There’s no shortage of places to eat in Toronto, but with so many restaurants, bars, cafés and shops to choose from, figuring out where to go can be overwhelming. Our annual Best Of Toronto list hopefully makes it a little easier to make weekend plans and find your next favourite spot. From longtime neighbourhood favourites to buzzy new openings, here’s our definitive guide to the best places to eat in the city.
Best AYCE Sushi
Matsuda’s sushi offers impeccably fresh sashimi, crispy tempura and diverse rolls, with speedy service, teppanyaki options and enough variety to satisfy any Japanese cuisine craving. 1300 Don Mills Rd.
Best baguette
The secret at Thobors is its Parisian pedigree, which gives the baguettes a slight sourdough tang and airy, open crumb. The crust crackles the second you slice into it, making a simple ham-and-butter sandwich taste like something you bought along the Canal Saint-Martin.
Best bagels
The line at Bagel World moves fast. Both the North York and Thornhill spots stick to the old school routine — hand-rolling and deck-baking bagels until they’re dense and coated in seeds. Beyond the classics, people flock here for massive braided twisters and thick-cut smoked whitefish salad.
Best bánh mì
Located in Chinatown, Bánh Mì Huy-Ky turns out paper-thin, airy baguettes baked in-house daily. Orders get stuffed with hot charred pork, fresh jalapeños and pâté. You get a traditional, well-balanced Vietnamese sandwich for a fraction of what most downtown lunch spots charge.
Best bibimbap
For food that lifts spirits, mom-and-pop shop Sunrise House in Koreatown serves comforting dishes like kimchi stew with tuna and ra bokki.
Best breakfast
White Lily Diner in Riverside serves all-day brunch with highlights like steak n’ eggs. Run by Ben Denham and Ashley Lloyd, it features mustard-yellow booths and local farm ties.
Best brisket sandwich
The Black Camel has earned its Rosedale institution status with one seriously good sandwich: the brisket. Roasted low and slow until it practically melts in your mouth, the tender meat comes piled onto a soft Portuguese kaiser bun with a sweet, tomato-based barbecue sauce. It’s rich, messy and exactly the kind of sandwich you’ll find yourself craving again.
Best bubble tea
Chicha San Chen brews single-origin Taiwanese teas to order using patented Lion espresso machines that extract leaf flavours under high pressure. Customers customize milk bases and toppings like fresh taro or chewy tapioca pearls cooked in small batches throughout the day.
Best burritos
Comal y Canela serves epic burritos, like the cheese-crusted michoacano and juicy suadero-filled chilango. Fresh, authentic Mexican flavours are in every massive bite.
Best butcher
Cumbrae’s four-time Best Of winner, including 2023, excels in sustainable meat from local farms. Although Cumbrae’s offers pies and soups, the beef remains the star.
Best butter chicken
Two-time winner, Banjara has truly mastered the art of butter chicken. Succulent tandoori meat is simmered in a rich, tomato gravy that’s creamy and packed with flavour
Best butter tarts
Circles and Squares earned top honours at the Ontario Butter Tart Festival in Midland for its signature recipe. The bakery uses real butter to yield flaky, golden crusts packed with a thick, caramelized brown sugar centre, supplying fresh batches to cafés across the city every morning.
Best cakes
Midtown favourite Phipps Bakery Cafe has been turning out nostalgic, scratch-made baked goods since 1986. Locals swarm the Eglinton West counter for thick slices of gooey caramel and rich layer cakes that taste just like something straight out of a family recipe book.
Best Chinese food — delivery
Midtown local favourite C’est Bon has perfected the logistics of Chinese delivery. The Chen family’s kitchen balances fiery Sichuan flavours with Cantonese staples, packaging each order carefully so everything arrives piping hot without losing its texture.
Best croissants
Tasso draws weekend crowds that line up around the block long before the doors even open. This tiny operation bakes hyper-limited batches of flaky, multi-layered croissants and savoury pastries, selling out of its golden, buttery creations within a few short hours every single morning.
Best cookies
Midnight Cookie, founded by Emily Banks and Alon Steinbach, bakes fresh, gooey cookies like Kinder and Just the Dough from their Yonge and Eglinton shop.
Best club sandwich
For more than 80 years, Avenue Diner has been dishing out classic club sandwiches with real chicken breasts. Windfield’s takes it up a notch, turning the club into a gourmet masterpiece.
Best deli sandwich
Established in 1957, Pancer’s Original is a classic deli still going strong. Centre Street Deli remains Thornhill’s top lunch spot and a community staple.
Best dim sum
Yorkville’s go-to spot for elegant dim sum, Pearl Yorkville turns weekday lunches and weekend brunches into a sleek dining event. Fashionable locals crowd the Bellair Street dining room for baskets of steaming har gow and golden pan-fried dumplings served piping hot.
Best doubles
Ali’s West Indian Roti Shop is a Toronto favourite for Trinidadian Caribbean food — and its doubles are some of the best in the city. The Parkdale spot serves the classic street food with bara, curried channa and plenty of pepper, alongside a menu of hearty halal roti, curry and Caribbean snacks. Don’t leave without trying the tamarind balls or a bottle of Mauby.
Best doughnuts
Better Days bakes old school yeast and cake doughnuts from its retro counter on Dundas Street West. The menu drops heavy toppings for traditional recipes, frying up golden-edged apple fritters, honey-glazed crullers and delicious cherry cake sticks alongside fresh coffee.
Best eggs Benedict
Torontonians adore Lady Marmalade, which started in Leslieville and never disappoints. The brunch menu features seven signature eggs Benedict, from braised beef to mangos.
Best falafel
What distinguishes the falafel at Fat Pasha? Chef Anthony Rose crowning it the world’s best, or course. His are irresistibly crispy with layer upon layer of flavour.
Best Filipino restaurant
Mineral shakes up Filipino food on Yonge Street with a nine-course tasting menu built around grilled Ibérico pork collar and fresh seafood loaded with citrusy hits of calamansi. Every dish remixes classic island flavours into clever, high-end plates paired with natural wines.
Best fish and chips
Olde York nails the ultimate fish and chips in Leaside, serving up wild-caught halibut that’s impossibly flaky on the inside. The kitchen wraps every piece in a light, crispy batter with a crispy crunch that never goes soggy, alongside thick-cut chips and plenty of malt vinegar.
Best fishmonger
Pisces has been a neighbourhood staple on the Summerhill-Rosedale border for more than two decades. Operating out of the iconic Scrivener Square retail block, they source wild-caught catches from trusted Canadian suppliers and process every fish in-house for peak freshness.
Best food hall
Packing over 20 artisanal stalls into a massive restored industrial space, Waterworks Food Hall covers every craving imaginable, serving up wood-fired Neapolitan pizza, hand-pulled noodles, fresh oysters, craft cocktails and juicy smash burgers under one roof.
Best French bakery
Goûter brings authentic French baking straight to Toronto under the direction of pastry chef Rodney Alléguède. The bakeshop showcases a full display of handmade goods, turning out classic sourdough loaves and buttery kouign-amann baked fresh daily.
Best French gourmet shop
Douce France brings a taste of France to Yonge and Eglinton, stocking the shelves with French chocolates, preserves, specialty foods and other imported pantry goods.
Best fresh pasta
Occhiolino brings a dual-concept setup to Bathurst Street, anchoring its dining bar with a fully stocked fresh pasta shop next door. The kitchen rolls pappardelle by hand and extrudes saffron lumache daily, pairing each shape with house-made sauces for eating in or cooking at home.
Best fried chicken
Named after founders Matt and Carolyn Pelechaty’s late yellow lab, Chica’s Chicken brings serious heat to the Junction. The shop dry brines its halal poultry for two full days and even earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand for its crunch-heavy Nashville hot chicken.
Best gelato
Mizzica puts real-deal Sicilian technique front and centre across its Toronto locations. Founders Paolo Di Lallo and Denise Pisani build their award-winning gelato around premiere Italian imports, spinning batches with Bronte pistachios and Piemonte hazelnuts.
Best ‘gone but not forgotten’
Geary Avenue lost an absolute heavyweight when Famiglia Baldassarre closed its doors in August. The iconic lunch counter built its massive reputation around rapid-fire midday service, turning out unmatched bowls of handmade pasta to lucky daytime diners.
Best Greek salad
Though the seafood takes the spotlight at bustling Greek hot spot Mamakas, don’t miss the horiatiki salad, featuring a gigantic slab of feta on top.
Reader’s Choice Poll: Best go-to sushi
J.San Sushi Bar is a budget game changer, serving ultra-fresh sashimi, torched aburi nigiri and generous bento boxes without breaking the bank.
Best gourmet cookie
Queen and Spadina staple Le Gourmand has spent over two decades perfecting Toronto’s definitive chocolate chip cookie. Baked fresh throughout the day, these giant treats land on the counter soft-baked and overflowing with thick pools of rich molten chocolate.
Best Hot Dogs
Far from your average hot dog spot, Grandma Loves You dishes out some of the city’s best, including the Japan Dog — piled with avocado, cucumber, seaweed and wasabi mayo.
Readers Choice: Best ice cream
Ed’s Real Scoop has been serving small-batch ice cream, gelato, sorbet and frozen yogurt in Toronto since Ed Francis opened its original Beach location in 2000. The local favourite now has four locations in the Beach, Leslieville, Roncesvalles and Mimico, with each shop making its own treats in-house. Its rotating menu includes more than 150 recipes, alongside staples like Burnt Marshmallow, Tahitian Vanilla Bean, Pistachio Gelato and Mango Sorbet.
Best Indian restaurant
Dil Se holds down a Michelin-recommended spot under chef-owner Mani Panwar. The menu takes classic northern Indian flavours in a modern direction, highlighting rich paneer lababdar simmered in cashew gravy alongside fragrant lamb seekh kebabs hot off the tandoor.
Best Italian sandwich
La Salumeria keeps things classic, with owner Carlo Celebre slicing imported meats to order behind the counter. Sandwich lovers flock here for the signature build — a massive crusty loaf loaded with savoury prosciutto, salami, fresh mozzarella and a sweet splash of fig jam.
Best jerk chicken
Rap’s Restaurant has been serving some of the GTA’s best jerk chicken for over 40 years. This Eglinton West spot seasons and smokes it to juicy, fall-off-the-bone perfection.
Best Jewish deli
Operating on Bathurst Street for four generations, Pancer’s Original Deli cures its meat using decades-old family techniques. The classic Jewish deli piles its signature salt-cured corned beef high, serving every sandwich alongside crisp half-sour pickles and fresh house fries.
Best kid-friendly restaurant
Housed inside downtown’s historic 1929 John Street Roundhouse, Cineplex’s sprawling 40,000-square-foot Rec Room pairs nearly 100 redemption arcade games and virtual reality with an elevated pub menu, serving prosciutto and pear pizzas, giant pretzels and steak frites.
Best Korean BBQ
Daldongnae recreates 1970s Seoul right in the heart of Koreatown, setting the standard for traditional table barbecue. Premium cuts of pork belly sizzle directly on built-in tabletop grills, encircled by moats of bubbling egg and corn cheese.
Best lobster roll
Strolling through St. Lawrence Market calls for a visit to Buster’s Sea Cove for its seriously impressive lobster roll. Piled high on a toasted bun drenched in warm butter, this market staple is rich, messy and gloriously buttery, with every bite dripping down your hands in the best way.
Best macarons
Nadege Nourian’s famed macarons, considered the jewel of French pastries in Europe, reveal a delicate crunch, followed by layers of indulgent buttercream, decadent ganache or sumptuous jam.
Best nachos
Sneaky Dee’s King’s Crown nachos are a deliciously chaotic masterpiece, a Taste Test and Best Of champ, they come heaping with toppings like frijoles and seasoned ground beef.
Best Neopolitan pizza
Pizza e Pazzi’s chewy, wood-fired crust and molten fior di latte are pure romance.Take a seat at the cosy St. Clair West spot and ruin all takeout forever.
Best old school Chinese
House of Gourmet has anchored Spadina Avenue since 2005, serving a massive menu of traditional Cantonese dishes until late into the night. Hanging roasted ducks line the front window, drawing steady crowds for steaming noodle soups, congee and family-style rice plates.
Best onion rings
Jumbo Burgers keeps it simple: no-frills decor and burgers done right. But the real draw are the onion rings: crispy, and sturdy enough to hold a sweet, tender onion in every bite.
Best oysters
At King West stalwart Rodney’s slide into a King West basement booth, slurp back a dozen briny East Coast shells slicked with house hot sauce and day drink like a professional.
Best pad Thai
Chef Nuit Regular brings northern Thai street food to downtown’s Duncan Street and to uptown’s Yonge with Pai. The kitchen stays busy wok-frying chewy rice noodles in a tart palm sugar tamarind glaze, creating an iconic Toronto dish that regularly draws visiting celebrities.
Best pancakes
In Little Italy, Old School’s Blueberry Hill pancakes steal the show. Served in a cast-iron pan with blueberry compote, bacon and a hefty scoop of brown sugar butter, it’s pure indulgence.
Best Pastéis de Nata
Bom Dia crafts proper pastéis de nata, flash-baking hand-laminated dough rings to yield whisper-thin, caramelized crusts around silky, warm egg-custard centres.
Best pizza — delivery
Founded in 2012 by Josh Spatz and Alex Potter, North of Brooklyn sets the benchmark for high-end delivery pizza. The chain crafts light, sheet-thin crusts dipped in sesame seeds, finishing each pie with clever toppings like pickled red onions, and sweet honey drizzle.
Best pho
Pho Dac Biet’s steaming, star anise–scented bowls and heaps of fresh basil make escaping cold Toronto weather a genuinely luxurious affair.
Best poutine
Hit Nom Nom Nom Poutine for massive fries smothered in gravy and squeaky cheese, with hearty options such as Super Dog and pulled beef
Best ramen
Hakata-born export Hakata Ikkousha slow-simmers pork bones into a frothy tonkotsu broth, paired with ultra-thin noodles and black wood-ear fungus.
Best regional Italian
Rob Rossi’s Michelin-starred Osteria Giulia delivers pristine northern Italian seafood and delicate pastas. Across town, 7 Numbers brings southern Italian warmth through family-style recipes, and Enoteca Sociale focuses its energy on Roman pasta traditions like carbonara and cacio e pepe.
Best restaurant you haven’t tried yet
Lake Inez brings a distinctly eclectic vibe to the city, illuminated by soft candlelight and a glowing Kate Bush stained glass feature. The high-energy kitchen turns out imaginative, flavour-packed small plates designed for sharing, perfectly matched with hard-to-find natural wines.
Best roti
Roti Cuisine of India is a cosy spot serving curries on rice or in roti, with a surprising Jamaican twist. One bite of Roti Cuisine’s roti, and the bold flavours will knock your socks off.
Best shawarma
Tucked inside a midtown Hasty Market, Flaming Stove serves massive chicken shawarma wraps with overnight-marinated chicken, house-made saj bread and punchy sauces.
Reader’s Choice: Best Smash Burger
Rosie’s Burgers is a massive hit with Toronto smash-burger fans, famous for thin, crispy-edged patties topped with American cheese, shredded lettuce, tomato, pickles, and signature sauce on a soft potato roll. By sticking to a simple, classic recipe done right, it has built a hugely loyal customer base.
Best smoked meat sandwich
Centre Street Deli sets the gold standard for GTA smoked meat from its classic Thornhill strip mall location. Master cutters carve steam-tender brisket directly in front of the line, piling spice-rubbed, hand-sliced beef high on seedless rye with a smear of yellow mustard.
Best soft serve
Tom’s Dairy Freeze has been run out of its Queensway drive-in since 1969. The kitchen pumps high-butterfat soft serve into classic dip cones and sundaes, drawing massive lines that spill across the parking lot until midnight every single night all summer long.
Best solo dining
Chantecler owner Jacob Wharton-Shukster tapped Toronto Redditors to launch an exclusive Table for One menu, serving solo foodies size-adjusted French classics.
Best sourdough
European-trained chefs Anthony Lavorato and Michael Sinikas turn Quebec-milled flour and wild fermentation into Vaughan’s most coveted, crackling sourdough boules at Bartholomew Bakery.
Best Southern bbq
Cherry Street Bar-b-que, led by owner and pitmaster Lawrence LaPianta, has earned Bib Gourmand status for its oak-smoked brisket, saucy ribs, pulled pork and crave-worthy sides.
Best steak frites
Toronto diners frequently name Côte de Boeuf as the undisputed king of steak frites. The Ossington favourite builds the dish around 30-day dry-aged Ontario beef, searing every cut to order before coating it in rich peppercorn reduction and pairing it with duck fat frites.
Best tableside Caesar salad
The Octagon delivers pure retro dining theatre with a tableside caesar salad that has set the local standard for over five decades. The classic steak house skips pre-made dressings entirely, whipping raw egg, garlic and anchovies into a rich emulsion right in front of your eyes.
Reader’s Choice: Best tacos
Taqueria el Pastorcito is a popular Toronto taco spot best known for its authentic al pastor — marinated pork served on fresh corn tortillas with onion and cilantro. The menu covers all the classics, including sirloin, chorizo, lengua, quesadillas and crispy volcanes. Thanks to several locations across the city and late-night hours at key spots, it’s a go-to pick when the late-night cravings hit.
Best upscale Indian
Located in Toronto’s upscale Yorkville neighborhood, Adrak Yorkville offers a modern take on regional Indian cuisine within an opulent, palatial setting. Recognized in the Michelin Guide, the restaurant stands out for its artful presentation and refined cooking — with standout menu options including tandoori lamb chops, paneer tikka, fragrant biryanis and slow-cooked dal makhani.
Best veal sandwich
Marcus Burt and his father serve up a dinner plate–sized veal sandwich at Papamio’s topped with grilled mushrooms, caramelised onions, sweet peppers and tomato sauce.
Reader’s Choice: Best wings
Twin brothers Brian and Perry Stern brought the authentic Buffalo recipe north to Duff’s, serving up crispy wings tossed in that classic vinegar-cayenne sauce.
Done with the eating? Keep the Best Of Toronto tour going with our picks for the 54 best places to shop in the city.