I’m in Stratford, Ontario for a couple of days. I’ve never been and it’s quite a pretty city from what I’ve seen so far. Any recommendations for food?
The 2023 and onwards [Stratford, Ontario] thread
I visit around once every 3 weeks year-round.
For coffee, I mostly visit Revel and Balzac’s.
At the Stratford Sunday Market in the town square, which runs from 10 am to 2 pm , I like Alchemy Bakery. I’m friends with the owner, who teaches pastry at the Stratford Chef School.
Stratford Sunday Market on Instagram
What kind of food would you like to eat?
Lovage looks nice. I haven’t been yet.
https://www.lovagestratford.com/
For upscale dining, I like Bijou. I have been dining there for over 20 years.
The Prune has also been around for decades. Chef Mike Booth, who works at the Prune also teaches at the Chef’s School. I took classes from him and Chef Baxter for several years. Portions tend to be on the small side at the Prune. I haven’t been since 2019.
For sandwiches, I like Sirkel Foods. Sirkel Foods is take-out only, and only open Monday to Friday. York Street Kitchen is temporarily closed.
Places I would not dine, if I had a limited amount of time in Stratford: Pazzo and Fellini’s.
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Recently I liked Bijou and the Bruce for finer dining, Mercer Kitchen for more casual fare (with an excellent craft beer selection), and Café Bouffon for French-inspired brunch (crêpes, croque Monsieur, etc.) Planning to try Lovage later this summer.
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Thanks for the replies. We ended up going to the Mercer Kitchen which was one of the few restaurants open on Monday and had their bao. Nice looking place and the bao were quite good.
Since no one had gone to Lovage, that’s the one we decided to try. Cute place with excellent food. We had the shrimp and aguachile verde, the rabbit and foie gras pate, the white asparagus and the potato paillasson. If you’re in Stratford, it’s worth going to.
Stratford is such a pretty town. I know we’ll be back (maybe on a weekend), and when we return, look forward to trying your other suggestions.
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So happy you enjoyed the restaurants you tried.
I will check out Lovage soon. 
You’ll enjoy Lovage. I wanted to try others, but arriving on a Monday means most places are closed. Some restaurants didn’t open until Wednesday.
I honestly think Stratford is the most charming town in Ontario I’ve visited.
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3 other charming towns I recommend visiting, if you have visited them yet:
Picton
Perth
Creemore
Bayfield
I like visiting Stratford during the week, when I can.
I forgot how busy it gets. I passed through on Saturday on my way to Toronto from London, and I couldn’t find easy parking to grab my usual coffee from Revel or Balzac’s.
It’s nice to see Stratford getting lots of visitors.
From 2008-2019, I usually was seeing 6 or more plays at Stratford each summer and fall. We often went to see the Sunday matinée, and a lot of the nicer restaurants were not open Sunday nights. As a result, we often were going to the casual restaurant at the Bruce Hotel on Sundays, after the matinée. It has a small menu and a small patio, a few blocks away from downtown.
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The apple galette from Downie St Bakehouse
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A last minute trip to Stratford today with The Bruce restaurant as our dinner destination.
Though the food was all right, there was a distinct lack of seasoning and spice in all the dishes. When you looked around and realized the crowd was mainly blue hairs and dinner jackets, it made sense. Nothing was bad, but nothing was memorable. Lovage was far better from the atmosphere to the food. Big J and I had a chuckle playing name that tune to the piano muzac in the dining room. Guns and Roses played slowly on a Steinway? Amusing and a bit subversive. I won’t be going back, but that’s just me.
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we used to go to the Bruce’s patio, which has a small bar menu on Sundays, after the matinee, mostly because it was one of the few restaurants open for dinner on Sundays from 2010ish-2019.
We only ate in the more formal dining room once, the year the Bruce opened.
