Sweet Jesus agrees to remove patio after uproar

Sweet Jesus may have opened a new Toronto location at Yonge and Eglinton, but its original John Street outpost - along with the adjacent La Carnita - has been getting all of the attention lately. That's because the restaurant's patio is apparently on privately-owned publicly accessible space (POPS) and the city wants the fencing around it to come down, as we reported last week.

Sweet Jesus and La Carnita's Andrew Richmond shared documents with us - including a building permit and drawings - which appear to show that the city green-lighted a patio for the property at 295 Adelaide St. W.

"Ultimately the city messed up and approved us to do what we did and then came back months later saying we illegally put up a patio," he says via email. "Regardless we are taking it down until we can come to an agreement with all involved as to how to move forward."

The city of Toronto is adamant that the patio area needs to be returned to public space. "That patio and that fencing has to come down, full stop," Ward 20 City Councillor Joe Cressy told us on Friday.

Richmond and his team are now working with the city to find a solution.

Photo by Jesse Milns