Gold Winner il Mercato Trattoria
Silver Winner The Chickenburger
Bronze Winner Finbar’s Irish Pub
The Bedford iteration of il Mercato has been treating local lovers of Italian cuisine to big-ass pasta dishes, full-bodied glasses of wine and towering desserts for 15 years, putting mall restaurants around the municipality to shame with its very un-mall atmosphere. Maybe it’s the clinking wine glasses, the lively dinner conversation or the stylish decor, but it’s easy to forget you’re in a shopping centre on the Bedford Highway and not holed up in a noisy nook on a cobblestone side street in Florence. Sure, the sprawling patio overlooks a parking lot—but you’ll be so distracted by your food you might not even notice the 80 buzzing by.