horatio

It has been a long time since I have been here...teacher's college decades ago...anyhow, need to attend a grad on Friday. Where do you recommend I park..I need to drive in. Also, any restaurants in the Harbord street area you would recommend for lunch?

goddesstogo

I work at UofT so I'm located right where you want to go. Re lunch on Harbord Street, my favourite is Messis but you have to check and see if it's open for lunch. Try the white chocolate and blueberry dessert. I think Splendido is open for lunch but it's expensive. There's a very casual middle eastern place called Moma. And a tiny but good place called Dessert Trends (or DT) -- don't be mislead by the name, the food is really nice. Across from that is the Boulevard Cafe, Peruvian food.

If you want to have lunch on campus, the Hart House Grill is lovely. Ask for a table overlooking the Great Hall. For a casual, cafeteria style lunch, Sammy's (formerly the Arbor Room) is downstairs at Hart House.

Regarding parking, it depends on where you're going to be on campus. Your best bet would be to look up the parking map at www.utoronto.ca. All the parking areas have the usual ticket-purchasing machines.

horatio

Wow, thanks. My son lived over on Brunswick for a short while so I have always passed some of the restaurants on Harbord thinking they would be nice. I am going to check them out tonight. I will be at Convocation Hall on King's College Circle, I believe. That parking map online, well I will try it again tonight but it was just too tiny to figure out. It was said that there will be parking on St. George at theRobarts(think that is the name)Library, underground. Don't know how busy that would be but it might be my best bet to try. Thanks again.

goddesstogo

I think you can click on the parking map to make it bigger.

But if you're in town you can stop in at the parking office which is in the building (sorry, can't remember the name) in the circle on Spadina north of College. Or maybe your son can pick one up for you.

Across St. George from the Robarts Library, there's the Rotman School and there's underground parking of several levels there. It's just a short walk from there to Convocation Hall.

horatio

I figured you could click on it but did not at the time..Can you park at the actual library or were they referring to the Rotman lot, do you think?

SusanInToronto

Can't advise on parking, but I really like the Boulevard. I've been there for years and the food is wonderful.

goddesstogo

I don't know of any parking at or under the library but Rotman is right across the road. You get in via a ramp at the south end.

Of course, King's College Circle is the closest to Convocation Hall but it gets full pretty fast.

You could always park there early and go for lunch or park and have a closer lunch at the Gallery Grill. Be sure to reserve for lunch wherever you decide to go. If it's a convocation day, local places will be pretty busy.