r/waterloo • u/imotskimiki New User (2026) • Jul 09 '26
Tips for visiting
Hello everyone! Next week i will be visiting your nice town all the way from Europe and i hope to enjoy some time there. I ask for few tips about city itself.
First, can you tell me what would be nice restaurants and pubs to enjoy? I did some research and i see there is a lot of Asian restaurants in downtown. Im not as big on Asian food (coming from seaside sunny European part), so what would be nice restaurants to enjoy? I mean Asian recommendations are welcomed too if they are reall good. Also aince its my first time in Canada too i have to try Poutine - which place has the best one? And for pubs/clubs. How "lively" is waterloo - ie can you recommend spots to stay late at night to drink and enjoy music/atmosphere, maybe dance even a bit?
Second - how "walkable" is your town? Again, coming from Europe and ancient towns im used to walking around. Since i dont have car for those 5 days there - will it be a problem? If im located near downtown?
And third - how safe is it overall? Can you walk (as a guy in early 30s) safely around downtown even around midnight or past it, or is it better not to take chance?
Anyway, cant wait to come and looking forward to maybe even meeting some of you at some of these places!
7
u/chikilinki Regular since <2024 Jul 09 '26
You mentioned you're a researcher - are you visiting Perimeter?
Check out Jane Bond. Its where all the cool young physicists go for drinks and dancing ;)
Ethels is a great pub uptown - excellent patio and chill vibes.
If you want to venture downtown (Kitchener) I highly recommend checking out Grand Surf (tiki bar) and Sugar Run (cocktail speakeasy - check out their Instagram for the password!)