Mapo Korean BBQ has quietly become something of a Blue Jays institution. The original Bloor Street West location’s cabinet of team memorabilia — autographed balls, polaroids, and signed items from players past and present — is proof of a genuine, years-long connection between the restaurant and the ballclub, with names like Kazuma Okamoto and Kevin […]
Queens Harbour’s grand opening party became the stuff of Toronto social media legend — mermaids, caviar bumps, and a chef carving sashimi straight from the belly of a whole bluefin tuna, all under the restaurant’s massive retractable roof. Now, the 23,000-square-foot waterfront restaurant is opening a version of that same experience to anyone willing to […]
Toronto has seen no shortage of unconventional restaurant collaborations lately, but a Nikkei omakase dinner paired with a bespoke suit fitting might be the most unexpected pairing yet. The private, seven-seat experience comes courtesy of Chotto Matte, the Japanese-Peruvian restaurant on Bay Street, and King & Bay, a family-run bespoke menswear studio operated by fifth-generation […]
For a certain generation of Torontonians, the Zellers in-store diner — known at various points as The Skillet or the Zellers Family Restaurant — occupies the same nostalgic real estate as the long-gone IKEA ball pit. With Zellers’ return to Ontario, that piece of retail history is officially back too, at least for a limited […]
Playa Bowls has nearly 400 locations across 30 U.S. states, and for its very first move outside the country, the New Jersey-born chain chose Toronto. The brand’s international debut opened at The Well, the mixed-use development at Spadina Avenue and Front Street, in a 1,700-square-foot flagship shop built around the chain’s signature superfruit bowls — […]
Not every great restaurant story starts in a kitchen. Hayden’s Cheesesteaks started at a funeral. Max Solomons, a full-time corporate lawyer with zero professional cooking experience, grew up travelling to Philadelphia with his father, Hayden, a die-hard Philadelphia Eagles fan. Every trip ended the same way: with a cheesesteak, usually from Angelo’s Pizzeria, the South […]
Some restaurants announce themselves. The Gemini, tucked above Caldense Bakery on Dundas West, does the opposite — accessed by an unmarked stairway, with just 35 seats inside. The restaurant comes from hospitality veterans Jenny Warne, Mike Couvillon, and Craig Spence, whose collective résumé includes stints at Bernhardt’s, Dreyfus, Jamil’s, and Midfield Wine Bar. Warne led […]
Cumbrae’s has been synonymous with high-quality meat in Toronto since the mid-1990s, growing from a single shop on Church Street into a full-scale fine-food operation. Its latest expansion, though, isn’t happening in the city — it’s happening an hour outside it, in Dundas, Ontario. Founder Stephen Alexander purchased the original Dundas location back in 1999, […]
Charles Khabouth and Danny Soberano, two of the most prolific names in Toronto hospitality, have opened Bar Romy in the Entertainment District — a casual Italian restaurant taking over the former home of Figo, which was also Italian, just considerably more formal. The shift in tone is intentional. Where Figo leaned into fine dining, Bar […]
Some of the best restaurant stories start with someone just trying to watch a game. That’s exactly how Maria’s Sports Bar in Brockton Village ended up under new ownership. Last summer, sous-chef Mikel Nieces brought Graham Pratt — one of the minds behind Bar Bowie and Milou — to Maria’s to catch a game. Pratt […]