Mark Giffin is not looking for a pity parade. Even as the owner and chef behind The Coastal Cafe prepares for his last service in just a few weeks—the building he’s fried thousands of eggs and poured several more thousands of coffees in over 16 years soon to be sold to the HRM to pave […]
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Local shopping, small business & consumer news
Posted inFood + Drink
First look at Walter’s Snack Bar, downtown Halifax’s newest cocktail bar
Jacob Carey Paradis is polishing glasses, peeling oranges and stocking ice when The Coast swings by for a visit on a rainy May afternoon. Despite the gloomy weather, the mood is bright—Anderson .Paak’s Malibu floats over the bar stereo, and Carey Paradis is singing along. It’s been quite the week for the 26-year-old co-manager of […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax stoner institution MaryJanes Smoke Shop reaches end of the roll
Call it a blunt ending, if you will: Longtime Halifax cannabis accessory store MaryJanes Smoke Shop is no more. As of April 13, the mural-adorned bud bazaar of Pizza Corner (1549 Grafton Street) has displayed a “For Rent” sign in its front window, and both the business’s website and telephone number are no longer active. […]
Posted inFood + Drink
First look at Salt + Ash, downtown Halifax’s hottest new restaurant
You might smell like a bonfire—in a good way, that cozy summertime way—when you leave the Salt + Ash Beach House (1741 Lower Water Street downtown Halifax). Salt + Ash opened its doors earlier this month, the sixth restaurant to launch in the Queen’s Marque district at the hands of the Freehand Hospitality group (which […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Good Robot’s opening a new space next to the Halifax Common—and the brewery wants your input
Halifax’s north end is getting another brewery space. Good Robot’s co-founders have taken over the former Hook ‘Em and Cook ‘Em seafood bar at 2223 North Park Street, The Coast has learned. And while there’s no firm news on when the site might reopen under Good Robot’s stewardship—nor whether it will bear the same Good […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Halifax’s year in food was a whole smorgasbord
Call it anything you want, but Halifax’s year of cafe, bar and restaurant openings, closings, re-openings and industry gossip certainly wasn’t boring. The year 2022 brought our fine Atlantic city a chef’s plateful of new waterfront restaurants, a weeklong war over pizza, an ownership change to a north end institution and a labour shortage (or […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Take a look inside Halifax’s first barbershop on wheels
It’s a frostbitten Wednesday afternoon on Gottingen Street, and barber Mohammad Nabelsi has a hair trimmer trained on the back of his latest client’s neck. From inside his mobile barbershop—a Ford Transit van converted into a full-service haircutting setup—the Damascus-raised Nabelsi glances at the mirror and adjusts his clippers’ settings. Dressed in a white button-down, […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Meet the 2SLGBTQ+ artists reshaping Halifax’s beauty industry
Julien Grey will not go quietly into the night. As an openly trans esthetician in Lower Sackville, they’ve made a point of rallying for gender-inclusive services—from haircuts to Brazilian waxes—within Halifax’s beauty industry. “I’m loud,” the diminutive Grey, who uses they/them pronouns, tells The Coast. “People shouldn’t be denied services for the body parts they […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
How to beat Halifax’s sriracha shortage
If you’ve wandered the aisles of your nearest big box grocery store in the last few months, you might’ve stumbled upon something troubling and unfamiliar—no, not the armed Halifax police officers in the bread aisle this time, or “some dumb kid” at the checkout asking if you’d like a discount. An “unprecedented” crop shortage, first […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
North end favourite Dee Dee’s Ice Cream is getting new owners
After serving delicious homemade ice cream for nearly 20 years, founder of Dee Dee’s Ice Cream Ditta Kasdan is ready to retire. She assures her loyal customers that the Cornwallis Street institution is in good hands. Filling Kasdan’s shoes are Jenna Mooers, co-owner of CHKN CHOP and Lindsay MacPhee, owner of the Floatation Centre. Kasdan […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The Tare Shop fundraiser takes off
Halifax’s first zero-waste store, The Tare Shop, opened in early October 2018 at 5539 Cornwallis Street in Halifax’s north end. Forging ahead at full steam with the support of Halifax’s eco-conscious oceanside inhabitants, The Tare Shop opened its second location, a downtown Dartmouth branch at 21 Portland Street, in January 2021. Then came the worldwide […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Convenience store owner Joe Thomeh retires after 46 years
In 1976, Joe Thomeh opened Thomeh’s Market Kwik-Way Convenience Store at the corner of Cornwallis and Maynard Streets, in Halifax’s north end. The two-storey building with red bricks on the bottom and matching red shingles on top is now overshadowed by nearby highrises and apartment buildings. Its letterboard sign has read “MILKHOMO” for as long […]