Toronto’s dining scene never sits still, and 2026 has already delivered a compelling new generation of restaurants worth talking about. The best of them aren’t the flashy concept restaurants with enormous marketing budgets. They’re the ones with a story — family legacies reinvented, disaster survived and rebuilt, tiny storefronts doing one thing better than anyone else in the city.
Leading the conversation is Eloise, the polished new dining room on the Esplanade from brothers Graham and Dan Hnatiw, the family behind the Old Spaghetti Factory. Trading nostalgia for burl walnut and silk accents, they’ve created a sophisticated space that proves there’s far more to their culinary ambitions than red sauce. And through a hidden door at the back of the restaurant sits Bar Cart, a moody, railcar-inspired speakeasy that has become one of the city’s most talked-about post-dinner destinations.
The list also includes N.L. Ginzburg in Little Italy — from the acclaimed team behind Bernhardt’s — which blends Italian slow-food traditions with Jewish diaspora cuisine in a way that feels both rooted and genuinely new. Sammarco, the luxe Italian steakhouse from Chef Rob Rossi and David Minicucci, rounds out the top tier with food and design that immediately set a new standard for the category.
Across the city, chefs are taking creative risks and finding audiences ready and eager to follow them. The common thread running through Toronto’s best new restaurants isn’t cuisine type or price point — it’s intention. These are places built by people with something specific to say.
Whether you’re a devoted local or a visitor looking for the definitive guide to where to eat in Toronto right now, these twelve addresses represent the very best the city has to offer in 2026.
Make the reservations. Toronto’s best restaurants are ready for you — and every one of them is worth the effort.