Downtown St. Catharines has been working hard at its restaurant scene over the past decade. St. Paul Street between James and Geneva is now a strip of casual restaurants, bistros, and brewpubs that makes a decent evening out. The Niagara wine country supplies excellent local wine lists almost everywhere.
For more serious meals, look toward the wineries on the Bench (Trius, Peller, Wayne Gretzky Estates) or south to Niagara-on-the-Lake, where some of Ontario's better restaurants are. Locally, look for Niagara peaches, tender fruit, VQA wines, and craft beer from the dozen-odd breweries that have opened around the region.