Excluding its downtown-Beltline stretch, Calgary’s central north-south traffic artery was once an ugly duckling thoroughfare lined with shabby strip malls and gas stations. However, Macleod Trail has been admirably beautified and the revamped roadway features a surprising array of international eateries between 42nd Avenue Southeast and Anderson Road.

Calgarians visit Banff National Park and the town of Banff all year round. While the mountain park retreat is a natural spot to dine and shop in combination with winter snow-sport outings and summertime Alpine hikes, there are also many arts and cultural events and festivals to attend. While in Banff, fuel your getaway with a visit to one of these dinner destinations.

Ordering takeout Chinese food is convenient, but not a top date strategy. Calgary has no greater concentration of date-night-worthy Asian restaurants than in Chinatown. These eateries combine attractive atmosphere with varied menus that feature Chinese-Western faves (ginger beef, salt-and-pepper squid), stellar Old-Country cuisine (mapo tufu, Peking duck) as well as Japanese and Korean spots.

Don’t take Calgary’s close proximity to world-class mountain parks for granted. From daytrips to extended getaways, there’s vast acres of snowy fun and alpine adventure just a leisurely drive down the Trans Canada Highway. Below you’ll find just a handful of recreational opportunities in the Canmore, Banff, Kananaskis and Lake Louise areas that are not skiing or snowboarding.

While international flourishes are the norm on the city’s casual-contemporary menus, new restaurants are specializing in global food and fusion mash-ups not previously available here. From African and Asian to European and South American, the flavours of world’s far-flung corners are yours for the feasting. This list features some of Calgary's top global-cuisine stops.

When Calgarians want healthy, tasty restaurant food that’s priced to move, they choose Vietnamese. While there are many, many Vietnamese restaurants in the city, they’re not so plentiful in the central core. The following Vietnamese restaurants are located between the Bow River and 17th Avenue Southwest.

There’s a tidy handful of restaurants orbiting the Calgary International Airport – you just need to know where to look. This list will take you from the tarmac to Canadian-contemporary, Chinese and Mediterranean spots in and around nearby hotels as well as in the immediately adjacent neighbourhoods of Falconridge, Country Hills and Castleridge.

Good margaritas are easy to find, but other lass-familiar Central and South American drinks are now getting the respect and admiration they deserve. Calgary foodies (and drinkies) are happily enjoying fine tequila and mescal selections at city bars and restaurants as well as sipping South American wines. These venues feature Latin-inspired drink selections. Salud!

Though BYOW hasn’t caught on in Calgary on the scale it has in other Canadian cities, many restaurants are open to uncorking vino supplied by patrons. Corkage fees are typical and range from modest to pricey, and low-to-no corkage nights are common. These eateries welcome outside wine at dinnertime.

Calgary’s red-hot food scene continues to surprise with upstart additions to its restaurant roster. These often fashionable and innovative eateries serve everything from belly-busting buttermilk waffles and richly rewarding pie to dreamy ’n’ steamy ramen and wood-fire-grilled tacos. Do yourself a flavourful favour and sample the fare at the following food stops asap.

A really good lounge not only serves decent drinks, but also exudes a little of that uptown accent that makes you forget the world for a while. These lovely lounges are elegant and relaxing getaway spots whether you’re sipping solo or in good company.

While the artificial variety is easy enough to locate, fresh-cut Christmas trees are a bit trickier. However, the businesses and organizations below carry a forest of trees perfect for your pine-scented holiday season.