Places to Eat and Drink in Halifax

The following is a loosely classified sampling of the many places to dine, grab a bite, or sip some coffee in Halifax.

Upper End

Bish World Cuisine ( Lower Water St. ) on the waterfront consistently impresses with its stylish décor, innovative menu, and impeccable service.

Da Maurizio’s ( Lower Water St. ) in the brewery market building is an old favorite for excellent Italian cuisine.

Deco ( Spring Garden Rd ) is relatively new, and prides itself on its Art Deco inspired décor.

Fiasco ( Brenton St. ) has an interesting menu and has been recommended for its pheasant.

Fid (Dresden Row) sports a Franco-Asian menu, carefully selected wines, interesting décor, and lovely service.

The Five Fisherman ( Argyle Street ) is, logically, good on seafood.

Jon Allan’s Steak and Chop House (Dresden Row) receives rave reviews for its steaks.

Piccolo Mundo ( Argyle St. ) has proven a wonderful source of traditional Italian fare and is particularly notable for its amazing, homemade pastas.

The Press Gang ( Prince St. ) has a nice atmosphere, and interesting seafood and organic meat dishes.

Ryan Duffy’s ( Spring Garden Rd ) is another local favorite known for good steak and scotch.

Salty’s (Historic Properties) The upper level of this popular restaurant has stunning views, thoughtful service, and a decent menu particularly good for seafood and fresh lobster.

Seven ( Grafton St. ) boasts a beautiful building, several excellent dishes, and an extensive wine list.

Mid-Range

The Cellar ( Brenton Place ) is well loved for its comfortable atmosphere and good pizzas.

Chives Canadian Bistro ( Barrington St. ) is known for its commitment to local, organic and seasonal ingredients made into creative dishes.

Il Mercato ( Spring Garden Rd ) offers yummy antipastos and other Italian dishes at less expensive prices. They also do good desserts.

Metro Mediterranean Tapas & Wine Bar ( Grafton St. ) offers a variety of tapas and many wines as well as a small menu of main dishes.

Opa ( Argyle St. ) has a beautiful glassed-in back, good Greek food, and friendly service.

Spice Urban Grill ( South Park St. ) is the recently revamped Le Bistro, with improved décor and lower prices on its tasty menu since re-opening in this iteration.

Sweet Basil Bistro ( Upper Water St. ) is a small, cozy bistro great for a date over dinner, dessert, or their yummy Sunday brunch.

The Wooden Monkey is an interesting new addition to the Argyle Street scene, with both veggie and non-veggie dishes based on macrobiotic principles.

More Economical/Casual

Athens ( Quinpool Rd ) has a family diner feel to it, and has cheap greasy breakfasts, and tasty Greek food.

Bud the Spud ( Spring Garden Road ) is a chip wagon and the place to get fresh cut chips from PEI potatoes in a brown paper bag that will leave your hands greasy. Bill the Spud also parks here, and is less popular, if about the same quality.

The Fireside ( Brunswick St. ) has dependable food and a good bar selection, including several martinis. The place is always packed on its Martini Mondays.

The Harbourside Market (waterfront) has several cafes and a fresh fish shop under one roof, with a common eating area and patio in the summer where you can watch the harbour activity go by.

Highlife Café ( Gottingen St. ) has some of the only African food in town - the deep fried plantain is especially good.

Italian Gourmet ( Doyle St. ) is a nice place to get a sandwich or choose from the cases of pre-made Italian foods at lunchtime.

The Mediterraneo (The Med) ( Barrington St. ) is a popular place to get cheap breakfasts and good, cheap Lebanese food.

Mexicalli Rosa’s ( Spring Garden Rd. ) has OK Mexican food and fabulous fruity alcohol drinks.

Pizza Corner ( Blowers/Grafton St. ’s) is the place to get a huge slice of pizza, and the 3 shops - one on each corner, with a Church wall on the fourth corner to sit and eat on - to choose from offer pretty similar fare. You can also get the infamous donairs here - flatbread wrapped around donair meat (beef) with special donair sauce. The lines get long after last call.

Pubs all over town will, more often than not, have kitchens with standard, cheap pub fare.

Salty’s (Historic Properties), in addition to its dining room, has a large family restaurant on the main level with decent food fairly priced, nice views, and a huge patio in the summertime.

Salvotore’s (Hydrostone Market) is out of the way if you’re staying downtown, and expensive for pizza, but it’s amazing thin crust gourmet pizza that is worth the effort and expense - they also deliver.

Tomasino’s ( South St .) Salvotore’s rival for pizza, this restaurant is more conveniently located for those staying downtown and also offers other dishes.

Vegetarian

Solely vegetarian places in Halifax are somewhat limited, though several places have vegetarian options.

Satisfaction Feast (Grafton Street) is a long-standing café run by followers of Sri Chimnoy with delicious food reasonably priced served at a relaxed pace.

Bob and Lori’s Café has satisfying, homemade meals at cheap prices making the trek to the North end worthwhile ( Gottingen Street ).

Heartwood Café and Bakery ( Quinpool Rd ) sells their food by weight, buffet style and always has a good selection of hot and cold options as well as deserts and bread you can purchase by the loaf.

Soho ( Granville St. ) has lovely food in a good atmosphere with lots of folk art, and some non-veggie dishes.

Asian

Baan Thai is the best of the limited selection of Thai food in town, and is indeed excellent, with an array of Thai dishes.

Curry Village ( Clyde St. ) is not necessarily the place to go if you’re in a hurry, as their delectable curries take time to prepare.

Dharma Sushi ( Argyle St. ) is a perennial favorite for Japanese food and consistently lives up to its reputation.

The Great Wall (Bedford Row) has long been the place to go for slightly upmarket, delicious Chinese food.

Hamachi House ( Morris St. ) has excellent sushi and other Japanese food in a good atmosphere.

I love Sushi ( Blowers St. ) has good lunch specials and cheap maki rolls.

Momoya ( Barrington St. ) has good Japanese food in a more traditional style setting.

Sushi Shige ( Spring Garden Road ) Also good, with nice miso and good service.

Taj Mahal ( South St. ) has great Tandoori and other Indian food at reasonable prices.

Desserts

Dio Mio Gelato ( Brenton St. ) was the first to arrive with home made Italian gelato and is extremely good - their café style food menu offers decent, largely vegetarian fare as well.

Botticelli’s (Waterfront) is fast giving Dio Mio a run for its money with delicious home made gelato, and also offers some Italian dishes.

La Cave ( Blowers St. ) has amazing homemade cheesecakes that can be enjoyed in its intimate caves.

Cafes

There is no shortage of cafes in Halifax . At the very least, you are never far from a Tim Horton’s. Here are but a few of the other options.

C’est si Bon ( Barrington St. ) is good for lunches, and sometimes has live music at night.

The Coburg Coffee House ( Coburg Rd ) is student dominated, just up the road from the Dandelion Café, towards Dal campus. It has nice food and is a good spot on rainy afternoons.

The Dandelion ( Robie St. ) is most frequented by students, given its proximity to Dal. It has good homemade food and a pleasant atmosphere.

Perk’s is a local chain with decent coffee, teas, in-house baked goods, and basic soup-and-sandwich style meals for low prices. ( Lower Water St. , Quinpool Rd )

Second Cup ( Spring Garden Rd ) has the standard chain coffee shop fair and an excellent vantage point for people watching.

Steve O’Reno’s ( Brunswick St. ) is a funky, busy café with decent coffee and yummy, wholesome food.

Timothy’s World Coffee ( Spring Garden Rd ) serves standard specialty coffees as well as decadent desserts at fair prices.

The Trident Booksellers and Café ( Hollis St. ) features good fair trade coffee and tea, as well as excellent hot chocolate, Italian sodas, and baked goods. They also have a good selection of quality used books.

Uncommon Grounds ( South Park St. ) worked wonders with its basement location, bringing an urban chic to its location near SMU.