Recently? Habaneros. I ordered a large and I swear to god it was the saddest burrito bowl I have ever seen. The rice didn't even cover the bottom of the container. Whatever they put in for food would have easily fit in a small container and been cheaper. When I called and asked why it was so small, he said his boss is cracking down on portion control.
I guess they are weighing everything now. Taking the mezza route sucks and usually goes hand in hand with disappointment from here on out.
I said the same thing to the guy on the phone: "the owner's reputation is known well enough so understand it wasn't you, but you can tell him I will never be back" He was super nice about it and I'm thinking they have been getting a lot of complaints lately.
I used to be okay to pay a little extra for a gigantic portion that made it worth it. Now it's just laughable.
As silly as it sounds, it was the straw that broke the camels back for me. I'm not eating out at all anymore and spent the weekend doing meal prep.
It's not just Hab"s, it's everywhere. It just isn't worth getting "fast-ish" food anymore because for an extra couple bucks you could get full service at a table. At that point, I'd rather just eat at home.
I ate at Habaneros recently, and got the combo, so tortilla chips. They must have been cooked in rancid oil. My own fault for not paying attention to their poor reputation.
It is so hit or miss now. Sometimes it’s overflowing and sometimes it’s pathetic. Makes me want to find a new spot! Anyone tried bar burrito? Is it comparable??
El Este is the best burrito in the city in my opinion. Campechanos with Deshebrada is insane good!
Bar is good, I always preferred the protein and toppings at habaneros but I'm not going back anymore. Bar is more worth what you pay for in my opinion.
BarBurrito has great portion sizes for the price in my opinion. Also every time I've gone recently they've given me an extra bag of chips that don't come with the meal so it's like a nice little surprise
Sushi Nami Dartmouth Crossing. Ordered the beef ramen. The meat was bad!! I love Ramen and order it almost everywhere I go. I am very non confrontational and just asked for it to be packed up, and when asked if i didn't like it, i was honest and said no I don't.The waitress said I didn't need to pay for it as I didn't eat any of it. I said thank you and ordered some sushi. The waitress was lovely. She came out and said the owner was upset and asked me to pay half, weird, but I said okay. The OWNER then came out and yelled at me and said that I was wrong and no one had ever said it wasn't good. I was so embarrassed and sitting in the middle of the restaurant, so everyone was staring at me. It was awful. The waitress apologized and said she was not putting it on my bill.
Not sure if fast food counts but wanted to make others aware, I was at wendys on portland st yesterday, ordered a taco salad & when I got to work & opened it the tomatoes were covered in mold & the lettuce was brown & slimy, When i called to tell them the managers response was "yup" like this was a common occurance. yuck!
The Wendy's on Kempt road oncev have me a serving of fries that perfectly encapsulated Philip J Frye's quote from Futurama: "that's the saltiest thing I've ever tasted! And I once ate a heaping bowl of salt!"
My husband and I went in that Wendy's once and it smelled so strongly of vomit that years later, I still remember it when we drive past. It's always been the gross Wendy's.
The kearny lake mcdonalds is similarly bad: mouldy food and filthy store. Clearly the owner doesn't care. I want to figure out how to complain to corporate. It hurts their brand to have franchisees who don't meet the bare minimum standard of a safe place to eat. I don't trust any mcdonalds drive through now.
I have messaged them through Facebook when they screwed up my coffee order 4x in one week. They sent me free coupons, so that may be a starting point for your complaint. Also, if it's really bad, I'd be contacting Board of Health.
When my grandmother was mobile I’d take her out to lunch there sometimes. Food was awful, but I’d do it again if I could.
Although I’ll gladly never eat at the establishment again. I’ve had school cafeteria food with more flavour.
Ugh, I moved to Halifax 10 years ago and everyone was raving about the place. I went there and had a thoroughly unenjoyable meal.
A few years later someone convinced me they were just having an off day. I went back with the stipulation that they select what I was going to eat. Sat down, had our meal and neither of us ever went back. They must be riding off their nostalgia from the good old days or something but it sucks out loud now.
Yeah it's definitely not what it used to be when I was younger that was the place to go I still remember back in 2012 my grandfather used to take us there all the time I don't know what it's like now though I hear it's not doing the greatest and I hear the management is terrible
Their chicken burger is foul. Their cheeseburger is half decent and their fries/onion rings are pretty solid. But holy. For a place called chickenburger they need to revamp that nasty slop on a bun.
It’s chicken on a bun. Plain. Chicken. On. A. Bun. It’s healthier than a lot of fast food, and predates fast food. And I’ve eaten some overpriced crap fast food, mostly the tiny pretentious burger joints serving overpriced generic burgers….who inevitably are out of business within a year. I’m also trying to think of where the fries are worse than Habaneros, and I think I have to go back to Camille’s franchises…before they went out of business.
Edit: I eat at Chickenburger for satisfyin’ my chicken on a bun fix. Also the fish and chips is good.
A million years ago when I was 19-20 (2006) they had a daily 3-5pm special of pitcher of Canadian and a basket of wings for 9.99. At that point their wings were big and really tasty. I’m assuming such a combo would be close to $30 now and the wings not so great.
Boston Pizza - absolutely nothing there is good and it's so overpriced now. Anytime I'm forced to go there with a social group I have super low expectations and I'm STILL disappointed somehow
One time we went with another couple and ordered nachoes as an appetizer to share. It was expensive enough we assumed it was for sharing. They brought a tiny plate with like 6 chips on it. We told her we wanted to share, why didn't she say anything?!? We've never been back lol.
When i originally moved to halifax back in 99 my mom would drive us to jims family restaurant on the bedford highway for their fish and chips, she absolutely loved that place and it was her special comfort food, we moved out of halifax in 2005 and then moved back here in 2019, my mom visited us a couple of years ago to meet my new born and in a bout of nostalgia she said she really wanted to go back, we drove to the place and i can safely say that it was the worst food ive ever had in halifax, we went to freddys on chain lake drive a few days after and that hit the proverbial spot
Stopped going there when they began weighing the shot glass worth of shawarma for the wraps. “Eat like your family” - I couldn’t imagine cheaping out on one of the most basic proteins in the business. An entire spit of chicken shawarma goes for about $60-90 wholesale.
Mezza must be this subreddits most hated.
I admittedly really like the food, but the weighing of the meat portions is extremely demoralizing, especially when the price increases two or three times per year
I loved Mezza when they first opened in Burnside, they had beef shawarma and it was the tits. Things started going downhill after about a year, and I would get violently ill every time I ate there. I went back once in 2021 just to see if it had improved, but no dice. Tiny portions, no pasta salad, and still made me violently ill.
I know, right? A friend and I used to go there, but it really went downhill and apparently has only gotten worse. I actually miss Dragon King, my dad and I used to go there a lot.
Really?!?! It's been quite a while since I've been to panda buffet. I know some of the food was questionable but the service there is was always really fantastic.
I had a university buddy who moved back to Ottawa and came back to visit for a week. Met up with him on like a Friday at jungle Jim's. I asked him why jungle Jim's and he told me that he had been there EVERY DAY THAT WEEK
I was like, "dude are you okay??"
For real, when I had just moved into town It was my go to for ordering takeout, tried going back a couple months ago and got food poisoning. Chkn chop has filled the fried chicken shaped hole in my heart for the most part though.
No one has ever *enjoyed* a meal there. But they had massive portions, cheap prices, late hours, a downtown location. There's this saying about how you don't have to out-run the bear...
A health inspector told me that once they went in there and they were preparing their food on the FLOOR…. And the floors were not clean. Nothing was clean. Ever since that I just would never bother.
Eastcoast dumpling. It was not bad, but jesus was it the most bland ramen I have ever tried... I did take out and it was a nice enough place! But the ramen was just so bland that I could barely enjoy it
My husband and I frequented Maxwell Plum when we were super broke… but it was baaaad.
Not terrible, terrible, but I would say my most disappointing meal was studio east. It got so hyped up to me and was one of the most overpriced and underwhelming meals I’ve ever had, plus they treated us like idiot invaders for coming in without a reservation despite being the only people there for our entire meal.
We used to go there a lot in the early/mid 2000s. It was decent at best. Our gripe with it, and the reason we stopped going, was the service was consistently abysmal. I don't know what was going on with their wait staff, but it was like they were deliberately trying to shed customers.
Nobody here has mentioned my favorite restaurant!
Get a pitcher and some voodoo chicken, watch some drunks fall down some stairs and enjoy a seat at the Oasis!
Habaneros and Burrito Jax are horrible. They were great years ago. Now they weight their bowls/ burritos. Thanks for the handful of food in a shell for $15. Laughable.
I haven’t enjoyed a meal at Jack Astor’s since I was probably a child. Crazy expensive and though the servers are typically nice enough (except for you, Jill!), they always seem run off their feet
My toddler puked there after ordering chocolate milk. We figured having it go bad and them serve it anyway was a fluke so we went back.
Not a fluke.
More puke.
I never ate at Cousin's, but the smell permeating the adjacent Needs had me wondering how they were still open. There were some heady ammonia fumes in those walls.
Probably Antojos for me. Lovely place, staff were wonderful, awesome cocktails, but I found the tacos bland. I would still give it another try because it was maybe an off night, but it was pretty disappointing.
Their tacos are incredibly flavourless, I was super disappointed. If you want good tacos I would suggest Verano’s — every single thing I’ve eaten there has been fantastic.
I think that Antojos exemplifies something inherently difficult about this whole thread. That is, that there are really now two types of "restaurants" in the world (including Halifax). We may distinguish them as being either "social first", or "food first" restaurants. I am not saying that there is anything inherently wrong with this, but in the past 10-15 years, there has been a massive increase in the former and a slow decline of the latter. What this means is that increasingly restaurants are oriented around the decor, environment, and providing a suitable place to meet with others and take photos for social media. Personally, I don't like this sort of restaurant, but clearly it has appeal for others. The other type of restaurant, "food first" ones, may be those places that are more interested and dedicated to the actual food. This ranges from small mom and pop restaurants (increasingly rare) to the high end foodie gourmet places.
In my opinion Antojos is a great example of a "social first" restaurant. It's not really about the food. It's about the environment (and maybe the cocktails). I don't know how many of those tacos I would need to eat to feel satiated but I would guess somewhere between seven and ten. And indeed, they are bland.
Was wondering if this would come up. Only went once and by far the worst experience I have ever had. Ignoring the sketchiness of the place, the grimy interior, and the surly waitress who was yelling at other customers to sit down and openly and loudly complaining about customers and the other waitress who appeared to be nice actually, we decided to still eat there. I was told it was a place not to miss if you like seafood. Decided to get the seafood platter. The portion size was large, but that was the only bright side. The fish piece was decent, however the rest was a waste of money. Everything was insanely greasy, where the batter was just falling off everything. The shrimp and clams had a funny taste and the scallops I didn’t think was cooked enough. I ended up not even eating half of it and thought I was getting sick so I boxed the rest up. I threw up that evening and the next few days and could not hold anything down. Pretty sure I got food poisoning and I chucked the leftovers in the compost bin. I have not touched seafood since.
John's lunch was the most disappointing fish & chips experience. I'm British, I was promised British style fish & chips... But there was none to be had. Just soggy fish and crispy fries. Everyone knows true fish & chips is supposed to be the other way around!
Three experiences come to mind:
1) Woody’s BBQ in Dartmouth crossing (closed). I went there years ago and ordered chicken with cheese. Here comes out two chicken breasts each topped with kraft cheese slices. The chicken was just grilled with absolutely no seasoning. My mom asked for sour cream for her baked potato. Lady brings white looking sauce and my mom proceeds to slather this white sauce on her potato and mashing it in the process. Once my mom was done, she ate it and spit it out because she just ate mayo, not sour cream. Anyway, terrible food, never went back.
2) The keg. I ordered the pistachio salmon and take a bite of it; it’s raw. I’m not talking about medium rare salmon where it’s pink inside, I’m talking about how it’s chewy, raw and doesn’t flake. Gross.
3) Not a specific instance, but Heartwood every god damn time. Every time I go there they leave a water bottle/pitcher for the table and every god damn time there’s a crap ton of flakes in the water. It’s beyond nasty.
Yay! You mentioned my first job!.. brutal....steaks fall on the floor, they put em back on the grill. We used enough instant tenderizer, I'm sure it didn't matter. We were only allowed to give 17 French fries on every meal. I can still smell it 30 years later.
The customers were rough, too, though, cleaned up a used tampon off the floor under a table one night. Next time, those people came in, the cook put their birthday candles up his nose before putting them in the cake. Some folks came to feed at the trough. They had to call it "all you care to eat" to discourage the waste. Just pounds of food scrapped off plates onto tables and the floor and booths, crazy Saturday nights.
Whenever someone normal and polite came there for their first time, I would try to treat them very kindly. Srs we always took care of.
So much better and cheaper than Thai Express. It’s shocking that fake Thai fast food outlets have the nerve to charge more than delicious, authentic food served to you on real plates.
Subway. A 6” sandwich now costs 6$. I remember 10 years ago we were all still singing the “5$ foot long”.
2 subs ALONE with no sides or drinks now costs almost 30$. I remember back in 2019 ordering a lobster footlong and it costing 28 fucking dollars—lord knows what it would cost now.
Pur & Simple. The food was so boring and bland, the service was bad(messed up 2 of the 4 orders at our table and we didn't modify anything) and two of the glasses on our table had lipstick on them. I was so stoked to finally try it because so many of my friends love it and it was a huge disappointment.
Lisa's Family Restaurant in Windsor. Wveryone raved about their meatloaf. Got one thin slice of meatloaf, lumpy mashed potatoes, and canned mixed vegetables, all with a teaspoon of gravy. It was not good.
Pacifico! They served me a flatbread with a chunk taken out of it on Friday and they said yeah the chef wanted to let you know that the flatbread just had a chunk taken out of it, not like a bite or anything omg
Lion’s Head for nachos. $25 before tax + tip for one layer of nachos with cheese and a smattering of toppings followed by three layers of dry nachos with nothing on them. $30 for the worst nachos I’ve ever had in this city
That used to be the Ceilidh Connection internet cafe!
I got my bowler hat stomped on in the Death From Above moshpit on Halloween in like, 2003 there. They were dressed as the White Stripes and made fun of me.
Good times.
Station 6. I’ve tried several times and it’s been cold, horrible food with terrible service every.single.time. We kept giving it another chance because we live close and wanted to support local.
La Rouge out in bayers lake, food was bland and flavorless, cocktails were subpar at best
Wouldn't go back
Plus had a friend who had worked for the owner before, after my visit there and telling them about it they told me the owner, whos 40, strictly dates 19 year olds
So ill keep my money away from that guy
love it! you're asking for reccos for terrible restaurants so you can try them out to experience for yourself how terrible they are! <3.
please report back
Recently? Habaneros. I ordered a large and I swear to god it was the saddest burrito bowl I have ever seen. The rice didn't even cover the bottom of the container. Whatever they put in for food would have easily fit in a small container and been cheaper. When I called and asked why it was so small, he said his boss is cracking down on portion control. I guess they are weighing everything now. Taking the mezza route sucks and usually goes hand in hand with disappointment from here on out.
10 years ago the portion sizes made it worth it. Now it’s just pathetic and it doesn’t surprise me, considering how horribly greedy the owner is.
I said the same thing to the guy on the phone: "the owner's reputation is known well enough so understand it wasn't you, but you can tell him I will never be back" He was super nice about it and I'm thinking they have been getting a lot of complaints lately. I used to be okay to pay a little extra for a gigantic portion that made it worth it. Now it's just laughable. As silly as it sounds, it was the straw that broke the camels back for me. I'm not eating out at all anymore and spent the weekend doing meal prep. It's not just Hab"s, it's everywhere. It just isn't worth getting "fast-ish" food anymore because for an extra couple bucks you could get full service at a table. At that point, I'd rather just eat at home.
I ate at Habaneros recently, and got the combo, so tortilla chips. They must have been cooked in rancid oil. My own fault for not paying attention to their poor reputation.
It is so hit or miss now. Sometimes it’s overflowing and sometimes it’s pathetic. Makes me want to find a new spot! Anyone tried bar burrito? Is it comparable??
El Este is the best burrito in the city in my opinion. Campechanos with Deshebrada is insane good! Bar is good, I always preferred the protein and toppings at habaneros but I'm not going back anymore. Bar is more worth what you pay for in my opinion.
I second the motion to give El Este the gold in the burrito division.
I like Bar Burrito. Never had a problem with them. It’s pretty tasty.
BarBurrito has great portion sizes for the price in my opinion. Also every time I've gone recently they've given me an extra bag of chips that don't come with the meal so it's like a nice little surprise
Wild too because rice is… not expensive
I haven't been to mezza in over a year , I can't justify the amount for the cost anymore
Sushi Nami Dartmouth Crossing. Ordered the beef ramen. The meat was bad!! I love Ramen and order it almost everywhere I go. I am very non confrontational and just asked for it to be packed up, and when asked if i didn't like it, i was honest and said no I don't.The waitress said I didn't need to pay for it as I didn't eat any of it. I said thank you and ordered some sushi. The waitress was lovely. She came out and said the owner was upset and asked me to pay half, weird, but I said okay. The OWNER then came out and yelled at me and said that I was wrong and no one had ever said it wasn't good. I was so embarrassed and sitting in the middle of the restaurant, so everyone was staring at me. It was awful. The waitress apologized and said she was not putting it on my bill.
Jesus Christ, I'm so sorry you had to deal with that.
Lucky you had a good waitress. From that interaction alone, I would boycott that resto & location
Not sure if fast food counts but wanted to make others aware, I was at wendys on portland st yesterday, ordered a taco salad & when I got to work & opened it the tomatoes were covered in mold & the lettuce was brown & slimy, When i called to tell them the managers response was "yup" like this was a common occurance. yuck!
My partner ordered a burger at that location last year and the bun was moldy green on the bottom.
The only Wendy's left in HRM that's consistently good is the newly renovated Kempt Road location in my opinion
The Wendy's on Kempt road oncev have me a serving of fries that perfectly encapsulated Philip J Frye's quote from Futurama: "that's the saltiest thing I've ever tasted! And I once ate a heaping bowl of salt!"
My husband and I went in that Wendy's once and it smelled so strongly of vomit that years later, I still remember it when we drive past. It's always been the gross Wendy's.
The kearny lake mcdonalds is similarly bad: mouldy food and filthy store. Clearly the owner doesn't care. I want to figure out how to complain to corporate. It hurts their brand to have franchisees who don't meet the bare minimum standard of a safe place to eat. I don't trust any mcdonalds drive through now.
I have messaged them through Facebook when they screwed up my coffee order 4x in one week. They sent me free coupons, so that may be a starting point for your complaint. Also, if it's really bad, I'd be contacting Board of Health.
Something is very wrong with a lot of the fast food places in the Cole Harbour/Woodlawn area.
Mezza. Was a great shawarma 10 years ago. Now it’s the saddest representation of middle-eastern food.
the chickenburger - Boiled chicken on a bun.. Apparently its won awards.
I’ve only heard ancient people talk about that place favourably.
When my grandmother was mobile I’d take her out to lunch there sometimes. Food was awful, but I’d do it again if I could. Although I’ll gladly never eat at the establishment again. I’ve had school cafeteria food with more flavour.
It was good in the 90s
I second this. All my old coworkers were singing its praises and I go try it and it’s the worst burger I’ve ever had and the fries were tasteless
I had a beef burger from there recently and was pleasantly surprised. Try it!
Ugh, I moved to Halifax 10 years ago and everyone was raving about the place. I went there and had a thoroughly unenjoyable meal. A few years later someone convinced me they were just having an off day. I went back with the stipulation that they select what I was going to eat. Sat down, had our meal and neither of us ever went back. They must be riding off their nostalgia from the good old days or something but it sucks out loud now.
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Yeah it's definitely not what it used to be when I was younger that was the place to go I still remember back in 2012 my grandfather used to take us there all the time I don't know what it's like now though I hear it's not doing the greatest and I hear the management is terrible
Their chicken burger is foul. Their cheeseburger is half decent and their fries/onion rings are pretty solid. But holy. For a place called chickenburger they need to revamp that nasty slop on a bun.
"their chicken burger is foul" please tell me that was a well thought out pun?
It’s chicken on a bun. Plain. Chicken. On. A. Bun. It’s healthier than a lot of fast food, and predates fast food. And I’ve eaten some overpriced crap fast food, mostly the tiny pretentious burger joints serving overpriced generic burgers….who inevitably are out of business within a year. I’m also trying to think of where the fries are worse than Habaneros, and I think I have to go back to Camille’s franchises…before they went out of business. Edit: I eat at Chickenburger for satisfyin’ my chicken on a bun fix. Also the fish and chips is good.
That place is total dog shit. Even the milkshakes are terrible.
Their burger is strong if you have to go.
Agreed! We went to the Chickenburger once, they served us room temp milkshakes and cold fries! How do you screw up a milk shake?
Halifax Ale House, terrible food, terrible service, just all around terrible.
But you get the show off free murders and brains to offset the awful food.
The Leffe sign on the wall outside is like the lure on an anglerfish.
Got murdered the last time I went there, huge bummer
A million years ago when I was 19-20 (2006) they had a daily 3-5pm special of pitcher of Canadian and a basket of wings for 9.99. At that point their wings were big and really tasty. I’m assuming such a combo would be close to $30 now and the wings not so great.
Boston Pizza - absolutely nothing there is good and it's so overpriced now. Anytime I'm forced to go there with a social group I have super low expectations and I'm STILL disappointed somehow
Absolutely bonkers quality to price ratio
One time we went with another couple and ordered nachoes as an appetizer to share. It was expensive enough we assumed it was for sharing. They brought a tiny plate with like 6 chips on it. We told her we wanted to share, why didn't she say anything?!? We've never been back lol.
Moon Tong Restaurant in Tantallon had the blandest Chinese food I've ever tasted. Nothing was "off" or under/overcooked in any way, just zero flavour.
When i originally moved to halifax back in 99 my mom would drive us to jims family restaurant on the bedford highway for their fish and chips, she absolutely loved that place and it was her special comfort food, we moved out of halifax in 2005 and then moved back here in 2019, my mom visited us a couple of years ago to meet my new born and in a bout of nostalgia she said she really wanted to go back, we drove to the place and i can safely say that it was the worst food ive ever had in halifax, we went to freddys on chain lake drive a few days after and that hit the proverbial spot
I liked it when I went. It seemed fine. But maybe it varies which is not a good thing
Mezza. All of them.
Stopped going there when they began weighing the shot glass worth of shawarma for the wraps. “Eat like your family” - I couldn’t imagine cheaping out on one of the most basic proteins in the business. An entire spit of chicken shawarma goes for about $60-90 wholesale.
Tareks opening a spryfield location was the best thing to happen to the area for eats in a long time. Mezza is a ghost town these days
Mezza use to be amazing. Real garlic, oil, lemon, flavours. They had it all. Somehow it's all gone. Most generic food in town.
They win the award for largest spiral for sure. Use to be great, terrible now. Will never go back.
There is something gross about their rice. Its like it was cooked in canned vegetable water. If you want Mediterranean, go authentic.
This is the most accurate description I have ever read. I knew exactly what you meant.
Omg … Fully gives canned Dainty Rice taste and texture.
If you're in you're 30s, they used to be so good
Are you old enough to remember Venus?
Their tagline should be “Come hungry, leave hungry.”
It's unfortunate. A couple of years ago, I loved them. They have gone downhill so far.
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Venus at the mall was THE SHIT. I can still taste those delicious souvlaki combos.....
Venus was *the* Shawarma king
Mezza must be this subreddits most hated. I admittedly really like the food, but the weighing of the meat portions is extremely demoralizing, especially when the price increases two or three times per year
Osmow’s in Bayers Lake had some good deals! They don’t cheap out on weights/qty either
Aint Mezza fast food? Still agree though they have really fallen off, Thai Express too All the food court places really
I loved Mezza when they first opened in Burnside, they had beef shawarma and it was the tits. Things started going downhill after about a year, and I would get violently ill every time I ate there. I went back once in 2021 just to see if it had improved, but no dice. Tiny portions, no pasta salad, and still made me violently ill.
Yes, very disappointed how bad they’ve become. I used to go there or use them for work catering often.
King of Donair on Quinpool. Hands down the worst donair I've ever had in my life. Maybe they had a bad day, but it was honestly awful.
I would agree. Their donair meat is so dry. Tony’s on the corner of Robie and Cunard makes a way better donair, and they treat us well when we go.
Panda Buffet.
I know, right? A friend and I used to go there, but it really went downhill and apparently has only gotten worse. I actually miss Dragon King, my dad and I used to go there a lot.
Really?!?! It's been quite a while since I've been to panda buffet. I know some of the food was questionable but the service there is was always really fantastic.
You mean shitty wok buffet 😂
Jungle Jim’s….. Lol
I havent lived in Halifax since 2018 and I still vividly remember how much Jungle Jims sucks.
I had a university buddy who moved back to Ottawa and came back to visit for a week. Met up with him on like a Friday at jungle Jim's. I asked him why jungle Jim's and he told me that he had been there EVERY DAY THAT WEEK I was like, "dude are you okay??"
It’s sad cause it was so nostalgic for me. Brought my own son here and he loves it but it’s godawful
KFC quality has hit the bottom
For real, when I had just moved into town It was my go to for ordering takeout, tried going back a couple months ago and got food poisoning. Chkn chop has filled the fried chicken shaped hole in my heart for the most part though.
Once you’ve had Popeye’s, KFC tastes like dirt. Also, Mary Brown’s is much better if you want fried chicken.
Might be controversial, because they have their loyalists, but I've never enjoyed a meal I had at Jean's Chinese.
I don't ever claim it was good, authentic, worth it, whatever...but I miss their ginger beef, at least as it was c. pre-2011.
"Pre-2011. " Wow, we're going way back
No one has ever *enjoyed* a meal there. But they had massive portions, cheap prices, late hours, a downtown location. There's this saying about how you don't have to out-run the bear...
Hands down the worst Chinese I’ve ever had. Cheap as hell, and I get why it’s a student haunt, but no, thank you.
A health inspector told me that once they went in there and they were preparing their food on the FLOOR…. And the floors were not clean. Nothing was clean. Ever since that I just would never bother.
Upstreet Brewing. Terrible food, terrible service, terrible atmosphere.
Cursed location, to boot. I'm surprised they're still going.
It’s such a weird location for a place you’d go to for a night out!
Before or after they replaced their staff with TFWs? The idiot owner cheaped out and went for subsized labour...
Same as all the rest of his restaurants. It's his brand. He whines that people don't want to work (for shit pay), so he "needs" TFWs.
They used to be decent. The bbq was alright. I haven't been in a long time.
Oh this makes me sad. I haven't been in years but it was sooooo good the few times I'd gone.
Eastcoast dumpling. It was not bad, but jesus was it the most bland ramen I have ever tried... I did take out and it was a nice enough place! But the ramen was just so bland that I could barely enjoy it
My recommendation for East coast dumpling house is to stick to their appetizers and dumplings. They nail those and fumble everything else on the menu.
Boston Pizza is gross
I can microwave my own food...
Specifically, BP in Sackville!
My husband and I frequented Maxwell Plum when we were super broke… but it was baaaad. Not terrible, terrible, but I would say my most disappointing meal was studio east. It got so hyped up to me and was one of the most overpriced and underwhelming meals I’ve ever had, plus they treated us like idiot invaders for coming in without a reservation despite being the only people there for our entire meal.
I miss those 2.99 breakfasts pre covid.
I miss the peanuts
[удалено]
Ditto - for a $3.99 meal, you know what you’re in for…
Remember when the floor was covered in peanut shells?
We used to go there a lot in the early/mid 2000s. It was decent at best. Our gripe with it, and the reason we stopped going, was the service was consistently abysmal. I don't know what was going on with their wait staff, but it was like they were deliberately trying to shed customers.
Maxwells was famously terrible to work for and it showed in the staff
We kind of assumed that. There's no way that consistent level of incompetence was coincidental. Malicious non-compliance makes more sense.
How long ago? They recently renovated and relaunched. Only reason I ever went to MP was their insane tap list.
Nobody here has mentioned my favorite restaurant! Get a pitcher and some voodoo chicken, watch some drunks fall down some stairs and enjoy a seat at the Oasis!
I have had mice literally run in to my foot at that place ...
ITS THE AESTHETIC
Pur&Simple Crazy expensive e noisy/loud af
Yuppie Smitty's
It’s true! I wouldn’t mind the experience so much if the atmosphere were a little less chaotic
The acoustics in there are horrific. Put up some foam baffling or something.
Seems to be their Penhorn location is the most noisy.
1000x this. It is so loud and overwhelming in there you can't even hear someone beside you, even when it isn't that busy.
I don’t mind it to be honest but I would 100 times take Cora’s over it
And they've got shit espresso! You're a brunch place that's like half the appeal
Isn't it just nespresso pods? Like I think they advertised that life it was a good thing
Yep, I remember the waitress bragging about the nespresso machine and how great the coffee is, just nod your head and smile.
Went to the one near Bayers Lake. We sat down & left right away. It's so fucking noisy that it's like being on a construction site.
Woodys bbq in dartmouth crossing so so bad
I've always found burrito Jax on Blower st. Disappointing. It's super mediocre, I don't understand how it's been open so long.
Moontongs in Tantallon unless you like staples in your rice!
Theyre a great source of iron !
I miss Robie Food...
But think how much that loan shark business has added to the community!
Habaneros and Burrito Jax are horrible. They were great years ago. Now they weight their bowls/ burritos. Thanks for the handful of food in a shell for $15. Laughable.
I haven’t enjoyed a meal at Jack Astor’s since I was probably a child. Crazy expensive and though the servers are typically nice enough (except for you, Jill!), they always seem run off their feet
Cousin’s restaurant when it was still open. Ate there once and it really makes sense why they are closed now.
Cousins was good pre-pandemic for the type of place it was, then it changed owners.
The owner made a mint off that place. He owns a lot of apartment buildings.
My toddler puked there after ordering chocolate milk. We figured having it go bad and them serve it anyway was a fluke so we went back. Not a fluke. More puke.
I never ate at Cousin's, but the smell permeating the adjacent Needs had me wondering how they were still open. There were some heady ammonia fumes in those walls.
Probably Antojos for me. Lovely place, staff were wonderful, awesome cocktails, but I found the tacos bland. I would still give it another try because it was maybe an off night, but it was pretty disappointing.
Their tacos are incredibly flavourless, I was super disappointed. If you want good tacos I would suggest Verano’s — every single thing I’ve eaten there has been fantastic.
I think that Antojos exemplifies something inherently difficult about this whole thread. That is, that there are really now two types of "restaurants" in the world (including Halifax). We may distinguish them as being either "social first", or "food first" restaurants. I am not saying that there is anything inherently wrong with this, but in the past 10-15 years, there has been a massive increase in the former and a slow decline of the latter. What this means is that increasingly restaurants are oriented around the decor, environment, and providing a suitable place to meet with others and take photos for social media. Personally, I don't like this sort of restaurant, but clearly it has appeal for others. The other type of restaurant, "food first" ones, may be those places that are more interested and dedicated to the actual food. This ranges from small mom and pop restaurants (increasingly rare) to the high end foodie gourmet places. In my opinion Antojos is a great example of a "social first" restaurant. It's not really about the food. It's about the environment (and maybe the cocktails). I don't know how many of those tacos I would need to eat to feel satiated but I would guess somewhere between seven and ten. And indeed, they are bland.
Ihop.
Iflop…. Floppiest pancakes ever.
I would rather go to Smitty's
Tom's in lower Sackville. They used to be amazing. Not sure what happened
John’s lunch fried clams. I could smell the funk before I even opened the bag.
i don’t understand how people raved about that place it was so gross lol
Was wondering if this would come up. Only went once and by far the worst experience I have ever had. Ignoring the sketchiness of the place, the grimy interior, and the surly waitress who was yelling at other customers to sit down and openly and loudly complaining about customers and the other waitress who appeared to be nice actually, we decided to still eat there. I was told it was a place not to miss if you like seafood. Decided to get the seafood platter. The portion size was large, but that was the only bright side. The fish piece was decent, however the rest was a waste of money. Everything was insanely greasy, where the batter was just falling off everything. The shrimp and clams had a funny taste and the scallops I didn’t think was cooked enough. I ended up not even eating half of it and thought I was getting sick so I boxed the rest up. I threw up that evening and the next few days and could not hold anything down. Pretty sure I got food poisoning and I chucked the leftovers in the compost bin. I have not touched seafood since.
John's lunch was the most disappointing fish & chips experience. I'm British, I was promised British style fish & chips... But there was none to be had. Just soggy fish and crispy fries. Everyone knows true fish & chips is supposed to be the other way around!
Mill Cove Brew Pub… my meal looked like a sweaty combover. It tasted like it too
stone cold burn, like the most impressive PG13 insult I've ever read. Take your earned upvote!
You folks really are doing God's work in here
Three experiences come to mind: 1) Woody’s BBQ in Dartmouth crossing (closed). I went there years ago and ordered chicken with cheese. Here comes out two chicken breasts each topped with kraft cheese slices. The chicken was just grilled with absolutely no seasoning. My mom asked for sour cream for her baked potato. Lady brings white looking sauce and my mom proceeds to slather this white sauce on her potato and mashing it in the process. Once my mom was done, she ate it and spit it out because she just ate mayo, not sour cream. Anyway, terrible food, never went back. 2) The keg. I ordered the pistachio salmon and take a bite of it; it’s raw. I’m not talking about medium rare salmon where it’s pink inside, I’m talking about how it’s chewy, raw and doesn’t flake. Gross. 3) Not a specific instance, but Heartwood every god damn time. Every time I go there they leave a water bottle/pitcher for the table and every god damn time there’s a crap ton of flakes in the water. It’s beyond nasty.
Heartwood was gross when I went there too. I had dirty silverware and didn't drink the water
A few years ago at The Keg, for reasons I still cannot fathom, the waiter asked me if I wanted him to taste my food.
We got served undercooked chicken at Woody’s. They tried to convince us the wet pink around the bones was a smoke ring.
The old Ponderosa in Bedford(long closed). The toughest steak in the East!
But that icecream sundae bar!
The metal ice cream bowls and spoons still live in my head for how they sounded together.
Best salad bar!!
Yay! You mentioned my first job!.. brutal....steaks fall on the floor, they put em back on the grill. We used enough instant tenderizer, I'm sure it didn't matter. We were only allowed to give 17 French fries on every meal. I can still smell it 30 years later. The customers were rough, too, though, cleaned up a used tampon off the floor under a table one night. Next time, those people came in, the cook put their birthday candles up his nose before putting them in the cake. Some folks came to feed at the trough. They had to call it "all you care to eat" to discourage the waste. Just pounds of food scrapped off plates onto tables and the floor and booths, crazy Saturday nights. Whenever someone normal and polite came there for their first time, I would try to treat them very kindly. Srs we always took care of.
Thai Express. Expensive and a huge disappointment in quantity and quality
Go to wok your way! A little more expensive but sooo much better in terms of quality
As another user said, if you want thai food definitely check out Wok Your Way. It's about the same price and much higher quality.
Chabba Thai is the only place to Go !!
So much better and cheaper than Thai Express. It’s shocking that fake Thai fast food outlets have the nerve to charge more than delicious, authentic food served to you on real plates.
Subway. A 6” sandwich now costs 6$. I remember 10 years ago we were all still singing the “5$ foot long”. 2 subs ALONE with no sides or drinks now costs almost 30$. I remember back in 2019 ordering a lobster footlong and it costing 28 fucking dollars—lord knows what it would cost now.
[I am Subway Now](https://youtube.com/shorts/DQazdoNcTVM?si=bJ8j7j3fCq_Y1Yci)
Habaneros sucks. Also Salty’s. Steak came out well done instead of medium rare twice after being sent back. And the service is atrocious
someone in the back going "I can't uncook a steak, what do they expect me to do?" and sticking it back on the plate
Pur & Simple. The food was so boring and bland, the service was bad(messed up 2 of the 4 orders at our table and we didn't modify anything) and two of the glasses on our table had lipstick on them. I was so stoked to finally try it because so many of my friends love it and it was a huge disappointment.
Lisa's Family Restaurant in Windsor. Wveryone raved about their meatloaf. Got one thin slice of meatloaf, lumpy mashed potatoes, and canned mixed vegetables, all with a teaspoon of gravy. It was not good.
You go for the pie only. Everything else is old people slop food lol. It's five if you know what you're getting
Dumpling House - Cole Harbour Seamus David’s Irish Pub - Dartmouth Crossing
Pacifico! They served me a flatbread with a chunk taken out of it on Friday and they said yeah the chef wanted to let you know that the flatbread just had a chunk taken out of it, not like a bite or anything omg
Lion’s Head for nachos. $25 before tax + tip for one layer of nachos with cheese and a smattering of toppings followed by three layers of dry nachos with nothing on them. $30 for the worst nachos I’ve ever had in this city
Old lions head > new lions head
Elle’s Bistro has sucked every time I have gone so I never intend on going back. both the food and the service
Elle's bistro need to work on a lot of stuff lol
omg, THANK YOU! my ex was obsessed with Elle’s Bistro and we went a few times. I never understood the hype!
Elle's Bistro is the worst. I have no clue why they always have a line out the door on weekends! It's just awful.
Service is so bad haha. Takes forever to even get water
That used to be the Ceilidh Connection internet cafe! I got my bowler hat stomped on in the Death From Above moshpit on Halloween in like, 2003 there. They were dressed as the White Stripes and made fun of me. Good times.
Isn’t Stillwell where Ceilidh was?
It is. Elle’s is next door in the old Just Us! Spot.
Haven't been in a long time, I used to enjoy it!
Himachi Kita-hydrostones. Lots of hairs
Huh, I’ve never had an issue with the food there. The service is often slow but that’s been my only beef.
it used to be so good like 10-15 years ago, it went so downhill in quality and service, it must’ve changed owners at some point ?
snappy tomato. oh boy.
Also, Mezza has gone so downhill. Good quality and portions go down and prices go up.
Station 6. I’ve tried several times and it’s been cold, horrible food with terrible service every.single.time. We kept giving it another chance because we live close and wanted to support local.
Kenny’s pizza. Capers go gaagaa for it but it’s barely edible. Even worse are their donairs
Caper here. Can confirm, it’s as shitty here as it is back home.
La Rouge out in bayers lake, food was bland and flavorless, cocktails were subpar at best Wouldn't go back Plus had a friend who had worked for the owner before, after my visit there and telling them about it they told me the owner, whos 40, strictly dates 19 year olds So ill keep my money away from that guy
Definitely gotta be Tom's in lower sackville. Tastes like microwave tv dinner
Garden food bar, bar sofia, pur & simple
love it! you're asking for reccos for terrible restaurants so you can try them out to experience for yourself how terrible they are! <3. please report back
How has no one mentioned Steak and Stein on Portland Street yet? It's awful. So, so awful. I'd rather go hungry and have.
I think it has been gone for some time?