Review Ticino Swiss-italian Restaurant - Banff

Classy restaurant, went in for dinner and it was a pleasant experience. Waiters are friendly and checked on us frequently (filling water, taking away empty dishes …) didn’t have to ask for them to come, excellent job! -Mushroom soup: 5/5 lots and lots of mushrooms inside, nicely seasoned. Decent appetizer (forgot to take a picture of it because it smells too good and I can’t wait to taste it, next thing I noticed, the bowl was empty 🤣) -Daily special Pasta: 3/5 the presentation is pleasant, but the flavor is not my favorite. -Buffalo strip lion steak: 5/5 the steak taste awesome, and the mushroom sauce is even better, sided with mashed potato and baked veggies. The washroom is over all clean and modernized. However the tight space is really awkward for people sharing this washroom.

This is our favourite restaurant! We are always blown away by the service and food. Each time we have been, the staff have gone above and beyond to ensure we have an incredible experience. We are from Red Deer and any time we have a chance to head out to Banff we make sure that we make time to have dinner here. We love that is is family owned! We have made it a tradition to celebrate our anniversary here each year, it’s a very special place to us. I highly recommend the mushroom soup and the fondue, make sure to order with a side of schnitzel- you will not be disappointed! I recommend this place to anyone wanting to support local and have an amazing dining experience with exceptional food!

This was by far the best food and service in all of Banff! We tried almost all the top rated restaurants in Banff and were highly disappointed. This place is a gem, run by a local family for the past 20+ years. The chef has a clear culinary philosophy and does not take any shortcuts in preparing the food. Presentation, flavor, temperature, texture are all carefully thought out, and it’s obvious. We returned here for our last meal in Banff (which is significant because we like to try every restaurant). We arrived very late, but they happily accommodated us and even stayed past closing time to chat with us. Their passion and care for the customers are heartwarming. I would normally recommend specific dishes, but everything we’ve tried was excellent. The veal, pasta, appetizers, and the roasted duck… all SO good. Do not pass up on this place if you’re in Banff.

Unbelievable food. We ordered the Haida Gwaii Chanterelle mushrooms, the gnocchi and smoked duck, and the osso bucco. We had to wait a bit for our mains, but the ambience and amazing customer service made up for it.

I cannot recommend Ticino enough! The staff was incredibly friendly and attentive and the food was absolutely spectacular. The Veal Zurich was probably one of the best restaurant meals I’ve ever had, and the Apple strudel was the perfect ending to the dinner. If you are on the fence about stopping here - don’t be, it’s worth it. My only regret is now I will be dreaming about this meal until the next time I come to Banff !

Our family and friends came here for the first time today. We loved it! Food was good, prices were reasonable for Banff and the quality of the food was great. They were very accommodating to our party and brought out a high chair and kids menu's without having to ask. The service was great. Environment very cozy. Will definitely be coming back the next time we are here!

WE can only give you 5 stars but if we could we would give you more! Louis and Mike we so great and accommodating. We had to make changes to a reservation last minute and we had no issues! The food was AMAZING! Everyone enjoyed their meals and Not one person complained! What a great way to end our trip to Banff! We hope to come back someday soon!

The ambiance of the restaurant was nice. Super quiet the evening we came. Service was friendly and warm. The food was good not great. I had the gnocchi and smoked duck. I feel the duck was a lil dry and not much on the plate. Gnocchi and sauce was delicious though.

Have been trying to get into this restaurant for years and finally, timing and reservations did the trick. Loved the old world charm and Alpine ambiance.Service was spot on with friendly, well trained and efficient service. Our host for the evening went out of his way to check on us several times.<br/>I'm a  fondue aficionado for sure and knew I would be getting awesome Cheese Fondue that night.<br/>Fondue and wine selections are perfection.<br/>I recommend Ticino after 7:30 for romance and reservations for sure.

Overall a very disappointing experience. We had a table reserved for a group of 10, 20-30 year olds hungry after a day on the hill. After taking our order (roughly 40 minutes into the experience) our waitress disappeared into the back not to be seen again until the food was served, which was about an hour later. During our wait our group had to track down the manager to order new refreshments. Dinner eventually arrived and again our server disappeared into the back. The food itself was 6/10, nothing spectacular but the portion sizes relative to the price of $30-$40 a plate where extremely small. We tracked down the manager to voice our concerns over the poor service/small portions/wait times, which he attributed to new server/European cuisine??/ and busy. The restaurant was maybe around 70% capacity on a long weekend. The manager was overall standoffish to our concerns and as a result only further cemented our initial disappointment. Considering our table alone could represented around $1000 worth of revenue in a what could have been a 1 hour experience we thought his approach rather rude. <br/><br/>In summary, high prices, small portions, poor management, and poor service. I recommend travelers to keep walking past this place and don’t waste your time

Le meilleur restaurant à Banff ! Tout est succulent et le personnel est très attentionné. Le Ticino est un incontournable à Banff ! La fondue Suisse est délectable!

My wife and I were on our honeymoon and decided to pick a more upper-level restaurant for our last meal in town before heading home. We went with the raqlette for an appetizer and seafood fondue for the meal. The wine we chose was excellent, the service started well but over the course of the meal we became very disappointed with the food and continuing service. <br/><br/>By the end of the meal we almost felt ignored (in favour of the larger groups) and the portion size for the fondue was incredibly disappointing. For $32 a person, we were expecting a little more than 4 scallops, 6 shrimp, 8 pieces of salmon and 3 mussels. <br/><br/>While the food was excellent, the price was very unbalanced for the portion size, especially for a fondue. And we did not receive either a bread basket (every other table got one) or the steamed rice (promised on the menu with the fondue).<br/><br/>This is not a bad restaurant, but it is not one we would recommend or visit again. Granted, we might not be used to smaller portion sizes that come with upper level dining that focuses on presentation, but this felt severely overpriced even for that standard.

Was'nt too impressed, very average, they served the Racalette on a plate , and it was not melted, kind of wierd, snitzel was average at best, pasta was bland , just ho hum, they were having a tour group in at the same time and it was quite noisy and service wasnt great, not what it once was.

Service was average. My 2yr old waited 45mins and after we were all done our fondue because "they had to go downstairs to get the noodles". Maybe they meant downstairs to Australia, I don't know. Portion sizes for fondue where on the low end of average for what your paying for. It's not a bad place to eat. But I sure wouldn't come again.

nice spot. Service was good. A bit touristy (obviously). Portions were decent sized but food could have been a bit higher quality. Mushroom soup was nice, salad well presented, schnitzel was great. Fondue was good but bread was a bit stale and boring.

The ambiance reminds me of a Swiss geriatric early bird dinner. After a long day of hiking it is kind of nice not being in a family style restaurant with little ones running screaming through the establishment. The food is ok. Not awesome...not superduperfragalistic...but ok. I am a little confused on why they would try to mix Swiss and Italian. Do one or the other great. Don't try to both ok. Will I be back? Probably not since as a foodie I am used to superduperfragalistic.

We've often driven past this restarawhen we've come to Banff. Tonight we decided to give it s try. We weren't impressed. I had the schnitzel and my partner had the veal scallopini. Neither of the entrees were overly appealing. We also had the cheese fondue which too was just okay. If you want fondue, go down the street to the Grizzly House.

Just Superb!!. We were in Banff for the weekend, and just left the restaurant tonight, what a great meal and the service was extremely good, no one removing plates before the table was finished each course etc.. and the food was absolutely divine and professionally served with attention to detail. I saw one negative comment over the past 24 hrs, but I think they were somewhere else, because it was not the restaurant we were in tonight. Well done and keep this up!!!

Recently went back to Ticino after 30 years since my last visit and the food, ambiance and service was excellent!!! Great place to have fondue in Banff

Favourite Restaurant in Banff!. Ticino is consistently excellent! It is my favourite place to eat in Banff and their cheese fondue is AMAZING!! Last time I was there, I had the tenderloin and it was melt in your mouth delicious! Can't wait to go back again!!!

We thoroughly enjoyed our meal at Ticino. We had the cheese fondue followed by the beef bourgignonne fondue and then the chocolate fondue. Our son had spaghetti and really liked it as well and he is quite particular about his pasta dishes. In all the food was fabulous, the presentation was beautiful and it was good value. We would highly recommend this restaurant.

Best In Banff. We have been in Banff for the past four days. We tried all the "popular" spots. But Ticino was by far the best. Food presentation, food quality and service. Enjoyed the wonderful atmosphere and I can't say enough about the food. It was 5 Star quality. <br/>I have lived most of my life in San Francisco and traveled to Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York. This food was just great.

Great food an service.. We go to Banff regularly to ski and hike. We visited the restaurant on New Years Eve and another time this winter. We really enjoyed the restaurant. Food selection, quality and service was excellent !!! Would not hesitate to go back.

Loved it. We had a great experience. Great food, wine and desert; all at a fair price. I had not tried chicken stroganoff before and loved it. The caramelita homemade ice cream is a must. Service was excellent. Best dining experience we had in Banff.

Our Favourite Restaurant in Banff for 15 Years. We have been going to Ticino for over 15 years to celebrate birthdays and outdoor activities for. many years and always enjoy the Swiss Fondue and excellent service.

Went to this restaurant with my family when we stayed in banff, at first thought it was nice, we ordered some potato thing for my daughter and she did not like it we tried it and there was no Flavours just looked like they threw some potatoes in the oven! We told te waiter we wanted something else for our little one and we didn't like the potatoes so he started arguing with us and being very rude! Then he sent someone else to out table who we explained what happened and that waiter was an old white guy and he started making rude comments about where my boyfriend is from and making us feel so uncomfortable!! I've never heard Such rude racist comments from someone so directly!!! We started getting upset and letting him know that is not okay and he's like oh I am kidding but we were very mad and asked for the check to leave and then the first waiter came and we brought the check we paid and didn't want to tip since te service was bad and the food was bland with no flavours and the waiter started arguing with us about why we weren't tipping him and called his dad over and we explained hey your service was bad you guys are rude and being racists to us like we are paying but not tipping! And the guy started trying to fight my boyfriend over it in the restaurant!! My poor daughter was so upset people would yell at us like that in the restaurant we were very offended and we left, the waiter then followed us outside and tried to fight my boyfriend he kept calling him on and trying to get him mad! We went back to our room and went to stand outside to get some fresh air afterwards and the waiter walked up to the hotel doors and was still trying to fight my boyfriend over the tip!!! We ended up calling the police and charging him with saying racial slurs!! All in all the service is bad and they are rude white racists people!! The good is bland with no flavours!! I would never go back or recommend it to anyone ! Horrible place to eat!!!!!!

Disappointing. Grossly over-priced, small portions and my food was cold!

I went to Ticino for an early dinner around 6:15pm with no reservation. The manager seated my boyfriend and I at a table outside the sunroom roof. It was awkwardly placed beside A wooded support beam and when I asked to change to another table he said it was reserved. Ten minutes later an older couple walk in with no reservation and the manager offers them the table I requested. I was so angry with the manager I wish I said something when I was there. The food wasn't good either. However our server was very good. I felt discriminated by the manger because I was a young couple (25-27) yrs of age and was looked at as not a "important" customer. I am a local and will not be recommending this restaurant to anybody. Im angry enough to be writing a Damn review about this place! That's how bad of a time I had.

Over priced & surly. After being wrongfully judged by the host right as we walked in the door, we were sat at a table beside another couple, in an empty restaurant. Our waiter took our drink and appetizer orders. Our drinks took about 10 minutes to get to the table, even though they were ready right away. The waiter went on a break and seated another table while our wine sat at the bar. He did not offer to pour us a glass, just sat it down on the table and walked away. The food, like the wine took a long time to arrive, however it is a fine dining restaurant so that is expected. The food was good, but certainly not worth the price we paid for it, we had the salmon and the duck. The service through our entire dining experience was an abomination. The waiter ignored us the entire time, while paying most attention to the older couples seated directly beside us. We paid the same amount of money as them for our meals and were just looking for a nice evening out away from the kids. We were judged for being a younger looking couple who probably wouldn't tip. Ironically his tip suffered as a result of his behaviour towards us. We will never return to this restaurant nor would we recommend it to any of our friends or family. We would have received better service at Subway

Racist owner, below expectation. If you are an Asian, especially Japanese, don’t even try this restaurant.<br/><br/>My girlfriend and I flew to Banff from USA to spend Christmas and had a dinner at the Ticino (415 Banff Avenue, Banff, AB, T1L 1B5 ) on Dec 26, 2012. The restaurant looked good, food was just ok, but the price was overrated compared to its quality. I didn’t like their fondue. Service was below my expectation. <br/><br/>However, they already included 15% tip even before I added it, so I asked a waiter why he already added the tip. He said because it was busy season, some people may have forgotten their tip, so his boss added it. It was ok, because anyway I was going to add 15% tip for their substandard service. But I couldn't hide my unpleasant feeling, so I asked the owner why he arbitrarily added a tip. If there was a notice, I would understand it (for instance, 15% service charge would be added for more than 2 people, or for busy season, the tip is already included), but I couldn't find any notice before and even after I saw the check. <br/><br/>When the owner said the reason, I couldn't believe what I heard. He said because I am a Japanese and Japanese don’t know the tip culture, he added the tip by himself. Wow, first of all, I am not a Japanese although I am an Asian, and second, I have lived in USA for 10 years. Even if I may not know Canadian’s complicated culture, at least I clearly know I have a right to decide my tip for service unless the percentage was already stated. He never asked me where I was from, but he just decided I would be a Japanese and added a tip arbitrarily. <br/><br/>I asked him again if he added a tip because I am an Asian. He said yes again and kept talking because some Japanese didn't tip and I am an Asian, he added the tip. I told him I am not a Japanese and came from USA. I know the culture. He never said sorry. I asked again “So did you add a tip arbitrarily because I am an Asian” He tapped on my shoulder and said “Yes, but don’t take it personally, Japanese don’t know a tip, so I added the tip, but we like Japanese”. My girlfriend wanted to stop the endless conversation, so I couldn't continue it. When I opened a door to leave the restaurant, he finally said to me “Follow rules when you visit a foreign country.”<br/><br/>Ok, I am writing this review since I didn't take it “personally”. I am doing this for my people whom the restaurant owner belittled. I am sure the ‘Japanese people’ didn't leave a tip because of Ticino’s service and discrimination.<br/><br/>I seriously want to ask Canadians if this is a normal Canadian life. I am not talking about some rural areas. I am talking about Banff, one of Canada's most popular tourist destinations. I understand some people could dislike Asians, or different races in their mind, but I didn't know Canadians actually can discriminate against different races regally. Good to know it.<br/><br/>I want to ask “Japanese people” why you spend money for the people who discount you guys.<br/><br/>Last, I want to ask the racist Ticino owner. Were the substandard service and food because you thought we would be Japanese? I am sorry. Before I ordered food, I should have said “I am not a Japanese and know how to tip, so please do not discriminate against me because I am an Asian.” That was obviously my bad.<br/><br/>Again, if you are Caucasians, you may want to try this restaurant. They would be kind to you (still pricey though). However, if you are Japanese, Chinese, Korean, or any other Asians, try it and feel humiliated. This includes Asian-Canadians. Try the Ticino and feel discriminated in your own country.

Great food. We have eaten at Ticino 4 times over two years. The first time was last year and I went with my wife and two children (5 and 10 at the time). We had the cheese fondue followed by the meat fondue and than as I mentioned we were traveling with two kids so we finished with the chocolate fondue. The food quality at this restaurant is excellent. It is run and owned by a true restauranteur and his family. It is not inexpensive but as the urbanspoon indicated it is $$$ out of four on the rating scale. When we came back this year the kids could not wait to go to this restaurant to have the three food items again. They were not disappointed. Now for me. I love eating at high end restaurants mostly for the food quality. I am from Vancouver and have eaten at very high end restaurants, for business and personal. This is not a chain restaurant. It is, as I said before, owned by a true restauranteur. I did see the two entries that were disappointed. I can't understand why as the quality of the food is excellent. Maybe an off night. Tonight there were over 75 people in the restaurant. Large tour groups from Japan and the US or Canada's east coast. They left with smiles on their faces. As did we. My kids already have asked when we could go again. The dishes we have had have been very good and tasty. I would recommend this restaurant to any of my associates and friends who come to Banff. If your concerned have the fondues. Even the disappointed writers were happy with these. The fondues and Swiss salad I had were very good. This is the best fondue restaurant in Banff. If you want fondue, have it here. There should be no disappointments.

Disappointed. I went to this restaurant in Banff with my boyfriend and a couple of people. We were a bit hesitant because the restaurant was so empty (it was a huge restaurant and there was only one table, during prime dinner time), but we decided to give it a chance. We ordered the cheese fondue to share as an appetizer. This was pretty good. The portion size was generous and you could have refills on bread. For our mains, we ordered (Im giving you the description, rather than the name, because the names are in Italian): 1) the gnocchi with duck breast, 2) Egg noodles with seafood in orange ginger sauce, 3) Pasta with chicken and truffle cream sauce. The duck breast and gnocchi were quite good. The gnocchi were crispy, so it was a nice change to the boiled type. The other two pastas were disgusting. The orange pasta just tasted like orange marmalade, and the truffle flavour in the truffle cream was overwhelming and very unpleasant. I couldn't bring myself to eat more than half of it, and had to tell the server to get rid of it. I am a person who ALWAYS takes home leftover food, but I really could not bring myself to at this place. I was very disappointed since it was an expensive meal that I did not really eat. The pastas were over $20 each! I love food and am not usually a picky person, but the flavour combinations were just wrong at this place. I would not recommend this place to anyone.

Disappointed. I keep an open mind about food, and I love exploring the cuisine everywhere I go. My visit to Ticino was disappointing. I ordered the mushroom soup (excellent, but on the salty side, as if it were over-reduced maybe?). <br/><br/>Our table shared the cheese fondue. Our server recommended that our table could share the 2-person fondue instead of paying for 4 individual portions. The cheese fondue was not bad (I didn't like it simply because I'm not a big fan of the emmental/gruyere fondue combo).<br/><br/>I had the appetizer-sized gnocchi with duck breast, which was excellent. The duck breast was tender and the gnocchi were pan fried, crispy and delicious! However, I was slightly confused at the french style of the dish being served at a Swiss/Italian restaurant. My boyfriend ordered the tagliatelle egg noodles with orange ginger sauce. The scallops were slightly overcooked, and the orange ginger sauce tasted too sweet, like candy, almost to the point of tasting like orange crush (the soda). <br/><br/>Further, I found the wait staff and bus staff to be awkward. So overall, I found this meal to be slightly awkward and confusing, and also disappointing. I feel that I could have found better food elsewhere with the price I paid. Maybe at one point in time, this restaurant was the place to be, but it has strayed off course...

Absolutely awesome food and service! The best seafood pasta dish I've ever eaten.

An O.K. dinner, BUT... please read on.... This review is going to be difficult to do, and if you read on, you will see why.<br/><br/>My wife and I decided to eat at Ticino while out in Banff for a 2 night stay. We usually go once a year over night there, and usually eat at Ticino during this visit. In the past we have had good experiences.<br/><br/>On this visit I ordered the lumache di vigneto all'aglio (snails). While the order did not actually come with the gaufrette's, they did serve it with pumpernickel bread wafers. It came hot and in an 8 count. A very tasty garlic herb sauce complimented the snails. My wife ordered the zuppa alla boscaiola (mushroom soup).The soup came hot and fresh, but for a mushroom soup it was extremely salty and severely lacking in any kind of mushroom flavour. Very disappointing.<br/><br/>For our mains, I went with the Filetto di maiale con salsa d'aceto Balsamico (pork tenderloin). The portions were decent at best. The flavour of the balsamic reduction was excellent and the accompanying vegetables were also very good. My wife ordered the Lombata d'agnello alla Ticinese (lamb loin). The loin came encrusted in some kind of breading that was soggy and pedestrian. The loin itself was cooked well, but was also rather tedious. Her vegetable sides were of the high quality like mine.<br/><br/>We finished off the meal with the chocolate fondue. A nice mix of milk and dark chocolate and was quite flavourful. The only problem was the selection of "seasonal" fruit. While the pineapple, bananas and short bread are quite traditional for this kind of desert, the grapes are far from it. Grapes and chocolate, in our opinion, do not mix well. A much better selection would have been some kind of berry.<br/><br/>Drinks for the evening was the house Shiraz and 1 domestic beer.<br/><br/>Total Bill: $~120<br/>Service: 4/5<br/>Food: 3/5<br/>Ambiance: 4/5<br/>Value: 1/5<br/>Cleanliness: 4/5<br/>Total: 3.2/5<br/>Would recommend: Perhaps..... but, please see conclusion.<br/>Conclusion: While my wife's meal was very plain, and mine was quite good I find it very hard to actually make a recommendation to eat here. I could have walked out of Ticino happy if my meal didn't cost $28.50. A decent value/quality would have been $18.50. My wife's meal on the other hand left a very bitter taste in our mouths. At $36.50 it was a HUGE rip off for value/quality. This meal, if served and prepared correctly, would be best priced at about $21-$22. While I understand that we are indeed in Banff and as such expect to pay a bit more for almost everything, there is no excuse for the cost for quality/value that we had this evening. Sadly, this will be the last time we patronize this restaurant after 15 years.<br/><br/>Fix your costs, and we will likely come back.

Cat the cook. The best cheese fondue in the bow valley. Very creamy. The breads cube were fresh. The pork loin was simply amazing. The decor was charming and make me feel like I was in a part or Switzerland. I will sure go back again and again for the chocolate fondue!

We have ordered the featured chicken breast; the crust is overcooked. We are disappointed to say the least.

Really good food. Friendly people, the people there are so friendly. The food is really tasty. I also love their tiramisu. Really great food!!

Great osso bucco & friendly staff! Fondue was spectacular! Stefanie was great for menu knowledge

The food here is amazing. The chef at Ticino is clearly very well versed in central European cuisine and takes pride both in preparation and presentation of the food. Service did leave a bit to be desired, but I think the language barrier may have played into that a bit. All in all, my wife and I are very satisfied

Incredible meal. This is true Swiss-Italian cuisine at it's finest. I've travelled all over central Europe and have rarely eaten this well. The cheese fondue is absolutely incredible, and the stuffed chicken breast feature dish that I had was one of the best meals I've ever eaten. Wash it down with a piece of the best Tirimisu you'll ever eat.