The Dish Power Rankings: Kumar goes to Guu edition

The Dish Power Rankings: Kumar goes to Guu edition

The-Dish-Power-Rankings

Toronto Life’s roundup of the restaurants with the biggest buzz, the longest lineups and the toughest tables to snag.

After three weeks of steady climbing, Oddseoul makes it to the top of the list. At the bottom, a couple of older spots get buzz boosts from celeb spottings.

  1. OddSeoul (↑2)
    Awesome Asian bar food + tipsy Ossington crowds + no phone number = desperate Twitter-based attempts at snagging a table.
  2. Electric Mud BBQ (no change)
    Wait times are coming down to just 45 minutes at this Parkdale barbecue shack, but warmer temperatures will undoubtedly lead to higher queueing tolerance.
  3. Edulis (↑1)
    Once again, Edulis is booked solid throughout the entire weekend.
  4. Farmhouse Tavern (↑2)
    Farmhouse turned down a slew of last-minute reservation requests over the weekend, and hosted its busiest Sunday brunch service yet. This might have something to do with it.
  5. Playa Cabana Cantina (no change)
    The fervour for this Junction taqueria has died down a little, although weekend tables are still hard to come by (give yourself at least 10 days in advance).
  6. Queen Margherita Pizza 2.0  (new this week)
    When was the last time a Baby Point restaurant booked up all its good weekend tables—those between 6 and 9 p.m.—days in advance? Come to think of it, when was the last time a hot restaurant opened in Baby Point?
  7. Rose and Sons (no change)
    Zane Caplansky took to Twitter last week to offer a spirited defense of this Annex diner after The Star’s Amy Pataki likened its ambitions to sweatpants.
  8. Nota Bene (new this week)
    Bam! Nota Bene makes the list by hosting this week’s best food-world celebrity guest: Emeril Lagasse.
  9. Guu Sakabar (new this week)
    The Annex location of Guu also hosted a celebrity of its own: Kal Penn, better known as Kumar of Harold and Kumar.
  10. Hey Meatball (new this week)
    Hey Meatball had the (arguably dubious) honour of being the first Toronto restaurant to be featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

Honourable mention: Two separate publicity stunts earned Rashers a nod from Grub Street New York.

Dropped off the list this week: Porzia, Patria, Samuel J. Moore, Shōtō.