1032 Best Restaurants in Canada

Helmed by revered chefs Jean-Luc Boulay and Arnaud Marchand, this establishment delights patrons with elegant interpretations of their philosophy: "At the crossroads of Nordic terroir and French know-how." The menu, crafted entirely from local ingredients, features innovative dishes like smoked bison breast, braised beef ravioli with candied red cabbage, and salmon in a flavorful cranberry glaze. Even classic desserts are reinvented, such as iced nougat with cloudberries. The elegant dining room, with its rustic-meets-modern design and dark wood trim, attracts both locals celebrating special occasions and tourists fresh from shopping on Rue St-Jean. Can't snag a reservation? Pop into their fine grocery next door on Côte du Palais. On a budget? Consider booking for brunch or lunch.

This culinary diamond shines with innovative yet hearty food, whether you're dining in the sit-down restaurant or grabbing something from the take-out deli. With so much perfect meat, seafood, and vegetables tucked into one tiny building, this is more than just a hidden gem. If the pork theme seems heavy, be assured the handling of flavors is light and responsive. With a small enough group, you can sit at the bar downstairs and enjoy delicious tapas.

Housed in a converted stone church complete with stained glass windows, Church Brewing produces tasty beers and has a fabulous menu of upscale pub grub with a farm-to-table focus. There's a huge patio out front that overlooks the hustle and bustle of Main Street, and there's often live music in the evenings and on the weekends. 

Set in a beautiful historic home, this café/bakery offers delicious breakfast sandwiches and baked goods, and heartier lunches such as maple curry poutine, grilled cheese on a house-made baguette with bacon and tomato chutney, and juicy burgers, to be enjoyed in the bright drawing rooms or on a lawn that backs onto the Waterfowl Park. 

This fabulous bakery opens at 7:30 am for breakfast, great coffee, and tasty treats. Their sandwiches and soups are excellent, and stocking up on cookies and oatcakes to take with you is highly advised. At peak times there can be long lines, but it is worth the wait. 

It's rare for a coffee place to be a destination, but folks on the Avalon say this little coffee place with an ocean view is worth the drive. The brews are roasted in-house and served with fresh pies and pastries. The interior has a contemporary industrial feel with communal tables, and the rear deck overlooks the water.

As well as serving some of the absolute best cocktails in the city, Dear Friend serves a knockout menu of locally sourced seafood—including multitier seafood towers, topped with caviar should you want to take things that far, stellar mains, and delicious upscale "bar bites."

Dinette Triple Crown is relatively small (a counter with just eight stools), but the real draw here is not indoor dining but taking the comfort food to go. Locals know to ask for a picnic basket (fully equipped with cutlery, dishes, and a tablecloth) that will be enjoyed in Little Italy Park across the street. Have it filled with fried chicken with fluffy mashed potatoes and gravy, braised greens, and biscuits, or pulled pork sandwiches and brisket.

These award-winning cakey brioche donuts are fried fresh in the wee hours of the morning, dipped, and then ready to fly off the shelves by the time the converted storefront opens at 8:30 am. From the milky London Fog with an Earl Grey glaze to mini salted-caramel Boston creme bombs, you just can't go wrong.

Located within the excellent Dunes Studio Gallery, this café has wood ceilings that soar above the indoor dining room and a deck overlooking the dunes and marshlands of Covehead Bay. Like the view, the food offered by chef Norman Day is amazing, showcasing local ingredients with an international twist and some inspired combinations. Your main at dinner, for example, might be halibut coated with banana bread crumbs, with a sweet curried apple cream sauce or chicken breast stuffed with goat cheese, sautéed apples, and bacon, with a cranberry cream sauce. Lunches are no less inventive, and meals can be taken in the lounge or on a patio overlooking the vibrant gardens. Reservations are only accepted for dinner.

A gondola ride to 7,700 feet brings you to this beautiful, mountaintop chalet with floor-to-ceiling windows and soaring cathedral ceilings; the views of the surrounding peaks are unrivaled. Despite being Canada's highest restaurant, the chef uses fresh local ingredients to create elegant dishes like braised beef cheeks or grilled salmon with miso and soba noodles. Available for lunch, après-items, and dinner. Reservations are recommended, and hours vary depending on the season, so be sure to check online.

Take a good look at the surroundings when you arrive—exposed brick walls, artworks, hardwood floors—because once the food appears, it will have your full attention. Artfully plated dishes, like local goat cheese terrine and house-smoked salmon, lead into main courses that might include yogurt-and-coriander-roasted chicken breast or pan-seared sustainable blue trout with chorizo, caramelized onion rösti, and sautéed greens.

Ultraluxe decor and magnificent mountain views provide the interior and exterior backdrops for prix fixe, three- to eight-course dinners of regionally influenced French cuisine. The presentation is awe-inspiring, and the food is prepared à-la-minute, so entrées change frequently but have included British Columbia sablefish with tomato, watermelon, and onion; rabbit with nuts, wild berries, and foraged mushrooms; and cinnamon-smoked short ribs. The sommeliers offer two astute wine-pairing options, or you can make your own choices from the impressive list. Dining in this Eden is an experience to be savored. Plan to spend at least three hours.

European bistro meets local forager in five- and seven-course tasting menus that are devoted to classic rustic dishes. Rough-hewn wood walls and burlap bread baskets evoke a farmhouse feel, and the soft lighting adds to the intimate atmosphere.

With a 5,000-square-foot, year-round patio and striking floor-to-ceiling murals, this is one of the most popular spots in the Distillery District. Highlights include traditional tacos al pastor with shaved pork and pineapple salsa, ceviche, a 24-hour-braised short rib in mole sauce, and guacamole prepared tableside. End the evening on a sweet note with churros rolled in sugar and served with a trio of chocolate, strawberry, and dulce de leche dipping sauces.

Chef/owner Konan Mar's passion for cultural diversity and his talent for fusing Canadian and Asian cuisine with a distinctly European flair shape this restaurant's regularly changing menu (think pork and kimchi pot stickers and stout-braised bison shepherd's pie). Based in one of Golden's oldest houses and decorated with local art, the space is cozy.

If you're a brunch lover, this is your place. You'll be hard-pressed to choose from items like the breaky roll made with thick-sliced bacon, tomato chutney, egg frittata, and potato rosti on a house-made brioche bun or the Yuzu avocado toast on house sourdough with special ingredients like roasted edamame and furikake (fish-flavored rice seasoning). It's also a great place to go for a coffee with your laptop.

Head here for craft beers and a fun menu of pub grub featuring local favorites such as mussels and fish cakes, pizzas, and appetizers in portions generous enough for sharing. Housed in the old Summerside train station, it's a great building with plenty of space for larger groups—check out the historic photos displayed on the walls. 

Book ahead to nab one of the 30 or so seats in this cozy bistro, voted one of Canada's 100 Best restaurants, where Chef Alden Ong and his team in the open kitchen craft wildly creative vegetable-forward menus. Here, fresh local ingredients, organic produce, and ethically sourced meats play a starring role. There is a set menu served family style for the table (C$80) and Happy Hour on Friday and Saturday. For cocktails and a lighter meal, head next door to the sister wine bar, Grapes and Soda. Reservations are essential.

Thankfully for pet owners, rabbit rarely makes an appearance on the menu at this buzzed-about butcher shop-meets-high-end grill house, where AAA cuts of meat are sold and seared by the ounce. The kitchen typically relies on whatever happens to come through the door that day, so one specialty is local cheeses and charcuterie plates filled with lamb summer sausage and venison chorizo, but you might also find a plate of hot buttered turnips. Stunning weekly specials might include a dry-aged grilled picanha steak with a tangy rhubarb gastrique, paired best with a bold glass of Barbera red. For breakfast and lunch, choose from an array of sandwiches and other plates, as well as fresh baked goods on the weekend.

Ignore the hole in the wall vibe because this place knocks it out of the park for breakfast and lunch. Go big and savory with eggs Benny and brisket, or sweet (but still big) with fluffy pancakes dressed in raspberry coulis and white chocolate ganache. You won't be disappointed. 

Celebrity chef Michael Smith’s first ever career experience was working in the kitchen here, and now he’s back as its owner. The Fireworks Feast here is pure pleasure that starts with a farm tour, followed by ember-roasted oysters, raw oysters, and fire-roasted appetizers before sitting down for a superb multicourse dinner before the Inn's 25-foot live-fire hearth. Dinner ends with fire-roasted marshmallows. 

Watch floatplanes take off and land at this buzzy pub on the Fraser River, near YVR's south terminal. A shuttle service runs from the main terminal.

Serving award-winning creations by a husband-and-wife chef pair, this restaurant offers upscale dishes with creativity and cozy, down-home touches. Even if you don't plan to tour the Irish Loop, this dining experience is worth the drive from St. John's. 

An elegant and elevated tasting menu showcases the best of what's local and in season. Expect deliciousness such as butter-roasted cod with clams and lion's mane mushroom with dulse stock, or grilled scallops with green apple and creamed celeriac, followed by desserts like goat's milk panna cotta. 

Like the appealingly bare-bones aesthetic of its space (exposed brick, hardwoods, and candlelight), this creative contemporary Pan-Asian bistro offers unadorned dishes that are jammed with flavor. After traveling for a year, chef-owner Tom Thai returned to Toronto with inspiration from Asia, Latin America, and the Mediterranean to produce a menu featuring tapas-style offerings like arctic char ceviche, lamb and duck prosciutto dumplings, and grilled side ribs with a sticky shallot glaze.

Gourmet restaurants rarely show up in such unlikely locations as this—a restored 1930s Canadian Pacific railcar in a small New Brunswick town. The menu is well balanced, but the most exciting option is the "Chef's Choice"—just say what you don't like and something will be created specially for you (and, we are told, even if every diner in the place takes this option, no two will get the same dish).

This café/coffee shop/restaurant in a beautifully restored old building makes a great spot to grab coffee and a tasty baked treat or stay late on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night for dinner. Their menu celebrates seasonal and local produce and offers everything from brisket tacos and burgers to pork belly and seared salmon. 

Owner Umberto Menghi is one of Vancouver's most favored and venerable restauranteurs, and his upscale, charming, fine-dining venue is usually the choice to celebrate anything special. High ceilings with wooden beams, ochre walls, and an inside garden courtyard offer plenty of private corners. Tuscan flavors abound whether in pasta or dishes like oven-roasted sablefish with horseradish crust, or slow oven-braised veal osso buco with saffron risotto. Reservations are a must. If you like what you find, Umberto runs a hotel and cooking school in the heart of rural Tuscany.