Beaujena’s French TableBeaujena’s French Table is the definition of a passion project. |
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Bernstein’s DeliSome days call for wild new flavours and exotic ingredients to wrap your tongue around; other days require the simple comfort of hearty, homestyle cooking. Read more… |
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Black Rabbit(Editor’s Note – This business is no longer open.) Some of the city’s best restaurants satisfy on a basic level, with creativity, consistency and accessibility. Places where inventive cocktails, a hip crowd, and live music explain, just as much as the menu, why it’s packed every night. One such spot is Black Rabbit Bistro, a new addition to the Village’s foodscape, which has found instant success in its long vacant space. The restaurant upgrades well-loved dishes with sophisticated flavours pulled from cuisines around the world. |
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Blaze Bistro & LoungeMore than a decade ago, Blaze Bistro opened its doors on the forefront of Winnipeg’s push for regional cuisine. With a recent facelift and some menu tweaks, this chic restaurant is still roaring strong, with contemporary applications of local product. |
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Blind Tiger(Editor’s Note – This business is no longer open.) At the time of Prohibition and other restrictive liquor laws, many illegal establishments hid dining rooms and bars behind front businesses, often exhibits of natural wonders or animal curiosities, earning the nickname “blind tigers”. |
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Buffalo Stone CafeSurrounded by towering trees, grassy fields and a serene lake, the view from Buffalo Stone Café in FortWhyte Alive is easy on the eyes. |
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Café Ce Soir
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Café La ScalaRecent renovations have transformed Café La Scala into a hybrid of urban cool and fine dining. This new incarnation of one of Corydon Avenue’s long-time gems melds sleek nightlife elements with elegant style, catering to the after dark crowd without sacrificing quality. |
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Cafe 22A combination of pizzeria, hip bistro, and cocktail bar, Café 22 fulfils a variety of culinary yearnings on the vibrant Corydon Ave drag. This revamped resto serves fast-casual fare, while upping the ante on atmosphere. |
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ChosabiThe fast casual trend hit in full force this year. Fresh, healthy, and adventurous food delivered at sleek order-at-the-counter spots has flipped the script on fast food and proven as versatile as convenient, with countless variations of quick eats spanning global cuisines and dietary styles. |
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ClementineFrom the first step down the flight of stairs that leads to Clementine’s subterranean Exchange District space, an excitement begins to take hold. Over the buzz of chatter from filled tables, anticipation sets in. A look at the menu reveals something conspicuously absent from the city’s dining scene, until now. |
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Colosseo RistoranteNothing holds a candle to the basic comfort of a red sauce joint: those classic paragons of Italian cooking which actively encourage eating your weight in veal parmigiana. Of these precious old-school gems that remain in Winnipeg, Colosseo Ristorante reigns supreme. |
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Da Da Asian Cuisine(Editor’s Note – This business is no longer open.) While the popularity of Korean food has been slowly building for years, few places in Winnipeg serve exclusively Korean specialties. One such spot is Da Da Asian Cuisine, where a compelling argument is made for this cuisine becoming the next big thing.
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Ducky’s Fish & ChipsThough far from any body of water, Ducky’s has the feel of seaside dining. This English style fish and chip shop has perfected the art of fish frying. |
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FeastFood is many things, from basic sustenance and nourishment to an exercise in creativity. In many ways, the food we eat is tied to identity. When Ciao! pioneered Manitoba Regional Cuisine as a dining category in 1997, seeking to highlight the food of this land and its people, pushes for the simple addition of bison, lakefish, or wild rice to a menu were completely novel. |
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The GrovePub grub—from gourmet burgers to truffle fries—has enjoyed ongoing popularity since The Grove opened its doors. In 2011, this publication praised the casual spot as one of the year’s best new restaurants for its elevated menu; since then, it has continued to impress by giving eager diners ample opportunity to pair fine dining panache with a pint. |
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Gus & Tony’sIt’s easy to feel at home at Gus & Tony’s. At any time of day, the restaurant is buzzing with diners who chat with staff as if at a family function, and while Aegean-blue walls inject some whimsy and wanderlust, the chili-smothered burgers speak to home sweet home.
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Kimchi SushiKimchi Sushi is not the spot for sushi purists, with rolls baked, fried, doused in sauce and spiked with decidedly untraditional flavours. But what arrives at the table is a love song to multiculturalism, a unique fusion of Asian and Canadian ingredients that happily blur culinary borders.
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MáquèIn a city as culturally diverse as Winnipeg, there is no lack of inspiration for chefs seeking to explore flavours from across the globe. The resulting fusion across cultures has birthed new diverse dining categories. It is into one such novel genre that Máquè, the new open for Deseo and Enoteca chef Scott Bagshaw, steps. |
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Meiji SushiThis sushi corner on River and Osborne has been anchoring one of the city’s best shopping and dining neighbourhoods for the last decade and a half. The reason for its longevity is evident in the blend of creative specialty rolls and pared back traditional bites, a study in contrasts that works as well together as the restaurant’s famed martinis and sushi combo. Read more… |
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Mon Ami LouisWinnipeg would be nothing without its rivers. Built around the convergence of the Red and Assiniboine, this place has relied on these waters for trade long before it became a city – and was christened, incidentally, with the Cree word for “Muddy Waters”, a reference to the silt-touched Red River. The significance of these streams makes dining over the river a uniquely Winnipeg experience. |
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Pho HoangIt’s clear upon entering Pho Hoang that this buzzing West End eatery is all about the broth. |
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Prairie Ink Restaurant & BakeryMuch like a captivating story, Prairie Ink offers a plot twist to the usual café fare. Located inside McNally Robinson booksellers, the restaurant serves up an elevated menu of unexpected flavours and dishes executed with flair. Read more… |
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Restö at ThermëaNestled beside Crescent Drive golf course amongst mature, towering trees, urban getaway Thermëa is a haven for rejuvenation. Past saunas and steamy soaking tubs, an elegant and healthful bistro provides some gastronomic therapy. Read more… |
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Red Top DinerNot many restaurants hold the magic of a time machine, but one step inside this St. Boniface gem and the spell is cast. Red Top Diner has been serving scratch-made diner classics to Winnipeggers since the 1960s. One can’t help but feel a sense of nostalgia when eating at this neighbourhood nook, which harkens back to an era when red pleather seats and home style cooking reigned.
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Ristorante Dona OnestaItalian cooking is inherently at odds with the current hashtag heavy chef culture, with individual flourishes and ideas submissive to the overarching rules of the cuisine. Talent comes to bear by perfectly creating dishes that have been eaten for generations, consistently replicating what are deceptively simple foods.
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Sana SouphouseBetween the warmth of the room and the compelling simplicity of the menu, there is something especially comforting about Sana Souphouse. A peaceful respite from the downtown hustle, this Graham Ave spot welcomes with luscious soups simmering behind a shiny red counter.
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Siam ThaiThose of us who travel with our tastebuds are always searching for those dishes that come direct from the homeland—what the chef would serve to family and friends, or cook at home. We scour the city for hole-in-the-wall spots; we peer inconspicuously at other tables, to see what those in the know are ordering. Every so often, the dishes we have been searching for are right there on the menu before us.
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Sydney’s At The Forks(Editor’s Note – This business is no longer open.) At this point in the fine dining landscape it seems the white tablecloth may be going the way of the dodo bird. The opulent dining out fashions of yesteryear have been upended by a new wave of rabblerousing chefs swapping tableside flames for open kitchens, candlelit tables for communal benches, white china for rough-hewn wooden platters.
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Vera PizzeriaFor a slice of Naples, head to South Osborne spot Vera Pizzeria. Stepping inside this pocket-sized place feels like walking into a friend’s home. The smell of roasted tomatoes and mozzarella greets diners, as the chatter from hip scenesters takes over the room. With line ups often spilling out the door, this pizzeria proves that the best pizza comes down to the basics. Read more… |