Stratford restaurants, before the curtain
Stratford only. We don't book a table. Menus and hours are on each restaurant's own site.
No paid placements. We're independent.
The Festival's own dining list is paid advertising. This one is not. Price, Monday hours and gluten-free notes stay blank until the restaurant's own site says so. Walking minutes are the planning estimates already on each card.
Stratford Festival cafés
55 Queen Street and 111 Lakeside Drive
In the building
The reliable pre-show meal: a sandwich, a light plate, a drink, or a picnic you ordered ahead. Do not assume the counter is still open after the bows.
Open Monday: —Open late: —Gluten-free: —Price: —
The Restaurant at The Bruce
89 Parkview Drive
The hotel says it is steps from the Festival Theatre
A reserved dinner before an evening show at the Festival Theatre, if you are seated early. Don't count on a table at 7:10 for a 7:30 curtain.
Open Monday: —Open late: —Gluten-free: —Price: —
The Starlight
64 Wellington Street
About 22 minutes each way
Dinner from late afternoon, and the kitchen stays open late. Ideal after a matinee, or after an evening show. A pre-show table only works if you are already downtown and seated early.
Open Monday: —Open late: their page says the kitchen stays open lateGluten-free: —Price: —
The Common
80 Wellington Street
About 22 minutes each way
A sit-down downtown dinner. Give it the same clock as The Starlight: comfortable after the show, tight before an evening curtain if you are walking from the Festival Theatre.
Open Monday: —Open late: —Gluten-free: —Price: —
Bentley's Bar, Inn & Restaurant
99 Ontario Street
About 22 minutes
Open late, so it is the straightforward after-show stop downtown. Fine before the Avon or Studio if you sit down with time to spare.
Open Monday: —Open late: their page says the kitchen stays open lateGluten-free: —Price: —
Mercer Hall
108 Ontario Street, Stratford
About 22 minutes
A downtown kitchen and beer hall in the same building as the Mercer Hotel. Comfortable after the Avon or Studio. A pre-show table before the Festival Theatre needs the same long walk as the rest of Ontario Street.
Open Monday: —Open late: —Gluten-free: —Price: —
The Parlour Inn Restaurant
101 Wellington Street, Stratford
About 22 minutes each way
Breakfast, lunch and dinner in the downtown inn. Useful between shows if you are already on Wellington. An evening curtain at the Festival Theatre is still a drive or a long walk.
Open Monday: —Open late: —Gluten-free: —Price: —
Pazzo & Café Bouffon
Downtown Stratford — the door is on pazzo.ca
About 22 minutes
Pizza and pasta downstairs, a French café menu upstairs, and a late kitchen on Friday and Saturday. A practical downtown meal. Read the hours on their menu page before you count on a table.
Open Monday: —Open late: —Gluten-free: —Price: —
Wine by the river
Stratford Al Fresco is year-round. The signed areas are Market Square, Memorial Gardens, Tom Patterson Island, and the south-shore parkland from the Huron Street Bridge to Upper Queen's Park.
Drinks must be bought from a restaurant registered in the Stratford Al Fresco program (no drinks from home or the LCBO), and enjoyed only inside the signed Al Fresco areas, Sun–Thu 11 a.m.–8 p.m. and Fri–Sat 11 a.m.–9 p.m.