Last minute Toronto advice please!
 

I'm surprising my husband with a Toronto weekend Feb. 8-10. We are from Detroit and on the way there we are stopping at the Labatt brewery tour. I need a place for a late dinner of Friday and a blues club open late.

On Saturday we are lunching by the stadium (I have a few recommendations) and going to the Leafs/Wings game. Then we are definitely having mussels and beer at Bier Markt (anyone been there?) and maybe their fondu menu. If we just have mussels there, we will need a place for dinner on Saturday and another late night blues club.

Our Sunday is pretty wide open. We would like to meet some friends of ours. I'm not sure if we are going to their house or meeting at a family restaurant.

So let me know if there is anything we shouldn't miss. Thanks! I can't wait. :)

Have a look here: http://www.torontobluessociety.com/list.htm

and here:

www.nowtoronto.com

The Bier Market has fabulous Congo mussels. Yum.

Some other websites for you:
http://www.toronto.com/bars_clubs/article/512248
http://www.hob.com (House of Blues)
http://www.hughsroom.com
http://www.lula.ca
http://www.sopra.ca

Also look up Healey's -- the website is under construction right now, or I'd just give it to you.

Sounds like a really fun weekend!

Thanks guys. I printed off some of the blues lists. I'll let the husband choose.

I read the menu again at Bier Markt and the congo mussels will be a definite. Do I need reservations there?

Keep the suggestions coming!

We are staying at the Renaissance Hotel downtown in the Skydome. Is the Bier Markt walking distance? Maybe we'll just go there Friday night then.

I'm not sure if you need reservations but call and make them anyway. It's near lots of stuff and people go there before sporting events, theatre etc.

Yes, you can walk from the Skydome. Walk along Front Street, step into Union Station to see the great hall, walk over to Church Street past some interesting storefronts, and then south on Church and turn right on the Esplanade (I think) to get to the Bier Market.

Are you going to spend the bucks to go up the CN Tower? I know it's a very touristy thing to do, but on a clear day it's fun.

If you're hockey fans, the Hockey Hall of Fame is right at Yonge and Front Streets.

Thanks for the walking tips goddess! I really want this to be a very cool, relaxing trip for my husband who works too hard, so every little nugget of fun or interesting I can wring out of it is wonderful.

I'm going to write this out more for me. (I had a dream last night I remembered we were going to the hockey game when I saw the national anthem being played on TV) But please comment if you think my times are nuts.

Friday
12:30 pm - Leave for London via Port Huron

3:30 pm - Labatt tour

6 pm - leave for Toronto

8 pm - arrive Toronto, check in, walk to dinner at Bier Markt.

10 pm - blues club of husband's choice

Saturday
sleep as late as possible

browse around the area (weather in low 30's so doable outside)

1 pm - lunch at Gretzsky's

3 pm - puck drops at the game (We can walk to game from hotel via Gretzky's right?)

RESTAURANT SATURDAY NIGHT STILL NEEDED

after dinner - blues club of husband's choice

Sunday
am - SUGGESTIONS NEEDED HERE (much colder on Sunday, so inside suggestions needed)

Lunch with friends - RESTAURANT NEEDED

Head home via Windsor and casino for a bit.


Sounding pretty good. Apologies if I spelled Gretzsky wrong. :)

Oh, and we've done the hockey hall of fame before, but a high of 12 on Sunday will make us yearn for indoor entertainment. I'll leave it up to the husband.

I had to laugh when I read this - "a high of 12 on Sunday will make us yearn for indoor entertainment". I'm thinking woohoo, it's going to be 12 on Sunday!! Then I realized that the poster was probably thinking of 12 F, not 12 Celsius .....

:) Let's see...double 12 and add 32...56 degrees. Yes, that would be lovely! Sorry for bringing F to the Canadian board! And sorry for getting your hopes up...

hi kellie
just two things -- I'd give yourself more time for lunch at Gretzky's. It might be crowded, service might be slow, and you'll need time to get to your seats at the hockey game. Better to have too much time than to have to rush, so I'd suggest lunch at 12.

For Sunday, if you stay in the St. Lawrence Market area, you can also browse at the fun antique market in the north building. (Also visit the south market on Saturday. It's great. Don't forget to go downstairs.)

Suggestions for Sunday lunch:

The Hot House Cafe (at the corner of Front and Church) has a Sunday buffet brunch. I've never been but I understand it's very good.

Le Papillion (on Church, south of Front) very charming, much more intimate, mostly Bretonne-style crepes but there's some other stuff on the menu. See if you can get the table in front of the fireplace.

SpringRolls (on Front, just west of the market) pan-Asian, people will say it's not 'authentic' and that may be true but it's still good

Shopsy's deli (at the corner of Front and Yonge) general deli food

You'll have to make reservations at most of these places. If you're going to Le Papillion, ask for the fireplace table when you make your reservatiion and maybe they'll hold it for you.

also is the market area is jamie kennedy wine bar...

a great place for lunch with a couple of different small plats and half glasses of wine to taste...

try to get a seat at the chef's bar... great time!!

JMWF,
I've never been there and I don't think I've ever even passed it. Can you tell me where exactly it is? I'd like to try it too.

its on the east side of church street... just south of front st. about 3/4 of a block.

its across from the french restaurant that is right there - name escapes me. if you get to the keg you've got too far.

try his veal 'meatloaf' sandwich if it is on the menu that day... amazing.


also his new artisinal sparkling water from a spring in caledon is a really 'neat' concept. look out evian...

ha. i just looked at your post again goddesstogo

the french restaurant is Le Papillion, so its right across church from there...

Thanks, J -- I'm going to try it the very next time we're down there.

Okay, now I'm going to have to spend a week there because all those places sound so good!

I am definitely printing off this list (and getting the phone numbers of all those places) so we can decide what we are in the mood for. A table by the fireplace sounds good if it is going to be 12, oops I mean 12 minus 32, divided by 2, equals -10. That doesn't seem right. I think conversion all goes haywire when you hit negatives.

We will hit Gretzsky's by noon definitely then. We can walk right?

What is the St. Lawrence Market? I was wondering if there was like an international or a farmers market or something like that. We like those.

I'm so excited. Thanks all for the wonderful suggestions!

St. Lawrence Market is a big food market with other stuff. There's a website which will give you the days and hours (I don't think it's open Sundays) but also look for the hours of the north market (across the road). It's not stuffy antiques -- it's fun stuff.