This week in food: Toronto restaurant openings, closings, and our top picks
It’s been a minute Toronto, but we’re back with your hebdomadal notice of what’s going on this week in food.
This round-up spotlights the newest Toronto restaurant openings, bar openings, and upcoming closings, plus some special spots that should be on your radar.
Here’s what’s up in the city’s food scene right now.
Just Opened
- Añejo has opened its first Toronto location at 600 King Street West, at Portland, and the table-side guacamole is a must-experience.
- The sign is up and the door is open at SOMA’s new 77 Brock Avenue location, where all the goodies your sweet-tooth could dream up are in store.
- Holt’s Café Bloor Street has officially reopened in the Yorkville neighbourhood.
- Enoteca Sociale reopens today after a brief hiatus, and the spot is serving up a new look, new menu offerings, and more. Visit them at 1288 Dundas Street West.
- The team behind beloved Adelaide Street spot Campechano and “little brother” Good Hombres has officially welcomed “big sis” Bueno Copa to 460 College Street.
- Meat & Pie Co. is soft-open at 212 King Street West, and to celebrate the grand opening, the spot will give away free brisket on February 19.
- Blackbird Baking Co. has popped up at 185A Baldwin while the spot’s 172 Baldwin location undergoes a quick renovation. Get your gluten needs met here.
- For those far west, Revolver Pizza is serving up a fierce-looking pie at 388 Royal York Road.
- Conzo’s, now open at 1279 Bloor Street West, is only a couple of doors down from parent-restaurant, the beloved homestyle Italian eatery Sugo.
- Starbucks has opened its first Canadian “pickup-only” concept — a store that is entirely dedicated to mobile orders — in Commerce Court.
Opening Soon
- Don’s Restaurant, from the folks behind Sagra di Toronto and the food and beverage at East Room, will be opening up this year. ‘Til then, perhaps the city will be lucky enough to see another fried chicken pop-up?
- It was a sad day in plant-based paradise when Baldwin Village’s beloved Vegetarian Haven shuttered. Now, the spot is coming to 366 Bloor Street West as simply “Haven.”
- Plant-based restaurant Dalpak, by former Parallel chef Tomer Markovitz, is coming to 820 St. Clair West this spring.
- Osteria Giuleria is coming soon, from the folks behind l’Unita.
- Get ready for this one: Vegandale Brewery, previously located at 1346 Queen Street West, has shuttered. The spot will be re-opening with a new name across the street at 1265 Queen west, where Mythology was housed, but shuttered mere months after a major renovation. The new location will be called Bar Vegandale, and will offer eats by Doomies — the address’s original vegan eatery. Phew! Got that?
Our Top Picks
SOMA – Brock Avenue
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It’s not every day you find a chocolate bar that tastes like its main ingredient is love. SOMA is “an ongoing cacao experiment” helmed by Cynthia Leung, and it’s one that you’d best start participating in. The new Brock Avenue chocolate factory is brightly-lit, filled with can-only-find-here treats (think house-made, single-origin Madagascar marshmallows), and serves as the ideal place to finish up your last-minute Valentine’s Day shopping. Or, honestly? To grab “dinner.”
Address: 77 Brock Avenue
- See also:
Conzo’s
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The menu at this mouthwatering spot by the folks behind Sugo centres itself around pizza. Zucchini, Mushrooms, and Tre Colore are only a few of the mouthwatering flavour combos available to order in pie-form. But that’s not all. Salads ranging from Caesar to Burrata, meats including veal and involtini, fettuccine pasta, and tiramisu also stand out on the spot’s menu, which is intentional while still offering variety.
Address: 1279 Bloor Street West
Phone: 416-792-1279
Meat & Pie Co.
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On Wednesday, February 19, this new spot will be serving up free brisket. For those who can’t wait, the eatery is already soft-open, serving fall-off-the-bone ribs, ooey-gooey mac and cheese, and to finish, “your grandmother’s pies.”
A Second Harvest partner, the restaurant is already making a positive impact on the community, hosting guests from Dixon Hall’s Food Access and Housing Support Workers program, and Covenant House’s Transitional Housing Program and Culinary Training Program, with the intention of “giving back.” In the coming weeks, the restaurant will also be introducing the city’s first non-alcoholic bar. Overall: good things are happening here.
Address: Meat & Pie Co. — 212 King Street West
Last Call
It’s coming up to closing time for these establishments. You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.
- Tequila Bookworm has left the building, with a rent increase to blame. A genuine travesty.
- Brooklyn Tavern has shuttered after six years serving the Leslieville neighbourhood.
- PH Shawarma is no longer serving spicy falafel wraps and fiery plates of fries at Queen and Bathurst. What will replace it is yet to be seen.
- Drake’s Pick 6ix Sports confirmed it has closed due to flooding and unpaid rent.
