The Old No. 7 Restaurant & Sports Bar

The Old No. 7 Restaurant & Sports Bar sits at 8990 Highway 7 in Head of Jeddore, about 40 minutes east of downtown Halifax on the Eastern Shore, and it is the shore's living room. The kind of place where the server knows the regulars, the kitchen turns out pub classics without shortcuts, and the drive out from the city is treated as part of the point: reviewers routinely say it is worth the trip from Halifax. It holds a 4.6 rating across 148 ratings on Restaurantji, is listed by the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia as a "community based restaurant and sports bar," and landed among the 2026 Nova Scotia Restaurant Awards Community Engagement Award finalists. For travellers exploring the shore (Martinique Beach, the longest sandy beach in the province, is 15 minutes south), the Old No. 7 is the reliable dinner stop on the Marine Drive.

The room is exactly what a highway pub should be: sports on the screens, weekly theme nights on the calendar, families in the booths, and a bar crowd that includes half the shore. The kitchen's ambitions are honest rather than fancy, and that honesty is the draw: this is food cooked by people who assume you drove a long way and are hungry.

The Menu: Pub Classics Done Properly

The card runs deep on comfort: fish and chips with large hand-battered pieces, the No. 7 burger, Mac Daddy burgers, clubhouse sandwiches, chicken alfredo, garlic mushroom pasta, seafood chowder, garlic butter mussels, and sticky toffee pudding for dessert. Hand-cut fries come with nearly everything and get named in review after review. The wing programme is a full production: sauces run mild through extreme (buffalo, honey garlic among them), and wings anchor the weekly calendar alongside skins and tots combos, including a wing-and-tots plate sized for kids.

Weekly events structure the week. Wednesday is Wing Night. Thursday is Derby Night, the roast chicken dinner tradition (a holdover from Nova Scotia's roast-chicken-and-dressing past that the Old No. 7 keeps alive), plus Fish Frydays on Friday. Live music shows up on the schedule, and the bar's own site leans into the shore identity: "Cheers to the Shore!" is the greeting on the homepage, and the community feel is not an act: the RANS finalist listing for community engagement is for real work in the Jeddore communities.

The Track Record: Regulars, Reviews and the Drive Test

The pattern across recent reviews is consistent: generous portions, fair prices, friendly staff, and food that beats the exterior's expectations. A July 2026 reviewer, sent by a local recommendation, wrote that the Smoky Candied Bacon Burger "was one of the best I have had" and the service "didn't disappoint." A June 2026 review called it a find worth stopping for: "The food is great, especially the burger and hand cut fries... Reasonably priced and easy parking. A shouldn't-miss if you are in the area." Another June reviewer praised a clubhouse done right and the range of options for groups. Will, the owner-operator the reviews name-check, and his team are cited by name for service that makes the room work, and Discover Halifax's listing describes a "strong sense of community" that shows up in everything from the welcome to the portion sizes.

That community grounding is also why the drive test keeps passing. Restaurants on the Marine Drive live or die on locals, and the Old No. 7's calendar (wing nights, derby nights, fish frydays, live music) is built to give the shore a reason to gather every week of the year. Visitors are folded into that rather than processed alongside it.

Practical Information

Address & Location: 8990 Highway 7 (Trunk 7), Head of Jeddore, NS B0J 1P0. On the Marine Drive route along the Eastern Shore, roughly 40 minutes east of Halifax via Highway 107/7. Martinique Beach is about 15 minutes south via Route 7 and the East Petpeswick Road.

Hours of Operation: Closed Mondays. Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 AM to 8 PM. Kitchen closes with the room; arrive by 7:30 PM for a full dinner.

Reservations: Not required for most nights; call (902) 889-2031 for groups or event nights. Takeout available by phone.

Price Range: $$. Mains mostly $15-$25; wing night and derby night specials push value further.

What to Order: Fish and chips, the No. 7 burger with hand-cut fries, or the Thursday Derby roast. Garlic butter mussels and seafood chowder are the shore-order plays.

Family-Friendly: Yes: booths, a kids' wing-and-tots combo, and early hours that suit dinner-with-kids timing.

Parking: Free on-site lot.

Live Music & Events: Check the bar's Facebook page or call ahead; the schedule shifts with the season.

The Old No. 7 is the Eastern Shore's proof that a pub can be a community project and a destination at once. Nothing on the menu is complicated; everything on it is done properly, the portions assume hunger, and the room assumes you came to stay a while. If your Eastern Shore day runs long (beach, then dinner), this is the room at the end of it.