Chain Yard Urban Cidery & Taproom — Restaurant in Halifax

We came here and were immensely delighted by the selection of ciders on tap, and generally happy with the food.

We ordered a pair of flights, to taste each and every house and guest cider on tap. Our favourites were the semi-dry 'Foundation' (quite delightful), 'Hopped Up' (tasted novel to our palettes), and gin-infused Ginx (totally amazing!). The intrepid was so-so (just didn't have a lot of character) and we ultimately just weren't feeling the guest taps. We had a great server who was willing to walk us through what flavour profiles to expect, which was appreciated given the lack of descriptions on the menu for the guest taps, especially.

The flights were fairly priced at $10.50 for four ciders, and they include the option to have the guest taps (other breweries: take note!).

The food was mostly hit, but had a few misses. We ordered the cauliflower tacos as well as the ribs. The fillings of the tacos were amazing -- a great mix of textures and flavours that brought everything together -- but the experience of the tacos was weakened by the actual shell. We don't know where they were from (they seemed to have come from a freezer) but they took away from the taco dish. The ribs were very nice; for the price of $13 we got 5 ribs plus a bedding of peach hash. While the ribs really stole the show -- they were well marinated and brushed with a delightful chocolate infused sauce -- the hash was 'meh'. We saw peach shreddings but didn't taste them at all. We guess orange is a novel colour to add to hash?

On the whole, we'd happily come back. The food was tasty and well worth the price. We found some ciders we liked. And the bar was a fun...

I miss the breakfast poutine! But I will survive. I love Chainyard for trivia and brunch, it’s a super simple menu and they’ve got a great rotating tap of their best tasting bubblies. I enjoy a nice cider so this place is my jam and there’s something for everyone. It’s easy to get to if you don’t mind Halifax roads, it is accessible and they have a baby/kid-friendly environment (change table in bathroom). They have a calendar at the front with their upcoming events too. I usually make a reservation for most places, but here, they usually have some bar space if the tables are taken. The only thing I can say is don’t care for is the seating! The chairs are metal and so are the stools — I don’t mind industrial decor and design, but I still want to feel comfy if I’m eating sunny side eggs and writing (or whatever else they offer on a good day). The benches are lined with some leather cushions if you’re sitting against the wall. I’ve only had bad food once, it was over fried chicken and waffles but it was a couple years ago and not worth complaining about in a big party. They do have a patio and other events...

Very cute atmosphere, unfortunately the place seemed to have very poor hygiene practices. Shortly after we sat down I saw one of the cooks leave the kitchen to use the washroom. He had a dish rag hanging from his waste, which is gross enough as that shouldn’t be taken into the bathroom, but to make matters worse the rag was so brown and dirty looking. He came back out of the bathroom with the same rag attached. I ordered a Coke. It came in a can and the can was filthy on top. Black bits of dirt all over it. I took it back to the bar to get a new one and the waitress rinsed it off and brought it back to me. It was already opened so who knows how much of the dirt was washed into my drink. During my meal I had a view of the kitchen and watched another cook scratched his back aggressively with his bare hand and then put someone’s meal up for the servers to take. Just gross all around. To top it all off, when the bill came we were charged $23 for the chicken tacos, even though it says $20 on the menu. The waitress fixed it but it’s a bit sketch that the prices on the bill don’t...