Nestled in a serene park, this charming café serves up wholesome farm-to-table dishes and craft cocktails, perfect for a laid-back catch-up with friends.
340 13 Ave SW, Calgary, AB T2R 0W9, Canada Get directions
"Garden Gourmet at Boxwood Café This little sister of the award-winning River Café stands on its own two feet. The same philosophies abound, however (local ingredients, herbs and greens from the restaurant’s garden, slowly roasted meat, and lots of vegetarian options), and, like its sibling, it’s also hidden inside a city park. But this restaurant features a more casual-gourmet card, with rotisserie porchetta sandwiches with crunchy cracklings and peppery arugula on house-made ciabatta; crispy chickpea fritters with cilantro salsa verde; and candied wild coho salmon with new potato and cabbage salad and house-preserved lemon. Never, never skip the black cardamom cheesecake, made with farm-fresh goat’s milk cheese and a buttery graham cracker crust."
First of all I want to say that this place has great atmosphere. Looks great and is situated in a park. The menu is a bit spartan, but what's there is made well. Service can be hit or miss with some items/servers being fast and efficient and sometimes not. Overall I really like the place, if you're not in a hurry and just want a wonderfully put together place to grab a bite with friends then definitely give it a try.
Angie Ma
Google
I give this Boxwood such an awesome rating because they truly deserve it. I went around 4 in the afternoon and we were able to get a spot on the patio right away. Our first order, which was just a dessert, came right away, but after finishing that we felt we wanted to also split a sandwich. We placed the order and waited 20 minutes before someone came out to tell us the one we had chosen was unavailable and we could choose a different one. They offered to take care of our first order because of that issue. On top of that, our server was very kind and apologetic about having taken so long to tell us - they had been trying to source the ingredient from somewhere else.
After we placed another order for a different sandwich, we again were subject to waiting 20 minutes for a chicken sandwich. When the meal arrived, a different server had brought it and she was so so apologetic about the long wait and said they were going to take care of our whole bill from our meal. What we were so gracious for their attitude in dealing with this whole situation. They went above and beyond to remediate the situation so in my opinion, they certainly deserve the 5 star rating.
Krista Francis
Google
The $15 Frittata special today was good, but only three bites in size. Literally it was less than 2" x 1" x 1/2" high. The kale salad that came with had at most 2 leaves of kale. I had to go home and eat after lunch. Service was terrible because there was only one waitress for the entire outside patio. It is such a shame, I used to love this place.
Chris Calon
Google
I love the concept of the Boxwood. They have a fresh menu and change it frequently. I wish the rest of the experience would be better though. I blame management for the rest of the problems I have there. For one thing they're slow. Very slow. Second, doing any sort of take out is horribly painful. They have a punchcard that only allows for 1 punch per visit. So if I was to order lunch for the office I don't get a free sandwich. Seems incredibly short sighted. Made me write a negative review afterall.
Overall the food is delicious but slow staff and bad management makes me want to seek out a food truck at the other end of the park.
Bob Zhu
Google
Decent seating. Everyone wants patio space.
The porchetta was nice and fresh. Great flavors. Ciabatta bread needed some mouth muscle to munch on. Spit roasted chicken was excellent. Two great selections for a nice lunch for two.
Rena Tabata
Google
Set in beautiful Memorial Park, the restaurant building itself is very unique, a cross between a shed and ski lodge, perfect for an intimate or cozy light meal or coffee. Order the hummus. It's probably the best thing on the menu.
Michael Claeren
Google
Cozy little space in the park. Walked by a thousand times without stopping, finally did and was impressed. Fairly casual space done up very nicely, great views into the park, long community table down middle with other seating along windows. Creative yet wholesome food, without trying to be more than what it is.
Daniel Culpepper
Google
Pretty great happy hour beer special. Hummus is different than the usual (made with lentils) and quite good. I'd return to those lovely little location again.