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Deadpool

Yasi's Place goes deadpool

Posted by Robyn Urback / January 19, 2011

35 Comments

Yasis Place DeadpoolYasi's Place, known for its brunch and signature potatoes, deadpooled last week. According to Yasi Zorlutuna, who first opened the restaurant on Wallace Ave. west of Lansdowne, the business had been struggling financially.

"I actually sold my share of the business to my partner back in June," she says. "I just wanted to move on, start a family. But I know since then sales have been going down."

Competition (Bloordale Pantry, Zocalo, Starving Artist, June Harlowe Foods) has also been moving into the area. "When I opened we were the only alternative brunch place in the area," Zorlutuna said. "Now there are tons of places."

Since she had sold her share of the business, the final decision was up to Yasi's manager and owner. "It's really tragic because it was so fast. After the decision was made, the doors were closed three days later."

Photo by Martinho on Flickr

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neunen / January 19, 2011 at 09:56 am
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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooo
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laurel / January 19, 2011 at 09:58 am
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aw! this place was adorable. sad news.
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Richard / January 19, 2011 at 10:17 am
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ytCEuuW2_A
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Langford / January 19, 2011 at 10:25 am
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Quite sad. You don't see many places like this embedded in a residential area.
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ramanan / January 19, 2011 at 10:38 am
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This is a god damn tragedy.
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Rudy / January 19, 2011 at 10:44 am
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^ Hi Shima's husband.
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TL / January 19, 2011 at 11:26 am
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So upsetting!! This was my favorite brunch spot in the city. A neighborhood gem. Yasi will be missed! Best of luck with your future endeavors!!
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LD / January 19, 2011 at 11:30 am
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Awful news. I dream about Yasi's pressed-yogourt French toast.
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scottd / January 19, 2011 at 11:32 am
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There is also Boo Radleys up the street and a revamped cafe a block east. After Yasi sold you could feel that the special love or bond that an owner has with their creation was no longer there and with so few seats it was only a matter of time.
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Bonk / January 19, 2011 at 11:33 am
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The lack of advertised school supplies likely had something to do with it.
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seed / January 19, 2011 at 11:38 am
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i will forever miss the Benny's Cousin Bobs. And the rainbow of mugs with really good loose leaf tea. Yasi's will be in our hearts forever!
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BloogTO / January 19, 2011 at 12:22 pm
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Indeed Scottd, I think you nailed it: with so few seats, it's really difficult to make any money. Here's hoping the space finds a new life.
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dellsun / January 19, 2011 at 12:31 pm
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Equally popular with tattooed and pierced 20-something and my 80 year old Jewish grandparents.

Not a small feat.
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Rachel / January 19, 2011 at 12:44 pm
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No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RIP, Yasi's. You were delicious and so, so, so great.
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Roger / January 19, 2011 at 12:48 pm
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So close to me. YASI's will be missed!
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Matt R / January 19, 2011 at 01:03 pm
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NO! I live at Wallace and Symington and this place was my last minute brunch stop! There coffee was awesome and I was always order extra potatoes and spicy ketchup! This is realy sad news, I loved this place.
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jordan / January 19, 2011 at 02:38 pm
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aaahnooooooo i loved that place!
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brian / January 19, 2011 at 03:13 pm
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i am so heartbroken.
yasi's was a regular weekend staple.
yeah there's other places in the area...... but they don't even compare to how good yasi's place was. not only the food, but the excellent friendly service. it's hard to find both in this city.
you will be missed YP. you'll always be in my heart.
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jlt / January 19, 2011 at 03:52 pm
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this is really sad, especially considering that Starving Artist makes their hollandaise from a powder in a packet. Very sad.
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jr / January 19, 2011 at 04:37 pm
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Hey - it might be sad but the 'hood spoke by not showing up ...
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TheHood / January 19, 2011 at 04:42 pm
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Actually jr, if you can see by the posts here... the hood DID show up, often. But when you have 4 (5?) tables in the winter, the place can be filled all day but you're still not going to get the money to pay the rent. The restaurant biz is a tough one.

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Michelle / January 19, 2011 at 04:45 pm
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Awww no. Very sad to hear it's closed. I used to work at Wallace Studios and got my americanos at Yasi's. I knew I should have bought the Better Than Sex Brownie when I had the chance.
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Aric / January 19, 2011 at 08:26 pm
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Not to be a wet blanket, but I work around the corner from Yasi's, and tried going there a couple of times for lunch. The place was filthy, and the food was stale at best, unappetizing at worst. Maybe I picked the wrong items from the menu.

They were friendly to me, but ruined it when they gave attitude to a poor girl who was just looking for a Coke Zero (they'd not heard of it).

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Abby / January 19, 2011 at 09:20 pm
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Seriously Aric you're so far off and probably hoping for a Tim Hortons to move into the neighborhood. Yasi's was seamlessly delicious!
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Aric replying to a comment from Abby / January 19, 2011 at 09:24 pm
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Yeah, that's the way, criticize my experience of the place. Obviously I'm wrong, and I apologize for having an opinion that differs from yours.

BTW Tim Horton's sucks.
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BloogTO / January 19, 2011 at 09:38 pm
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Actually, when it opened, we went and ordered some Diet Cokes with our brunch. The server stared at us like we were from another planet. "Sorry, we don't carry carbonated beverages." We gave it three tries, but were always beaten by cold food, burnt food, or attitude. I'm glad it had subsequent success though, and it was great for the neighborhood.
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Martin / January 19, 2011 at 10:56 pm
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Great place, great people. Like your best friend making breakfast for you ... with love.
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Meredith / January 20, 2011 at 12:16 am
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I love Yasi's so much - our orders were memorized, and the service was superb - lots of fond memories there. You will be missed.
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Paul / January 20, 2011 at 10:21 am
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i love the complaints that the place had too few seats.
it was a small place.
if you don't want to wait around for a table at a small restaurant don't show up at noon on saturday or sunday for brunch with more that 4 people.
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Gregory / January 20, 2011 at 04:20 pm
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shitty!!! And I was just getting to know you Yasi's place, I'll always remember being mayor for a while. Where's the best grilled cheese in town now? For nostalgia trippers here's some pics of the stools I took in the place:
http://alienphotog.blogspot.com/2010_07_01_archive.html

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Fast Ed / January 22, 2011 at 04:50 pm
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Balluchon on Sorauren is dead pooled - I'll miss that joint
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JC / January 26, 2011 at 08:23 pm
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This is so very very very sad. The last of it's kind in Toronto.....I will truly miss the tables, amazing salt and pepper shakers, the caramelized onions in my AMAZING grilledcheese. Whenever I was there the food and service ROCKED. For real. Although, I never did order a coke (??!!).
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move on / January 29, 2011 at 11:30 pm
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I hop starbucks moves in soon and cleans up this area
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move on / January 29, 2011 at 11:34 pm
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and as for balluchon that place sucked. 5$ latte and it taste horrible, like drinking dirty water.
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irina / January 30, 2011 at 02:07 pm
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Some of the best eggs benny in Toronto! This is so sad! They were so good. They not only tasted delicious but they focused on natural stuff. I hope Yasi's place or something similar comes back again sometime. It was such a nice brunch spot, I unfortunately didn't live in the area.
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