Gold Winner Mezza Lebanese Kitchen, Halifax
Silver Winner Tarek’s Cafe, north end
Bronze Winner Kababji Lebanese Cuisine, Dartmouth
Mezza, the downtown mecca for hungry lunchers and the late-night post-bar crowd, combines pickled beets and turnip, lettuce, tomato, pickles, chicken and garlic sauce (and fries, if you’re wise) in a shawarma to die for. “They’ve had great shawarma since before it was cool,” says one reader of the addictive, Avengers-approved delicacy. The family-run business, formerly known as Venus, may have changed its name, but the Barrington Street restaurant, with its bright, revamped interior, is still the go-to place for night owls, vigilantes, superheroes looking for a lively place to get a flavour fix.