showing 1 to 10 of 71
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Best Atmosphere
on November 7, 2019 at 1:00AM
Gold Winner Lot Six
Silver Winner The Bicycle Thief
Bronze Winner Antojo Tacos + Tequila
There’s no award for Most Instagrammable Restaurant in Halifax, but if there were, it’d make sense that the city’s favourite atmosphere, found at Lot Six, would be in the running. “There’s the building, the nice wood and leather and foliage,” says David Lynds, manager at Lot Six, “but it’s the people that bring it to life.” He says it’s a fine balance managing the ethos of the bar between weddings and events, great cocktails (see page 8) and good food, but the strong culture is what really makes it work. “Everyone takes so much pride in their craft.”
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Best Bakery
on November 7, 2019 at 1:00AM
Gold Winner Vandal Doughnuts
Silver Winner LF Bakery
Bronze Winner The Old Apothecary
A siren song of neon frosting, candy-laced edges and thrillingly novel flavours might be what lures you to the bubblegum-pink door of Vandal Doughnuts at first, but it’s something else entirely that keeps you coming back. There’s also the succulent springy dough, landing out of the fryer with a gentle sheen; sweet, but not overly so, sturdy enough to support any wild idea the bakery can come up with—and with treats taking aim at everything from Tide Pods to Trump, the idea machine must be working at least as hard as the fryer itself.
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Best Bar
on November 7, 2019 at 1:00AM
Gold Winner Durty Nelly’s Authentic Irish Pub
Silver Winner Good Robot Brewing Co.
Bronze Winner Battery Park BeerBar & Eatery
If you haven’t rolled into Durty Nelly’s well after the hour you thought you’d be home by, do you really live in Halifax? The free-live-music-every-night-of-the-week bar doubles as an authentic Irish pub. Being Halifax’s best bar—not just pub—is a high honour, and manager Eugene McCabe says it’s all about “making people feel at home, like they’re having a good time.” He says the warm, welcoming bar is best when it’s full of people enjoying good drinks and good conversation, “literally having, as we would call it, the Irish craic.” And what’s one more pickle-back at Nelly’s on a Tuesday? That’s good craic.
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Best Barista
on November 7, 2019 at 1:00AM
Gold Winner Laura Arsenault, Java Blend Coffee Roasters
Silver Winner Dan Weir, Weird Harbour Espresso Bar
Bronze Winner Federico Pasquinelli, Espresso 46
Is it just us, or does it seem like Halifax has a disproportionate number of truly wonderful coffee shops? And because of that, also a disproportionate number of truly wonderful baristas? This (extra) hotly-contested category has a triple shot of our city’s most amazing coffee slingers, with Java Blend’s own Laura Arsenault taking the gold spot. Friendly, knowledgeable and skilled, a great barista makes an ordinary morning, afternoon or evening (for those who like to live on the edge and drink caffeine after 4pm) something to write home about. Here’s us raising a steaming cup to Halifax’s best baristas.
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Best Bartender
on November 7, 2019 at 1:00AM
Gold Winner Nicki Brown, Good Robot Brewing Co.
Silver Winner Sabrina Cooke, Freeman's Little New York, downtown
Bronze Winner Cyle Crothers, Lot Six
Nicki Brown thinks it’s pretty cool to win Best Bartender as a beer bartender. “It shows that not all bartenders have to make cocktails,” says Brown. What makes her the best? She says it’s part how quirky and strange the folks who work at Good Robot are, and part her work to make everyone feel safe and comfortable—a role she says is important for bartenders to take on. “I just try to make everyone feel like they’re sitting at home in their living room but their living room somehow has a bar in it,” she says. -
Best Bedford Restaurant
on November 7, 2019 at 1:00AM
Gold Winner il Mercato Trattoria
Silver Winner The Chickenburger
Bronze Winner Finbar's Irish Pub
First date, birthday supper, family meal, girls’ night out—it’s all happening under il Mercato’s roof any night of the week. This multi-time Best of Halifax winner captures authentic Italian flavour in its sprawling menu of pastas, pizzas and antipasti, but the atmosphere feels authentically spirited too. A buzzing, noisy gathering place, this long-standing stand-out in the Sunnyside Mall is a favourite to return to.
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Best Beer Selection
on November 7, 2019 at 1:00AM
Gold Winner Stillwell Beer Bar
Silver Winner Battery Park BeerBar & Eatery
Bronze Winner Good Robot Brewing Co.
Stillwell’s Laura MacDonald says curating an award-winning selection of both local and international beers to fill your pints is certainly a labour of love, but it’s also a little bit self-serving.“We want to drink cool stuff and we love travelling and making new relationships and convincing those people to send their stuff our way. That’s kind of the fun of the job,” says the bar’s co-owner. Also fun? Getting to know all the up-and-comers of Nova Scotia’s booming beer scene, and watching Haligonians enjoy every last drop. “We’re six years in and I still have that moment where I look around and I can’t believe these people are here by choice. I still get gobsmacked by that.” -
Best Breakfast
on November 7, 2019 at 1:00AM
Gold Winner Ardmore Tea Room
Silver Winner The Coastal Cafe
Bronze Winner Portland Street Creperie
The Ardmore Tea Room is an extra special Halifax place. A moment in time, an ol’ reliable, a guaranteed hangover cure and a table worth waiting for, Quinpool Road wouldn’t be the same without this breakfast institution. The earliest of birds earns your praise for the fourth consecutive year thanks to its bottomless coffee and lightning speed service, which reminds us to remind you: Always tip your breakfast server generously.
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Best Breakfast Sandwich
on November 7, 2019 at 1:00AM
Gold Winner The Canteen
Silver Winner The Coastal Cafe
Bronze Winner Bagel Montreal Style
“The Hangover is an OG,” says chef Renée Lavallée of the sammy that’s been on The Canteen’s menu since day one: Housemade bagel. Oulton’s bacon. Avocado cream. Local egg. The kind of yoke that’s probably (most definitely) going to drip down your forearm after one bite. That’s the Coles Notes version of The Hangover, the perfectly sloppy elixir for slow and seedy mornings-after that scores the top spot in the world of breakfast sandwiches. Canteen co-owner Doug Townsend offers simple advice for knocking one back: “You just kind of have to embrace the mess.”
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Best Brew Pub
on November 7, 2019 at 1:00AM
Gold Winner Good Robot Brewing Co.
Silver Winner Garrison Brewing Company
Bronze Winner New Scotland Brewing Co.
Josh Counsil credits Good Robot Brewing Co.’s latest win to a couple of important things that tie into its vision statement: “One thing is that beyond curating beer, we can curate quirky beer experiences and the other is that we do that for communities we specifically choose.” He’s talking about brewery initiatives like Flava Bot, an internal brand, led by brewer Giovanni Johnson that spotlights Caribbean culture, and Femme Bot, which celebrates women and women-identifying folks who have a bubbling interest in brewing. The Good Robot gang also hosts an average of three special events a week, the wackier the better. “It’s a public house, it’s a community bar, but you don’t just get the community in by opening,” says Counsil. “There are underserved groups that you have to work a little harder to get in the door.”
