10 of the Best Restaurants in The Annex & University of Toronto Area
By Richard Silver | Silver Burtnick Milan & Associates, Sotheby’s International Realty Canada
What happens when you combine one of Canada’s great universities with one of Toronto’s oldest residential neighbourhoods?
You get a pretty interesting place to eat.
The Annex and University of Toronto area has always had an eclectic personality. Professors, students, longtime residents, writers, artists and families all share the same streets—and the restaurants reflect that diversity.
You can have an elegant French dinner on Harbord Street, pizza near St. George, tacos off Bathurst, lunch inside historic Hart House or Middle Eastern dishes on Dupont.
So, just as we did with our favourite Cabbagetown restaurants, we’ve put together 10 restaurants in The Annex and U of T area we think are worth discovering in 2026.
They’re not ranked scientifically. They’re simply places that help make this one of Toronto’s great neighbourhoods for eating.
1. Bar Mercurio — 270 Bloor Street West
If there is one restaurant that seems perfectly positioned for the University of Toronto neighbourhood, it’s Bar Mercurio.
Just steps from St. George Station and the U of T campus, this family-run Italian restaurant has become a fixture on Bloor Street.
Pizza is a particular strength, with naturally leavened, long-fermented sourdough forming the base, but you’ll also find pasta and a wine-focused bar program.
Its location makes it particularly useful: lunch with a colleague, dinner before an event at the ROM or an easy place to meet someone coming from another part of the city.
Go for: Sourdough pizza, Italian food and wine.
2. Brasserie Côte — 400 Bloor Street West
There’s something new at one of The Annex’s most familiar corners.
Brasserie Côte opened in 2026 at Bloor and Brunswick, taking over the space occupied for more than four decades by By the Way Café.
The new restaurant takes its inspiration from the classic French brasserie.
Think steak frites, tartare, escargot, charcuterie and the kind of food that encourages you to order another glass of wine and stay a little longer.
The room itself leans into the experience with a decidedly Parisian sensibility.
It’s also an interesting example of how The Annex continues to evolve without losing its identity as a neighbourhood where independent restaurants matter.
Go for: Steak frites, French classics and a lively neighbourhood dinner.
3. Parquet — 97 Harbord Street
Harbord Street may be one of Toronto’s most underrated restaurant streets.
Parquet is an intimate contemporary French bistro near the University of Toronto campus, combining French foundations with a more modern Toronto approach.
The atmosphere manages to feel sophisticated without becoming overly formal, making it equally appropriate for a date night, birthday or dinner with friends.
And when Toronto finally gives us patio weather, its outdoor space becomes another reason to visit.
Go for: Contemporary French cooking, wine and a summer evening on the patio.
4. Gallery Grill — Hart House, 7 Hart House Circle
Here’s one even some Torontonians don’t know about.
Inside the University of Toronto’s magnificent Hart House is the Gallery Grill.
This isn’t merely a restaurant near U of T. You’re actually eating inside one of the university’s great historic buildings.
The second-floor dining room overlooks Hart House’s Great Hall and provides a very different atmosphere from the restaurants lining Bloor or Harbord.
It’s primarily a weekday lunch destination, which makes it particularly good for meeting colleagues, taking visiting family somewhere unexpected or introducing an out-of-town guest to the university.
Sometimes the setting is as memorable as the meal.
Go for: Lunch, historic Toronto atmosphere and showing visitors a side of U of T they might otherwise miss.
5. Fat Pasha — 414 Dupont Street
Fat Pasha has become one of the restaurants most closely associated with The Annex dining scene.
Chef-owner Anthony Rose’s restaurant combines Middle Eastern and Israeli influences with European Jewish traditions in a menu designed for sharing.
The whole roasted cauliflower has become something of a signature, accompanied by dishes such as hummus, falafel, salatim, pita and larger plates.
This is not necessarily where we’d go for a quiet dinner for one.
Bring friends. Order several dishes. Put everything in the middle of the table.
That’s really the point.
Go for: The cauliflower, sharing plates and dinner with a group.
6. Chadwick’s Craft Kitchen & Bar — 268 Howland Avenue
Every good Toronto neighbourhood needs restaurants that locals actually use.
Chadwick’s, at Howland and Dupont, fits that description nicely.
The menu takes a global approach to comfort food, while brunch has developed its own following. There’s also an emphasis on local craft beer and cocktails.
One thing particularly worth noting is the attention given to gluten-free choices, including dishes such as gluten-free fried chicken.
This isn’t about creating a special-occasion restaurant. It’s about having somewhere in your neighbourhood that works for brunch, dinner, drinks or an impromptu meal with friends.
Go for: Brunch, comfort food, craft beer and casual neighbourhood dining.
7. El Pocho Antojitos Bar — 2 Follis Avenue
Just off Bathurst Street is a small Mexican restaurant with a lot of personality.
El Pocho focuses on antojitos—Mexican snacks and smaller dishes—along with tacos and an agave-forward cocktail program.
One of the more playful dishes is birria poutine, which perhaps tells you everything you need to know about the restaurant’s willingness to let Toronto and Mexico meet on the same plate.
It’s cozy, casual and especially good for sharing.
The restaurant is also known for offering plenty of gluten-free choices, which can make it particularly useful when you’re organizing dinner for a group with different dietary needs.
Go for: Tacos, birria poutine, tequila and mezcal.
8. Sushi on Bloor — 525 Bloor Street West
Not every restaurant on a “best of” list needs to be expensive.
In a university neighbourhood, value matters too.
Sushi on Bloor has been serving The Annex for years and remains a particularly useful choice for students, neighbourhood residents and anyone looking for a casual Japanese meal.
The menu is extensive—sushi, sashimi, rolls, bento, noodles, tempura and cooked dishes—and its lunch offerings have helped establish a loyal following.
This is the kind of restaurant that becomes part of neighbourhood life rather than somewhere you save for a special occasion.
And we think those restaurants deserve recognition too.
Go for: Sushi, lunch and good-value casual dining.
9. Napoli Centrale Pizzeria — 964 Bathurst Street
At the northern edge of our Annex boundaries, Napoli Centrale gives the neighbourhood a taste of Naples.
The focus is Neapolitan-style, wood-fired pizza, supported by antipasti, salads, pasta, calzone and Italian desserts.
There’s an appealing simplicity to a neighbourhood pizzeria done properly: good dough, a very hot oven and ingredients that don’t need too much interference.
It also makes an easy casual dinner before heading elsewhere along Bloor or Bathurst.
Go for: Wood-fired Neapolitan pizza and a relaxed Italian dinner.
10. Playa Cabana — 111 Dupont Street
We’ll finish with another longtime Annex favourite.
Playa Cabana is a compact and energetic Mexican restaurant known for tacos, house-made salsas and a bar program with plenty of tequila and mezcal.
The restaurant’s relatively small size is part of its personality. This isn’t an enormous dining room designed for anonymity.
It’s fun, casual and particularly suited to a taco-and-cocktail night with friends.
Go for: Tacos, salsas, margaritas and a lively evening.
But Ten Isn’t Nearly Enough
This is where these lists become dangerous.
The Annex and U of T area has far more than ten restaurants worth talking about.
Longtime inexpensive neighbourhood restaurants, Korean restaurants around Bloor and Christie, cafés filled with students and laptops, pubs, brunch spots, and several ambitious newer dining rooms.
The area is changing, too. Brasserie Côte opened in March 2026, while other recent additions have helped refresh the Bloor Street restaurant scene. That makes this a particularly interesting moment to rediscover the neighbourhood.
And there are restaurants just beyond the boundaries that inevitably enter the conversation as soon as you start asking locals where they eat.
Which raises the same question we asked in Cabbagetown:
What actually makes a great neighbourhood restaurant?
Restaurants Tell You How a Neighbourhood Lives
This is why we’re interested in restaurants at Torontoism.
When we’re showing someone a house or condominium, we can talk about square footage, ceiling height, parking and renovations.
Those things matter.
But sooner or later, people start asking different questions.
Where do I get coffee in the morning?
Where can we walk for dinner?
Where do people meet on Friday night?
Where will we take friends who are visiting Toronto?
Those questions tell you something much more interesting about what it’s actually like to live in a neighbourhood.
The Annex is a particularly good example.
The University of Toronto gives the area an energy that few Toronto neighbourhoods can replicate. Students mix with professors, academics, families and people who have lived in The Annex for decades.
Then add the ROM, Hot Docs Cinema, Lee’s Palace, bookstores, historic houses, Bloor Street, Harbord Village and excellent transit.
The result is a neighbourhood that can feel intellectual, slightly bohemian, historic and very urban—all at once.
And its restaurants reflect exactly that.
Now We Want Your Vote
This is our list.
Now we’d like to create The Annex’s list.
What restaurant did we miss?
Is there a tiny neighbourhood restaurant that deserves more attention? A U of T student institution that’s been feeding people for decades? A new restaurant that has already become your favourite?
And most importantly:
If someone had only one night to eat in The Annex, where would you send them?
Send Silver Burtnick Milan & Associates your nomination.
We’ll collect the responses and publish the Torontoism Readers’ 10 Best Restaurants in The Annex & U of T Area.
Because the people who actually live in a Toronto neighbourhood usually know where the best tables are.
Richard Silver and the Silver Burtnick Milan & Associates team — Jim Burtnick, Francesca Milan, Celia Alves, Jose Sanchez, Bill Johnston and Simran Matta — Sotheby’s International Realty Canada.
