Queen West snack bar It’s All GRK expands with two more downtown locations

When It’s All GRK opened on Queen West, it ushered in a new era of Mediterranean snack bars in Toronto: nearby Rose City Kitchen opened shortly afterwards, as did The Greek on King West. (The Med trend will soon infiltrate sit-down dining, too: Anthony Rose’s Fat Pasha and Charles Khabouth’s Byblos both launch this spring.) Buoyed by the success of the first location, owners Matty Tsoumaris and Nick Freda are opening two more gourmet-souvlaki outlets, one in the Annex and one in the downtown core.

First, the Annex shop: it’s slated to open by the end of next week (March 21st) at 366 Bloor Street West. It will share the original restaurant’s streamlined aesthetic and mix-and-match menu, as well as a few new dishes, like moussaka and traditional Greek loukoumades (i.e. honey-soaked doughnuts). The third shop opens just a week later, on April 1st. Taking over the former Ali Baba’s space at 229 Church Street, it will be an express counter with just eight seats and a more limited menu.