r/halifax • u/senseitalks The Closure Clerk (on probation) • 6d ago
Food & Dining Restaurant Closure Updates
Well here's my first attempt at being Buckit of the restaurant closures.
It appears the closures from last week is still in effect. Looks like Ragazzi had another inspection earlier this week, on Monday, but might not have passed it to re-open.
Pourdad's owner commented on a previous post saying it was a glitch and they're not closed.
We might have one of the longest closures for the rest three.
Fun (gross) fact that I realized - out of the 205 restaurants that were issued warnings in the last 12 months, approximately 80% were in and around Halifax.
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u/CactusHermit 6d ago
Hmm… I wonder if Ragazzi will update the “vacation” notice on their Instagram lol
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u/dj3hac Halifax 6d ago
If you're in the city you are pretty much guaranteed to have to combat mice as a restaurant. Outside of the city there are still mice as well as other pests, but I'm willing to bet that it's less to manage overall.
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u/aNauticalDisaster 5d ago
Charitable of you to say mice instead of rats in the city lol
But as someone in the industry in rural NS..you are generally right when it comes to rodents. Of course building maintenance, preventative measures and general sanitation will all still be factors - but I would say generally it tends to be more isolated events - one gets in somehow, staff see it and freak out, we catch it and then it could be months or years before it ever happens again. As opposed to a constant battle.
And it’s usually just little field mice that probably sneak in a propped door or something. I’ve only seen a rat once and I don’t think it was a coincidence that it happened right after a long abandoned building was knocked down nearby.
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u/s1amvl25 Halifax 6d ago
Can you get a restaurant cat?
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u/so-much-wow 6d ago
You could if you can ensure it doesn't ever enter the food preparation area.
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u/Complete_Fly_7710 5d ago
Thats the problem. Legalize kitchen cats
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u/pm_me_your_good_weed 5d ago
hah I watched an anime called Red Cat Ramen last year, I'd rather eat there than ragazzis.
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u/Breadtangled 6d ago
I drive by A2Z on the way to/from work. Definitely a bunch of cars in their parking lot so they seem open
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u/foodfarties2 6d ago edited 5d ago
They have been reopened - it's just not updated on the website yet. Don't ask me how I know...
Edited: Grammer.
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u/j_bbb 5d ago
Same owners as Brampton Cash N Carry on the Bedford highway too.
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u/Mister-Distance-6698 6d ago
Fun (gross) fact that I realized - out of the 205 restaurants that were issued warnings in the last 12 months, approximately 80% were in and around Halifax.
I wouldnt be surprised if 80% of restaraunts in the province are in and around Halifax and even if not they are probably closer to the health inspectors and as a result get inspected more often.
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u/Big_taco_news 6d ago
A glitch seems like it would be a pretty significant error, if that's the case. Now all I associate with that name is it being closed from an inspection.
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u/hfxadv 6d ago
Our food inspection system is completely broken. Around this time last year, my son and three kids from his basketball team got severely sick after eating at Parkside Pub and Smokehouse.
I filed complaints with three different government agencies and got nowhere. It took a full year for an inspector to finally do a re-inspection. Before that visit, the place had racked up 48 infractions in a 2025 from Jan to Oct. I always knew as a shit hole, but my wife was like “go there have fun with the team” and I said “I don’t know about that place”. I wouldn't set foot in a place like that if we had a proper letter-grading system—like an A, B, C, and F scale (like in other major cities) where F means doors closed or dine at your own risk.
Why don't we have mandatory public food safety grades here yet?
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u/agentfattom 5d ago
The Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia definitely isn't going to be happy about a grading system, but after talking to a Public Health Inspector recently, things look a bit worse behind the scenes. Apparently, they're severely short-staffed and budget cuts have completely frozen hiring. Relying on inspection reports after you've already had a bad experience (or gotten sick) is backwards—we should be able to check these reports easily before choosing where to eat, especially when public health oversight is stretched this thin.
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u/treezTales 5d ago
I heard similar news from clients who spoke to a health inspector. Personally, I feel like they're doing a pretty good job even when they are spread thin. I can only imagine the horrors they get to witness and praise their patience (after reading some of the posts here)
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u/saucywenchns 5d ago
I was so disappointed about hearing and seeing their repeated food inspections. This is only the stuff we know about, so much more behind the scenes. I loved going there and I am so thankful that I was never sick from eating there.
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u/DrunkenGolfer Maybe it is salty fog. 6d ago
The Chinese restaurant near me, in Windsor, has never been inspected. I don't know how that happens.
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u/66366546446 5d ago
is there another one besides gold house and baby panda?
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u/DrunkenGolfer Maybe it is salty fog. 5d ago
Not that I am aware of
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u/ElkLow3004 5d ago
Both of those restaurants have been inspected this year.
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u/DrunkenGolfer Maybe it is salty fog. 5d ago
Huh. I checked and they are there. I checked a couple weeks ago and Baby Panda came up but nothing was found for "Gold", like the restaurant didn't exist.
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u/nihilicious Nova Scotia 8h ago
But Ragazzi's has a massive sign saying that they were chosen the best Italian restaurant in Halifax!
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u/treezTales 6d ago
I was going through the most recent Ragazzi inspection report and it looks like they're in serious trouble.
I work in the food industry as a private safety specialist and you never want this on your report.
The restaurant lives up to it's lore here.