147 Best Restaurants in Canada

Besides an excellent selection of beers brewed on the premises, this eatery serves up a seafood-heavy menu that truly hits the spot whether you're going for perfectly battered fish-and-chips, chicken burger, or poutine. The dining room is bright, modern, and airy, and the vibe is fun. There's a small store attached where you can grab cool branded Route 19 merchandise as well as craft beers to go.

Located where the Annex's western edge blends into Koreatown, this quirky café offers spins on Vietnamese sandwiches and mains, plus coffee and baked treats.

This authentic German bakery and café is much loved for its delicious strudels, cookies, and other European-style baked goods. It’s also a great spot for lunch or early dinner of bratwurst, schnitzel, and other German specialties (or just a pretzel or sandwich if you're looking for something lighter). Seating is inside or on a large patio overlooking the fort. 

Everything is made in-house at this artsy converted space inside a handsome 1895 building, with locally sourced and organic ingredients creating the tasty house-made soups, sandwiches, and panini. Tempting sweet treats and baked goods are also available. It's become a popular gathering place for discerning locals and visitors.

Specializing in charcuterie, grazing boards, and beautifully prepared seafood, this popular restaurant is perfect for a special night out. Housed in a carefully restored heritage home, this spot is also known for fabulous cocktails and has a range of local wines to sample. 

In operation since 1948, this diner holds the distinction of being Toronto’s oldest continuously operating restaurant. It’s a go-to spot for the pre-theater crowd, families, mildly hungover locals, and everyone in between. The menu features classic staples such as Caesar salad, chicken pot pie, and freshly squeezed juices at brunch.

You can't beat the panoramic mountain views from this restaurant on the third floor of the Banff Gondola at 2,281 meters (7,486 feet) above sea level. There are floor-to-ceiling windows on all sides and the cuisine is just as elevated as the scenery with a regularly changing menu that features local ingredients like Alberta beef, British Columbia salmon, and prairie-grown vegetables complimented by local craft beers, craft spirits, and Canadian wines. There are vegan, gluten-free, and vegetarian menu choices as well as a children's menu. You can also purchase packages that include the Banff Gondola ride and dinner. Reservations are recommended; request a window seat if you can!

This Malaysian street food spot is a hidden gem on the busy Ossington strip. There are a variety of sharing-style plates like kapitan chicken tacos, rendang beef, and delicious stuffed roti---but a popular option is the "feed me" tasting menu. The once-separate vegan concept Fat Choi is now incorporated into the regular menu, so there are plenty of plant-based options as well.  

Stepping through the doors of this restaurant housed inside a pretty standard-looking hotel is to be transported into a sexy, contemporary Italian restaurant that serves excellent pasta dishes and steaks. Seasonal, local ingredients are used where possible, and starters such as crab and lobster arancini (fried risotto balls) showcase seafood in interesting ways. 

Hidden at the end of a side road north of the main Gerrard Street drag is this modern, plant-filled chocolate shop and factory. But it's just as popular a spot to sip a top-notch espresso or snack on a house-baked treat. Behind the glass walls, you can watch the team make single-origin, bean-to-bar chocolate—from fun flavored bars to 100% dark chocolate. Youc an even book a chocolate-making and -tasting workshop.

Opened in June 2024, Steamboat offers an elevated dining experience, with nourishing dishes made from sustainable ingredients. A small afternoon menu is offered from 2--5 pm, while the dinner menu—available from 5--9:30 pm—offers small plate and sharing/large plate options like braised bison short ribs and wild sockeye salmon. There are also three "trio" options: taco, slider, and plant-based dip trio, with suggested accompanying cocktail or beer flight options.

Yorkville is filled with ice cream and gelato shops, but Summer's is the most beloved. A family-run shop since the '80s, this ice cream parlor doesn't do anything fancy or trendy but excels with the classic, made-in-house flavors. There are always at least 26 of them, with favorites like chocolate fudge brownie, pralines 'n' cream, and Toronto Pothole (a little bit of everything) often seen on cones throughout the village. 

The aroma of freshly made waffle cones makes it hard to walk on by this little store selling delicious homemade ice cream and fudge. 

White tablecloth service and an up-close-and-personal view of the rushing Horseshoe Falls rapids amount to a stunning dining experience. Prix-fixe dinners are recommended to take advantage of the hearty seasonal menus.

The gourmet hard ice creams and milk shakes made by this ice-cream shop are heavenly whether you opt for dreamy strawberry or vanilla, or go with a more adventurous flavor. Expect long lines in the summer, but from the first lick you'll know it was worth the wait. 

Toronto's longest-running indigenous restaurant puts staples like bison, fry bread, and arctic char front and center. If you want to get a sense of what indigenous Canadian food can be, this is a great place to start. It's a cozy, casual spot with little atmosphere but great food.

Niagara-on-the-Lake's only waterfront restaurant, the regal Tiara sits beside a marina with a view of the Niagara River beyond the sailboat masts. The elegant, amber-hue Georgian-meets-contemporary dining room is buttoned up but accented by a pretty stained-glass ceiling and near-panoramic windows that give nearly every table a water view. The outdoor tables next to the marina, however, are the ones to request to go with the exquisite French-influenced menu. Round out the meal with homemade ice cream topped with seasonal berries.

Film producers and poets congregate at this corner café-bistro, sitting on the terrace to sip award-winning espresso. Although there's a hearty lunch and dinner menu of salads and grilled meat, brunch is the big draw. It features soft-boiled eggs with strips of toast for dipping, fruit, and cheese. Regular breakfast is served seven days a week. Try the baklava coffee topped with toasted almonds and honey.

This popular old-world bakery is known for its organic handcrafted baked goods and breads. Everything is baked from scratch on site using BC farmed and milled organic flour. The ancient and heritage grains are freshly milled on natural stone.

The popular Japanese dessert café chain arrived in Toronto in 2016, bringing new and creative ways to enjoy authentic, high-quality Japanese matcha. The menu features a variety of innovative drinks and sweets, with standout items like matcha soft serve, rare matcha cheesecake, and o-matcha espresso.

When this Japanese franchise arrived in Canada in 2015, people lined up to try its version of cheesecake—slightly eggier, firmer, and less sweet than the typical New York style. The brand’s success led to the opening of several additional locations across the city.

There's a fantastic view from this chef-owned waterfront spot, especially if you choose to sit out on the deck, and the food is attractively presented, too, featuring plenty of the bounty from the ocean—think seared scallop and lobster risotto, an amazing seafood tasting board, or seafood and chorizo pasta—but plenty of land-based dishes and interesting vegetarian options. 

A trip to Wild Blue is a real treat. The fine-dining restaurant's speciality is sustainable seafood dishes, alongside an extensive wine and cocktail list. Appetizer options include oysters, caviar and chilled seafood towers. As for the entree menu, look for the sablefish with turnip, radish, sesame crisp and roasted fish bone sauce or the halibut T-bone with porcini spice, morel mushrooms, and onion brodo.

At breakfast, enjoy a regular coffee or espresso, hot chocolate, or tea from the local Banff Tea Company with your breakfast panini, toast, or house-made granola. Lunchtime soups, sandwiches, and salads are often innovative; consider trying the buddha bowls with fresh veggies, falafel, quinoa, and tangy tahini lemon dressing. Kale salad with fresh apples and toasted nuts is a typical vegan offering.

Focusing on fresh, local seafood, this superb restaurant housed in a small, family-run B&B offers an intimate dining experience just steps from the ocean. Opt for rich, seafood-packed pastas such as lobster mac and cheese, a perfectly cooked steak au poivre, or amazing chowder, but be sure to save room for dessert.