168 Best Restaurants in Toronto, Ontario

At this classic Toronto wing joint, crispy flats and drumettes are served with pristine celery sticks and creamy dill or blue-cheese dressing. The "medium" sauce is still fairly hot—but for those truly willing to tempt fate, the options go all the way up to "armageddon."

Fried dumplings stuffed with juicy shrimp and pork or the health-conscious steamed spinach and black mushroom wrappers are the stars of the show but ordering from the selection of northern Chinese staples is highly recommended too. Top crowd-pleasing picks are the ultra-thinly sliced semi-cooked potato threads cooked in a jolting spicy vinegar, and noodley tofu strips boiled and lightly stir-fried with pork and veggies.

By day, e11even presents steak-house fare for the downtown business crowd; by night, concertgoers and sports fans slide into wooden booths for a refined meal or nightcap. The menu of North American classics includes savory-sweet maple-glazed bacon, salads flanked with seared tuna, filet mignon, and casual fare like burgers and kosher beef dogs. The wine list is also impressive.

Enter a Middle Eastern paradise where vegans and the health conscious can feast on delicious mock-meat renditions of classics like chicken shawarma and beef kebabs doused in a variety of flavored tahinis, like beet and lemon. Chef Isra recreated her grandmother's Egyptian recipes so faithfully that not even she can tell them apart.

Eataly's wonderland of fresh Italian groceries can also be enjoyed on-site in seven different restaurants, bars, counters, and cafés. There's the Trattoria Milano for northern Italian dishes and aperitivo, La Piazza for shareable plates like salumi and cheese, La Pizza & La Pasta (pretty self-explanatory), Birroteca for fresh beer in partnership with Indie Alehouse, multiple big patios to sip drinks like Aperol spritzes and wines, plus multiple cafés for pastries, sandwiches, pizzas, chocolates, and gelatos. 

This neighborhood scoop joint, featuring a long list of house-made flavors, is a hot spot for locals and families in the summer months. A second location serves Leslieville at 920 Queen Street East.

Open in one form or another since the 1980s, this neighborhood eatery strives to capture both contemporary and authentic Japanese washoku-style cooking. Think tempura, teriyaki, sushi, sashimi, poke bowls, and creative maki rolls. Hot pots and udon noodle bowls are a great way to warm up in the colder months.

Egg Club’s breakfast sandwiches are hailed as some of the best in the city because of their expertly folded eggs, which are housed in a sweet and soft Japanese milk bread called shokupan. Sandwiches are made in an open kitchen before your eyes and sauces are also created in-house. Add the hash brown to your order to experience a sweet and savory, heavenly potato creation.

Don't let the opulent interior at this busy breakfast spot fool you: the meals here are affordable (and yummy). It's one of the closest brunch restaurants to the Rogers Centre, making it a good place to grab a cup of coffee and some pancakes before an afternoon Jays game.

A hit with locals, this cozy, low-lit spot is Middle Eastern food at its finest. The menu is a love letter to classics like hummus, shawarma, and falafel, with a few novel creations thrown in for good measure.

Located smack in the middle of Kensington Market, locals flock to this highly versatile cultural hub that effortlessly merges brunch restaurant, gelateria, and evening cabaret. The sprawling front and back patio make it an ideal location for soaking in local culture over an umami-rich Japanese omelet and pink sakura latte, or cocktails paired with late-night Latin-themed bites. The choices are truly endless. 

This local mini-chain does a brisk business in fresh, slow-cooked rotisserie chicken, either sold as combo meals or atop customizable salads.

For generations, hungry Torontonians have ended up at this reliable round-the-clock diner for classic breakfasts and greasy-spoon dishes. Burgers and Benedicts are staples, but the menu makes room for a variety of comfort food crowd-pleasers like lasagnas, meat loaf, and steak. Save room for rice pudding.

This delicious restaurant has been a vegan mecca for over 20 years and will make even the most die-hard meat eaters happy. The menu has evolved far past their power shake and rice bowl origins, and while the Balance bowl still tops the charts with its jicama, tofu, and addictive peanut sauce, they now offer everything from pizzas to decadent breakfast items like a crispy, corn-flake-coated almond butter French toast.

Aside from European-style baked goods and all-day breakfasts, this spot also serves Old World recipes like cabbage rolls, schnitzel, and potato-cheese pierogi slathered with sour cream. It's beloved by the pastry-and-coffee crowd and by students wanting generous portions from early morning until late at night.

Watch tasty, filling Chinese noodles get stretched, folded, and beaten by hand to order at this busy and tiny shop, which specializes in Lanzhou-style lamian. Choose from seven types of noodle thickness in a beef broth; most people choose thicker noodles, which allows you to experience their full chewy texture and the soup flavor to cling to them more. The portion size of noodle soups is generous; ordering a small will easily satisfy people with modest appetites, but if you eat a lot dare to get a large or extra-large portion.

Every boardwalk needs a solid burger place—and this cute takeout counter ably covers all bases, from burger and hot dog combos to soft serve and house-made canned cocktails.

Traditional Italian food gets a modern twist at this intimate eatery offering a wide, delicious variety of updated Italian dishes. Pastas and pizzas are both excellent, but there's standout seafoods and meats—like a showstopping strip loin for two—mixed in among the numerous veg-forward options.

Bucking the trend toward relaxed fine dining, Harbour Sixty goes for sheer opulence, the drama of which is apparent from the get-go as you walk up stone steps to the grand entrance of the restored Harbour Commission building. The kitchen rises to the occasion with starters like blinis with beluga caviar and mains like bone-in rib steak and a shareable seafood tower. The fluffy coconut cream pie is a must-eat dessert.

Hong Shing has deep community roots: customers swear that they make the best crispy beef and General Tso's chicken dishes in the city, and hometown celebrities Drake and Simu Liu are regulars. For two generations, this family-run Chinese restaurant has served delicious food inspired by China’s many regional cuisines. Chef Tim is a master of the painstaking process of Cantonese-style barbecue—the limited quantities of barbecue meats he makes each day, such as pork and duck, sell out quickly.

Toronto is filled with quick bubble tea—including many chains from Taiwan and other parts of Asia—but Icha Tea is a slower, homegrown shop that brews high-quality loose-leaf teas.

Sensuous paintings of nudes and the sea and signed celebrity photos line the walls at this two-story seafood institution. The kitchen prepares dishes from the Dalmatian side of the Adriatic Sea, and members of the international artistic community who frequent the place adore the unusual and healthy array of seafood and fish. The black risotto with squid, served in a shareable portion size, is a must, as are the grilled prawns with lemon garlic butter.

In a neighborhood where the bohemian vegetarian lifestyle is the norm, King's Café has become a mainstay for artists, students, and young professionals seeking vegan grub with an Asian accent. The setting is a serene and airy eatery with wide windows looking out onto bustling Augusta Avenue.

When Kinka Izakaya opened in 2009, it quickly defined the Japanese izakaya-style dining experience (drinks and small plates) in the minds of Torontonians; it’s lively, complete with an open kitchen and ultra-friendly staff. The Truffle Carbonara Udon with mushrooms, onions, soft-boiled egg, and truffle oil reaches new heights.

This is the ultimate place to fuel up, and we're not just talking about the gas tank. Leslieville Pumps is a 24/7, kitschy gas station and general store with a look straight out of a John Wayne western. But—surprise!—it serves some of the best barbecue in town. Slow and low is their cooking philosophy, which they show off in tender pulled pork and brisket sandwiches. Country sides such as BBQ corn salad and Southern coleslaw make the meal complete. At 9 pm every night, the joint is busy serving up their curry and butter chicken with rice. It is the go-to place for cab drivers looking for a late-night bite.

A trip to Little India isn't complete without hitting up this raucous Pakistani/North Indian spot, popular with locals and families. You might have  a long wait at peak times (generally Friday and weekend nights), but standout biryani, kebabs, tandoori chicken, and sizzling plates of tikka will be your reward.

An elegant dining room and formal service with silver serving dishes set the scene for upscale Asian food. The 100-dish inventory features excellent dishes like wok-fried shredded beef tenderloin with sundried chili peppers alongside delicacies dotted with truffle and foie gras.

This low-lit dining room—presided over by murals of Kate Bush and Virginia Woolf—is an east-end cult fave, thanks to its warm service and nostalgic-yet-inventive small plates.

Lapinou (bunny) is a French term of endearment you might hear lovers whisper between bites at Toronto's neo-bistro with a frequently rotating menu and 1920s flair. Every dish is a work of modern art, fusing French traditions with creative twists like grilled asparagus slathered with a bechamel-like sauce, dotted with puffed buckwheat. Other dishes that graced the menu include a culture-clashing duck breast cooked in a delicate Chinese XO sauce, and fanciful desserts like strawberries in sabayon cream, and honeyed gouda layered over puff pastry crisps. 

This low-lit, warrenlike bistro has hardly changed at all since the '90s—and the regulars like it that way. The open kitchen turns out reliable French fare like steak tartare, seared scallops, and duck confit; desserts include flourless chocolate cake and house-made ice cream. Get a quieter table in one of the inner dining rooms, or belly up to the bar and watch the action.