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Oh, hi everyone. Happy Thursday. And Happy Best of Food day! You dined and dished on your favourite bars and restos in town, and after much tabulating we're serving up the results. Old reliables! Big upsets! Major meal inspiration!

Find it all HERE.

Thanks again for voting, Halifax. You've got great taste.

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• The Hideaway signs off

John Mihelcic and Hope Francis, owners of 5677 Brenton Place's The Hideaway Pub & Grille, announced today via Facebook that their cozy, downtown hangout had closed.

Citing a "harsh reality of Halifax in the winter" and the "lack of regular patrons" as the main problems the Hideaway faced since opening, it was financial strain that forced the resto's owners to make the tough call in the end. The Hideaway Pub & Grille opened in the former Cellar Bar and Grill in November.

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Today, one of Halifax's most iconic bars and Best of Halifax Hall of Famer, the Economy Shoe Shop (1663 Argyle Street), is celebrating 18 years in the business of great drinks, great nachos and an atmosphere that keeps people coming back (or maybe keeps them from leaving). To celebrate the occasion, from 11:30am—just in time for your lunch break—until 2am there'll be live music all day and toasts every hour on the hour, because why not?

Happy birthday to you, Shoe Shop!

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Sayonara to Hamachi Grill & Sushi House (644 Portland Street, 444-4688). After five years, the Dartmouth location is closed, Teppanyaki table and all.

The restaurant is shutting down due to issues with the current economic situation. Hamachi’s loyal following can rest assured the four locations in Halifax and Bedford South will remain open and Teppanyaki dining is available at their waterfront Bishop’s Landing restaurant.

In addition, the staff customers have known to love will be transferred to other Hamachi restaurants.

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• This sunny corner of Argyle's seen a lot of action

The corner of Prince and Argyle Streets, now home to the The Carleton Music Bar & Grill (1685 Argyle Street, 422-6335), has always been a prime piece of real estate. Halifax’s first governor Sir Richard Bulkeley, a known entertainer, chose this spot to build his mansion. and the doors were officially opened in 1760 to a plethora of guests including Prince Edward and Sir Guy Carleton, the then Governor General of Canada who Bulkeley decided to name his house after.

The Carleton House became a lot more musical when Mike Campbell and Mike Rhodes opened its oak doors once again in the spring of 2008. The goal of entertaining remained but this time the co-owners had a vision of a hybrid music venue-restaurant.

It’s safe to say that their vision has been realized because the establishment has hosted approximately 1,000 nights and counting of not only intimate music but also great food and drinks. Plus, the proof is in the hardware—it's won two ECMAs and four Nova Scotia Music Awards in a row, all for Venue of the Year. Amd this month marks the fifth anniversary of the bar.

Musicians and patrons alike have made many memories at The Carleton since its rebirth in 2008. It was admittedly hard for Campbell to choose a favourite memory out of so many from his five years, but he puts Lloyd Cole's performance at the Halifax Urban Folk Festival at the top of the list. This was a ‘holy shit moment’ for Campbell because when he worked at MuchMusic, where he met current business partner Rhodes, Cole was on constant rotation.

As for the next five years, the owner hopes that the bar will live long enough to earn legendary status like Toronto’s Horseshoe Tavern, his self-proclaimed second home while he lived in the city. “I want to see us at the forefront of a burgeoning live music scene in Halifax. I want to see a resurgence of it,” says Campbell of the future. “I’d like to be able to provide a space where people trust that even if they don’t know who is on stage, they know it will be great.”

In true Carleton fashion, they are celebrating with a two week long series of concerts (check out Aidan Knight and co. TONIGHT) that'll conclude with Three Sheet and Anna Ludlow on May 17. Get your tickets either online or at the door and join in on the party.

Why the change? Why not!  “We’ve been thinking about it for a while and there’s quite a demand for that kind of stuff, so we tested the market and everyone was overwhelmed so we decided to go full blast with it,” says owner Dan Latter. He's particularly enthusiastic about the new chicken poutine, which he says people are coming in more then once a week to enjoy. Uh, yum!

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• Happy patio peeps at Chianti

The end of May marks 25 years of Café Chianti (1245 Barrington Street, 423-7471) and the restaurant is launching a new menu to celebrate!

With a new chef, Terry Vassallo (who formerly wowed at Lunenburg eatery Trattoria Della Nonna) and 25 new items on their menu, Café Chianti is celebrating its quarter-decade anniversary quietly but in a way that definitely won’t disappoint its loyal customers.

The restaurant has remained open despite being put out of business temporarily —and almost closing for good— after a fire in January 2010. It was because of encouragement from loyal customers, Café Chianti moved around the corner and it has all been downhill from there.

“It put so much stress on us that we were thinking of not opening but we got so many calls from our customers encouraging us, I guess we are a part of the neighbourhood, and people sent us letters of encouragement and we decided to give it one more try,” says Jan Wicha, the resto's owner.

Chiani’s food, which Wicha describes as combining Eastern European cuisine with a little bit of Italian influence, is going to be a little more “mainstream Italian” now.

Additions to the menu include homemade gnocchi made with spinach and potato pasta, raviolis made with roasted butternut squash, grilled leeks and marsceponi with lobster sage and brown butter cream, steak, and of course, seafood. Vassallo’s also a pizza expert who will be bringing pizza to Café Chianti with flat thin dough and fresh ingredients.

Wicha says he thinks one of the keys to their success has been appealing to Halifax’s Eastern European population, as the homemade food is a tasty reminder of their roots. Adding that even the pasta and bread are made on the premises. With all that deliciousness, let’s hope for 25 more years of Café Chianti.

Mary’s Place Café II (5982 Spring Garden Road) is smoking! Well, hookah, that is.

The downtown Middle Eastern restaurant now offers hookah from 7pm until midnight every night and there’s a new menu for hookah hours, which includes falafel wraps, chicken shawarma and dips like hummus, baba ghanoush and more. To smoke a hookah, it’s 10 dollars and after that, it’s only five to “change a head” (to refill the shisha, essentially). All you have to do is order some food, even if it’s just an appetizer, pick your flavour and start inhaling. The flavours available currently are double apple, grape, guava, cherry, mango and even more. And the fun doesn’t stop there; Mary’s also has backgammon and card games to entertain during hookah hours.

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• Coming soon, to a mouth near you

Local vegans (and hungry people in general, for that matter) prepare to say many thank-yous to Kirsten Taggart. By the end of May, your life (and diet) will be a lot greater thanks to her.

She’s the brains, and culinary skills behind the Wild Leek Food & Juice Bar (2156 Windsor Street, 210-5335) the vegan restaurant that’s in the process of taking over the former Gracious Indian’s space, brightening things up with a bright green coat of paint. After studying culinary arts, and working with many styles of food, in many cities across the country, Taggart moved to Nova Scotia five years ago, around the same time she went vegan. Her realization of her lifestyle-meets-work dream is the Wild Leek, offering a fully vegan menu, daily specials, quiches, soups breakfast burritos and fresh juices and smoothies. This resto isn’t just aimed at vegans, but good food lovers. “You don't have to be vegan to eat vegan food. It’s just about the experience of trying something new and fresh,” says Taggart who’ll offer cooking classes as well as her seasonally inspired menu, and a wall of urban art that'll change monthly. "Community is very important to me, and since I moved here it is what drives me to invite others to share my space and love."

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 “We have been working to rebuild our supply of beer,” says Wade Keller, spokesperson for Oland. “Several brands were affected, but we are now caught up and cans are being shipped to liquor stores.  In places where there was a shortage, that should be resolved by now, or will be resolved shortly."

Keller says the machinery took longer to fix than usual but the problem has now been solved.

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We love it when a restaurant pops up and really fills a void in the food scene. The newbie Cafe Karachi (16 Titus Street, 431-4949) is doing just that, serving fresh, home-cooked Pakistani and Indian cuisine. This Sunday (May 12, 10am-2pm) Karachi’s cooking up a centuries-old, traditional Pakistani “lazy breakfast” that’ll feature national dishes, plus classics like kebabs and tikkas. Pairing laziness and tasty eats? You don’t have to ask us twice.

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• Flipburger Argyle will look a lot like this one

The burger mania continues! If you didn’t think there were enough burger places in Halifax, then you’ll be happy to know Flipburger is opening a new location downtown. Owner Chris Tzaneteas says it is set to open some time between the middle and end of June.

Fans of the Clayton Park burger haven will be able to enjoy burgers flipped and served from the corner of Argyle and Blowers streets (1565 Argyle to be exact), exactly where Tzaneteas’ former restaurant Ela! Greek Taverna (which closed in November) dazzled for years. The new location will be similar to its Clayton Park twin and will be self-serving, but will cater to the downtown crowd and stay open late—Tzaneteas says around midnight most nights, and 2am Thursday through Saturday—and, get this, it will have a liquor license.

“I think it will do tremendously, I’m feeling optimistic about downtown these days,” says Tzaneteas. And boy, is that refreshing to hear.

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• Authentically delicious

When David Fillmore and Elizabeth Acosta started selling traditional Mexican food at the Historic Farmers’ Market two years ago, it was a bit of a test. The pair knew they wanted to open a restaurant, but were the bellies of the HRM grumbling for authentic Mexican eats? The answer was a resounding yes. The next move brought Que Tal Mexican Food over to the Alderney Farmers’ Market in Dartmouth, and then to catering for private parties and now, they’re set to open that restaurant they’ve been plotting since 2011, at 635 Portland Hills Drive in Dartmouth this Saturday.

Finishing and decorating the space mostly themselves, incorporating handcrafts and artisan tiles straight from Acosta’s native Mexico, these two have been working non-stop to get ready for the weekend—Que Tal Restaurante Mexicano is already booked solid for Saturday’s dinner. And with a loyal following built over the last two years, it’s no wonder.

“I'm so excited to bring some Mexican culture here. We want to go outside of the stereotype that we all eat tacos and super spicy salsas,” says Acosta, who uses many traditional, passed-down recipes. “There’s lots of tradition and we want to bring all of that heritage and help people know a little bit more about the culture.” Looking to their friends at the market for many ingredients, Que Tal will definitely focus on the local, making everything fresh—from salsas to corn tortillas—Acosta says its very important to her to know where the food is coming from. “The kitchen is open concept with a big glass window,” she says. “Everything is about being transparent and delivering a very high quality product.”

Offering lunch and dinner Monday through Friday, and adding breakfast to the mix on Saturdays, Acosta hopes that Que Tal will fill a family restaurant void she sees in the area. But family-friendly certainly doesn’t mean it’ll be free of party, there’ll be a tequila margarita bar, too.

For regular market-goers worried about the now renowned stand disappearing from your Saturday routine, worry not, Que Tal will remain at the Historic Farmers’ Market, but not until it gets this big opening weekend out of the way.