Introducing: Hopgood’s Foodliner, the new Roncesvalles restaurant from Hoof Café vet Geoff Hopgood

25 thoughts on “Introducing: Hopgood’s Foodliner, the new Roncesvalles restaurant from Hoof Café vet Geoff Hopgood”

1. The hoof cafe brunch was awesome, unfortunately this sounds gross.

2. COULD THIS PLACE LOOK ANY WORSE !

   IS THAT A RESTAURANT????

   OMG AND THYE EXPECT US TO PAY TO EAT THERE?

3. I think the decor is very cool. However, the prices are high ($26 for chicken and grits – ummm, no, I wouldn’t pay that). And sorry, but evaporated milk sauce and triscuits have no appeal to me at all.

4. this looks disgusting and is helping in slowly turning one of Toronto’s last great neighbourhood’s into a tourist trap.

5. phone number is actually 416-533-2723!
   we are very happy to be in the neighbourhood, being residents of it ourselves (the chef and i, the manager). apologies that our ideas have caused any repulsion but please know that we care very much about what we are doing.

6. I was really intrigued by the article! The decor is so charming and the food sounds carefully selected. I love it when a chef is inspired by the flavours of their childhood..I think it makes for a memorable meal.

   I could barely contain my laughter when I scrolled down to the comment section. Those nameless, faceless trolls can be found on any given site at any given time on any website…don’t let them get you down! They keep the Jack Astor’s And Kelsey’s chains in business. Can’t wait to come check out Hopgood’s!

7. I can’t wait to try out Hopgood’s the next time I’m in Toronto, looks amazing and sounds delicious!

8. Opinions are like a–holes, everyone has one.
   Do any of faceless trolls own a resto, bar, lemonade stand?
   Until they do they should keep blogging little mouths shut.

9. I’m curious as to how on earth a crispy toffee bar sounds gross? Sounds delish to me. As to triscuits with crab dip? I’ve had the most amazing shrimp dip served with saltines so don’t judge until you’ve actually tried the food.

10. Best of wishes dudes! cant wait to try it out. the menu and concept look amazing, im sure in no time there will be line ups to try it out.

11. HEY , THESE BLOGS ARE FOR OPINIONS , IF U CANT TALK IT DON T READ IT ,

    FOR THE RECORD I WONT PAY HIGH PRICES FOR FOOD INA PLACE THAT COST NOTHING TO BUILD , IF THATS THE CASE DONT CHARGE THE PRICES THAT COMFORTABLE , WELL DESIGNED PLACES CHARGE TO HAVE A COMFORTABLE , RELAXED EYE PLEASEING MEAL

    GOT IT?

12. romeo, some people like minimilist design, some find comfort in surroundings that aren’t plush and over done. nobody is asking you to go to this particular establishment and frankly it would seem you wouldn’t enjoy it because your mind isn’t open to the experience. no worries-there are plenty of alternatives for you and others in this city-life is too short to worry about places that aren’t for you-enjoy what you can and leave the rest behind. i don’t find grand electric appealing, from decor to hip hop-i don’t complain about it-i just know it isn’t for me. i hope all who enjoy it have a great time-but i will find something else.

    now blogs and bloggers as journalists are a pet peeve of mine that i won’t go into here…

13. I would rather pay a restaurant for good food than for good decor.

14. Look forward to many great meals here!!!
    Dont let the arm chair bloggers hinder your passion and vision.
    menu looks great

    Cheers

15. Any time I see a commenter write in caps, the first thought that comes to mind is that THEY’RE CRAZY!!! Can’t wait to check out Hopgood’s. It looks and sounds charming and delicious.

16. Very excited to hit up this place! I’ve only heard good things thus far.

    I think part of the challenge is how to market Maritime food. Most people out here don’t know much about it and there’s a character to it that takes some getting used to.

    Doing the whole “this features this and that ingredient” breakdown might not work for food which these days uses a lot of boxed or canned ingredients (ie tricuits, evaporated milk). It sounds a bit odd in the locavore age.

    For example, having lived in Halifax, I can tell you donairs were never advertised as having evaporated milk sauce. They were just Halifax donairs.

    So letting the food speak for itself might get around the hesitance some people have about what is really a new kind of food for most people in Toronto.

17. We went for drinks and loved it.
    Staff were exceptionally friendly and attentive.
    Would go back in a heartbeat.

18. Anyone tried the donairs yet? Are they real donairs or what passes in some places up here? I would love a donair place somewhere close in Toronto….I can not believe Toronto doesn’t have donairs….its like not having Coke!

19. I had the Donair. Being from the east coast I’ve been dying for a good one for years.

    It was tasty. But the staff made it very clear we weren’t the kind of clientele that they were hoping to serve. We didn’t know about the reservation requirement so we walked in. Hostess was iffy if we could get in before 15 mins; despite there being 3 perfectly open tables by the door. So I gave her my number (watched her write it down) and went to get coffee at Roncy Bean (great place) and she’d call when the table settled up and we’d have a seat.

    Didn’t get called after 20 mins so we went back down. She came over with some sob story that she had the wrong number but covered the paper when she read my number back to me. And then changed the last digit by one number 2 instead of a 3. Yeah. Sure I’ll believe that. So she proceeded to hum and haw over the tables and decided we could choose from one of the three (still empty) tables from when we were first there. Awesome. That is not Maritime hospitality. If you are booked, or only take reservations, tell me. Honestly is a bit more of a Maritime tradition.

    The Server swore he’d be ‘around so just grab my attention’ when we were ready to order. But he floated away in the back for 10 mins.

    The staff may be ‘polite and hospitable’ but they need to work on their condescending tone.

    While we were seated I saw 2 more walk in w/out reservations and were seated at the 2 remaining open tables. Without a second glance back or any of the production we got.

    And as for those that actually had reservations. I saw a group of ladies sitting there when we arrived and they were still there after we left. Clearly they don’t hustle out the diners to keep people on time.

    And we weren’t poorly dressed. I came from work. The wait staff are all snobby hipsters wearing cuffed jeans and kicks. So I feel that I was at least not the most under dressed person there by far. A guy walked in and was cheerfully greeted in his lumber jack style coat.

    I was unimpressed. The donair being the real deal is the only saving grace for me. Not one Nova Scotia wine on the menu. So much for that ‘down home’ feel. I’ve never felt so out of place in my life.

    We proceeded to go to our local pub Bar With No Name, up on Bloor between Dundas West and Keele. Got the regular super warm greeting. That guy knows hospitality. Hands down.

20. looks comfortable , yea right, my back hurts just looking at those seats

    when i eat , comfort is important , if not eat on the street

21. another tourist resto

22. Hopgood’s is a lot of hype about nothing. Although the staff is friendly and the atmosphere cozy, the food is below average. It’s definitely not worth the money.

23. Wow – can’t find a menu online anywhere.

    Where is it please. I am not search engine challenged, but I cannot find it.

    Thank you.

24. If you’re into paying $15 for store-bought Triscuits and a tiny ramekin of crab dip then this is the place for you!

25. Very disappointing. My husband, son and I went on a weekday evening. We arrived at 6:30pm and there was lots of room. But it filled up by 7pm. We found the wine list expensive – nothing under $45. Our bill came to $91 for 3 appies, 1 main, 1 glass of wine and a beer. Nothing was outstanding. That evening there was a weekly special – fried chicken with grits. The menu is small to begin with but we were told because of the special that evening, they couldn’t do 2 main dishes on the regular menu as they were fried and they only had one fryer and the chicken was being cooked in it. I can’t eat gluten (thus not the batter on the chicken) and the mains not offered that evening were the ones I could have ordered – eg fried pork hock. So we opted to start with a crab dip with triscuits (yes the ones from Loblaws). Crab dip was very tasty. I asked if they had a rice cracker and was told no. There was no attempt to provide me with an alternative. My husband ordered a salad – which was served on a small amount of mashed veggies – apparently tasty but not filling. My son ordered steak and scallop tartare which arrived in the middle of a dinner plate with not another thing on it. Not even parsley. I ordered a seafood chowder. My cup of soup was tasty. Portions are small and we left having to go to pick up a snack on the way home.

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