8 restaurants pushing the envelope in Toronto

by OpenTable team

Updated November 03, 2023

Cosmopolitanism defines Canada’s largest city, and that global spirit extends to its creative dining scene. Toronto’s most innovative restaurants stand out for challenging the status quo, all while churning out indelible plates.

An Indian restaurant in Yorkville, loved for its bold flavors and palace-like interiors, is also known for its progressive kitchen structure. A trendy Middle Eastern spot, furnished with a stone mill from Jerusalem, was one of the establishments responsible for transforming a gritty pocket of Toronto. In Queen West, an experimental Canadian place, complete with a basement food lab, is steered by the seasons.

Each of these spots takes the road less traveled, paving new paths to sourcing, ingredient prep, and even operations. For a seat at some of Toronto’s most cutting-edge restaurants, book a table at one of these eight places now.

1 Kitchen

4.6

4.6 (304)

CAN$31 to CAN$50

Farm-to-table

King West

About the restaurant

At home in the elegant and eco-friendly 1 Hotel Toronto, 1 Kitchen Toronto sets new standards for sustainable operations with its zero-waste, locally driven philosophy. Much of the restaurant’s produce comes from the hotel’s on-site garden, while other ingredients are sourced from within a 100-kilometer radius. The menu emphasizes diners’ health as much as the health of the planet, with a primarily vegetarian menu that includes cold-pressed juice cocktails. The restaurant’s other forward-thinking initiatives include a partnership with GreenPlanet, a company that specializes in converting kitchen oil into biofuel, and an on-site composter that transforms organic waste into soil. The restaurant’s greenery-filled interior plays up its connection to the earth’s wellness and includes wooden tables and artwork created from fallen trees.

Top review

Sarahvip

Dined on Nov 23, 2024

Great energy, beautiful & lively atmosphere. Our server was attentive and great!

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Countdown at 1 Kitchen

Parallel

4.8

4.8 (983)

CAN$31 to CAN$50

Middle Eastern

The Junction

About the restaurant

When it opened its doors in 2018, Parallel, a hip Middle Eastern restaurant, was one of the early pioneers that transformed an industrial strip of Geary Avenue into a food-and-drink hotspot. An on-site stone mill—imported from Jerusalem—inspired much of the restaurant’s inventive menu. Using sesame seeds sourced from Humera, Ethiopia, which are chosen for their sweet and nutty flavor, the restaurant produces its own sesame butter and other tahini-based products. This signature sesame butter makes its way into most dishes on the menu, from riffs on classic hummus and housemade shawarma-spiced chicken to a savory spin on the traditional pastry dessert, knafeh.

Top review

Ilana

Dined on Dec 1, 2024

Great food and a chill vibe! I always enjoy my time here. It’s perfect for a date night or grabbing a bite with friends. Highly recommend!

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4.7

4.7 (935)

CAN$51 and over

Caribbean

King West

About the restaurant

This pop-up turned permanent restaurant is blazing trails in more ways than one. Miss Likklemores playful menu gives the fine-dining spin to Caribbean fare. The plates are inspired by almost every region, from Trinidad’s macaroni pie to Jamaican jerk chicken. The nuff nuff slaw exemplifies Miss Likklemores dedication to uniquely nuanced flavors: its twenty-two ingredients include compressed pear, jicama, and papaya vinaigrette. Miss Likklemores also shines the spotlight on rum at a level rarely seen in Toronto restaurants, with more than 100 labels available. Naturally, the emphasis is on Caribbean labels, but the one-of-a-kind collection also includes unusual bottles from places such as Australia, India, and Peru.

Top review

Sophiavip

Dined 2 days ago

The music is always a vibe but more importantly… the pancakes!!! They were so delicious. Go see for yourself. And the likkle oxtail Pattie’s are always ordered whenever I go here. They are my favourite. The collard greens were spicy, so only order if, like myself you like the extra heat.

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Tachi X Vela Patio Pop-up

4.8

4.8 (477)

CAN$51 and over

Sushi

Niagara

About the restaurant

Tachi, owned by the same team behind MICHELIN-starred Toronto spots Sushi Masaki Saito and Shoushin, is the city’s sole standing-only omakase joint. Inspired by a seatless Japanese dining tradition, the restaurant, set in Chef’s Hall (a sprawling food venue featuring 17 other restaurants), offers just eight standing counter “seats”. Here, diners are served an omakase menu at a breakneck speed, featuring 11 pieces of sushi and one hand roll—in less than 30 minutes. The result is an entertaining, one-of-a-kind meal, fueled by high-quality fish and precisely prepared nigiri.

Top review

MichelleT

Dined on Jul 7, 2023

Our chef was super friendly , forgot her name tho. She was engaging and explained every piece

Adrak Yorkville

4.7

4.7 (551)

CAN$51 and over

Indian

Yorkville

About the restaurant

This Indian restaurant makes a big impact with its palace-inspired interiors and bold, signature dishes, such as the raan-e-shaahi (slow-cooked lamb leg with house spices) and asparagus kofta. But it’s also shaking up conventions in the back-of-house with its progressive kitchen team structure. Rather than employing a single head chef to run the kitchen, Adrak’s cooks are divided into smaller teams that focus on specific sections. It’s a strategy that encourages each chef to master a particular station or cooking style. The experiment is paying off, with Adrak recently receiving recognition in Toronto’s first MICHELIN guide. It doesn’t hurt that most of the restaurant’s kitchen team also trained with MICHELIN-starred chef Vineet Bhatia.

Top review

Julia

Dined 2 days ago

We are visiting from Vancouver where we have some of the best Indian food. Adrak was above and beyond our expectations. Every dish was amazing which I find extremely rare now a days. The customer service was top notch as well.

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Experience

Memsahibs Private Dining

Avling

4.6

4.6 (190)

CAN$31 to CAN$50

Contemporary Canadian

Leslieville / Riverdale

About the restaurant

Seasonality and local sourcing inform not just the food but also the beers made at Avling, a cutting-edge restaurant and brewery in the city’s east end. Avling takes its name from the Norwegian word for “crop” – a fitting title, considering much of the bounty that fills diners’ plates and glasses comes from the restaurant’s own 4,000 square-foot rooftop farm. Chef Eva Chin transforms the produce into inventive Nordic dishes with Asian influences, such as chicken dumplings with dan dan vinaigrette and wild British Columbia side stripe shrimp toast. House-brewed beers change frequently, thanks to the brewery’s focus on in-season ingredients. Avling continues to push boundaries with ongoing sustainability efforts: The restaurant converts wastewater from its brewery into irrigation water for its farm crops.

Top review

Kato

Dined on Dec 11, 2022

Avling offers an array of delectable farm to table dishes. Under the Avling label, beer choices include all time faves and always new blends. Has a neat Queen East vibe and is a great place to dine with friends and family any time.

Ration Beverley

4.8

4.8 (45)

CAN$31 to CAN$50

Contemporary Canadian

Entertainment District

About the restaurant

Experiments drive the menu at this lab-like contemporary Canadian spot. Creations range from meats aged with koji (soybeans or rice inoculated with a mold culture) to housemade vinegars. Chef Jef Edwards and team prototype dishes in a basement testing facility. Ration: Beverley also houses a vertical microgreen and herb garden during the winter. Seasonality steers both the ingredients and the way they’re prepared at this avant-garde restaurant. Menus highlight fresh, raw produce such as asparagus, picked fresh from a partner farm, during the growing season. In the winter, dishes incorporate preservation techniques, such as pickling and smoking. Ration also leads the charge when it comes to minimizing food waste; the kitchen and bar teams work closely together to use up one another’s extra ingredients.

Top review

Rick

Dined on Nov 12, 2022

The Ration team served another great meal. Their duck dishes are superb. Tried the duck croquettes, a new addition to the menu and they were perfectly done. The risotto is a staple here and changes seasonally. Both cocktails and wine pairings are a must here.

Stock Bar

4.5

4.5 (3481)

CAN$51 and over

Italian

Midtown / Uptown

About the restaurant

This collab between powerhouse Italian restaurant group Terroni and butcher Cumbrae’s creatively combines multiple culinary concepts into a single venue. The setting is especially unique—Stock Bar occupies the two upper floors of Postal Station K, a historic Art Deco building dating back to the 1930s. A grocery store on the main floor highlights the best of the two brands, featuring a butcher specializing in ethically raised meats from Cumbrae’s as well as fresh pasta, hand-made gelato, and hard-to-find wine courtesy of Terroni. Almost all of the bistro-style dishes served at Stock Bar are prepared with items that can be bought in the grocery store; the restaurant serves as both an enjoyable stand-alone dining experience and a place to taste-test various ingredients for home cooking. The result is a truly special feast, evoking a meal on an Italian piazza.

Top review

Janet

Dined 4 days ago

Stock Bar has the most delicious French onion soup in Toronto, you won’t be disappointed and the cocktails are amazing!!

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Popular dish

Calamari Fritti