When the 2026 Toronto-area Michelin Guide was unveiled in late September, the headline was what did not happen: no new restaurants earned a star. But that is only half the story, because the guide still welcomed a swath of newcomers. 17 restaurants joined the guide for the first time, split between the Recommended and Bib […]
Pho purists, look away. Everyone else, get ready to design your own bowl. Renso Pho-Potle is about to give Toronto its first restaurant where customers build their own customizable pho. The concept first made waves back in June, with an opening originally expected at the end of August. A delay followed, but we reported in […]
St. Clair West just got a little more fun. Bodega TinTin has opened as the latest addition to the strip, and early reports suggest it is already drawing a crowd. The room is a cocktail bar with a tapas menu, and the drinks lean creative. Toronto Life points to tomatillo margaritas on the list, while […]
Fried chicken fans took a hit in July 2026, when Pawel and Steph Grezlikowski announced they would close their beloved chicken shop, PG Clucks, after a decade of serving towering fried chicken sandwiches. Now the husband-and-wife team has surfaced with something that could hardly be more different. Loomi is their new restaurant, and it swaps […]
When a legendary Toronto venue closes, the best-case scenario is that a piece of it lives on. At Darling Girl, a new piano bar on Wellington East, that piece is the brass rails once found at Filmores. Darling Girl is the fancier sister to Jean Darlene, the piano bar known for its karaoke and live-performance […]
The corner of Spadina and Harbord has long fed university students with an endless rotation of fast-casual takeout. A Montreal favourite is hoping to change that story. Casa Donato is an offshoot of Ristorante Donato, and it has settled into the base of a new luxury rental building. The owners did not originally plan to […]
Mark Martone says he has eaten a bagel every morning for the past decade. That is either a red flag or a qualification, and in his case it turned into a business plan. Martone is the owner of Company Bagel, a grab-and-go counter on Ossington that was scheduled to debut on October 16. He does […]
Toronto’s master of the brasserie is heading north of Bloor. Chef Nick Liu, the force behind Cafe Renee, its upstairs cocktail bar Charlemagne and Little Italy’s DaiLo, is preparing a brand-new concept called Woodlyns, and it is landing on Eglinton West. The pitch is a pas de deux of Jewish and Asian cuisines, a pairing […]
In a city where a new restaurant goes viral every other week, it takes something special to get people genuinely excited. Shay Ristorante managed it long before the doors opened. The project has been in the works for more than a year and finally opened on Thursday, October 1. At the stoves is chef Justin […]
Chicken is the most ordinary protein on earth, which is exactly why one new Yorkville restaurant has decided to treat it like fine art. Yakitori Momiji opened at 156 Cumberland St. with a 12-seat counter and a single, very focused idea. The restaurant comes from chef Masaki Saito and William Cheng, the pair behind Sushi […]