Whether it’s old restaurants, drive-in movie theatres, department stores, or rec centres, any townie of a certain vintage loves to wax nostalgic about shops, eateries, and watering holes of the past. Maybe you’re staring at a vacant lot, trying to remember what used to be there 20 years ago, or you’re looking at a new business downtown and reminiscing about when it used to have a neon sign hanging over the street in the 60s. And thanks in part to Facebook pages like Vintage Kingston and Kingston – History of Bands, Kingstonians on social media are not lacking for nostalgia.

With all that in mind, we here at Kingstonist have decided to have a little fun thinking about some of Kingston’s past businesses. We’re keeping restaurants, cafes, and bars in one category, and everything in another. This list is NOT meant to be exhaustive by any means, so please don’t get mad if we missed something, just add it to the comments! We’ve excluded chains, any business that is still fundamentally the same, relocated, or renamed, and things like offices and professional services. Also, our apologies to places like The Brooklyn and Leading Edge Hobbies – the business should have closed at least a few years ago to qualify for the poll.

What is your favourite Kingston restaurant, cafe, or bar of the past? Ace Top Card

Aunt Lucy's

Bigg's

Birthday's

Bon Appetit

Brandee's

Bukamaranga Bean Company

Cafe Diem

Cec's Chinese Kitchen

Club 477

Crossroads Restaurant

Division Fish & Chips

Dollar Bill's

Dr Girdy's

Elixir Nightclub

Fontainebleau

Frank's Fish & Chips

Gusto

Hoppin' Eddy's

Imperial Restaurant

Iron Horse Saloon

Italian Ice Cream & Pastry

Lakeview Manor

Lido Lunch Bar

Lino's

Mother's Pizzeria

Muldoon's Music Hall

The Office

Paulina's Curry Mix

Pig & Whistle

The Right Spot

Robert's Club Vogue

The Scherzo Pub

Schmolinsky's

Shay Foo Foo's

The Shot

Sleepless Goat

The Speakeasy

Stoney's

Stuff'd

Superior Restaurant

Time To Laugh

Wally's

The Wellington

Za Master

Zyng's View Results

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What is your favourite Kingston retail store or hangout of the past? 501 Video

The Apple Mill

Bandito Video

Bee CD

Block & Cleaver

Brock Lanes

The Brown Bear

CD Exchange

Cyclepath

Dover's Men's Wear

Downtown Workout

Gameskeeper

George The Hatter

Golden Mile Pool Hall

House of Sounds

The Jungle

Kingston Computer Planet

Kingston Drive-in

La Cache

The Rack Up

Rick's Live Bait and Sports Cards

S & R

Studio 801

Tom's Shoe Repair

Tweed & Hickory

Van's

Vinyl Vendor

Wild Dave's Super Save View Results

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