Louly’s Restaurant (6403 Quinpool Road,, at the corner of Oxford) has closed, its windows papered over with no explanatory note. Last year, Louly’s had moved into the space once occupied by the long-standing and much enjoyed Spartan Restaurant, which shut when its owners retired.
This is a desirable retail space. Especially with the newly renovated Oxford Theatre across the street, I hope someone snatches up the space quickly and puts in a cheap diner-type operation.
There are a couple of other good retail sites available on Quinpool. The former Aquatic Creations (6290 Quinpool Road) space is an old brick building next to the Korean Christian church; it cries out for someone to open a neighbourhood pub there. Yes, there are still zoning issues for pubs in the area, but I think a potential pub owner could get a variance without overly intrusive limitations.
Then there’s the former Maritime Campus Store site at 6238 Quinpool Road, which has a for lease sign on it. It’s not overly large, so probably a good site for a new business. I also noticed today that a work crew is finally gutting the Blockbuster at 6024 Quinpool; that site is terribly large, so I’m not sure what could work there.
This article appears in Sep 22-28, 2011.
For the love of God, Halifax does not need another cheap diner-type operation. Not that there aren’t plenty downtown but a neighbourhood Irish style pub would be great for all those living nearby. Otherwise I vote for a revival of the French Pastry. Proskates is back where they started, why not something like Julienne’s on that corner?
Apologies, should have read further into your article but I was so incensed at the cheap diner endorsement I didn’t get to your Pub suggestion. A good restaurant on Quinpool would be nice too; Ã la Chives, Press Gang or Jane’s on the Common but there might not be enough of a business lunch crowd to support it on Quinpool.
Quinpool really could benefit from some trees. The main commercial stretch has almost no trees. The buildings look old and rundown when you take a closer look. Perks has closed as well as several other businesses. It desperately needs an upgrade and that Superstore is the worst grocery store in the city.
What Quinpool needs in my opinion is for the buildings along it to be maybe five or six storeys tall. The street itself is so wide and the current buildings so short that the scale of the street feels wrong. It’s like some great river that’s impossible to cross rather than an urban shopping street.
I went there twice and really enjoyed the falafel. They menu was pretty limited however, and I’m sure that contributed to its downfall. Given the recent influx of new Haligonians from the Middle East though, I’m surprised it didn’t do better. Too bad.
Always sad to see a place unable to make it. We had a meal there and really enjoyed the food and ambiance and the staff was super nice. There are so many places on Quinpool with a much cozier feeling though. The Oxford corner is so busy with constant traffic that it probably puts people off.