How Many Restaurants Are in Calgary?
Calgary has 1 active restaurants — businesses holding a City of Calgary food-service licence, counted from the 2026 business licence roll. That figure covers licensed sit-down restaurants, takeaway kitchens, and food-only bars in every quadrant of the city, drawn from the same open dataset that powers the directory on this site.
1
Active restaurant licences on the Calgary business roll (2026)
Last updated: Aug 25, 2026 · Source: City of Calgary — Business Licences (vdjc-pybd)
What counts as a Calgary restaurant
The City of Calgary licences food service under a handful of specific categories, and the number above only counts businesses whose primary licence is one of them. A dine-in restaurant with a table service permit is in. A takeaway kitchen with a small counter is in. A ghost kitchen operating out of a shared commercial space is in. A liquor store with no kitchen is out. A grocery store with a hot bar is licensed under retail, so it does not count here.
Businesses can carry more than one licence type — a restaurant that also holds a liquor licence appears once, not twice. The Calgary business directory on this site is deduplicated to one row per business, so the count matches what a diner would see if they walked every commercial street from the Beltline to Skyview Ranch.
Where the restaurants are — top 10 Calgary communities
Downtown Commercial Core and Beltline dominate — two neighbourhoods that account for more than 10% of Calgary’s restaurant count between them. The industrial areas on the list (Westwinds, Sunridge, Manchester, East Shepard) pick up a lot of catering kitchens, food-vehicle depots, and commissary operations that hold food-service licences but do not run a public dining room.
| Community | Restaurants |
|---|---|
| Downtown Commercial Core | 223 |
| Beltline | 206 |
| Westwinds | 90 |
| Sunridge | 81 |
| Foothills | 80 |
| Calgary International Airport | 79 |
| Manchester Industrial | 71 |
| Franklin | 66 |
| East Shepard Industrial | 63 |
| Crescent Heights | 63 |
Breakdown by licence type
Most Calgary restaurants — about two-thirds of the total — hold a Food Service – Premises (Seating) licence, the category that covers dine-in restaurants with a table service permit. The remainder split between takeaway kitchens (no seating), off-premises caterers, and food vehicles.
| Licence type | Businesses |
|---|---|
| Food Service – Premises (Seating) | 2,701 |
| Food Service – Premises (No Seating) | 820 |
| Food Service – Premises (unspecified seating) | 695 |
| Food Vehicles (full & limited) | 49 |
| Food Service – No Premises | 27 |
Related
- Browse the Calgary restaurants directory
- Beltline neighbourhood profile
- Downtown Commercial Core neighbourhood profile
- How many people live in Calgary?
- Average home price by Calgary neighbourhood
Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. CityOfCalgary.com is an independent publisher and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the City of Calgary. Data is provided as-is and may contain errors or omissions.