OpenTable compiles its Most Booked information from activity on its reservation platform. Its Diners’ Choice lists are updated regularly, making them an interesting snapshot of where people are choosing to eat right now.
Here are 10 restaurants generating significant attention from Toronto diners on OpenTable.
1. Terroni Adelaide — Financial District
57 Adelaide Street East
Terroni Adelaide has become a Toronto institution.
Located in a magnificent former courthouse dating to the 1850s, the restaurant combines historic Toronto architecture with the lively atmosphere for which Terroni is known. The menu focuses on traditional Italian dishes, including pizza, pasta and antipasti, backed by an extensive Italian wine program.
The building itself is part of the experience: soaring spaces, fireplaces, an open kitchen, a wine cellar housed around the original courthouse cells and a hidden garden patio in warmer weather.
OpenTable has identified Terroni Adelaide among its most-booked restaurants in Old Toronto.
Why go: Classic Italian food in one of Downtown Toronto’s most memorable historic dining rooms.
2. 360 The Restaurant at the CN Tower — Entertainment District
290 Bremner Boulevard
Few dining rooms can compete with the setting at 360 The Restaurant at the CN Tower.
More than 350 metres above Toronto, the restaurant slowly revolves while diners take in panoramic views across the city, Lake Ontario and, on a clear day, far beyond.
The menu emphasizes Canadian ingredients, but there is no question that the view is the star.
For visitors to Toronto, it remains one of the city’s signature dining experiences. For those of us who live here, it can be surprisingly enjoyable to rediscover our city from above.
Why go: One of the most unmistakably Toronto dining experiences you can have.
3. Gusto 101 — King West
101 Portland Street
Gusto 101 helped establish the restaurant culture that transformed the King West neighbourhood.
Located in a converted industrial building, Gusto combines modern Italian cooking with a casual, energetic atmosphere. Pasta, pizza and Italian-inspired dishes remain at the centre of the menu, while its rooftop patio is particularly popular during Toronto’s warmer months.
Why go: Italian comfort food, a great atmosphere and quintessential King West energy.
4. Richmond Station — Downtown Toronto
1 Richmond Street West
Richmond Station is a very different kind of Downtown Toronto restaurant.
Its focus is seasonal Canadian cooking, thoughtful sourcing and polished hospitality without unnecessary formality. The menu changes with the seasons, although its famous Station Burger has developed a following of its own.
It’s equally comfortable for a business dinner, date night or an evening devoted simply to really good food.
Why go: Contemporary Canadian cooking in the heart of Downtown Toronto.
5. Nobu Toronto — Entertainment District
25 Mercer Street
The arrival of Nobu Restaurant Toronto gave Toronto another major international name in luxury dining.
Nobu’s Japanese cuisine with Peruvian influences has made the brand famous around the world. The Toronto restaurant brings signature dishes, sushi and seafood together with a dramatic contemporary dining room.
This is very much an occasion restaurant — and part of its appeal is seeing how an internationally recognized restaurant brand interprets Toronto.
Why go: High-energy luxury dining with an internationally famous pedigree.
6. ONE Restaurant — Yorkville
116 Yorkville Avenue
Located in The Hazelton Hotel, ONE Restaurant sits at the centre of one of Toronto’s most glamorous neighbourhoods.
The restaurant offers an upscale contemporary dining experience from breakfast through dinner, with its Yorkville patio remaining one of the neighbourhood’s prime people-watching destinations.
It’s an excellent reminder that in Yorkville, dining is often as much about location and atmosphere as what’s on the plate.
Why go: Yorkville sophistication, polished service and one of Toronto’s most recognizable luxury neighbourhood settings.
7. Sofia — Yorkville
99 Yorkville Avenue
Just down the street is Sofia Italian Restaurant Toronto, another restaurant that embraces Yorkville’s glamorous personality.
Sofia combines contemporary Italian cuisine with art, design and a fashionable dining room. It’s the sort of place where dinner can easily become an evening out rather than simply a meal.
Why go: Contemporary Italian cuisine paired with a stylish Yorkville atmosphere.
8. HOTHOUSE — St. Lawrence Market
35 Church Street
HOTHOUSE has something increasingly rare in Toronto: longevity.
Located near the St. Lawrence Market, the restaurant has been serving the neighbourhood for decades. Its broad Mediterranean-influenced menu, large dining room and well-known brunch have helped make it a dependable destination for groups, families and visitors.
Why go: A long-standing Downtown Toronto favourite close to the St. Lawrence Market.
9. L’Avenue — The Well
433 Wellington Street West
Toronto’s restaurant landscape continues to evolve, and L’Avenue is a good example.
The Toronto location of the Montreal-born restaurant brings its famously indulgent approach to brunch to The Well, one of Downtown Toronto’s newest mixed-use neighbourhood destinations.
Expect an energetic room, generous brunch dishes and plenty of visual drama.
Why go: A destination brunch combined with an opportunity to explore The Well and the western side of Downtown Toronto.
10. Blu Ristorante — Entertainment District
214 King Street West
Blu Ristorante combines Italian and Mediterranean influences with a more traditional fine-dining atmosphere.
Its location makes it particularly convenient before or after a performance in Toronto’s Entertainment District, and the restaurant offers a pre-theatre menu as well as à la carte dining. OpenTable currently lists it at 4.7 stars from more than 3,600 diner reviews.
Why go: An elegant pre-theatre dinner in the heart of Toronto’s Entertainment District.
What Does Toronto’s Most-Booked Restaurant Scene Tell Us?
What strikes us most isn’t any single restaurant. It’s the variety.
Toronto diners aren’t choosing one particular style of restaurant. We want historic Italian dining rooms, neighbourhood restaurants, luxury Yorkville experiences, destination brunches, contemporary Canadian cuisine and even dinner 350 metres above the city.
And that diversity is one of the things that makes living in the Greater Toronto Area so interesting.
Restaurants are also an important part of real estate. When people ask us about a Toronto neighbourhood, they rarely ask only about bedrooms, bathrooms and property values. They want to know where they’ll have coffee Saturday morning, where they’ll walk for dinner, where they’ll celebrate a birthday and where they’ll take friends visiting from out of town.
Restaurants help turn neighbourhoods into communities.
At Silver Burtnick Milan & Associates at Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, Richard Silver, Jim Burtnick, Francesca Milan, Celia Alves, Jose Sanchez, Bill Johnston and Simran Matta spend our days exploring Toronto neighbourhoods while helping people buy and sell homes across the Greater Toronto Area.
So we’d like to hear from you:
