Little Italy’s favourite new brunch spot now serves dinner
Susie’s Rise and Dine is extending its hours and expanding its menu
When Susie’s Rise and Dine opened on College Street last spring, its retro diner vibes and Asian-influenced comfort food made it the city’s buzziest new brunch spot. Now, co-owner Adam Lore and his team are betting that the same neighbourhood regulars who pack booths by 11 a.m. will come back after dark.
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“We always knew we wanted to offer dinner,” Lore says. “But it was important to us that we were able to walk before we started to run.” Rather than launching with both brunch and dinner menus, the team found their stride with morning meals.
The new dinner menu blends Susie’s top daytime hits with shareable plates built for the evening crowd. Brunch favourites, like the Tokyo caesar salad, cheeseburger and mapo Frito pie, make the jump to dinner, but most of the lineup is new. “We didn’t want to just have the same menu for brunch and dinner, because people crave different things at different times of the day,” says Lore.
Highlights include the Bangkok fritto misto, a spin on the Italian classic that sees calamari and shrimp tossed in a Thai-style spice mix and served with a tangy-sweet nam chim dipping sauce. There are also hot chicken tenders, which take a cue from Nashville hot chicken but swap in aromatic chili oil for heat. Heartier dishes include thick-cut Korean-style short ribs paired with king oyster mushrooms and house-made spring-onion kimchi and served with lettuce leaves for making DIY wraps. “It’s very stick-to-your-ribs and perfect as we head into winter,” says Lore.
Even pasta gets the Susie’s treatment. The XO seafood alfredo trades fettuccine for chewy udon noodles and folds XO sauce into the cream base. “It’s very thick and luscious and has a great mouthfeel,” says Lore.
The drinks are getting an evening overhaul too. While the diner’s brunch tipples lean light and easy, dinner brings a full-fledged cocktail program. It’s anchored by a riff on the espresso martini inspired by yuenyeung, a popular Hong Kong drink that combines coffee and milk tea. “It has that bitterness but also a bit of a floral hit,” says Lore.
And yes, there’s dessert: Granny Yosh’s milk and cookies is based on a beloved recipe passed down by a childhood friend’s grandmother.
“College Street just has so much energy at night, and we thought, Why not be part of it?” says Lore.
Dinner service runs Friday through Sunday, with brunch continuing until 4 p.m. before a quick transition to the evening menu.
Jessica Huras is a freelance writer and editor with over a decade of experience creating food, travel and lifestyle content. She’s a content editor for the LCBO’s Food & Drink magazine, and her work has appeared in the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, Chatelaine, Toronto Life and Elle Canada, among other publications.
