108 Best Restaurants in Toronto, Ontario

Inside a breathtaking room swathed in undulating waves of wood, you'll find Bar Raval, a tapas restaurant known for some marvelous food and drink. Stop by during the day and order a couple pintxos (a single-serving snack served on a skewer), feast on tins of smoked seafood and heartier tapas for a full meal, or stop in late for a nightcap.

Spearheaded by world-renowned restaurateur Daniel Boulud, Café Boulud occupies the coveted dining room of the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto and presents itself as a serene, airy French brasserie decked out with sage-green banquettes and gilded accents. The café does simple, well-executed classic and contemporary French fare, like mouthwatering rotisserie duck, a signature Frenchie burger and cocktails like the French 55.

Huge dining-room windows frame breathtaking views of the Toronto Islands and the lake at this restaurant, on the 54th floor of the Toronto Dominion Bank Tower. Dishes like an appetizer of bison tartare with bannock bread and foie gras and entrées like crispy pork jowl roasted with chaga and an aged tournedos paired with truffled celeriac nod to both tradition and trend.

Book a table at the chef's rail for a close-range perspective on the kitchen's artistry.

With a 5,000-square-foot, year-round patio and stunning floor-to-ceiling murals, El Catrin is the hottest place in the Distillery District. Delicious eats include traditional tacos al pastor with shaved pork and pineapple salsa, ceviche, 24-hour-braised short rib in mole sauce, and guacamole prepared table-side. Finish the evening on a sugar high with churros rolled in sugar served with a trio of chocolate, strawberry, and dulce de leche dipping sauces.

Named for a street in Bangkok bursting with nightlife and excellent street eats, Khao San Road lives up to its moniker. The squash fritters are a head-turning crispy delight that you'll want to order when you see them show up at another table. For heartier dishes, try for the khao soi, a dish of egg noodles in a rich coconut milk sauce, or try the warming massaman, a tamarind-infused curry with peanuts, potatoes, and deep-fried shallots.

Known as one of the city's tried-and-true French bistros, this brightly decorated spot lives up to expectations with a menu full of excellent standards, including steak frites, rare venison chop, and mussels in white wine. The long bar at the front of the restaurant is a great spot for drinks or solo dining.

A Leslieville staple, this brunch spot occupies an airy two-floor space with huge windows in a converted old home just north of the main Queen East drag. It's a lovely spot for hearty, homey dishes like cheddar jalapeño waffles, washed down with coffee in vintage Corningware mugs.

It's hard not to feel a little giddy sitting in the opulent whiskey-barrel-inspired dining room on the 31st floor of the St. Regis. Upward gazes are met with a swirling painted ceiling with floral glass chandeliers to mimic melting ice cubes. The French-leaning menu features stunners like a fruit-speckled scallop ceviche served on ice in a half shell, rough-cut beef tartare accented by a fermented black garlic reduction to be devoured with taro chips, and a showstopping truffle butter, sous-vide whole organic chicken served both roasted and fried. Cocktails are dainty and balanced wizardry with elaborate details like dehydrated Aperol–salted rims and vegan egg white foam.

From the "mindblowing chicken sandwich" to the Pharaoh's po' boy with fried shrimp, it's hard to go wrong at this cheerful, intimate family-run Egyptian brunch joint, located at Little India's eastern edge.

The modern dining room at One, inside the Hazelton Hotel, is all rich woods, smoked glass, cowhide, and onyx—and thankfully the food lives up to all the razzle-dazzle. "Lobster spoons" with vermouth butter and miso-glazed black cod share space on a broad, varied menu with fresh pastas and exceptional house-aged steaks sourced from Prince Edward Island and Alberta.

With only 10 seats, this taco joint almost always has long lines, but it's worth the wait. The menu brings the best of SoCal and Tijuana seafood together, featuring taco options like the gobernador (smoked marlin and shrimp), and a vegetarian option with corn fungus (trust us, it tastes better than it sounds).

Downtown Toronto's quintessential dim sum eatery overlooks all of Chinatown from its secret rooftop perch at the Dragon City Mall. Carts with towers of bamboo steamed baskets containing shrimp dumplings or black-bean-sauce chicken feet ("phoenix claws" in Chinese), banquet-size platters of noodles, and traditional delicacies like black or yellow curried cuttlefish are pushed around the hall by gregarious servers who tick off boxes from your order list as they are served. There's also an extensive à la carte menu.

This southern Italian hideaway has been a magnet for visiting celebrities and well-heeled Yorkville locals since the early 1990s, and it's still one of the city's most popular posh restaurants. The dozen or so pastas, including freshly made gnocchi, are reliably excellent, but the grilled seafood options, spanning yellowfin tuna to tiger shrimp to calamari, are stellar.

Bold Middle Eastern flavors and spices are showcased at Tabülè, where traditional appetizers include baba ghanoush and hummus served with warm flatbread, and standout falafel fried to a deep golden brown and served with thick, rich tahini sauce. Grilled meats and seafood are also excellent.

The thin-crust pies at this airy family-run pizzeria are authentically Neapolitan and consistently earn top marks on local (and even global) critics' lists thanks to their fresh ingredients and use of traditional methods. Pasta mains (with gluten-free options) like a fiery Naples-style rigatoni and seafood linguini may take second place but are certainly worth a look.

It takes its name from the city’s most popular area code, so it’s no surprise that 416—a dim, boisterous bar that echoes the general vibe of West Queen West—draws inspiration from the city around it. The menu of inexpensive small plates, best enjoyed with a cocktail or two, is a fun mishmash of cultures, from Jamaican to Chinese to Peruvian, that serves as a one-stop culinary crash course to this city of immigrants.

No late-night craving goes unsatisfied at this decades-running 24-hour eatery specializing in lighter fare. Soups like Moroccan or vegetarian chili and sandwiches like sloppy joes and herbed chicken with honey mustard are comforting and filling. There is also a brunch menu.

Making the most of its proximity to Sugar Beach, Against the Grain is a sunbathing destination minutes from downtown, with a stellar patio in full sunny view of the lake. Shareable apps like nachos and wings, plus a great craft beer selection, capitalize on the laid-back vibe. Sink your teeth into comfort food mains like the jerk chicken, house-made veggie burger, or the steak frites and Caesar.

Like the art gallery in which it's located, this bistro was designed by starchitect Frank Gehry, whose touches are seen in the minimalist decor and geometric ceilings. The dishes themselves, like the Basque-style eggs with chorizo, or grilled cornish hen with dandelion greens on coconut curry, are plated as works of art.

On the edge of a small plaza—a gathering spot for Danforth locals—sits this venerable hole-in-the-wall spot, known for serving hot, fresh gyros and souvlaki into the wee hours.

Slide into a well-worn wood booth or sit at a checkered table at this low-key steak house, complete with oak bar and pressed-tin ceiling. The steaks and Guinness-braised lamb shanks get rave reviews, but the hamburgers, ground in-house, might be Allen's secret weapon.

Imagine yourself lost at a Saigon night market at this trendy sandwich and snack bar that specializes in banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches). Not satisfied with the traditional crusty white bread, Banh Haus offers whole-wheat and fried banh tieu (Vietnamese donut) buns as a vessel for fillings like grilled lemongrass chicken, five-spice sweet pork sausage, or deep-fried tiger shrimp. Other modernized street food classics include rice-paper-wrapped summer rolls and green mango salad.

Brothers David, Philip, and Peter Chau have banh mi in their blood—their parents opened one of the original Vietnamese sandwich shops in Chinatown—but they've taken the classic and decked it out with top-notch ingredients such as melt-in-your-mouth pork belly, duck confit, and kalbi beef. Other offerings include Asian-inspired tacos and steamed bao.

A Toronto landmark where wheeling, dealing, and lots of eating have gone on since 1959, Barberian's also has a romantic history: Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton got engaged here (for the first time). It's one of the oldest steak houses in the city, and the menu is full of classic dishes, such as Caesar salad and jumbo shrimp cocktail. Mains are all about the meat, but the fish of the day and grilled free-range capon are also solid.

This local mini-chain is faithful to the central Texas style of barbecue, producing all manner of meats—brisket, sausages, turkey, and even halal chickens—from a 7,000-pound smoker. The protein is obviously the main attraction, but sides like mac and cheese and sweets like banana pudding have their share of fans.

A culinary tribute to beer, the creative menu here incorporates its star ingredient in every dish, but in subtle and clever ways without causing a malted-flavor overload. Start the hoppy journey with a taster flight of three draft beers, and follow that with a beer-bread pizza made with oatmeal stout or a bowl of mussels in a beer-based broth.

Bindia serves delicious North Indian fare that will make your taste buds sing the moment you taste juicy meat and freshly baked naan cooked in its tandoor oven. This neighborhood staple is conveniently located in the heart of the St. Lawrence Market, offering casual, warm, and friendly service. Choose to sit in its modern dining room or, during the warmer months, get a table on its patio to people-watch and take in the sights and sounds of the local community.

This tiny café, just outside the Rosedale subway station, serves some of the city's favorite sandwiches.

Hearty sandwiches stuffed with toppings like mortadella, grilled veggies, and spreads made in-house are accompanied by selections of traditional brioche buns, and creative palm-size Viennoiseries at the local legendary boulangerie. It helps to get there earlier in the day to take score of other baked delights like tomato danishes and quirky chocolate corks.

The original location of the artisan coffee shop/wine-and-spirit bar mini-chain that now has eclectic locations throughout the city, this Summerhill spot is a relaxed but lively spot from morning to evening. Located in a two-story Victorian home (and former dry cleaner), Boxcar Social has a bustling bar, a quiet and sophisticated upstairs lounge, a nice back patio, and a next-door bottle shop for those who prefer takeout.