This adorable shop, located right in the heart of Markham, is Toronto’s first Japanese bakery. Since 1993, Bakery Nakamura has been committed to providing baked goods that are made with fresh and natural ingredients. The open-concept kitchen inside the bakery means you can watch the chefs make everything from scratch right before your eyes. The

With a name that rolls off the tongue, tea and treats (and tobacoo-free hookah) and an assortment of board games, Czech-inspired lounge Bampot Bohemian House of Tea and Board Games is drawing quite the crowd. Eastern European textiles and colourful boho threads hang from every inch of this decorative tea room. The staff here are

Banh Mi Boys is Toronto's leading Vietnamese sandwich shop. A banh mi sandwich has come to be known as a French baguette filled to the brim with savoury ingredients including liver pâté, sliced pork belly, pickled carrots and daikon and cilantro.

This tiny Chinatown storefront, opened in the ’80s by the parents of Banh Mi Boys owners David, Peter and Philip Chau, is the original banh mi mom and pop. The small space produces hundreds of sandwiches a day, an industrial slicing machine spitting out the French buns as quick as they can be filled with

Oliver & Bonacini Restaurants’ newest endeavour, Bannock, keeps with the O&B tradition of serving unapologetically Canadian cuisine (à la Canoe) and, as you might expect, serves bannock. Oliver & Bonacini’s chef Michael Bonacini and corporate executive chef Anthony Walsh developed the menu, going back to the basics of what bannock is meant to be: “a round flatbread traditionally cooked on a griddle or stone, brought to Canada through Scottish explorers and traders, adapted by Indigenous people and settlers.”

This hotspot should be named Experience Aperitivo because it’s more than just a bar. David Rocco’s Bar Aperitivo will transport you from Yorkdale to Italy with the decorative photos of Napoli that surround the entrance of the storefront. Bar Aperitivo is the type of place you stop for a Spritz on your way home from

Bar Koukla is the newest member of the Mamakas Food Group and the most recent resto to take its place on the Ossington strip. In 2015 Thanos Tripi opened Mamakas Taverna and took the west end by storm with his unique collection of Greek wines, traditional yet elevated Greek fare and chic Mediterranean atmosphere. Bar

Grant van Gameren and Robin Goodfellow, of the superb Bar Isabel, opened Raval to mimic the tapas bars of Barcelona. Its look is pure Gaudi, mahogany carved into great swooping curves and cutouts, a triumph of gorgeous whimsy. It’s a bar. You stand. No cutlery save for a tiny fork, mostly finger food — pintxos

Some restaurateurs get into business for the money, for others it’s a passionate affair and a way of life. Michelle and Herbert Barnsteiner fall safely into the latter category and have recently opened the next chapter of that love story at Yonge and Balmoral Avenue.

Cooking from the heart and serving up some good ol’ southern comfort food, Barque Smokehouse is Roncesvalle’s local for refined and ridiculously good barbecue. Longtime friends and corporate servants Dave Neinstein and Jon Persofsky decided to leave their suits behind and open up a restaurant serving their favourite food. While Persofsky went to George Brown

Serving up some southern hospitality with a taste of Central Texas, Beach Hill Smokehouse is the place for meat lovers. The restaurant’s tender sandwiches are named for the iconic cities of Texas, giving customers the best from the world capital of smoked barbecue. Smoked meats served by the half-pound include the angus beef brisket, signature

Like many residents living near Bayview and Sheppard, I’ve been keeping a close eye on Beauty Barbecue and Smokehouse. Over the last month or so, when walking across the parking lot at Bayview Village Shopping Centre, I’d occasionally catch a whiff of something smokey and delicious and I’d hope that the opening date would be

These days King Street West is a bit of a scene. From the transit-only streets, to the exclusive rooftop pools and elitist bars and restaurants, it’s getting harder to find a place where you can just relax. Whereas this might be true of Belfast Love on Friday nights, when the bar is filled to capacity

Like many businesses that opened during the pandemic, Benny’s Barbecue began as a hobby. Tucked away in an alley off Yonge Street, this barbecue joint has brought the authentic taste—and look—of Texas to the streets of Toronto. Using ingredients of only the highest quality, and beef that’s 100% grass-fed, Benny’s meets all your meaty needs,

Carmelina Imola and Zach Kolomeir love their golden birds. The pair own three other restaurants in Canada, including the acclaimed Joe Beef Restaurant in Montreal and Dreyfus on Harbord Street. Taverne Bernhardt’s opened in late 2020 and instantly won over the hearts of Torontonians. Although the menu changes daily, rest assured that the assortment will

The King West Bier Markt has got the patio of every bar’s dreams: seated and absolutely huge. It gets further check marks for a strong, Europe-leaning beer list (including a few cellared bottles) and food — think wursts, schnitzel, mussels and flammekueches — that deftly match the suds. The food is made from scratch and

Big Bone BBQ and Wicked Wings has been bringing the heat and the flavours of the Deep South to the True North for over 20 years, and thank goodness for that! You may recognize its name for all the Ribfests across Ontario that is has won and competed in plus the more than 50 barbecue

Sister restaurant to the popular beer hall Bar Volo, this Little Italy hideout is the perfect place to have a beer and a bite. Birreria Volo is a rustic, Italian-style bar focusing on its constantly rotating list of wild ales, natural wine, ciders and snacks. The hideaway feeling is brought on by the historical alley

Bistro on Avenue has been a local favourite for some 40 years. Louis Nemes, the owner is Toronto’s Lord of the Wings, having founded The Chick’N Deli as well as the first St. Louis Bar and Grill. So it comes as no surprise that the wings and ribs are the star here. The wingers here

A sandwich shop doesn’t get to be a Rosedale institution by doing anything less than great work. The Black Camel’s brisket sandwich is the sparks that fly when bubby meets Texas barbecue. The meat has been roasted so long and slow that it melts in your mouth. Its tomato-based sauce is just sweet enough to