’s giant pho challenge is also slightly different from XO’s in that you aren’t required to drink all the broth and you get one hour to finish. If you’re into pho + into giant things, definitely try both! Miss Saigon is also fun because they’ve got some unique Vietnamese offerings including a half and half bowl (one side soup, one side vermicelli), pho burritos and fried rice served in a pineapple, to name just a few dishes worth checking out.
So that’s my Guide to Giant Food & Drink in Edmonton!
Is this guide missing a Giant Food or Drink?
As more big foods pop up in the city, I’ll be sure to update this post as well.
@lindorable NEW BLOG POST! 🎉 Tap the link in my bio to check out my Guide to GIANT Food & Drink in Edmonton!! 🤯 From Punchbowl Poutines 🍟 to Massive Margaritas 🍹, Big Pizza 🍕, Croissants 🥐, and MORE, head over to my blog for all the details and plan to make your way through these jaw-dropping oversized items around the city. 🤪😋 These big dishes not only have incredible presentation but they’re really tasty too! And you’ll definitely want to bring people to help you finish everything, lol. And let me know if there are any giant food or drink I’m missing! 💛 #ExploreEdmonton #ExploreAlberta #LindorkDoesLife #LindorkEats #yeg #yegfood #yegfoodie #yegfoodblog #yegfoodblogger #yegblogger #yegblog #canadianblogger #yeglocal #yegeats #yegbiz #edmontonalberta #edmontoneats #explorecanada #giantfood #bigfood #yegdt #edmontondowntown #oldstrathcona #whyteave #southedmonton @ExploreEdmonton @LorePizza @Travel Alberta @Leopold’s Tavern @Ayco Cafe @Salsfamous ♬ OMG – NewJeans
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