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Halifax, Nova Scotia, is a small Canadian city that feels almost stuck in time. Founded in 1749 as a strategic British naval base, many who visit say Halifax is like a Boston-lite, charming tourists with a New England feel and, of course, Canadian politeness. The city has gone through a transition in the past decade with a spate of progressive breweries, restaurants, boutiques, and, of course, cafes opening up all over town.
The city’s North End neighborhood could be considered the “cool” part of town—late to gentrify and brimming with great food spots, thrift shops, record stores, and parks. The city’s South End has historically been the wealthier side and is home to two major universities. Due to its relatively small population of around 500,000 and its remote location in Nova Scotia, Halifax might be easy to overlook. But it shouldn’t be—the city has a distinct vibe that sets it apart from Toronto or Montreal, with countless historical relics and well-preserved buildings to remind you. The four east coast provinces of Canada are referred to as the Maritimes and locals are called “Maritimers.” They are so friendly it could almost be off-putting to a big city dweller, with an endearing local pride and charm.
There may not be any world champion baristas from Halifax, but local cafe owners and roasters take their craft very seriously. The city’s coffee scene has deep roots, and has modernized organically over the years. With an often grey and gloomy sky as the backdrop, locals are lucky to have so many cafe options to kill a rainy afternoon in. While this isn’t the definitive guide to coffee in Halifax, it’s a starting point containing some real gems, both old and new–something for everyone.
Weird Harbour
Weird Harbour indeed: Halifax boasts one of the deepest natural harbors in the world, known for the largest man-made explosion ever at the time—the accidental collision between the French cargo ship SS Mont-Blanc and the Norwegian vessel SS Imo near the end of World War I, in 1917. The historic building in which the Weird Harbour cafe now sits was spared from the blast—which means visitors to this cute 250-square-foot space can enjoy a piece of intact history.
The cafe opened in 2016 as an answer to a lack of specialty-focused shops downtown, and it’s now considered a gem among locals who need a reliable source of specialty coffee. Like so many independent shops during the pandemic, Weird Harbour pivoted to sell non-coffee related items, with a tiny yet careful curation of books as well as branded shirts and hoodies. Their coffee program is pretty standard yet inclusive, aiming to please everyone from the puritan and picky espresso drinker to vanilla latte-clutching, comfort-seeking customer. Local roaster Have Fun Coffee rotates on the shelves next to their primary roaster, Ontario’s Detour Coffee. Seating is limited, but a few stools by the street-facing windows make for a nice people-watching perch.
Two If By Sea
Two If By Sea is the Halifax cafe credited with a push towards modern, specialty coffee, opening in 2009. Fast-forward 16 years later, Two If By Sea is now considered a neighborhood hub, catering to a mix of locals, from families to students, commuters, and artists. Anchored Coffee is their proprietary roaster and brand, turning beans brown in an adjacent space to the cafe. Menu items consist of the usual suspects: coffee-forward drinks like macchiatos, cappuccinos, spro, and filter, all the way to comforting favorites like lattes and mochas.
Baristas may indulge you if you ask for an off-menu pour-over, but maybe only ask during off-peak hours to avoid holding up the line. The cafe decor is cozy and classic, with a large retail wall adorned with retail coffee bags and swag. Their acclaimed butter-bomb pastries may exceed typical snack-level calories, but favorites like prosciutto with provolone and classic almond croissants go down easy, nonetheless. If you want to visit a renowned and foundational member of the city’s coffee scene, then this is it.
Steve-O-Reno’s
If there is a bridge between the waves of coffee in Halifax, from the second wave to the more progressive and specialty-focussed third wave, then Steve-O-Reno’s is it. This is a classic Halifax hang that’s been caffeinating locals since 1996. If you wanted to get an authentic cappuccino back in the day, you probably wound up at the counter here, and 30 years later, the same is true for many locals. Describing the cafe as artsy, unpretentious, and cozy is apt; it’s charmingly stuck in time. They serve up all the classics like a 5oz macchiato using beans from Berwick, Nova Scotia-based North Mountain Coffee.
During the warmer months, patrons can enjoy the street-level views and an iced coffee at the edge of downtown Halifax, with limited seating. Steve-O-Reno’s is also known for its brunch, with a robust menu including staples like avo toast, grilled cheese, a “De-lox Bagel” (a Montreal bagel with lox and cream cheese), and fish chowder, which is apt considering you can see the Atlantic Ocean from the cafe steps. While this may not be the place to find an anaerobic Sidra pour-over or an international multi-roaster curation, Steve-O-Reno’s has found a winning formula and has stuck to it since the Clinton years. Hard to argue with that.
Cafe Goodluck
A short ferry ride across the harbor takes you to Dartmouth, where a whole other world of progressive food and drink awaits. Goodluck’s owner and founder Sonny Adamski wanted to contribute to the gastronomic renaissance of Dartmouth, putting his own spin on things when he opened up shop in 2018 as a multi-roaster cafe with good food. Having spent 15 years in the coffee industry, and starting up projects like the artisanal ice cream shop Dairy Bar, Adamski is considered an OG in the scene. The cafe is warm and cozy, with vintage menu boards reminding you of your favorite old-school diner, with food and drinks served with vintage dinnerware. The coffee menu is just as classic and old school as the vibes, with well-brewed batch filters, all the espresso-based staples, as well as seasonal and creative drinks like cinnamon toast lattes and rosemary mochas. Their default beans are Adamski’s roasting project, Have Fun, but they also feature rotating guests such as Delaware’s Brandywine and Connecticut’s Ilse.
Goodluck’s retail model has shapeshifted over the years, going from table service, brunch style, to take-out only, with a strong focus on gourmet pantry items and locally-sourced produce. They’ve since gone back to their roots, with less of a focus on fancy canned fish and local arugula, now providing an unpretentious and approachable brunch menu seven days a week.
Espresso 46
A stroll through Halifax’s North End to find some of the best coffee in the city will likely take you to Espresso 46. That’s if you can find it. The cafe presents itself as a take-out window from street level, sharing the lease with Warehouse Market, a small grocery store.
Owner Frederico Pasquinelli moved to Halifax from Italy in 2017, and six months later, he opened the cafe, aiming to bring the espresso culture from back home to Haligonians. A two-group La Marzocco Linea and Mazzer allow baristas to pull shots of their beans, and as you may imagine with a name like Espresso 46, they don’t serve filter coffee. Their in-house coffee brand is aptly named Roastery 46, where Pasquinelli uses a 12kg Diedrich roaster for everything from blends to single origins like Burundi and Kenyan Peaberry.
The roast profiles are omniroast, with varying degrees of caramelization from light-medium to medium, and beyond. The shared space is tiny, but they have some limited seating on the upper floor of the building. However, in the summer, there is a real vibe as the front parking lot area turns into a full patio vibe, with locals getting a coffee fix post-grocery run. The cafe sits on a quiet road, but it’s a great location, mere minutes from the Hydrostone Market and neighborhood, with quaint parks, city-protected heritage homes, and gorgeous tree-lined streets.
Coffeeology Espresso Co.
After a brief and unfulfilling stint as a computer programmer, Coffeeology owner Kay Kim decided to double down and return to his past life in coffee. The Seoul-born native moved to Halifax in 2014, where he noticed a lack of specialty-focussed shops in the city. To address this, Kim leaned on his decades of experience as a coffee professional, later finding a space downtown where, in 2019, Coffeeology was born.
Five years later, the vibe inside is young, hip, relaxed, and casual, catering to a mixed demographic of office tower workers and students alike. The baristas are equipped with a wide array of brew methods for you: Kalita Wave, Chemex, v60, and more, which should entice the coffee nerds to pop in for a visit. A burly Mahlkönig EK43 grinder takes up significant counter space, in addition to a La Marzocco GS3 and Nuova Simonelli Mythos grinder, for quality espresso extractions. They tapped the Lunenburg, Nova Scotia roaster Laughing Whale to provide the bulk of their house beans, serving a mix of roast styles and origins.
Java Blend Coffee
Founded in 1938, Java Blend Coffee is one of Canada’s oldest coffee roasters. Considered a staple of the Halifax coffee community, Java Blend Coffee has served locals for decades from their North End headquarters. Despite their old-school identity and deep roots, they’ve managed to keep up with the market demands, allowing them to appeal simultaneously to discerning Gen-Z customers and boomers under the same roof. The inclusivity is seen in the cafe drink size offerings: everything can be made in either 8, 12, 16, or 20 oz sizes, with the extra large 20 oz option helping to fuel a taxing workday or a long road trip. Their coffee menu is quite extensive, covering all the bases from single-origin drip to flat whites and caps. At the time of publishing, Java Blend has 23 different coffees for sale on their roastery site, including three different decafs. The establishment’s commitment to sustainability, artisanal practices, and community engagement has made it an emblem and fixture of Halifax’s coffee culture for almost a century now.
Ramblers
Ramblers is a quintessential neighborhood hang in downtown. Two veteran baristas—both personal and professional partners, Elly Hannon and Adam Pye—started this project as a pop-up within a bar that was then Sourwood Cider in 2021. With a modest single-group machine, they served patrons coffee and slowly grew a following. Then in 2023, Sourwood decided to call it quits, transferring the lease over to Hannon and Pye, for the second coming of Ramblers which is now a full-service cafe, open seven days a week.
They do a very standard yet tasty food menu with options like a croque monsieur, breakfast sandwiches, BLTs and more. Their coffee program mirrors the cafe vibe: approachable, classic, and cozy, with a focus on quality and local ingredients. Local roaster Espresso 46 provides its beans, which are roasted a few miles away. The cafe has a revolving cast of characters and regulars, with a very artsy, inclusive community feel. Ramblers is the kind of place where you could comfortably post up and play chess with a pal during a rainy afternoon or tuck into a scone and nurse a latte.
Seven Bays
Located in the heart of Halifax’s North End, Seven Bays Bouldering Cafe is a unique hybrid space combining specialty coffee with an indoor climbing gym. With a bright, chic and minimalist design and a laid-back community vibe, it’s a go-to for both climbers and coffee lovers alike. Sitting at the very edge of downtown on funky and artsy Gottingen Street, it might not be the first place you’d expect to find a solid latte. But the more you think about it, the more it makes sense to combine a cafe and climbing gym under one roof. Fuel up on caffeine and pastries before tackling that vicious V5 route that’s been kicking your butt, then wind down with a book or the company of a pal when you’re done.
Baristas here are armed with coffees from their eponymous roaster, executing a full suite of menu staples like americanos, matcha, drip, cortados, and even turmeric lattes which, allegedly, are anti-inflammatory–perfect for when you’ve taken one too many falls off the climbing wall. They also offer an extensive menu of fresh, locally sourced food options, with an all-day breakfast and a kitchen open until 8:00pm, as well as seasonal drinks like hot apple cider, as well as local beers on tap, which is also welcome after a long climbing session.
Jon Dempsey is a coffee professional and freelance journalist based in Montreal. Read more Jon Dempsey for Sprudge.
Top image by Paulette Cameron
