Whenever I would read about the best foodie places to go in Niagara Falls, everyone kept directing me to go more north toward Niagara-on-the-Lake.

This cute city is ripe with wineries and lots of sweet cafes.

We had reservations at Treadwell Cuisine, a farm-to-table restaurant.

They were serving the Sunday lunch menu, and this caught my eye: Housemade Potato & Herb Gnocchi with Pork Bolognese & “Monforte” Toscano. Those little pillows of gnocchi were delish.

And, we sat outside in the sweetest little patio. Across from us was their bakery so we had to check that out, too.


They serve pastries and other bakery items from the front counter.




Quick, easy sandwiches.



Gorgeous, live decor.



Fresh-baked bread.



And pizza slices.



And the goodies: sweets!



Ohh my god.



Yum!



And that coffee cake with poppy seeds an a light creamy caramel.



Of course I had to get that!



So good! Coffee Cake is such a treat, but it's one of my favorites.

I feel like it's probably embarrassing of me to admit I went to McDonald's while in Canada.



But, like, I was super curious. Wouldn't you be? The first interesting thing is that you can order via kisok. But if you want to pay with cash, you have to go to the counter anyway. OR if you try to order here, like me, and print out the ticket but then it runs out of paper, you still have to go to the counter.



Turns out, McDonald's in Canada is pretty similar to the US - at least for breakfast.  The one thing I thought was cool was they had like a few kinds of bagels and a bagel BLT for breakfast. So, yes. I got it on an everything bagel, and it wasn't bad!

Weinkeller is a craft winery that serves fresh, local food from the Niagara Falls area.



The concept is different, in that you essentially choose three or five items from the menu (no two entrees, but you can do two appetizers or desserts). Many of the items have additional upcharges, but it is a take on a prix fixe menu that I've not seen before.



Three choices for $60 was a little easier for me to stomach than going up to $70. And, I wanted to stick with the ones that would add an upcharge on top of it.

So, I started with Fried Goats Cheese, which had roasted garlic cloves, oven dried cherry tomatoes and rosemary truffle honey.

Oh my god, this is one of my new, all-time-favorite appetizers.


Hand-carved New York steak - 8 oz. certified angus beef - grilled with bernaise sauce. Plus french fries. Not bad.

Dessert was a cheesecake with a fruit spread that was tasty!

There's one restaurant that sits right on the cusp of the falls, and that is the aptly named Top of Falls Restaurant.



This restaurant is located on the American side and in the state park, so that also helps make it unique. Unfortunately, we weren't really seated near the falls so we didn't get a great view.



But I did get to try something new: Beef on Weck. This is apparently a Western New York staple, with sliced seared beef, horseradish, au jus on a salted NY caraway roll.



This was pretty standard and exactly what I thought. The horseradish was less of sauce and more of straight horseradish, which was interesting. Have you tried it?

Charleston's newest coffee shop, VOID, has opened on the West Side.



This shop is sleek, modern and a little mysterious. It's brewing coffee in a whole new way for the capital city.



The shop boasts "new molecular brewing techniques, to allure your senses." Paired with a cool, hip design, this place is a welcome addition.



The menu is split into two main parts: traditional and "mods." The mods are modern takes on coffees, like the "Earth," which is a deconstructed macchiato, house syrup, milk, espresso layered on top marked with foam and chocolate.



Then, there's the VOID drink, which says it is "everything, anything or nothing."



Essentially, it's a surprise! And it changes. I ordered it and loved it. To me, it almost tasted buttery?



And, the Void comes with a little special note! Have you tried it yet?