OpenTable names Hamilton restaurant among top 10 outdoor dining spots in Canada

Restaurant reservation service OpenTable, which offers online bookings for tens of thousands of dining spots in the U.S. and several major international cities, puts Berkeley North in Hamilton at No. 10 on a list of Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants for Outdoor Dining.

Co-owner Matthew Webber says it’s a triumph for his eatery, which has been around just under three years on King William Street in the city’s downtown. He says the idea of owning a restaurant with his wife Diana began percolating during a trip to northern California.

“My wife and I were travelling the California coast with the idea of actually going to teacher’s college,” said Webber. “While we were travelling up and down, we just ate at really cool restaurants and fell in love with the idea of a small place.”

Berkeley North boasts a diverse style of fresh, healthy options through a West Coast-inspired menu, according to the Hamilton-born Webber. The restaurant’s menu has options to suit vegetarians, vegans and meat-lovers alike.

“We had an idea of serving fresh vegetables with chefs that were able to manipulate simple ingredients into something special and different than most people are accustomed to,” Webber told Global News Radio. “We’ve built the restaurant around the idea of customer service and complimented it with a ‘climate share’ style menu of foods from all over the world.”

Berkeley North is one of more than 30,000 restaurants showcased by OpenTable. The reservation service names 50 Ontario eateries on its 2019 Top 100 list, with three in the top 10.

British Columbia is second with 30 on the list, including No. 1 — the 19 Okanagan Grill and Bar in Kelowna, which overlooks Okanagan Lake and a golf course.

OpenTable says the outdoor dining list was generated based on diner reviews collected between April 2018 and March 2019.