63 Best Restaurants in Canada

This small, on-trend restaurant and bar serves a seafood-heavy Spanish-inspired menu and delicious cocktails. There's a selection of oysters on ice, as well as other chilled and cured seafood and meats, classic Spanish tapas, and bar snacks that make for a perfect evening of grazing, but also a menu of hearty pasta and meat dishes should you require something more robust. Reservations are highly recommended.

One of the hippest coffee shops you'll ever set foot in—but completely devoid of snobbery—shares space with a bicycle shop, cleverly named Icycle Sport. The service is superfriendly, and the coffee is, quite simply, stellar, as are the baked goods. Several members of the same family run different angles of the operation.

This cozy downtown bakery is a great stop for a breakfast of tasty muffins and other confections or a lunch of sandwiches and wraps. Freshly baked cookies, cakes, and artisanal breads are also available, along with a wide variety of coffees and teas. Popular with locals and visitors, this place with just a few tables for dining inside can be packed during peak times. The owners also run the Other Paw, two blocks away.

So much more than a specialty coffee shop, Radium's only café offers a full selection of grab-and-go soup and sandwiches, breakfast burritos, quiche, and baked goods for breakfast and lunch. A bright, spacious room with high, open-duct industrial-style ceilings contrasts nicely with the warmth of the custom-made Douglas fir tabletops, plants throughout, and a wall filled with locally made BC products. Free Wi-Fi is available, as well as charging stations if you need to catch up on work or research. The outdoor patio (with umbrellas) is the perfect place to enjoy a beverage and people-watch.

This cozy café serves a variety of hot beverages, breakfast, and lunch options. Windows all-round provide light and an airy interior seating, while outside tables provide a sunny alternative during the summer months.

Come hungry—really hungry—to this foodie destination, where the full-service, family butcher shop dating back to 1943 also hosts a café and gourmet food market featuring locally made artisanal products. Tuck into a thick rib steak with a local saison beer, select from the hot and cold buffets, or go for the “menu of the day” and watch butchers in action as you dine. Vintage meat market tools are on display. Don’t worry about saving room for dessert, because you can purchase a selection of fine chocolates and other sweets for later. Not very hungry? Come anyway and nibble top-quality cheeses with a glass of wine. Come early for dinner, though—the shop closes at 5:30 pm, or 6 on Thursday and Friday.

Entrées are as colorful as this complex’s buildings, and the deck is the best place to sit on a sunny day. Dishes are all over the map: French onion soup, pepperoni pizza, grilled merguez sausage, barbecue ribs, fish-and-chips, New York–style cheesecake. Poutines are just as varied—one is made with shrimp, another with lobster, yet another with spaghetti sauce; special poutines might feature smoked salmon sausage or General Tso’s chicken. Stick around for live music. Emerging talents, some of whom have gone on to fame, take the stage year-round, usually on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.

Come to this fab spot to grab breakfast where they serve authentic Central and South American dishes in a cozy location.

Sip a house-roasted coffee or nibble a bright shrimp salad while pondering art that decorates this colorful café at the heart of the town. The owner's intention was to create a delicious place that helped support local artists. Paintings, stained glass, and other objects decorate the sunlit space, where timbers support high ceilings. Generous salads and sandwiches characterize the menu. Homemade soups and desserts are available, too. For a nightcap, try a spiked coffee.

This café is a great place to enjoy coffee, tea, or ice cream, grab-and-go breakfasts, fine chocolates, or baked goods before or after a hike. There's also a variety of hot and cold sandwiches, pizza, hamburgers, stew, burgers, fries, and poutine. They even micro-roast organic fairly traded coffee beans in small batches, and you can have local beer or BC wine with your meal if you dine inside. There are picnic tables if you wish to dine outside and enjoy the magnificent scenery.

On a sunny day, there's no better place to grab a coffee and house-baked cookie or a light lunch than at the newish log cabin next to the bridge at the Emerald Lake Lodge entry houses. The patio with its bright yellow umbrella tables has stunning views of the lake, and the interior is equally stunning with sweeping cathedral ceilings, wood accents, and a grand river-stone fireplace. The menu has options like burgers, classic poutine, pizza, and wild game chili. Ingredients are local and the wild game is sourced from their own ranch in the foothills close to Calgary.

Urban style meets rural delicacies at this upscale restaurant, which occupies a handsome brick building downtown. Not surprisingly, given the name and location, seafood is a specialty here—the local oysters, mussels, and lobsters are all memorable. But there are alternatives for vegetarian and meat-loving locavores (think risotto made with market veggies or grilled PEI strip loin, aged in-house for 50 days served with roasted PEI potatoes). It's a popular spot for tourists and residents alike, and the service is friendly. Upstairs, the Olde Dublin Pub has pub grub, ample ale, and live music on the Guinness Stage seven nights a week from mid-June to mid-September.

More than 80 varieties of loose leaf teas, craft beverages, and artisan coffees are served alongside fresh, healthy, and local food at this downtown café. Look for pad Thai noodle bowls, rice bowls, salads, sandwiches, and delicious wraps. There are many vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options on the menu as well.

This lively restaurant is a favorite among locals and visitors alike for its rustic Italian food and charming ambience. Set right on the harbor, the lovely views complement the warm, cozy interior. Drop in for a great mocha milk shake, or go for nibbling food like jumbo shrimp cocktails or garlicky crostini appetizers served on homemade bread. Entrées include everything from grilled tenderloin to copious pasta dishes like seafood linguine or spicy spaghetti marinara. Desserts are not to be missed.

Every lick of the small-batch artisan ice cream made at Dee Dee's is pure pleasure whether you opt for classic vanilla, banana cardamom, Mexican chocolate, or one of the many other flavors on offer.

On any day, this specialty coffee roaster carries 15--20 different environmentally grown and socially responsible coffees which they roast on-site---they've won numerous roasting competitions. Each aromatic blend is perfectly brewed and can be enjoyed with baked goods, snacks, wraps, and other light fare. There are two locations in Canmore.

Home to ridiculous milkshakes topped with cotton candy and slices of birthday cake or cheesecake, as well as stacked cones and a massive selection of international candy, Flynn's is a delight. There's also a branch in the Hydrostone neighborhood. 

Everything is local, fresh and made from scratch at this coffee shop in downtown Pincher Creek. Soups are made fresh daily and sandwiches are prepared to order. There are a variety of fresh baked goods made daily and the coffee is fresh ground and locally sourced.

Traditional Vietnamese subs, noodle soups and bowls, fusion tacos, and more at this fast-service spot just across from the Halifax Public Gardens.

Not only will you taste delicious food in this old courthouse building, you can almost feel yourself being nourished by the top-quality ingredients, most of which are sourced locally. On the varied dinner menu, you might find chili molasses–glazed pork ribs, maple curry chicken, or roasted cauliflower ragu, while lunchtime options include gourmet sandwiches, salads, house-made soups, and a kids' menu.

Trained baristas brew up a great cup of coffee from house-roasted beans, along with a wide selection of espresso-based drinks and chemical-free decaf. They also have a good variety of locally blended organic loose-leaf teas and a menu of locally sourced food, including sandwiches, fresh pastries, and desserts.

The lodge's general store sells fresh coffee, deli sandwiches (on house-made focaccia bread), baked goods and other snacks, as well as park maps, and unique souvenirs during the summer season (from mid-May to mid-September).

Decadent pastries and excellent coffee are to be had at this authentic French bakery in the heart of downtown. 

This is the quintessential "you can’t judge a book by its cover" kind of place, but get past the boxy and dull exterior and you'll find a cool, retro 1950s diner look, from the black-and-white-checked tile floor to the chrome and red laminate tables and chairs. Soups, including seafood chowders, as well as burgers and hot dogs fit the diner feel. Most fans rave about the fries. Grab a sack and head out to the waterfront for a stroll that feels oh so French Canadian.

What was once a Wesleyan church has become a sanctuary for salads and grilled sandwiches. Ingredients stretch beyond ham and cheese; choose capers, smoked salmon, grilled mango, and hearts of palm. The cheerful dining room plays stained glass panels off white walls. People-watching is especially fun from the front lawn tables. Open from 9 am to 3 pm.

Alexandra and Axel Leonhard have gone from humble beginnings selling homemade bread at a local farmers' market to running a full-fledged café where food is made from scratch without additives, preservatives, or artificial flavorings. The room is bright and cheerful, and the devoted clientele keeps coming back for breakfast, casseroles, hearty gluten-free soups, sandwiches, and delicious desserts. Organic teas and freshly roasted coffee are served as well. Wait times for a seat are not usually an issue—but you can always grab something to go. In any case, come early: Leonhard's closes at 5.