Rudy’s

«A-​OK» is a good descriptor for this place. The food is good, the prices are good, service is good and the place usually smells really good. ;-)
I’ve only been here a couple of times so far. Tried a pulled pork special, which was really good. The bun was overloaded with meat. Also tried their burger & fries. The burger patty was actually made fresh in front of me, not a frozen, pre-​formed patty. While they over-​toasted the bun, the burger itself was pretty good and the fries were great. I’ve heard their breakfasts aren’t fabulous but can’t speak to them myself.
The café itself is small and kind of dark, but staff are friendly.

Great food! Great prices! Great people! They treat you like family!
Great specials everyday. And Rudy takes the time to make sure «gluten free» is just that! My wife is extremely sensitive. We eat out in lots of places, and invariably she’ll get sick in spite of the claims of gluten free. Not here! Great meals that don’t taste «gluten free.»
You’re treated like one of the family!
Just ask, we go there EVERYTIME we visit the city! Love it!
Don’t change a thing!

I’ve eaten at Rudy’s a couple of times now and have never really been impressed. They definitely know their regulars by name and dive to help them, but to people like me who they don’t know, I found the service was mediocre at best. The prices are reasonable, but the food is greasy and not in the mmmm I need fries kind of way, more in the take a napkin to it to wipe the oil off way.
I mean if you need a quick meal and aren’t looking for anything special it is fine, but it’s really basic, greasy spoon kind of stuff. With all the options in down town Halifax, I would usually recommend going elsewhere.

Occasionally, I find the helpful remarks next to the Unilocal stars (A-​Ok!, etc) a little off the mark, but I still feel like a place merits whatever ranking I give it. Have to say, this time around, the «Meh. I’ve experienced better.» is right on the money.
That is to say, Rudy’s isn’t the WORST, but it’s definitely not the best. And if I didn’t work one floor above it and sometimes (ok, often) I don’t bring my lunch and sometimes (ok, all the time), it rains in Halifax, the lure of the one flight down lunch run ropes me (and half my co-​workers in). Like all those parentheses? This is what it’s like having a conversation with me. Annoying, apparently.
Anyway, onto the restaurant: they do cater, and I totally have no idea what that’s like. It may be awesome. I really hope it is. I tend to run down for a sandwich/​soup combo. I always get the grilled cheese (because, really, how bad can you mess that up) and it’s pretty good. Very cheesy and buttery and satisfying. And for a mere $ 5, you get soup too. Have had a couple of different kinds (turkey rice, broccoli) and they’re… ok. A little salty, in my opinion and just kinda meh. They always have a big board of specials, and feature turkey dinner on Fridays (which seems to be a favourite of other patrons).
So, why so low, you ask? You didn’t have a terrible experience and service is always friendly and efficient? And I’ll say that it’s solely because the lunch scene is pretty saturated in downtown Halifax. I can walk to any number of places about 2 minutes from my office (tops — — and walking sloooowly) and get the same kind of food. And most of the time, it’ll be yummier.
So even though I work a mere 20 steps from the place, I’ll still likely go elsewhere for lunch.

Awesome cinnamon buns, and good, reasonably priced breakfast and lunch options, but the coffee (Van Houtte) leaves a lot to be desired.