The 5 Must-Book Toronto Restaurants for Fall

by OpenTable

Updated August 24, 2021

After emerging from one of the world’s longest pandemic-related lockdowns, the Toronto dining scene is coming back with a bang. Many long-awaited restaurants are finally making their debuts, while others that opened for takeout-only are getting a chance to spread their culinary wings and introduce the city to their full menus and spaces. Here are some of the most exciting and innovative Toronto restaurants to discover this fall.

Copacabana Brazilian Steakhouse - Eglinton

4.3

4.3 (1098)

CAN$51 and over

Steakhouse

Midtown / Uptown

About the restaurant

La Latina takes over an outpost of popular Brazilian steakhouse chain Copacabana, known for its all-you-can-eat menu of skewered meats. The new restaurant, which comes from the same team behind Copacabana, trades bottomless beef ribs and piri piri chicken for an a la carte approach to South American street food. From house-smoked meats to freshly baked bread, much of La Latina’s fare is made from scratch. The drink menu also plays up the restaurant’s Latin American influences with cocktails such as the pisco sour and the margarita, as well as a wine list that’s big on bottles from Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. With its rainbow-hued lighting, the restaurant feels as vibrant and inviting as its predecessor.

Top review

Marjorie

Dined 2 days ago

The whole dining experience was good. The meats were tasty and cooked well. The side dishes were a little hit or miss. The service was great. The dining area looks aesthetically pleasing. There was enough space to move around given that it was a little busy Sunday night when we dined there. One thing I just noticed is that you dont have a choice about the gratuity, it’s automatically added 18% of your total bill, so maybe take note of that when you consider dining here. But other than that, we enjoyed our meal.

Enigma Yorkville

4.8

4.8 (521)

CAN$51 and over

International

Yorkville

About the restaurant

Opened just before Toronto entered its second indoor dining shutdown last fall, Enigma Fine Dining is finally able to present its refined, seasonal tasting menus to the city. The restaurant’s five-course menus change regularly but feature a focus on European culinary techniques and elegant plating. A typical menu might begin with scorched hamachi fish with wasabi emulsion and delicate dollops of passion fruit gel, follow it with Darjeeling tea-smoked quail, and finish with a selection of petit fours that includes housemade pistachio financiers. The wine list offers a mix of Old and New World bottles, while the restaurant’s grand design is a natural fit for its location in the city’s historic Yorkville neighbourhood.

Top review

Tylervip

Dined 3 days ago

Amazing meal and incredible experience. Service is top notch.

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Experience

Christmas Eve with Chef

Experience

New Year's Eve Dinner

Experience

The Macallan Lounge Multi-Sensory Experience

The Rabbit Hole

4.4

4.4 (714)

CAN$30 and under

Contemporary British

Financial District

About the restaurant

Oliver & Bonacini Hospitality’s handsome new watering hole draws on district executive chef John Horne’s years spent working in England for its menu of imaginative British gastropub fare. Using locally sourced ingredients, The Rabbit Hole refreshes classic pub dishes like steak and mushroom pie and puts fine dining riffs on others — the beef tartare, for example, sees Sunday roast staple Yorkshire pudding paired with a Scotch quail egg. The restaurant’s wood-clad interior nods to Alice in Wonderland, the story that inspired its name, with details such as a wall of mismatched clocks and subtle recurring rabbit motifs. The cocktail menu strikes a balance between traditional and whimsical with drinks like the Queen’s Tea, a spin on a Long Island iced tea that’s served in a teapot.

Top review

James

Dined today

Nice little spot buried inside the Scotiabank tower. Nice ambience/decor, good food, good service, reasonable prices. Great for a business lunch.

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Large Group Holiday Lunches (8ppl+)

Pai Northern Thai - Uptown

4.5

4.5 (1774)

CAN$30 and under

Thai

Yonge and Eglinton

About the restaurant

More than seven years into its run, Pai’s original location still regularly garnered out-the-door line-ups pre-pandemic for its authentic Northern Thai cuisine. Now Nuit and Jeff Regular, the Toronto Thai cuisine power couple behind the restaurant, have opened a second Pai outpost at Yonge and Eglinton. Diners north of Bloor will no longer have to travel across the city to enjoy popular dishes such as richly flavoured khao soi or Thai chicken wings with lemongrass and sweet tamarind sauce. Like the first location, Pai Uptown pays homage to its namesake town in Thailand with its bohemian aesthetic, but this one features a larger, two-storey space with private dining areas and a stage for future live performances.

Top review

Andrewvip

Dined 1 day ago

Excellent experience at Pai! We loved all of the food. We ordered something by mistake and they happily got us the item we wanted. We will definitely be back

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