Introducing: Home of the Brave, an all-American diner from the owners of La Carnita

By Megan Leahy | August 22, 2013

By Megan Leahy | 08/22/2013

Introducing: Home of the Brave

Name: Home of the Brave
Contact Info: 589 King Street W., 416-366-2736, thehotb.com, @theHOTB
Neighbourhood: King West
Owners: Andrew Richmond, who also owns Little Italy taqueria La Carnita
Chefs: Jonathon Hamilton and Nate Middleton, La Carnita’s executive and sous chef, respectively

The Place: The second-floor space feels like an updated diner with retro orange booths, graffiti wall art and touches of vintage Americana, like Liberty Bell light fixtures and artwork scrawled with the revolutionary motto “Join or Die.” A small front patio overlooks King Street.

The Food: American comfort food, like tater tots with gravy and a fried bologna sandwich topped with house-made processed cheese. The Kentucky Fried Handshake Sandwich comes with a chicken foot dangling out one side.

The Drinks: Spiked slushies, root beer on tap and an elaborate cocktail menu divided into three sections: house drinks, guest book cocktails (borrowed from popular American bars) and Prohibition-era classics.

The Numbers:
• 50 mason jars stocked with herbs, spices and other ingredients for concocting house-made bitters
• 36 hours in the smoker for the smoked pork belly sandwich
• 10 litres of spiked slush sold per night
• 3 desserts: banana split, ice cream cookies and red-velvet funnel cake

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Introducing: Home of the Brave — (Image: Megan Leahy)

5 thoughts on “Introducing: Home of the Brave, an all-American diner from the owners of La Carnita”

K White says:

August 25, 2013 at 11:43 am

Yea, because the one thing Toronto is desperately in need of is more American culture.
Burgermeister says:

August 27, 2013 at 7:00 am

Looking at the picture above, I assume eating that much pork fat cannot be good for you. I remember my grandfather telling me that he used to eat fried pork during the depression years since meat was too expensive. I guess we are going back to the depression era foods since real meat has become too expensive in today’s economy. What’s a good steak at a restaurant cost these days, $40-$50?
Jonathan Armstrong says:

August 27, 2013 at 2:09 pm

the steak is a 20oz meant to be shared, not your typical 8oz ribeye.
TokenOfficeGoth says:

September 3, 2013 at 3:37 pm

To be fair, nobody is suggesting you eat THAT MUCH pork fat on any sort of regular basis. If you go to any fine dining restaurant you should expect that the meal you’re eating is as bad, if not worse for you than fast food. That doesn’t mean you can’t indulge every once in a while, life cannot be all quinoa, kale and tofu afterall…
TokenOfficeGoth says:

September 3, 2013 at 3:39 pm

Having eaten the bologna sandwich at the DOS event at Brickworks I can say it was AMAZING. A spectacularly delicious sandwich. Frankly, dismissing the food because of the country of origin is elitist at best. The owners and staff are Canadian.