The 25 Best Restaurants In Toronto

Situated in Yorkville, Toronto's answer to Greenwich Village, Alobar Yorkville has been a consistent jewel in Toronto's culinary crown since its launch in 2018. Hidden in a side path between Yorkville's two main strips, Alobar is a beautiful cocktail bar slash restaurant that offers diners the best of both worlds. 

The wine and beverage program is directed by Michelin award-winning sommelier Christopher Sealy, and the restaurant itself boasts its own Michelin-star for an all-star menu of carefully curated dishes. Prices range from $24 for two pieces of chilled lobster with lime aioli, avocado, and gem lettuce, to a 24-ounce, $150 bone-in USDA ribeye steak, lavishly presented with cremini mushroom and beef jus. 

This Michelin-starred establishment is, according to the likes of Top 50 Italy, the second-best Italian restaurant in the world in 2023. What that means is you won't find anything as pedestrian as Margherita pizza — an Italian menu staple that most chefs view as played out — anywhere near your plate or the menu.

A $220 tasting menu goes beyond expectations and includes seared Quebec muscovy duck breast with a puree of celeriac, pomegranate sauce, and spinach. The presentation is reminiscent of abstract art. An a la carte menu for $140 offers risotto with flare. Iranian saffron broth, 36-month-old Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and veal shank take the humble rice dish in a delectable and original direction.

Another Italian standout on the list of best restaurants in Toronto is Osteria Giulia, an eatery focused on the seaside cuisine of Liguria, Italy, a region also famous for introducing the world to pesto and focaccia baked with stracchino cheese. As such, you can look forward to the aforementioned focaccia as a house specialty and a menu heavy on the ocean's bounty.

In particular, two dishes deliver the Ligurian seaside in pasta or risotto form: there's wild Dungeness crab served with Carnaroli rice, white asparagus, and sherry or braided pasta with bay scallops and squid in garlicky anchovy and chili finish. The latter dish is part of a pre-fixe menu that feeds eight to 10. Meat is no laggard either, with a grilled rack of lamb or 28-ounce striploin steak for two.

Edulis borrows its name from Boletus edulis, a particular kind of porcini mushroom.It also translates from Latin to mean "edible." Located in Toronto's fashion district, Edulis' married pair of chefs and owners, Tobey Nemeth and Michael Caballo, have successfully cultivated a fine dining ethic with a casual neighborhood hominess.

Edulis stays true to an ethos of seasonal availability. A weekly rotating menu makes it difficult to nail down the multi-course set, but a Michelin star offers a sense that good things should be expected. On famed food critic Ruth Reichl's blog, the acclaimed writer hints at a fabulous dinner, describing "the most extraordinary wild Nunavut Arctic char" and goes on further to proclaim, "We ate in a kind of dream; here a bit of sausage, there the softest slice of lobster mushroom."

Chef Ryusuke Nakagawa's Aburi Hana is a restaurant serving modern Kaiseki-style cuisine. When eating kaiseki, expect to experience a Japanese culinary tradition laser-focused on freshness, seasonality, and vibrance. Equally as capable in the beverage department as it is in food, Aburi Hana has earned both a Michelin star and recognition by the Star Wine List, an international collection of top wine bars and restaurants.

Aburi translated from Japanese, means flame-seared, and the menu boasts traditional and contemporary techniques involving that most essential culinary element, fire. A $380 per guest, the kyō-kaiseki experience is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Although the eye-watering cost doesn't include beverages, since you're already splurging on food, it would be foolish not to continue the splurge on alcohol in a restaurant lauded for its alcohol selections.

Japanese cuisine reigns supreme in Toronto, and Kaiseki Yu-zen Hashimoto adds another amazing restaurant to our list. Interestingly, at Kaiseki Yu-zen Hashimoto, wearing strong perfumes and colognes is a big no-no. This is out of respect for the other diners around you and the enjoyment of their meal. Located in the Japanese Cultural Centre, the restaurant aims to represent seasonality on a plate based on Japan's seasons rather than the West's and is so focused on culture and etiquette that dinners conclude with a traditional tea ceremony.

Chef Masaki Hashimoto and son Chef Kei Hashimoto's $350 per person eight-course menu doesn't include sushi, which flies in the face of most people's expectations of a Japanese restaurant, preferring cooked dishes except for a dessert and a single sashimi dish. 

Half a block north of the often frenetic energy of King West's entertainment district sits Vela, a restaurant helmed by alumni of the aforementioned Alo, as well as Bar Raval. The vibe at Vela is "majestic boutique hotel meets a sexy jazz lounge for beautiful people." A covered garden patio leads to a massive yet curvaceous interior with strategically placed lighting that makes carefully plated food and perfectly coiffed diners pop.

A starter at Vela may look like burrata with pistachio pesto, figs, and locally grown cherries adorned with a burnt honey vinaigrette. It could also be a fried oyster from the waters of Prince Edward Island served with caviar and peppercorn ranch. A raw bar includes a seafood platter with Hokkaido scallops, tuna crudo, tiger shrimp, snow crab, and a half lobster. Imaginative plates of pasta and delicious mains round out the menu.

Chubby's is a Jamaican restaurant helmed by Chef de Cuisine Dadrian Coke, formerly of Sandals Resort Negril. The two-story,100-seater restaurant's colorful interior is complemented by a smaller patio out front for sunlit people-watching with a focus on authentic, classic Caribbean recipes.

From starters: Likkle Bites, like oxtail red pea soup or spicy pepper shrimp in garlic butter with house-made hard dough bread. The Big It Up section has mains à la woodfire grilled jerk chicken, curry goat, and pan-seared snapper fillet; Chubby's has your island experience north of the Caribbean sea covered. A classic Jamaican brunch includes a plate of ackee and saltfish with fried dumplings, plantain, sautéed greens, and boiled green banana.

Afrobeat Kitchen's Victor Ugeweke went from a popular pop-up kitchen to owning a restaurant in Toronto's Parkdale neighborhood. Since then, his Nigerian-influenced fare has both converted newbies and received nods of approval from the Nigerian community with modern takes on cultural cuisine.

Ugeweke makes a case for why jollof rice should be considered among the best rice dishes around the world. While not traditional, his use of lemongrass and star anise in a smoky, slow-cooked sofrito reduction with smoked crayfish is a fresh take on a classic dish. The stars of the miso mafe and peanut stew is a heavenly union of young jackfruit, eggplant, and chickpeas, served on a bed of coconut rice.

Lebanese transplant and Executive Chef Rony Ghaleb brings fine dining swagger to modern Lebanese cuisine. Nestled above Yorkville on the second floor of an upscale retail building, Amal offers diners lovely views both inside and outside of the restaurant.

The halal-certified menu includes all the traditional dips like garlic labneh and baba ghanoush, seared halloumi, skewered proteins and vegetables with house-made spice combinations, and interesting entrees like branzino filet. Meanwhile, the kefta patty, topped with tomato, preserved lemon, aioli, and kale-cabbage slaw, elevates a burger miles beyond any you're likely to taste, with a premium mix of Lebanese spices.

What the raucous late-night spot Hanmoto lacks in space, it makes up for in food offerings. Inspired by the rowdy izakaya of Japan, the restaurant serves Japanese-American style small plates to a 90's hip-hop beat. Japan's casual, communal drinking and dining style suits the crowd in this close-quartered dining room hung with neon signage.

House faves like fried Dyno Wings are served in classic Chinese takeout boxes and drizzled in spicy-sweet soy glaze chased by kewpie mayo, pickled chilies & nori. Hanmoto's take on McChicken employs tartar sauce with iceberg lettuce and nanban sauce, andit should go without saying, but Hanmoto's version is way craftier.

From the framed picture of her family in Italy on the walls to the Italian nonna-style traditional foods made with love, chef and owner Maria Strazzanti's neighborhood standout doesn't need fancy fusion or an army of designers to make it notable. Perfectly executed classics like the Parm sandwich, a plethora of mouth-watering pasta, and housemade bread and canolis have office workers and emergency responders lining up outside the tiny takeout and delivery spot. If you can snag one of two tables inside or curbside, consider yourself lucky.

South Asian Fine Dining concludes the collection. While the white walls, ethereal lighting, and solid plating give a nod to the contemporary, Aanch prides itself on a menu true to its roots. Chef and owner Sudhanshu Kumar whip up mains like Tawa Kathal masala, jackfruit cooked in a south Indian style; mutton Roganjosh, goat marinated in Indian spices and served in saffron Kashmiri curry; and a number of specialty naan bread baked in-house. A tandoor clay oven imported directly from India demonstrates the authenticity of the techniques and flavors at play here.