Starfresh Modern Diner
20 Wright Avenue
Dish: Plate Breakfast
Served: Monday-Friday, 6:30-11am
Price: $5.95
Medium coffee: $1.50
After years catering for TV and film, Lisa Barry knows how to keep people well-fuelled. Her little Burnside diner arrived on the scene just before Christmas, offering home-cooked eats and in-house baked goods to the hardworking business park folk Monday through Friday, and cheap breakfast is among the dishes people are raving about. "People really love the potatoes," says Barry of her classic plate—which also includes two eggs, toast and bacon, ham or sausage—but she also recommends Starfresh's breakfast burrito ($4.50). "You'll get hooked on them."
Bluenose II
1824 Hollis Street
Dish: Two Eggs Combo
Price: $6.75
Served: All day
Medium Coffee: $2.50
It's smooth sailing on the Bluenose II, which could also be dubbed the S.S. Over Easy. Among the Greek eats, diner dishes and lobster, there's a lengthy menu of breakfast eats—eggs benny, pancakes, French toast. But the best deal keeps it simple, two eggs, your choice of pork product and toast, for dunking in your runny yolks, for $6.75. The service is quick, the vibe's cozy and the coffee supply is as deep as the Atlantic. Plus it's two-for-one Monday and Tuesday until 11:30am.
Greek Village
2733 Agricola Street
Dish: Breakfast Special
Price: $6.25
Served: Tuesday-Friday, 8am-11:30am, weekends 8am-3pm
Medium coffee: $2
Last year, when Stefanos Kalogeras announced his cozy Quinpool restaurant was closing due to illness, hearts broke. With nearly 50 years of cooking up traditional Greek eats (and a stick-to-your-ribs breakfast) under his apron, his presence was missed... especially in the morning. That is, until he reappeared on Agricola early this year. While Greek Village's full breakfast menu—the special includes Two eggs, home fries, toast, bacon, sausage, ham or tomato—is served daily until 5:45pm, this cheap deal is worth scheduling into your day. Welcome back to the Village, people.
Janina's
202 Brownlow Avenue
Dish: Classic Breakfast
Price: $4.50
Served: Monday-Friday, 7am-11am
Medium coffee: $1.75
If you want to start your day right, have your breakfast served to you with a side of smiles from one of the wonderful folks at Janina's. If you're bleary-eyed in dreary ol' Burnside, getting a head start on your day, their classic breakfast—two eggs, crispy bacon and toast—is the foundation to build work day on. Early bird breakfast starts at 7am, but late birds have until 11am. Also: I'm pretty sure if any restaurant in the city literally uses love as a secret ingredient, it's this place.
Athens Restaurant
6273 Quinpool Road
Dish: The Standard
Price: $7.49
Served: until 4pm
Medium Coffee: Included until 11:30am
Classic family-run restaurants are the place to be for reliable breakfast, and Athens is no different—whether you're piling into a booth with your whiny siblings, or seeking hangover comfort with your housemates, you can count on the Panopalis family. Like a lot of the dishes in this roundup, The Standard offers your eggs, potatoes and toast, but what makes it exceptional is the meat situation. The choice isn't just your standard bacon, sausage or ham, options also include perogies, falafel, a pancake and beans.
Nena's Breakfast House
273 Wyse Road
Dish: Early Bird Special
Price: $4.95
Served: Every day, 6am-10am
Medium coffee: $1.50
Ask anybody's dad and they'll tell you: an all-day breakfast is a beautiful thing. It's true, and Nena's was founded on the concept. But even Nena knows that people want to be healthy, wealthy, and wise, so they are especially ready for those who are early to rise. You can get breakfasts of all descriptions all day long, but from 6am-10am you can stick to using whatever loonies and toonies are clanking around in your pockets and hit up the early bird, which is as easy as 1-2-3: one order of toast, two eggs, three slices of bacon.
Mary's Place
2752 Robie Street
Dish: All-Day Breakfast
Price: $6.99
Served: All day
Medium coffee: $2
There are so many things about Mary's. The sunken-in booths. The Middle Eastern meals. The vegan options. The endless coffee. But above all, we appreciate the dedication to breakfast. Get your eggs and greasy meats here all day, every day and do not forget to add the potent—and perfect—garlic sauce to those potatoes (not a suggestion, a must). This particular all day breakfast special includes the usual two eggs, your choice of meat, toast and potatoes, but ask nicely and you might be able to sub out that bacon for falafel.
Cousin's Restaurant
3545 Robie Street
Dish: Breakfast Special
Price: $5.20
Served: Monday-Friday, 7am-11am, weekends 8am-4pm
Medium coffee: $1.50
Cousin's is a great unifier, a restaurant that everybody can agree on. A big parking lot, tons of seating, an easy atmosphere, good food—it has it all. Even your grandparents will agree. Lots of breakfast options, but it's the early bird special (until 11am) that is the real draw. Breakfast is $5.20 before 11:30, but if you let it roll over into brunch-time, you can still get it for $6.95 on the weekends. That's two eggs, toast, home fries and bacon, ham or sausage.
Resolutes Club
5461 Inglis Street
Dish: The Hangover Cure
Price: $5.50
Served: Saturday and Sunday, 11:30am-3pm
Medium coffee: $1.50
They say that there are perks to being a member, and that has never been more true than it is at the Resolutes Club. By night, between rounds of shuffleboard or pool, you can handily procure the ultimate hangover at the bar, and on Saturdays and Sundays you can go back for the cure (as seen on the cover): two eggs, bacon (or ham, if you want to start the day off by continuing to make the wrong choices), toast and home fries. Nurse that hangover in the shadows of the dining room, or sit in the sunshine at the front. Either way, the folks at Resolutes will keep your coffee topped up, just like the doctor ordered.
The Esquire Restaurant
772 Bedford Highway
Dish: Combo #3
Price: $7.49
Served: Every day
Medium coffee: Included
What's the brass ring when it comes to cheap breakfasts? Coffee included. And at Esquire, their breakfast combos include your cup o' joe. There are a few options—the lightest coming with just one egg and some toast—but Combo #3 is the classic. Two eggs, toast and your choice of four fabulous meats: bacon, sausage, ham and—for those who are serious about their diner breakfasts—bologna!
Elle's Bistro
1678 Barrington Street
Dish: Breakfast Special
Price: $6.95
Served: All day
Medium Coffee: $1.95
Mary Elle Planetta learned from Halifax diner royalty over at Cousin's what a great cheap breakfast looks like. After over decade working at the Robie Street mainstay, serving up more early bird specials than you'll see in a lifetime, she opened her own neighbourhood joint downtown late last year, bringing all-day breakfast to Barrington. And praise be to bacon for that. Eggs are frying all day long here, but there's a bonus to those of you "morning people": any breakfast dish over $5.95 is a dollar off before 10am.
Grand Finales
109 Ilsley Ave #11
Dish: Finale Special
Price: $5.99
Served: Monday-Friday, 7am-11am
Medium coffee: $1.59
The finales aren't the only grand things at this Burnside diner, their beginnings are pretty great, too. This restaurant specializes in home cooking and hospitality, so pull up a chair, grab and coffee and enjoy the Finale Special on weekday mornings. That's two eggs, bacon or sausage, home fries and toast. The low price means you won't have to feel guilty about indulging in one of the cookies wrapped up at the counter on the way out.
Jim's Family Seafood Restaurant
243 Bedford Highway
Dish: All-Day Breakfast
Price: $6.79
Served: All day
Medium coffee: $1.99
Up at the crack of noon? Starting your day at 6pm? No matter when you breakfast, Jim's is there for you. This is your classic family restaurant in your classic family neighbourhood, Bedford. They've got big ol' servings of classic diner favourites, and a decently priced all day breakfast of two eggs, bacon, toast, and home fries. Another two bucks gets you a bottomless cup of coffee.
Ardmore Tea Room
6499 Quinpool Road
Dish: Early Bird
Price: $3.99
Served: Daily, 5-11am
Medium Coffee: $1.99
The fact that the Ardmore cues up its grill at the horrendous hour of 5am says a lot. This place is dedicated to the early birds, the breakfast addicts and sodium needs of the severely hungover. The Hollandaise is almost as bottomless as the coffee here, and the service is lightening fast—basically any time is a good time to grab bacon and eggs here. BUT show up during early bird hours and you'll be rewarded with one of the city's cheapest meals.
Johnny's Snack Bar
6204 Almon Street
Dish: Early Bird Special
Price: $4.50
Served: Daily, 7am-11am
Medium coffee: $1.25
While your instinct is going to say "just give me a perfect cheeseburger," fight them and get a perfect breakfast. There aren't a lot of classic diners left in Halifax, so, along with places like Cosy's, John's Lunch and the Westcliff, this fills a niche that is definitely necessary to breakfast aficionados. Flop into a booth, wrap your hands around a diner mug and enjoy the fruits—or, in this case, the eggs, toast, meat and potatoes—of rising with the sun.
Who’d we miss? Share your favourite budget bacon and eggs in the comments.