Chef-owner Ken Yim's Waterloo sushi house pairs fish-first sashimi, weekday lunch value, and a 120-seat Phillip Square room near the university.

Chef On Call is a Waterloo late-night kitchen built around hefty burgers, hand-breaded chicken, poutine, wraps and shakes, with direct delivery and pickup running until 4 a.m. on weekends. The menu's sharpest choices pair comfort-food familiarity with distinctive turns such as jalapeño Havarti, buffalo ranch crunch and a golden-seared halloumi burger.

Exclamation joins a ramen shop, bento counter, and art gallery in one Waterloo dining room. The restaurant's house-made noodles and creamy chicken-bone broth carry bowls topped with everything from chashu pork and black garlic oil to smoked duck, beef tongue, cod katsu, and truffle-scented vegetables, while dumplings, bentos, tea, sake, a piano, and a children's corner make the room feel deliberately open-ended.

Bogda is a focused Uyghur spot in Waterloo built around halal hand-pulled noodles, cumin lamb, dumplings, warm bread, milk tea, and shareable Central Asian staples.

Tsujiri Waterloo is a Japanese tea café in the University Plaza area where matcha and houjicha move through soft serve, lattes, parfaits and cake, with a small savoury menu for diners who want more than dessert. Counter service, evening hours, dine-in, takeout and delivery make the focused tea program easy to use as either a quick stop or a longer dessert visit.

Waterloo University District counter-service stop for gua bao, banh mi-style baguettes, loaded Seoul Kimchi Fries, vegetarian bao, and quick combo orders.