This Michelin-recommended destination restaurant is tripling in size

Fat Rabbit is hopping into roomier digs, with a new bar, more seats and extra space to accommodate big suckling pig dinners. Since opening in 2023, the Michelin-recommended St. Catharines butcher-slash-restaurant has become one of those out-of-town tables Torontonians are happy to fill up their gas tanks for.

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But, for chef and co-founder Zach Smith, the restaurant’s footprint was a tight squeeze. “It didn’t take long before we realized that 30 seats was not enough to sustainably run the business that we wanted,” says Smith, citing rising food costs and the expense of making nearly everything in house.

Now, Fat Rabbit is taking over the space next door, expanding to 90 seats inside—115 with the patio—and adding a second dining room, a private event area and a new bar program. The additional space is slated to open in late May or early June.

The expansion came partly by necessity and partly by opportunity. Smith says his landlord had long encouraged him to lease the adjoining space, eventually offering terms too good to ignore. But enlarging a restaurant known for its intimacy came with risks.

Rather than one big room, they created two connected dining spaces. But Smith worried that the second room would feel like an afterthought rather than part of the same experience. “Everything about Fat Rabbit in its current state is very open,” he says. “You can peek around the corner into the kitchen and see us breaking down whole pigs.” Smith wanted the new dining room to have the same sense of theatre.

Designed by Brett Paulin, who was responsible for the original space, the second dining room feels more polished while still maintaining Fat Rabbit’s stripped-down feel. There are booths—added, in part, because Smith says some guests complained about the uncomfortable wooden chairs—as well as bar seating and an 18-seat private dining area overlooking the action below.

Smith is also moving some of the kitchen’s action into view, bringing charcuterie slicing and the garde manger station into the new room alongside dry-aging cabinets meant to add some of that butcher-shop magic.

At the centre is a new bar, which Smith calls the room’s focal point. The expansion has given Fat Rabbit’s drinks program room to grow. “We want to keep them light, refreshing and crushable,” he says of the concise cocktail list featuring seasonal house drinks and classic tipples.

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Early signatures include a floral cava spritz with elderflower and lavender bitters, a strawberry-infused gin cooler, and a rich rye-and-coffee concoction. Grape Witches remains behind the restaurant’s wine list. “We get to expand our drink program and our dry-aging program, all while essentially creating a super-fun environment for the guests,” Smith says.

The bigger footprint is also changing how Fat Rabbit cooks. With larger groups expected, Smith is leaning into large-format feasting, offering whole porchetta roasts, prime rib and slow-roasted lamb shoulder as well as suckling pigs for groups of 10 or more. There’s house-made sourdough now too. And with more seats, the restaurant is taking reservations for lunch.

And that’s not all, folks. Fat Rabbit will eventually take over the full building, including two additional spaces upstairs. Smith says that the expansion is ultimately about making room without dulling the restaurant’s winning formula. “It’s sleek and sharp and minimalist—but still beautiful.”