Cravings in SE Calgary offers freshly-made food with quality ingredients at a reasonable price. Good wheelchair access.

Market Style Restaurant Combines Table Service with Open Kitchen

Cravings Market Restaurant, 7202 Fairmount Drive SE, Calgary, is a little out of the way but not by much, and well worth looking for.

With a ground-level location in a renovated office building, the interior is surprisingly light and airy. The concrete floor, indoor gazebo, and the floor to ceiling windows along two walls create an outdoor cafe atmosphere. The five food and beverage stations complete the Euro-market theme.

Choices at Cravings

Cravings is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

There are no menus at the tables. The host gives each diner a plastic swipe card upon arrival, seats the guests and then a waiter takes drink orders, using the swipe cards to record the tab.

When it's time to choose a meal, guests wander to the food stations. The salad selection is near the front door and offers a wide variety of fresh vegetables and fruits.

Two hot food stations, Rotisserie and Pasta, feature many choices for main courses. The actual meals are not easy to see at the stations, but the chefs will answer questions and show customers anything they wish to see. It's a good idea to watch the meals arrive at other tables before committing.

Wine, Dessert, Coffee

The bar is also a free-standing station. Cravings has its own Wine Club with monthly social events.

The desserts are presented at the coffee bar, along with Starbucks brand hot beverages - coffee, espresso, latte, the usual.

Accessibility

There is a Calgary Transit bus station right outside, but most patrons arrive by car. There are handicapped parking stalls near the main entrance, and more parking on the south side of the building. It is easiest to enter from southbound Fairmount Drive.

There are no stairs. Cravings has a smooth concrete floor and enough space to move about. The washrooms are on the same level as the dining room, easy to get to, and wheelchair accessible, although the sink is at standard height.

The meals are delivered by serving staff; Cravings does not expect anyone to carry their own food from kitchen to table.

Price

Lunch of a hot entree (roast quarter chicken served with one side - a generous helping of sweet potato fries) and a venti latte after cost under $15.00 before tip. Other hot entrees are in the range of $15.00. On the day I visited, PEI mussels were on the menu. The best lunch choice was the seafood casserole with a generous selection of scallops, prawns, and mussels. The sauce on the casserole was impressive - playing the supporting role to the seafood rather than drowning it. Another diner found the bison stew satisfying and fresh.

In comparison with other Calgary restaurants, Cravings serves nice quality food at a reasonable price, in a relaxed atmosphere. Definitely a good alternative to the more crowded chain restaurants with less imaginative menus. About a ten minute drive from Chinook Centre or SouthCentre malls.

Cravings also offers meals to go.