Whether you’re a student from Queen’s, RMC, or St. Lawrence College, you’re visiting K-Town for the day, or you’re a Kingston native, it’s always helpful to have a go-to list of local restaurants on hand for those days where you just don’t feel like cooking, and would rather treat yourself to a cheat-day meal. Luckily enough, Kingston has a great selection of restaurants to choose from for any type of food-craving that you have. The downtown area is always being refreshed with exciting new restaurants to bring local customers the best food experiences possible (and at generally affordable prices, too!).
Here are some of K-Town’s best places to eat that you CAN’T go wrong with:
1. MLT DWN (292 Princess St)
Price: ~$4 – $15
Looking for the tastiest, most delicious grilled cheese sandwich ever?! Look no further! MLT DWN offers a variety of mouthwatering, cheesy comfort-food sandwiches that’ll keep your taste buds wanting more every time. If that doesn’t already have you sold, their waffle fries (also available cheesy) are to die for! Available for takeout, delivery, or dine-in; if you haven’t already tried their classic “Mac N’ Cheese” sandwich, (yes, you read that right), you need to head over there right now and taste what you’ve been missing out on.
2. Wooden Heads Gourmet Pizza (192 Ontario St)
Price: ~$8 – $25
Enjoy a nice, sit-down meal at one of the hottest spots in Kingston, known for their traditional Italian wood-fired pizzas. Their pizzas are around the $15 mark (you can even customize your own), but if you’re not feeling in the mood for pizza, there are plenty of other tasty meal options. This place is great if you’re looking to treat yourself to a bit of a fancier meal, with ambience of course. If you’re just looking to grab some drinks, there’s a bar area which is perfect for that. The restaurant fills up pretty quickly, so I would suggest calling beforehand to make a reservation.
3. Score Pizza (91 Princess St)
Price: ~$8 – $14
Score Pizza is another heavenly place to either dine-in or grab takeout. Like Wooden Heads, Score allows you to customize your own thin-crust pizza to perfection (6” or 12”), choosing from a Subway-style selection of toppings and finishes. If you’re like me and you identify with Sean Kingston’s iconic opening lyric in Eenie Meenie. “she’s indecisive, she can’t decide”, they have a list of signature pizzas which can help make the decision process easier—they even have one named “K-Town”! Their pizzas are also cooked insanely fast in their stone-fired oven, so if you’re looking for somewhere that’s going to deliver quality food in a timely manner, this is your place to go. You can thank me later.
4. Atomica Pizza & Wine Bar (71 Brock St)
Price: ~$8 – $21
If you haven’t noticed already, I am a pizza lover. I live and breathe pizza. The first pizza place I ever tried in Kingston (besides my trustees; Domino’s and Little Caesars) was Atomica. This gem has an incredible atmosphere at night, with its entire restaurant lit up with colour-changing panels at the bar area; but it’s also a fantastic place to visit for lunch as well, with its wide windows lighting up the entire room. Their pizzas, of course, are wonderful, and very flavourful as well. They also serve salads, sandwiches (at lunch), pastas, and deep dish Chicago style pies. Oh, and if you’re of legal age, their drinks menu is awesome. Pizza and wine, can it get any better than that?!
5. Harper’s Burger Bar (93 Princess St)
Price: ~$6 – $17
If you’re not in the mood for pizza, Harper’s Burger Bar is an excellent place to visit for lunch or dinner. They have the juiciest burgers around, made from 100% local beef, and they also have several vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options including salads, “sammies”, and jumbo hot-dogs. The best part about Harper’s is how customizable it is; you can really cater your burgers to your own taste buds. They also offer what they call the “Double Down”—two grilled cheese sandwiches—as a bun option (yes, please!). Top this off with a side of their melt-in-your-mouth waffle fries, and you’ve got yourself the perfect comfort-food meal.
6. Mr. Donair (163 Division St)
Price: ~$4 – $10
If you don’t have time for a sit-down restaurant like most of the places mentioned above, Mr. Donair is the ideal takeout spot for easy, quick food that hits the spot like no other. They offer a variety of pita wraps, with some featuring their special Donair meat (referred to as “Donairs”) and some vegetarian and vegan pitas options available too, as well as salads, and of course their famous customizable poutines. The most noteworthy meal at Mr. Donair is “Pete’s Pounair” which incorporates Donair meat on top of poutine with 3 toppings and 2 sauces of your choice. If that doesn’t get you running up to Division Street, I’m sorry, but I don’t know what will. This place is a MUST if you want a filling, savoury meal for under $10 (perfect for those late nights out).
Well, there you have it. No matter what you’re craving, there’s always a place with delicious, affordable food waiting for you in the depths of Downtown Kingston. So, get out there, choose a spot, and most importantly, don’t forget to TREAT YOURSELF!