1. Bearance’s Grocery, 115 Livingston Ave.
This is the closest you can get to a friendly, small-town grocer from the 1850s. It’s a family business with a butcher’s counter and food from local markets. A specialty is their potato chips made locally and sold in brown paper bags.
—Matthew Trevisan
2. Gusto, 424 Princess St.
An Italian restaurant with cool décor and delicious food. Their flavoured martinis are a real treat, especially for someone like me who finds beer gross. It’s a little pricey, but if you go an hour before close and choose from the Taster Menu—cheap selections from the regular menu—you get an incredible deal. A great place to take the family when they visit.
—Megan Grittani-Livingston
3. Bubba’s Pizzeria, 401 Princess St.
The ultimate in après-bar cuisine. Poutine and pizza and the best fries, oh my. There’s another location further downtown, but the Hub outlet is the place to stop on your way out of the bar.
—Megan Grittani-Livingston
4. Classics Tea Lounge, 399 Princess St.
A great place to go and chat with friends when you’re in the mood for something a little different. Also, they play wicked Asian pop music … it’s gold.
—Emma Reilly
5. A&P, 310 Barrie St.
Look for the reduced BBQ chickens that go on sale at midnight! In first year, my friend and I went on a “midnight chicken run” in our pyjamas in the snow because she insisted on getting a cheap chicken!
—Pamela Beauchamp
6. The Grad Club, 162 Barrie St.
The Grad Club is by far my favourite place to meet friends for a drink. The old house the bar occupies is neither polished nor sophisticated, but it has a lot of charm. Don’t wait until your second or third year to check it out.
—Cara Smusiak
7. MyBar, 347 Princess St.
A great place to go for a relaxed atmosphere, comfy couches and game tables. Watch out for their
special drink nights—$2 TallBoy Tuesdays are a favourite in my house. And for the non-beer drinkers, the bar also offers tasty mixed drinks.
—Megan Grittani-Livingston
8. Second Cup, 251 Princess St.
You can get a ten-cent discount off your coffee if you bring your own mug, and the Wednesday $2 monthly specials are a great deal.
—Christina Bossart and Megan Grittani-Livingston
9. The Screening Room, 120 Princess St.
A good place to escape the Famous Players brand of movie, and Tuesdays are cheap: $4.75 with student ID.
—Emma Reilly
10. Kingston Public Library (Central Branch), 130 Johnson St.
I like to go to the public library to get away from other students, and to find alternate resources that often aren’t already taken out, the way they are on campus.
—Christina Bossart
11. The Sleepless Goat, 91 Princess St.
The Goat is a place where I feel like I should be discussing Plato’s Republic, reciting Coleridge’s Frost at Midnight or writing my own one-man- band tunes. This is one of the best people-watching sights in downtown Kingston. The coffee is great and the atmosphere is mellow.
—Matthew Trevisan
12. Wayfarer Books, 85 Princess St.
A treasure trove of a used bookstore, with a different tricky trivia question in the window every week; if you can answer it, you get a discount. But even if you can’t, go in for a browse.
—Megan Grittani-Livingston
13. The Kingston Brewing Company, 34 Clarence St.
The Brew Pub is one of my favourite places to eat and drink in Kingston. Their steak sandwich washed down with a pint of their very own pale ale tastes even better when you chow down on their pretzels and mustard first. A fantastic place.
—Matthew Trevisan
14. The Toucan, 76 Princess St.
This restaurant/bar has a relaxed pub atmosphere and even better food. Their sweet potato fries with curried ketchup taste like a party in your mouth, and their $2.50 weekend breakfast—eggs any way, bacon, the best bread, and beans if you’re so inclined—is not to be missed.
—Megan Grittani-Livingston
15. The Tir Nan Og, 200 Ontario St.
Walk into this place on a Saturday night and you’ll immediately feel like they’re filming a Great Big Sea video. Order a pint of Guinness and some potato wedges, and then stamp your foot to the tub thumping tunes. If you can get a seat, it’s the place to be on St. Patrick’s Day.
—Matthew Trevisan
16. The Modern Fuel Gallery, 21-A Queen St.
The place to go to see contemporary art. They have some of the most interesting exhibitions, including some very interesting performance art and sound art. It’s a bit far, but worth the trek.
—Cara Smusiak
17. Wolfe Island
You can take a ferry from the dock at Ontario and Barrack Streets to this small island community, where you will find highlights like the Corn Maze, the General Wolfe Motel and a nice beach to spend the day. It’s a fun place to go to ‘get away’ from the busy city.
—Pamela Beauchamp
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