This new Dundas West restaurant will track Toronto food trends (and stay open till 4 a.m.)
There’s no shortage of late-night food available around Ossington, but most kitchens do eventually close—usually by midnight or 1 a.m. The latest snack bar to hit the ’hood aims to provide the city’s true nighthawks with new ways to sop up an evening’s worth of beer and cocktails. Ossington Station opens in mid-May in the former Arrow Café space at 1164 Dundas West. The restaurateur behind it is Fishbar owner William Tavares, who describes the place as an “all-day eatery”—an increasingly popular Toronto restaurant model—with a particular focus on wee-hour snacks. “We’ll be sort of like a Tim Hortons or a fast-food joint,” he says, “but without all the preservatives.”
The nighttime menu will include exactly the kind of stuff most people crave at 3 a.m.—i.e. lots of fat and salt, delivered via unselfconsciously trendy dishes like lobster rolls, ribs and, according to Tavares, something called a “chicken-waffle taco.” (“We’re going to hit all the top food trends,” he says.) Decor-wise, the space will look “sort of like a subway station,” which we’re guessing means lots of tile and chrome. And, like Timmies or McD’s, it will be open for business most of the time: from 11 a.m. until midnight daily, and until 4 a.m. on weekends.
