5 Restaurants We Wish We Had in Halton

Published November 25, 2017 at 12:34 pm

Halton’s restaurant scene is pretty incredible — we have celebrity chefs, a mix of restaurant options, fine-dining, greasy spoons and all-day breakfast joints, and beyond. Though every resident and visitor can appreciate the dining experience, there are several restos we wish we had here. There are some restaurants just outside of Halton and far beyond we can only wish would come here, if only for convenience’s sake! And, hey, maybe if those restos see that we want them here, they’ll mosey on over. Here are five restaurants we wish we had in Halton.


5. Brars Grand Buffet

Here you’ll find a wide variety of flavourful food for the vegetarian in you (no meat here). Brars is unique because it also has a bakery, so as soon as you step inside the restaurant there’s nothing but food. The sweets look amazing and it kind of makes you want to skip the main course altogether. But don’t do that. Brars has a wonderful variety of Indian food that’s healthy and also comforting. You can’t turn away when you see a grand, circular hot plate with curried chickpeas surrounded by samosas. And there is everything you could want when you’re craving Indian food, whether you grew up on it or are new to it. If you have room for dessert, the sweets are also almost exclusively cultural except for the ice cream. This is a great place to experiment eating Indian food. We’d just like it to be much closer to home. 


4. J Red & Co.

These crispy shrimp tacos are mind-blowing….so you’ve got to rearrange your day and hit this Main St. joint in Brampton before 3 p.m. in order to catch them on J Red’s lunch menu. It’s completely mandatory if you care an iota about food. Battered jumbo shrimp beautifully topped with pickled red onions, Napa cabbage, carrots, sriracha mayo, and black sesame seeds; creativity exemplified. Accompanied by perfectly salted skinny fries, executive chef Cal Sandford hits this one out of B-Dot. Owned by celebrity chef Jason Rosso, there’s a variety of international and homegrown influence on the menu, with offerings such as crispy fried cauliflower ‘wings,’ chicken and waffles, and a baked Canadian Brie puffed pastry with apple chutney and walnuts. Or you can just take our word for it and order the Bob and Doug burger. We also dig the decor and think Halton would love a place like J. Red’s in the ‘hood!


3. Rick’s Good Eats

This exceedingly creative gem sits on the Mississauga-Brampton border and offers an incredible array of North American and Indian fusion dishes. It’s truly one of a kind, and offers such creative concoctions as jerk chicken samosas, apple pie samosas, butter chicken mac n’ cheese, butter chicken loaded fries and, most importantly, the Punjabi cheeseburger with tandoori bacon. Founded by Rick Matharu, a Recipe to Riches winner who took the top spot for his butter chicken lasagna, the restaurant does something decidedly unique and pays homage to two distinct food cultures. We need this in our lives!


2. Schwartz’s 

Okay, maybe I’m daydreaming here, but wouldn’t it be awesome to have our own Schwartz’s right here in Halton? The 80-year-old classic Montreal smoked meat joint would definitely draw visitors from all over to Halton, and probably give a lot of locals a reason to stay. Schwartz’s boasts world-famous smoked meat, its the oldest deli in Canada, and any meat-eater who has been to Montreal from Halton likely makes Schwartz’s a stop on every trip. You can get smoked meat by the pound, sandwiches, homemade french fries, and even steak and liver here. Perhaps Schwartz’s doesn’t have real chance at coming to Halton, but we can dream! At the very least, we would love a well-known resto that focuses on smoked meat!

(Photo courtesy of Schwartz’s)


1. Double D’s

Deep. Dish. Pizza. Currently, there are two Double D’s locations in Toronto — one in Toronto West on Dundas, and one in Toronto East on Gerrard. They boast eight different kinds of Chi-town style pizza, plus Mozza bombs, chicken wings, pints of beer, and even deep dish nachos. This place makes an indulgent deep dish pizza, incuding in a personal size for dine-in only, and the atmosphere is vintage. You can order pizza for take-out or delivery, and it’s actually comparable to classic Chicago deep dish. We know that Halton appreciates cheap eats, and it would be so convenient to have our own Double D’s — or at least a deep dish pizza joint — right here, open late and seven-days a week. It’s filling, made in-house, unique, and absolutely delicious!

(Facebook photo)

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