The restaurant scene on Dundas Street west of Ossington is ever expanding, growing and changing. Yes, sadly, we are losing the great The Grove, but we are also gaining many new restaurants, some of which are already open and some are coming very soon.
The award-winning, top of many year end lists The Grove, at 1214 Dundas West, announced via their website that they will be closing on November 15. This is certainly a disappointment as they were serving some creative and delicious food and we were finally feeling like they were settling into the neighbourhood. Make a reservation for a last chance to try the excellent food and beverage they’ve been serving there since 2012.
Earlier this fall, the crew behind Quinta converted the menu from a nouveau Portuguese restaurant into a modern take on Jewish cuisine. The newly named Essen at 1282 Dundas West serves up brisket, schnitzel and a variety of family-style favorites in a relaxed setting. They are open for dinner and brunch.
Mr. Flamingo is a brand new spot at 1265 Dundas West, taking over former Portuguese restaurant O Lagar (the sign is still there so don’t let it confuse you) at the corner of Dovercourt. A bright, small space with a big bar and 10 or 12 tables, Mr. Flamingo’s menu offers a mix of seafood and meat dishes. We tried a few last weekend and all of them were delicious, including the tuna with movie theatre popcorn sauce. Yum. Tasted like popcorn.
All of Dundas is blowing up these days, with tons of restaurants opening east of us close to Bathurst, and this section of the strip is holding up nicely. We’ve still got Enoteca Sociale at 1288 Dundas W, and The Atlantic near Dufferin is getting a lot of good press. There are more to come including a southern Italian restaurant food shop called Solita – South of Little Italy – that has already redone the front of the southeast corner of Beaconsfield and Dundas.
We’ve already discussed Han Moto, the snack spot from the team behind Oddseoul, which will be opening soon on Lakeview next to Churchill.
Also coming soon is a takeout place next to the 7-11 at Dundas and Dovercourt. Called Junked, this may be the snack spot once rumored to be taking over Levack Block on Ossington.
And, of course, we’ve just written about The Contender, our new sports bar just west of Ossington on the north side.
