Salad King coronation pushed back to January; Ryerson students still hungry

Hungry Ryerson students are going to have to suffer through yet another exam period without the aid of cheap yet nourishing Thai. Salad King, that improbably tasty staple of downtown cheap eats, won’t be reopening until at least the end of January 2011, according to a thorough report by the intrepid SK watchers at Torontoist. It seems owner Ernest Liu had underestimated the amount of time it would take to convert the sports bar above the Foot Locker across the street into a new palace of stainless steel and satay.

Salad King’s previous location, around the corner on Gould Street, shut down in April when the facade of its historic building collapsed. Construction on the new location has been held up by the usual woes of downtown renovation and restaurant creation: a new drainage system had to be routed through the Foot Locker, and it will be mid-January before hydro workers can install the required power connections. Still, Liu says the new digs will feature more tables, a more efficient kitchen (how could it be faster than the old one?) and unisex washrooms. Oh, and possibly a bar and “entertainment venue” in the space above.

• Salad King Suffers Reign Delay [Torontoist]