Stratford, Ontario - Canada

Stratford Roadfood Trip Report

Every year I go to the Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario with my aunt and her friend. We've collected restaurants as well as theater tickets (and there are lots of great non-Shakespeare plays). So -what is there to do in Stratford, other than theater? Eat of course! There are lots of choices – from upscale trendy, to small unpretentious hidden away spots…. Very few franchisees - all locally owned/operated places. Here are a few of the places we ventured to on our latest trip.

Old English Parlour: this was our only upscale restaurant of the visit. We ordered a shrimp appetizer – 4 big cocktail style shrimp served over organic greens, red pepper slices, carrot shavings and crumbled feta cheese with a light asian vinaigrette. But the real reason to go to the Old English Parlour is the Pavlova.
It’s this super light and fluffy meringue dessert…and I don’t even like meringue that much.

Let Them Eat Cake – located across the street from our hotel, this little coffee shop has lots of homemade baked goods and breakfast items. I had the special - Oatmeal banana pancakes with bacon. Great bacon – light and crispy.

Balzacs – a coffee shop on the main strip – Ontario Street. I had a great date bar with a fresh brewed iced tea. We went back the last morning and had coffee. They roast their own – I hope you like it strong!

Trattoria Fabrizio – we always go here, but it is better for lunch. This Italian shop is owned by an Italian couple – you feel like you’re sitting in their kitchen, watching them make their eggplant parmesan sandwiches with a huge spread of their baked goods laid out on a stainless steel table. The owner sometimes sings opera for you. We had the eggplant parmesan, yum!

If you like French fries – this place has the best! Boomers is a small restaurant with one big long table to be shared by all on stools. They have fries with every imaginable combination, but I love them just plain.

Pazzo – we’ve seen this place for years but never ate there – looked a little too trendy for our taste. But we discovered the basement (which is still trendy, but not fancy). They serve great whole wheat crust thin pizzas with all kinds of toppings of your choice. There’s a great bar and I had a good spinach salad too.
We’ll definitely go back.

The Sun Room – this place is awesome. They make the best stir fries, with lots of veggies and/or meats and different choices in style – thai, soy, curry. I had the thai peanut style with tofu and extra broccoli. I didn’t need to eat (emphasis on “need”) for about 10 hours. The owner puts the menu in a photo album intersperse with pictures of customers, but you have to be a local to get in. They also have great desserts. And right outside the window are bird feeders and there’s stained glass pictures so if the sun is shining it’s nice to look out into the courtyard. This is an annual “must” for us.

how far is it from toronto?

I think about an hour. I live in Ann Arbor, Mich and it's exactly 4 hours from here.