Easy Street Diner
Easy Street is the perfect name for a laidback diner that’s big on comforting flavours and hefty portions. Inspired by the 1950s-era Astoria Restaurant that once occupied the same space on Dutch Village Road, Easy Street features colourful retro stylings in its interior design, with a vintage mint green milkshake machine proudly on display, giving the space an easy feel and welcoming vibe.
Co-owners Kelly-Jo Beck and Lalanya Kaizer, with their business partner Stuart Lally, opened Easy Street Diner during the June 2021 lockdown. Beck had gotten into the restaurant industry after ten years working in insurance. She decided to go to culinary school and met Kaizer while working in hospitality in downtown Halifax. After becoming a couple, they were laid off from work due to the pandemic and eventually decided they wanted to own a restaurant. They both run the day-to-day operations of their Fairview diner, with Kaizer heading up the kitchen.
"I sometimes feel like we're one of the best-kept secrets in the city,” says Beck. “We wanted to try and capture those classic diner dishes.”
The menu offers an extensive all-day breakfast/brunch (proper thing), hearty mains like shepherd’s pie, meatloaf, fish and chips, and a Reuben sandwich with house-made pastrami. Almost everything on the menu is from scratch—they’re even smoking their bacon in-house. “Those are our guiding principles,” says Beck. “We want to know what's in the food. We only want to serve real ingredients that we have made and touched from the beginning.”
The goal of my visit is to taste my way through some brunch dishes. The chicken and waffles, one of the most popular according to Beck, comprises three hefty house-breaded chicken fingers (made from chicken breast) atop half a Belgian waffle, accompanied with seasoned skillet hash browns. The chicken is incredibly crunchy on the outside and very juicy on the inside. I go with a drizzle of stinging hot honey (by local company Halifax Honey) and enjoy every bite.
For sweeter options, I try French toast and a full-size Belgian waffle. For the former, four slices of brioche French toast serve as a base for a pile of sautéed peaches and a heap of whipped cream. The brioche is from 24 Carrots Bakery (all the breads are); this mighty portion is worthy of a big sweet tooth. The Belgian waffle (also available gluten-free) gets topped with stewed apples and cinnamon, a killer house-made, super-crunchy granola, and whipped cream. “It's a riff on our current apple crumble [dessert],” says Beck.
It's admirable that Easy Street offers a gluten-free waffle dish, which is a dietary angle they've doubled down on. “I have a lot of friends who live gluten-free,” says Beck. “And I had just heard a lot about their frustrations with being able to eat out.” So, nearly the entire menu has gluten-free options. There are a couple of vegan dishes, too.
“The vegan breakfast plate has got beet hummus, and just a lightly dressed set of greens and some fresh tomatoes,” says Beck. “Then our brand new hash, which is the diced skin-on potatoes, sautéed with onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, and bell peppers.” It comes with a choice of toast, and I’ve got marble rye. The star of this dish is the super smooth, creamy beet hummus—I could eat a bowl of it. Instead, I make room for a few bites of a classic eggs benny, which always hits, but especially hard with this excellent house-made bacon. The menu has five different bennies on offer, only available until 4 p.m., with options to “benny” the fish cakes or chicken and waffles—genius.
I can’t leave without tasting a classic milkshake made from that vintage machine. The strawberry milkshake features both strawberry ice cream and house-made strawberry purée (and, of course, milk). Beck blends me up one, topped with whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles. It both looks and tastes like childhood. Essentially, this is a drinkable dessert, but they also have a lengthy list of from-scratch desserts, like any good diner should. From ice cream sundaes to peanut butter pie to classic carrot cake, there seems to be something for every kind of sweet proclivity.
The team at Easy Street has certainly nailed the comfort food game. As for the future, Beck says they have one year left on their lease in this location, with no plans to go anywhere. “We've built this really nice community here,” says Beck of their home at 3625 Dutch Village Road in Fairview. Easy Street Diner is open Wednesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Just make sure you go hungry.
Easy Street Diner
3625 Dutch Village Rd, Halifax
Diner B/BR/L/D $$ (GF/V)
easystreetdiner.ca
