dec1005_topsinkitchens.jpg

The Next Drake?


There is no doubt the stretch of Ossington between Queen and Dundas is a street in transition. Mixed in with the vietnamese eateries, laundromats and art galleries are a good helping of vacant storefronts displaying for sale or for rent signs out front.

One that recently sold was a massive building on the west side between Queen and Argyle that was the former home to Tops in Kitchens. The buyer? The Liberty Entertainment Group, owners of almost a dozen clubs and restaurants around Toronto such as the Rosewater Supper Club, The Courthouse, C-Lounge and the Phoenix.

The price tag? Just under a cool million.

While I'm not privy to what the Liberty Entertainment Group has planned for the building, it's probably not a stretch to predict it will radically change the face of Ossington and draw a chunk of the 905 crowd currently waiting in line outside of the Social and the Drake on Friday and Saturday nights.

Similar to how the Drake spawned Lot 16 and the Beaconsfield to lure away their overflow or uninterested patrons, I get the sense that prospective bar owners are already staking out ground in the area.

A case in point is Sparrow, a new restaurant and bar just next door that's scheduled to open on December 13th.


Latest Videos



Latest Videos


Join the conversation Load comments

Latest in City

Here's a preview of what it will be like to ride on new Toronto LRT line

There's a brand-new $26M TTC subway station entrance in a popular Toronto park

Ontario's largest snake grows up to 2 metres and squeezes prey to death

Ontario is home to world's oldest pool of water at a staggering 2 billion years old

Stunning new Toronto park set to open next year

Toronto somehow isn't home to Ontario's jankiest LRT

A Toronto transit project is actually going to finish early for once

People worried about Ontario police's plan to use facial recognition software