Toronto’s favourite breakfast sandwich has a permanent home (again)

Fans of Alma y Gil’s pop-up brunch will be happy to know they no longer have to wait until the weekend for their favourite breakfast sandwiches. That’s because owners Gerry Quintero and Mandy Sou have found a permanent location for their Hong Kong–inspired brunch dishes—as well as a new Mexican-inspired dinner service.

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Alma y Gil started as a kombucha company in 2018, when Quintero developed a knack for fermentation. Two years later, they had to pandemic-pivot multiple times, selling juice, delivering produce boxes and offering catering. Eventually, when people started eating on patios again, they launched a weekend pop-up out of Hot Black Coffee in Davisville that proved so popular they went on to open a brick-and-mortar location in the Junction Triangle.

But, in the spring of 2024, they closed so Quintero could lead the kitchen at Ficoa, a restaurant in Little Italy serving experimental tasting menus. On the weekends, though, he and Sou continued giving the people what they wanted: breakfast sandos. Quintero has since parted ways with Ficoa, and the couple is now going all in on Alma y Gil.

“Mandy and I always dreamed about what our restaurant would be like,” says Quintero. “Right now, the concept that we have is the closest thing to what we always wanted to do.”

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While Sou is perfecting Alma y Gil’s brunch menu, Quintero is taking the lead on the new dinner service with a focus on corn, a reference to his Mexican heritage. He’ll be importing rare grains from Oaxaca and grinding some of his own in a molino for tacos, tamales and masa baked goods. Even the drinks will contain corn: he’s currently working on a recipe for chicha morada, a refreshing Peruvian corn drink similar to lemonade.

The café is now open for Sou’s sandwiches, with the dinner portion expected to roll out at the beginning of August.

Alma y Gil, 392 Dufferin St., almaygil.com, @almaygil