Where the locals eat in Niagara Falls
 

We will be spending a couple of days in Niagara Falls, ON in September. I understand that the restaurants in the tourist area are really expensive - even the casual dining ones. Can anyone suggest some reasonably-priced alternatives in the area that the locals like?

Will you have a car?
St Catharines is about a 20 minute drive and has lots of restaurants with reasonable prices.

Niagara on the Lake has lovely restaurants that offer more value. Niagara Falls has some ridiculous restaurant prices I agree.

It's not a local place, but I was able to get a single size pizza at Boston Pizza for $10. By taking it back to the hotel and grabbing a soda from the machine, I kept the meal under $14. The one pizza was more than enough and if you're not big eaters, you could feed 2 people per pizza.

Get out of the tourist trap that is NF, cross to the American side and go to Como's at 2220 Pine Street. Authentic Italian family style restaurant, local hangout, immense portions, you will have a lunch for the next day as well.

Toronto

For Oliver and Harry...
Since you seem to know Niagara Falls NY, can you tell me the name of a downtown restaurant from the mid-fifties to probably mid-sixties that was probably named after one person's first name, perhasps a last name, had a blind piano player, and served excellent deep fried scallops?

Thanks,
BAK

Thanks for your tips. Yes, we will have a car, so going to St. Catherines or NOTL to eat is a good suggestion.

Spending ten bucks on gas to drive to St. Catharines to eat in a mediocre restaurant and save $20 is not really a good use of your time.

And Niagra on the Lake is not reknowned for inexpensive eateries -- it's even more of a tourist town than Niagara Falls.

But it is a great place to visit, and menus are posted outside restaurants, and, in eithr town, there's always a Tim \hortons -- good donut shop with some excellent soups, Chili, and stew, plus good sandwiches.

Never fear, you can avoid $200 for dinner for two easily in both Niagara Falls and NotL.

Look for Swiss Chalet -- great chicken, good ribs, table service, decent prices. Had luch in one today myself.

BAK

Another choice...
Montana's Cookhouse
Address: 5759 Victoria Avenue Niagara Falls ON
Phone: (905) 356-7427
Hours: Open 7 Days A Week
Payment: Visa Mastercard Amex Interac

We think the ribs are great at other branches, and expect NF to be just as good.

BAK

There are cheaper alternatives in Niagara-on-the-Lake... try the Angel Inn for pub food and burgers, the Niagara Parks clubhouse on the 18th hole along the Parkway, the Old Winery on HWY 55 for specialty pizzas.... if you desire a buffet lunch, stop at the Pillar and Post, for about $20pp... if you want a cute village side trip, stop in Jordan for lunch at ZoomaZooma... all of them are casual and decently priced... what hurts the tab is the added GST and PST...

Hi emc:

I reside in Niagara Falls but we usually head to St Catharines or Niagara on the Lake for dinner and sometimes lunch.
If you are staying in NF try The Keg, (moderately expensive but with great views of the Falls and great steak. )
We haven't tried this restaurant but have heard good things about it.It's only a few minutes from the tourist area in NF. I will be trying it out in the next little while and will let you know. The food is European. http://home.primus.ca/~redchateau/index.html
The Indian restaurant, The Guru, just at the top of Clifton Hill to the right on Victoria Ave is good.
We do tend to head into St Catharines or Niagara on the Lake to eat most times.
If you like Thai food , Sala Thai or Spicy Thai in St Catharines are good. Both are on or near the main street of St Catharines. also along the main street (St. Paul) are tons of ethnic restaurants including Japanese, Indian, middle Eastern etc. A good Italian restaurant is Lina Linguini's on 4th Ave in St. Catharines.
If you like pubs the new Irish pub in NOTL is quite good. Called The Irish Harp it serves great fish and chips and other pub fare and has a great atmosphere and good choice of beer and wine.
But I agree with BAK, you could do alot worse than lunch at Tim Horton's.There's one on Clifton Hill now(along with perhaps 5 or 6 others in the city) where you can sit and watch the tourists go by. It's right at the Skywheel, or a decent chicken dinner at Swiss Chalet is a cheap and cheerful Canadian institution. There are two in NF but the best one is a few minutes away from the tourist area on Montrose at ThoroldStone Rd.'

If you do want to have a special meal while in the area make reservations at the restaurant at Peller Estates winery. The chef there is innovative and the ingredients fresh and fabulous. It's where we go for special meals.
Hope this helps,
regards,

Thanks for the helpful advice, everyone!

A lot of local eat at Betty's in Chippewa. Fish and chips and many different kinds of pie, reasonabl family prices. They have a website.

most reasonable all round varied menu is Betty's in Chippewa noted by 4Tripping. Great favourites with locals are Tim Horton's (new one In Niagara On the Lake - good for lunch or coffee)& Swiss Chalet -lunch or supper.

Betty's has a web site.
www.bettysrestaurant.com

Having looked up the web site, and visited the menu page int he web site, I'm tempted to go try it myself. It's only a bit over an hour away from me.

Thanks to those who tipped us off.

BAK

Just to confirm what other posters have stated, that Betty's in "Chippawa" (this is the actual spelling of the village) is indeed a local institution. Lots of bus tours stop here to offload their passengers for lunch or dinner. It is only about 10 minutes drive from Niagara Falls. (Past Marineland)
The fare is down home comfort style. Nothing fancy, the regular Canadian Ma and Pa type food. Fish and chips, very good and they use halibut, hot sandwiches, roast beef , soups,etc. The pies are wonderful, if there is one on the board you particularly want to try order it with your dinner and avoid the disappointment of being told it is sold out.
If

The world needs more pie-warners.

Thanks for the tip.

BAK

I literally just returned from Niagara Falls, ON with my 11 year old son and his friend yesterday. The prices for everything including food were absolutly outrageous. The best lunch we had was at The Buttery at Niagara on the Lake. It wasn't expensive compared to the touristy part near the Falls and the food was spectacular. I thought Niagara on the Lake was adorable and not as touristy as Clifton Hill, etc. It was worth the short ride.
We loved the Journey behind the falls tour and didn't think that it was very expensive, however I took the two boys to the Brick House (which is basically a room of legos) and the price for that was insane for the short visit.

I grew up in NF, U.S. side, but was in Canada all the time. It's amazing how much it has changed since I was a kid. I've been in L.A. for over 25 yrs...hardly recognize the place from all the posts about the restaurants that never used to be there! Ah, the relentless march of time!

Carpacio’s, on Lundy’s Lane in the Falls, attracts a lot of locals and has good Italian food.

On the American side, we prefer to go downriver to Lewiston. Our favourite place there for many years has been Carmello’s, formally known as the Coat of Arms. Carmello Junior has taken the place upscale but it’s still friendly and good value. I love the pepper coated wasabi tuna and my husband always orders pasta with fabulous marinara sauce.

In Niagara-on-the-lake, John Wiens and his father, former owners of the Prince of Wales and present owners of the Riverbend Inn, now run the restaurant at the local Golf Club, just across from the Oban Inn, so it’s well worth a try. Prices are reasonable too.

In St. Catharines, we have two favourite inexpensive places to eat, not far from the QEW. One is the Smiling Fish in Ridley Square, a little strip plaza on Fourth Avenue just west of the 406. They make great fish and chips, not just the battered kind. I love the blackened haddock. Great for lunch or dinner but it’s not open much past 9:00. Or continue past the plaza and turn right (north) on Martindale road and you’ll find Amore a few blocks along on the west side, also in a strip plaza. It’s a little classier but still inexpensive and thronged with locals. It’s especially popular on Friday nights because of their fish specials.