Easy Street Diner — Restaurant in Halifax

A traditional diner experience elevated; Easy Street Diner has just opened this weekend and is already one of the most promising new restaurants this year in Halifax.

Service is wonderful. Kelly-Jo and co are very friendly and passionate about their business. Picking up a take-out order is a delightful experience. When I had a concern about the online ordering process, Kelly-Jo empathized and provided a business card so I could keep in touch on the matter, which I greatly appreciated.

If you were a fan of The Jetsons growing up, you'll immediately feel at home with the retro space tourism vibe. The team did a beautiful job renovating the building and turning it into a unique dine-in experience. Inside you'll find a vintage Pepsi-Cola machine, a lovely blue and white color scheme with green highlights, and incredible murals and tilework. Unfortunately, I was unable to try dining in since Nova Scotia is currently under a take-out only restriction.

Take-out ordering can be done using the TouchBistro website, which makes it very convenient and stress-free for me to order. One misconception I had was that I would receive a text message when the order is ready. But instead, it's as easy as arriving at the restaurants 20 minutes after ordering, as the team is incredibly consistent with having orders ready.

The food is best described as made with love. Modern comfort food in a retro space tourism theme is a striking combination. Everything is flavorful and impactful. So far, I've ordered these plates: The Breakfast Scoff, Fried Chicken & Biscuits (with white sausage gravy), and a side order of fries. The Breakfast Scoff is the highlight so far for me, and it is available all day too! I received a ton of shredded potato alongside 2 eggs your style (you can get an extra egg for just $1), 2 slices of toast, and 5-6 pieces of meat; you can choose which meat/s to include and split between. Compared to other breakfast plates I've had in Nova Scotia, this one had the best taste of all. The thick cut fries are also a highlight; they are thick, crispy, and well-salted. The fried chicken and biscuits were also delectable, with the fried chicken crispy outside and moist inside. I dislike gravy, but I decided to try the white sausage gravy with the chicken/biscuits and even I kind of liked it, so you know it's good!

There are also many inclusive options available for gluten-free and vegan diets! While the menu is starting out small for now, I'm excited to see how it may develop over time.

Two things I would like to address are the menu descriptions and prices.

The restaurant's print menu can be aligned better with the online Touch Bistro menu for takeout orders. The print menu includes some descriptions that TouchBistro is missing. For example, the TouchBistro website does not mention what the 'Toad in the Hole' meal is, so I need to go to the restaurant's Facebook page to find an image of their print menu which describes that it is 2pcs of toast with fried egg in the center, then I return to TouchBistro to complete my takeout order. On the contrary, I noticed the print menu doesn't specify sandwiches/burgers come with fries; TouchBistro does mention the included fries though.

It's worth noting that prices are higher than alternative diner and breakfast options. After taxes and tips, expect to pay ~$20 per person on average, even more if you include dessert; the desserts look incredible so it will be tough to resist :). Freeman's across the street also has a big breakfast plate that includes 3 eggs instead of 2 eggs for a couple dollars less. For some, the higher prices at Easy Street will be harder to justify. For me, considering it is a family run business, terrific service + atmosphere, and lovely food that stands out from the competition, I feel it is worth it.

Congratulations team on the restaurant opening! All of you are doing awesome. Personally, I'm looking forward to inviting my family to Easy Street next time they are in the city to get their reactions to the atmosphere, service,...

Tried here for lunch on a sunny Tuesday in June. (their 2nd week opened?) There was no 'wait to be seated' sign when you enter the foyee area, so we walked past the main service/display counter and took a table toward the rear. There were already three or four tables taken and this was probably about 11:45. I think there are about ten tables in total right now (during covid times) with actually a separate room divided off but that you can see right into via a half wall/window. Very bright with lots of natural light coming in. Clean, minimalistic atmosphere with a few nice decorative touches. A young server took our order and made a mistake, which was corrected by the manager/owner? She was pleasant and apologetic. My friend had ordered the Breakfast Scoff (2 eggs, toast, shredded potato hashbrowns, choice of bacon, sausage, bologna or turkey bacon. 13.50) He asked for his eggs well done/very hard, but they came out sunny side up. It was fixed rather quickly though, so no big deal. The portion sizes are not huge like you get most places, but I am actually okay with that at lunch because I don't want a huge meal then. I tasted some of his hashbrowns and found them delicious (my style preference). I got the burger & fries and loved them. Simple, homemade patty was juicy with a soft bun, full of flavor. Fresh cut fries were cooked to perfection (I hate mine overdone, which happens at a lot of places as well). I asked what pies were available for dessert, and there were none that day, so we left without dessert. My friend is not overly anxious to go back, but I look forward to trying some other things soon.

2nd visit: Saturday brunch around 10am, the same week as above, so I WAS back soon! LOL The place was busy in that most tables were taken, but there was no wait. Really friendly male staff working this time, who seated me immediately. I tried the daily special, a vegan burrito. (whole wheat tortilla, tightly rolled and sliced in half, stuffed with corn, tofu chickpea scramble, red pepper spread, spinach. Overall, a touch of heat and very flavorful. It didn't come with a side, which I found surprising, but it was enough on its own, with refillable coffee. I am a big eater, but in the morning, was definitely enough to be satisfied.

3rd visit: first customers to arrive at 11:30 for lunch on a sunny Wednesday. Took the table of our choice. Very friendly male server working today, who used to be a well known staff member at Athens before they closed. My friend and I tried root beer floats today, which were good, and brought with the remaining root beer in the 500ml Mug bottles, to top ours up as we drank from the glasses. He tried the hot hamburger, which came as ground beef and I would like, but he prefers sliced meat. Cleaned the plate and seemed to get the comfort food satisfaction experience out of it anyway. I tried their daily special (a vegan wrap with whole wheat tortilla, quinoa, black beans, green onion, other veg, drizzled with a spicy mayo) which was very tasty, side of fries.

4th visit: lunch with two coworkers at 11:45 on a hot, sunny Wednesday. Very friendly service again. I tried the hot dog (which I don't see on their online menu today) but it was very good with sauerkraut, mustard, ketchup, relish in a fresh, soft bun and cooked well (kind of crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside). Got a side of onion rings which are not the type that I like (I prefer thinner and almost crunchy), but these are thicker and juicier if that is your style, still done well nonetheless. Was so full. My two coworkers both got the 2 pc fish & chips and were very happy with the taste, portion size, texture, etc. I got a cherry milkshake to go and thought it was odd that there were still cherries at the bottom of the shake, almost fully intact. Not sure if that is on purpose or not? But it still tasted good anyway, I just didn't eat the cherries themselves. Will still be...

I honestly hate leaving negative reviews, I know everyone is working hard, and I love supporting small local businesses. I just moved into the area, and the reviews I read were mostly positive, so I thought it would be a good go to spot. Unfortunately, I just don’t think the 4.8 rating is accurate for this place, as I didn’t have a good experience at all. The place was busy, really a good sign, but very loud. They warned us that things were “chaotic” but the service was very inattentive overall, with us having to ask several times for coffee refills etc. I wanted to order the Benny with avocado, listed online for $19, but found that it wasn’t on the menu, and ordered the one with tomato and mushrooms, for $3 more. I found the food to be bland overall. My hollandaise sauce was very vinegary and the home fries were unseasoned, dry and not crispy. When we gave our dissatisfied feedback at the end, it wasn’t met with a lot of interest. We were told it would be passed on to the owner, and after a brief disappearance the server came back and didn’t say anything, just handed us our bills. Absolutely not in anyway worth the $30 I paid.

Edit: I wanted to add an addition to my review, based on the thoughtful and genuine response from the owner.

While our overall experience was negative, it seems like there was definitely some miscommunication occurring as well.

I understand that it’s difficult and expensive to modify a space for acoustics, but I just wanted to be honest as some people are sensitive to loud environments.

Also, being short staffed definitely contributed to the service, and I recognize that is not anyone’s fault. However, did affect the service.

We didn’t bring up the issues with the owner because we didn’t know she was the owner, and also because we don’t like to complain, and came to some of these conclusions after processing on the way home. Also, I don’t think we should have to ask for a refund, or discount, I felt like if there was a genuine effort to improve the experience, it would have been a conversation. Honestly, we probably wouldn’t have taken a refund anyway because, yes we did eat our meals, in an effort not to be wasteful. However, I didn’t finish my potatoes and my guest didn’t finish his a lot of his meat, because it was burnt in one case and under cooked in another. He did tell the server this when we were about to pay.

Our server left with our bills without saying much, and then returned a few minutes later, with the same bills and didn’t say anything. So there was no communication with us about what had been discussed.

I simply wanted to share my honest experience. As a former small business owner, I always appreciated honest feedback, especially negative, so I could work to be better. This was...