The Month That Was: the Toronto restaurants and bars that opened and closed in June

The Month That Was: the Toronto restaurants and bars that opened and closed in June

The Hogtown Pub and Oysters (Image: Karolyne Ellacott)

Openings

  • Origin Liberty Village—The latest outpost in Claudio Aprile’s burgeoning empire has a dining room inspired by the Bren Gun factory that used to occupy the restaurant’s building. Read our Introducing post »
  • Farmhouse Tavern—Darcy MacDonell (formerly of La Société) serves up a host of Ontario-grown food and wine, the perfect complement to the Agrarian-inspired decor. Read our Introducing post »
  • Lil’ Baci Taverna—Not your nonna’s spaghetti and meatballs: Mark Bacci heads midtown to offer a creative take on classic Italian dishes. Read our Introducing post »
  • The Hogtown Pub and Oysters—Formerly The Auld Spot Pub, this College Street bar is under new management and offering revitalized pub fare (think: chipotle beef heart tacos and dried cherry and brie quesadillas). Read our Introducing post »
  • La Carnita—Last year’s pop-up taco stand upgrades to a permanent bricks-and-mortar residence at College and Bathurst. Read our Introducing post »
  • Sam James Coffee Bar—The third location of Sam James’ eponymous coffee joint opened up under the Sun Life Financial Building, bringing a little indie cred to the chain-dominated core. Read our Introducing post »
  • Dine on 3—Yorkdale’s $35-million food court overhaul includes Su&Shi Noodle Bar, Ontario’s first outpost of the Albertan pizza chain Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria and the world’s largest Espressamente Illy Italian espresso bar. Read our Introducing post »
  • The OxleyThe Queen and Beaver’s Andrew Carter and Jamieson Kerr bring a little bit of Britain to Yorkville with this English-style pub. Read our Introducing post »
  • The East Ender—A more casual, family-friendly environment serving up global cuisine replaces Tomi-Kro in Leslieville. Read our Introducing post »
  • Feel Good Guru—An entirely vegan restaurant that bills itself as having “hyper-local super-awesome organic plant-powered food.” Whew. Read our Introducing post »
  • White Brick Kitchen—Brothers Stephen and Matthew Howell team up to bring home-style cooking (lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch) to their Koreatown location. Read our Introducing post »
  • Paulette’s Original Donuts and Chicken—Devin Connell brings self-described “happy food” to Leslieville, with her doughnuts and fried chicken menu. Read our Introducing post »
  • Regina’s Kitchen—After Regina’s Catering and Fine Foods closed in April, Regina’s Kitchen popped up in its place, offering similar Jewish fare, although the new Regina’s is in no way associated with the old. [Post City]
  • The Abbott on Eglinton—So new they don’t even have a website yet, the new Eglinton location of the Abbott boasts high-end pub fare, making all food (like cured meats and freshly baked bread) on-site. 508 Eglinton Ave. W., 416-487-8350.
  • The Burger Press—Buy burgers by the ounce at this new joint on Bathurst, just south of Queen. [BlogTO]
  • Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria—Toronto’s second instalment of this Neapolitan chain restaurant (the first was in Yorkdale’s Dine on 3) serves its pizzas in a jiffy: only 90 seconds in a 900-degree oven. [The Grid]
  • Maizal Quesadilla Café—A new Liberty Village restaurant serving up fresh Mexican food, with tortillas made daily from corn ground in-house using a Nixtamex grinder. [Post City]
  • Bar Hop—This King West bar boasts an impressive selection of rare and hard-to-find beers (around 80 varieties), combined with Italian-inspired eats from  Antoinette Sacco, chef and former owner of the Beach’s Antoinette’s. [PostCity]
  • Paradise Farms Café—This resto-café serves up burgers and sandwiches with sustainably farmed meat from owner Shane Baghai’s Paradise Farms in Caledon. [PostCity]
  • Barton Snacks—Stop in for a soda pop, a cookie, Chicago-style popped corn or their signature ice cream sandwich (the outside is rolled in Pop Rocks) in this Annex joint. [PostCity]
  • Yogurty’s Froyo—Be on the lookout for a Yogurty’s self-serve frozen yogurt store opening near you: the chain is aggressively expanding this summer (one store will open every 15 days) with plans for a total of 13 stores in Toronto. The most recent addition brought its low-cal treats to Yonge and Lawrence. [Yogurty’s]
  • Glas—Danny Patano took over Leslieville’s Frankly Eatery at the beginning of June, and a scant three weeks later opened this new locally focused restaurant. Read our Introducing post »
  • The Arrow—A new Dundas and Ossington coffee shop serving ice cream from Mapleton’s Organic, Coconut Bliss and Monforte. Read our Introducing post »
  • Krispy Kreme—After something of a retrenchment in the GTA, the over-the-top doughnut outfit opened a new location at Elm at McCaul. [Chowhound]
  • Hogtown Smoke—Toronto’s street food regulations may be up in the air, but that hasn’t stopped this new barbecue truck, with a smoker on board, from hitting the streets. [Toronto Food Trucks]
  • Urban Smoke Food Truck—Yes indeed, June saw the launch of not one but two barbecue trucks, this one catering more to special events. [Toronto Food Trucks]
  • All Class Mobile Kitchen—This new Caribbean halal food truck launched in June as well. [Facebook]
  • Get Well—A new bar at Dundas and Ossington specializing in Ontario craft beer. [Get Well]
  • Creme Fraiche Market Café—An indoor farmers’ market of sorts in Bloor West Village, brought to you by outdoor farmers’ market regulars Constance Dykun and Rachel Silva. The main draw here is the large assortment of Monforte Dairy cheese. [Blog TO]

Closings

  • Senior’s Steak House and Restaurant—After 51 years of service, long-time owners Eddie and Cathy Marlett are ready to retire, and with them retires this neighbourhood favourite. [PostCity]
  • Highway 61—The southern-inspired barbecue restaurant Highway 61 has run out of gas. [Toronto.com]
  • People’s Foods—Due to rent increases, Annex staple People’s Foods has served its last club sandwich—for now: owner Kathy Tsatsanis is willing to relocate in the future, if the price is right. [BlogTO]
  • Captain John’s Seafood Restaurant—The oft-debated waterfront landmark/eyesore has finally been shut down for owing more than $500,000 to the city. While the restaurant has been ordered to close up shop immediately, the ship itself may still be around for a while. Read our story »
  • Zelda’s Restaurant—After an electrical fire caused extensive damage to the restaurant, owner Zelda Angelfire decided not to reopen.  [Zelda’s]
  • Divino’s—This midtown Italian restaurant closed and is making way for John and Sons Oyster House, from the team behind Rodney’s by Bay (not to be confused with Rodney Clarke’s King Street oyster house). [Post City]
  • Harry’s Social Kitchen—The casual Yonge and St. Clair restaurant closed on June 22, after less than a year in business. [Chowhound]

Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments.