Braven isn’t reinventing the steakhouse — it’s refining it. That’s probably why it has consistently landed on Edify’s Best Restaurants lists since this steakhouse opened in the Ice District in 2019. Chef Anthony Walsh is dedicated to sourcing the best beef from Alberta farms, dry aged in-house, seasoned simply with salt and pepper and cooked over a woodfire grill for smoky depth. Why mess with a good thing, and why complicate choices?
Rib-eye, strip loin, tenderloin and flatiron are the only four cuts needed for Braven to dazzle. The classic chophouse sides of shrimp cocktail, whipped mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables are also totally familiar — yet every dish tastes as perfectly indulgent as ever. Only a culinary team who understands the textbook mastery of restraint could pull off such a feat. Some might even say it’s braven, if there’s such a word.
As for the space, it’s nostalgia core. It unlocks every decade’s old memory you might ever have had, from a time when deer antlers and leather booths reigned supreme at restaurants. It’s easy to see why the Oliver & Bonacini Hospitality restaurants across the country have received the best praise and accolades, and Braven is no different. – Tracy Hyatt
Braven
Downtown | 10344 102 St NW, Edmonton | 780.784.8580 | bravenrestaurant.com
That Barbacoa has landed on this list comes as no surprise to people in Spruce Grove. Over the past five years, Barbacoa has transformed the culinary scene here with its innovative concepts and commitment to local, quality produce. Chef Benjamin Perez and his team cook almost every meat over the kitchen’s open flame birchwood fire, which the team stokes every day starting at 8 a.m. The spotlight here is on hero cuts of tenderloin, Wagyu, rib-eye and the lunch favourite, a sirloin steak sandwich served atop focaccia and drizzled with fromage blanc and whiskey pepper-corn sauce. And as it should be at any good Alberta steakhouse, steak for breakfast is a thing. Try a plate of California-cut strip loin and two fried eggs from the weekend brunch menu. Textbook steakhouse execution. – Tracy Hyatt
Barbacoa
Yellowhead Industrial | 470C South Ave, Spruce Grove | 780.571.1717 | barbacoa.ca
Pampa proudly pays homage to Brazil’s cowboy tradition of cooking meat over an open campfire. It’s a hedonist’s dream of tender, slow-cooked meats cut tableside onto your plate. You won’t find a giant porterhouse at either of its two locations in Edmonton, but you will find a dazzling menu of meats from beef garlic steak to the restaurant’s most popular offering: the Pampa Picanha. It’s a praise-worthy piece of top sirloin with its fat cap on. Placed onto a skewer and grilled for a few minutes, the fat enhances the flavours of the meat, resulting in juicy slices of perfect steak. Another menu favourite is Pampa’s marbled beef Tri-Tip, seasoned with coarse salt so all you taste is quality beef. Offering unlimited servings of 13 different meats and a salad bar, Pampa easily clenches a spot in this category for value and quality. – Tracy Hyatt
Pampa Brazilian Steakhouse
Ellerslie Industrial | 9626 Ellerslie Rd SW, Edmonton
Place Larue | 17020 100 Ave NW, Edmonton
pampasteakhouse.com
This article appears in the March 2026 issue of Edify
