Three Must-Eat Signature Foods in Edmonton

Half the fun of exploring a city is grazing your way through its food scene. Alberta's capital city is a hot spot for adventurous eaters who love finding new and bold flavours. This city of one million-plus people is a melting pot of cultures and is part of the reason why there are endless possibilities to taste something new.

To help you get started on your culinary adventures, here are three dishes nearest and dearest to the hearts of those who call Edmonton home. Dive in because they're super tasty, and you'll be coming back for more.

Green Onion Cakes

Crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside and studded with scallions, the green onion cake is a staple of Edmonton's many festivals and markets. It's also a mainstay on restaurant menus. Locals are obsessed with these savoury cakes and many argue they should be Edmonton's official food.

Green onion cakes come in two main forms: the original pan-fried pancake and a fluffy, deep-fried version that resembles a doughnut. The cakes are usually eaten plain or dipped in various sauces, such as sambal hot sauce.

The story of the cakes started in 1978 when Siu To, a construction worker who immigrated from northern China, started serving them at his restaurants. They were an instant hit and many other food producers started selling them after that. Now they can be found at Edmonton's Folk Music Festival, International Fringe Festival and Taste of Edmonton.

You have plenty of opportunities to find out why people go crazy for them, with hundreds of restaurants across the city selling green onion cakes. Top choices include Pho Hoan Pasteur and Pearl River.

You can also get them right from the source. To came out of retirement in 2018 and opened Green Onion Cake Man, a cozy eatery centred around – you guessed it – his original recipe for green onion cakes.

Donairs

Halifax, Nova Scotia may be the donair's official birthplace, but Edmonton has embraced the popular street food to the max. There are more than 120 donair shops in the city. The donair is related to Greek gyros and Turkish shawarma but it's a uniquely modern Canadian creation: a pile of seasoned ground beef shaved off a vertical rotisserie, wrapped in pita, drizzled with milky sweet sauce and sprinkled with such toppings as tomato and onions.

Donairs were created in Halifax in the early 1970s by a Greek immigrant, who adapted his gyro recipe to better fit a North American palate. It was a hit among the locals, and donairs moved west with the wave of Maritime labourers who travelled to Alberta during the oil boom in the 1970s and 80s. A Lebanese immigrant who worked in a Halifax donair shop before moving to Alberta in 1978 opened Charles Smart Donair on Whyte Avenue in 1982, Edmonton's first. It's still around to this day.

Donairs are particularly beloved by the late-night bar crowd and they are a good lunch option, too.

You're spoiled for choice when hunting for donairs in Edmonton, but you can't go wrong with Marco's Famous, Swiss Donair, PrimeTime or Top Donair.

Perogies

This last entry often flies under the radar of Edmonton's more popular signature foods, yet you just might have a bag stashed in your freezer right now. Perogies are everywhere at community events, church potlucks, festivals, markets, local restaurants and grocery stores.

Edmonton's large Ukrainian and Polish communities established the popularity of these pillowy, half-moon stuffed dumplings in the early 20th century. Potato and cheese are the classic perogy filling, but bacon, onion, sauerkraut, mushroom and even various fruits (dessert perogy!) are also common flavours. Perogies are usually boiled or pan-fried and served with butter and sour cream.

Edmonton is home to a multi-million-dollar perogy empire. Heritage Frozen Foods, better known by the name of its signature brand Cheemo, has been making perogies in a northwest Edmonton manufacturing plant since 1972. The facility churns out a dizzying three million perogies a day, which are distributed throughout grocery store freezers across Canada, the U.S. and even Mexico.

Edmonton also has a vibrant cottage industry of small perogy producers. Perogies are a staple on menus at Eastern European restaurants, of course, but they often crop up on menus at diners and cafés, and sometimes even in fine dining – RGE RD's elevated take on the perogy is one of their most adored dishes.

Another top perogy place is the venerable Uncle Ed's Ukrainian Restaurant, which also sells frozen take-home perogies from its next-door sister business Mundare Sausage House. Other great local spots are Taste of Ukraine, Shumka Ukrainian Foods and Widynowski's Sausage House.