Local discovery, with clear ground rules.

What qualifies for a listing?

We cover public food-service locations inside the documented Sherwood Park Urban Service Area. Restaurants, public hotel restaurants, cafés, retail bakeries, desserts, food-court outlets and pubs serving food qualify. Wholesale-only businesses and private caterers without a public location require separate staff approval.

Evidence comes before labels

We use approved public datasets, factual research from official restaurant websites, owner submissions and staff checks. Cuisine, dietary and amenity claims require supporting information. A name alone does not establish cuisine, and one menu option does not describe an entire kitchen.

“Source checked” means the cited information source was reviewed on that date. “Staff/owner verified” records a separate verification step. Neither is a guarantee of future accuracy. Photos require appropriate rights. Neutral placeholders are used when no approved image exists.

Opening hours

Hours are calculated in America/Edmonton, including overnight and split schedules. Confirmed special hours override regular schedules on their local dates. Missing hours are unavailable, not automatically closed. Hours become “Check hours” after 45 days without a successful approved check. Known Alberta general holidays without confirmed exceptions show “Holiday hours unconfirmed”. Open-now filters exclude uncertain hours.

Voted Best in the Park

Community choice on Sherwood Park Restaurants. Campaign dates and the complete frozen rules are published before voting opens. Each verified email identity can hold one active choice per category and campaign, and change it before closing. Email verification does not prove one unique human or local residency. Shared internet connections alone do not invalidate ballots.

Default publication thresholds are 30 valid category votes and at least three eligible restaurants with five votes each. Validated votes determine rankings. Ties that prevent a unique podium require a disclosed runoff among tied candidates; unresolved ties and insufficient participation remain awaiting results. Runoff dates and eligible tied candidates are published before that round opens.

All eligible published restaurants in a category qualify regardless of commercial relationship. Ballot choices appear A–Z. Exclusions require an audited reason. Published results are frozen snapshots; documented corrections preserve previous snapshots.

Commercial relationships

Paid placements are labelled “Sponsored” or “Featured partner”. Editorial selections say “Editor’s picks”. Neither changes alphabetical order, voter eligibility or community rankings. Community votes are not star ratings or external reviews.