Neighbourhoods
Dundas West
No longer just Little Portugal, Dundas West is one of Toronto's most overlooked micro-neighbourhoods. No worry. Better that locals don't need to fend off tourists at favourite spots like Musa, Ella's Uncle and The Communist Daughter. And while dining and drinking are definitely on the agenda here, a walk east to west wouldn't be complete without ogling at the Canadian furniture and designs at MADE, emerging artists on display at LE Gallery or stopping in for a trim at Grateful Head.
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1602 Dundas West / Bars
No Name McGee's may have been the name of choice the night we went, but the bar at 1602 Dundas St. West has not yet been officially named. For now,...
Albany Pizza / Restaurants
Albany Pizza is the stuff of legends around Brockton Village. The panzerotti start at about $6.00 for basic sauce and cheese, but cheese-lovers can opt to double up for an...
Ali Baba's (Dundas and Markham) / Restaurants
Ali Baba's has locations around Toronto including this on Dundas St. West near Markham. Like the other locations, the popular choices here include chicken shawarma and falafel sandwiches....
Archive Tattoo Studio / Services
Archive Tattoo Studio dates all the way back to 2008. When I first meet David Glantz, the head honcho at Archive, he's knee-deep on a customer's leg sleeve. And he...
Archive Wine Bar / Bars
Archive Wine Bar is the second establishment of its type to land on Dundas West in the past year, following a relative (city-wide) drought for wine-lovers who are more interested...
Armed / Fashion Stores
Armed is a jewellery boutique near Trinity Bellwoods Park which serves as a showcase for the work of designer Desiree Girlato. Find affordable handmade and one-of-a-kind pieces in a well-designed...
Art Metropole (Dundas West) / Galleries
Art Metropole, the venerable artist-run centre and retailer, has settled in nicely after moving from King Street to cozier digs near Dundas and Dufferin this past June. Packing must have...
Atlantic / Restaurants
The Atlantic on Dundas West is dissimulated among a string of old school Portuguese sports bars. On a Thursday night it's completely full but myself and four friends manage to...
Balloon King / Fashion Stores
Balloon King's tiny exterior doesn't look like much until you step inside, but this well stocked party shop offers a surprisingly large selection of novelty items and supplies. At Halloween...
Bambi's / Bars
Bambi's, despite being named after a Disney favourite, is hardly doe-eyed and innocent. It's tucked in the corner of Dundas and Dovercourt, but its charm is far more polished than...
Barberella / Fashion Stores
Barberella is a boutique hair salon on Dundas West. Loyal customers swear by this place for a good, affordable cut in the neighbourhood....
Beadle / Fashion Stores
Beadle is a boutique offering local, handmade products. They carry an ever-changing array of clothes, jewelry, pottery, and even bath products. Beadle also offers workshops for those looking to learn...
Bent Restaurant / Restaurants
Bent is the newest member in Susur Lee's family of restaurants and recently moved into a cozy spot at the corner of Dundas and Markham. The highly anticipated new eatery...
Bivy / Cafes
Bivy is Pascal Vernhes' attempt to remedy an apparent drought of quality, affordable cafe eats along Dundas West. The Parisian and former owner of Midi Bistro is planning on a...
Black Dice / Bars
With Black Dice, Brockton-area rockabilly types finally have a little drinking hole to call their own. Although the digs are small, Black Dice really is cozy, and the carefully crafted decor...
Black Hoof / Restaurants
After opening to rave reviews, this city's newest hit is The Black Hoof, 928 Dundas Street West, and I was dying to pay them a visit. So last...
Bookhou / Design Stores
Bookhou is a gem of a store that I wish was in my neighbourhood - it strikes a perfect balance between local yet worldly, crafty and sophisticated, accessible and accomplished....
Brazil Bakery and Pastry / Baked Goods
Far along Dundas Street West, past the quaintness of Little Portugal and beyond the gentrification creeping out from West Queen West, there appears to be a dearth of good eating....
Bridge + Bardot / Fashion Stores
Bridge + Bardot - the newest boutique to settle down on Dundas West - is something of a paradox. The minimalist white walls, enormous dreamlike mirror, and embossed aluminum ceilings...
Brockton General / Restaurants
Brockton General is almost a year old now. Recognized as one of the best new restaurants to open in Toronto last year, it sprang from the ashes of Pablo, one...
Bunda Lounge / Bars
Bunda Lounge is a new nightspot near Dundas and Ossington that is definitely more loungy than its neighbours. While most of the drinking dens in the area tend to cater...
Butcher Gallery / Galleries
Butcher Gallery is a hidden space, off the beaten path, but its new location is just the start of its unconventional nature. The brainchild of artists Brad Tinmouth, Lili Huston-Herterich...
Cafe 668 / Restaurants
Dining out with vegetarian friends is always a challenge. You wouldn't think so, but the number of times we have to send something back that has meat/fish sauce, crab or...
Caffe Brasiliano / Cafes
When I posted about the rise and fall of Dundas West, commenter Eli Budd rightly pointed out that I had failed to give props to Caffe Brasiliano. In fact, Eli's...
Caldense Bakery / Baked Goods
Caldense Bakery is a Portuguese bakery with a number of locations in the Toronto area including this one at Dundas St. West and Palmerston. Baking breads and pastries since 1968,...
California Sandwiches / Restaurants
California Sandwiches has locations all over the GTA (all still family-member owned), but downtowners have access to the original location at 244 Claremont, open since 1967. Some locations serve sides,...
Camp 4 / Bars
Camp 4 is a laid back spot in a Dundas West area still continuing to define itself. Inspired by a mountain hangout at California's Yosemite National Park, the bar is...
Campagnolo / Restaurants
Campagnolo on Dundas West specializes in what it describes as good, honest home cooked food. The casual restaurant is currently serving dinner only. At the helm is Chef Greg Harding...
Chief Salvage Co. / Design Stores
The Chief Salvage Co. has appropriately opened in one half of the storefront that housed the Dufferin Smoke Shop, a business that, even when it was still open, seemed like...
Churchill / Bars
Churchill is one of a fleet of new hangouts that have been deployed along Dundas West to absorb the overflow from Ossington's stylish quarter-life bar scene. Managers Shayne Cox and...
Ciccio's Pizza / Restaurants
Ciccio's makes the best pizza on Dundas West. They have a new location near Bathurst after they shuttered the original near Bellwoods last year. This is a take out operation...
Cocktail Bar / Bars
Cocktail Bar may not be the fine dining restaurant initially expected from Black Hoof owner Jen Agg but it does deliver the well-crafted cocktails of which she has become famous,...
Communist's Daughter / Bars
For years, The Communist's Daughter at Ossington and Dundas was one of those hidden-gem spots that people in the know loved to be in the know about. Cozy, candlelit and...
Comrags / Fashion Stores
Comrags has picked up and moved on (or rather, north) after almost 15 years on Queen West. The move certainly gives traction to the idea that Dundas West is on...
Cooper Cole / Galleries
Cooper Cole Gallery isn't exactly a complete departure from Show & Tell, the gallery space that Simon Cole opened up over two years ago on Dundas West, but the decision...
Cristal Shoes Boutique / Fashion Stores
Cristal Shoes Boutique is a new Dundas West gem that stocks a terrific selection of dress shoes for men and women....
Dalston Grey / Fashion Stores
Dalston Grey marks Dundas West's ongoing ascendancy in the local fashion scene. The vintage store (with a few new pieces here and there) is filled with astoundingly budget-friendly pieces sure...
Day and Night / Fashion Stores
Day and Night is meant to be more than a salon. At least come nighttime. While most Toronto salons hang up their scissors once evening rolls around, this one gears...
E.L. Ruddy / Restaurants
E.L. Ruddy might have a small, unassuming sign, but with a bright orange facade and the waft of fresh coffee and scones it's almost impossible to miss it. Owner Helena...
Eagles Nest / Cafes
Eagles Nest is a Dundas West café and ice cream shop offering affogatos, something I always prepared at home but never knew actually had a name. Perhaps I need to...
Ella's Uncle / Cafes
Ella's Uncle is understated cool with its retro black and white tiles, lime green walls and scribbled chalkboard menu. While the cafe has been on Dundas West for more than...
Enoteca Sociale / Restaurants
Enoteca Sociale offers precious little to be critical of as everything seems to be clicking here like the beads on Nonna's rosary during a prayer service. The proprietors have managed...
Everyday Housewife / Design Stores
Everyday Housewife, as a name, makes sense when you see Bev Hisey's collection of vintage glass and ceramic housewares. The bright orange vases, lime green glass pieces, and assortment of...
Ezra's Pound (Dundas West) / Cafes
I wish the new Ezra's Pound had come along a few years earlier. When I was living at Dundas and Bathurst, the only sign of life on that strip was...
Fountain Enterprises / Bars
Fountain Enterprises is more of a gallery with a liquor license than a bar with local art on its walls. It began, though, as just a gallery, opened by OCAD...
Full of Beans / Cafes
Full of Beans Coffee House and Roastery has a product to sell: coffee. Yes, most coffee houses sell coffee. But, few houses love and consequently endorse their product like owner...
Gallery TPW / Galleries
Vibrant gallery explores the vital role still and moving images play in contemporary culture....
Gayley's Cafe / Restaurants
Gayley's Cafe is a quiet, sunny, beer-serving breakfast place on Dundas West. It's apparently the place to go when you're hung over and want to wait in line for an...
Get Well / Bars
Get Well is a strange name, particularly when you start to wonder what they're claiming to cure. One can hardly call its neighbourhood, Dundas West, lacking. It's a smorgasbord of...
Grain Curd & Bean / Cafes
Grain, Curd and Bean is "not a health food store", says owner Mike Wdowiak. Nor is it a tofu factory. There's something meaty about the name, something clinical that may...
Grasshopper Records / Services
Grasshopper Records doesn't have a storefront sign yet. Just milk crates chock-full of records sitting out font, unassumingly. Oh, and Wu-Tang's "Protect Ya Neck" debut single resting in the window....
Happy Daze / Cafes
Happy Daze caters to a niche audience looking for a little something extra with their caffeine addiction. Part cafe and part smoke shop, the space has desserts, coffee and a...
Hard Luck / Bars
Hard Luck, found near Bathurst and Dundas West, brings a new dimension to Toronto's music scene by billing itself as a hard rock venue. Reminiscent of The Horseshoe or even,...
Hashtag Gallery / Galleries
Hashtag Gallery is the one of the latest entries to what has gradually become the arts-rich strip of Dundas West. Founded by Graeme Luey, Johnny Hollick and Charlie Jurczynski last...
Hide / Fashion Stores
Hide is a new Dundas West shop specializing in leather accessories. The name is perhaps a bit literal for my taste, but the style is totally up my alley. That...
Hoof Cafe at Raw Bar / Restaurants
Hoof Cafe at Raw Bar, now a permanent brunch pop-up (if that makes any sense), has returned to Dundas West. On a cold and miserable Saturday morning in March,...
Hoof Raw Bar / Restaurants
Hoof Raw Bar has opened next door to the Black Hoof on Dundas West. In a move sure to please those less infatuated with meat than the original restaurant's typical...
L'Ouvrier / Restaurants
L'Ouvrier, translated as the worker, is a recent addition to Dundas West at the corner of Palmerston. Once an after-hours club (Crystal) with a wanton past, the restaurant owners have...
Lakeview Restaurant / Restaurants
When the iconic Lakeview Lunch closed earlier this year, I wasn't the only one who was disappointed. Sure, the service was lousy and the food was worse but there was...
Lakeview Storehouse / Grocery Stores
The Lakeview Storehouse is a grocery store and take-out spot that feels like an old-school pantry. Old wooden crates propped on their sides house an eclectic mix of sauces, jams,...
Le Dolci / Baked Goods
Le Dolci has settled into its new Dundas West digs, transforming the former Grateful Head home into its own "fun, foodie studio." Previously occupying a space down at King and Portland,...
LE Gallery / Galleries
Contributed by andi argast Much like its Dundas West neighbourhood, LE Gallery is quickly establishing itself as a destination of choice. When I stop by LE one evening to chat with...
Life of Manek / Fashion Stores
Life of Manek sprouted up in Dundas West just over two weeks ago, and from the floor-length floral dress in the front window to the candy-coloured vintage sandals, I know...
Loop Gallery / Galleries
loop Gallery is not an artist-run centre, at least in the traditional sense - nor is it a commercial gallery. loop is a collective, and loop Gallery is its exhibition...
Lost & Found (Dundas West) / Fashion Stores
Lost & Found is one boutique retailer where you won't feel guilty sipping your coffee as you peruse the merchandise. I know I've more than once felt the glare of...
Lula Lounge / Bars
Lula Lounge is by no means new. In fact, it's offered a bright marquee along Dundas West for over ten years, and after the intermittent, and expected, struggles associated with...
MADE / Design Stores
Since opening up shop in September of 2006, MADE has already secured its position as a staple within Toronto's, as well as Canada's, design community. Slightly disguised by means of...
Magpie / Bars
On a typical night at Magpie, if there is such a thing, a small crowd of smokers can be seen from blocks away hanging out in front of the tiny...
Magwood / Fashion Stores
Magwood on Dundas West is offering luxury vintage pieces draped in history. Each piece, hand selected by owner Sarah Magwood, seems to tell a little story about where it came...
Market 707 / Restaurants
Market 707 is back in business for another year. Housed entirely in retrofitted shipping containers along the block of Dundas Street West just east of Bathurst, this unique street food...
May / Bars
May could be the answer to the rampant gentrification that's been hitting Toronto's urban western corridor between Bathurst and Ossington. While revitalizing a former Vietnamese underworld karaoke bar (formerly Café...
Meredith Keith Gallery / Galleries
Meredith Keith Gallery is located in a friendly clutch of artistic small businesses at the western reach of Dundas West. Although it's only been open since November 2010, Keith has...
Midfield Wine Bar & Tavern / Restaurants
Midfield Wine Bar and Tavern is the type of place that Toronto wine lovers have been hoping would open for a long time. With a few exceptions — notably Swirl...
Milk Glass Co. / Galleries
Milk Glass Co. is an art gallery on Dundas West that hosts a wide-range of art-based exhibits and events. They also specialize in archival custom framing....
Miracle Thieves / Design Stores
Miracle Thieves is a new creative space and retail consignment shop at the corner of Dundas and Crawford. It's rather ambiguous-looking from the outside peeking in, but that's kind of...
MKG127 / Galleries
MKG127 might read like a postal code at first glance, but the gallery space actually borrows its initials from its founder Michael Klein and its address at 127 Ossington at...
MKG127 (Dundas West) / Galleries
MKG 127's relocation is a familiar Toronto story. The loftification of Ossington continues to claim victims, as the art galleries that made the area so appealing for condo developers...
Monkey's Paw / Bookstores
Monkey's Paw is unlike any other bookstore in Toronto. There's no Harry Potter or Suzanne Somers Eight Steps to Wellness here. Instead, the shelves are a treasure trove of the...
Montauk / Bars
Montauk opened this week near the slowly blossoming corner of Dundas and Bathurst. Joining illustrious neighbours Bent, Porchetta & Co., L'Ouvrier, and Campagnolo, Dustin Keating's new hangout aims to bring...
Mr. Pong's Bar / Bars
Mr. Pong's Bar might be your next favorite hang-out. A bit difficult to find in Little Portugal, and just a few days old, its windows are still coated in non-descript...
Mr. Right Pizza / Restaurants
Mr. Right Pizza is a small pizza joint located around the Bathurst and Dundas area. The Turkish-run establishment serves up Turkish pizza (pide) and an assortment of wings, salad, and...
Multiple Organics / Grocery Stores
I've been eying Multiple Organics for a while now but it wasn't until someone prodded me with an email that I decided it was about time to go inside for...
Nova Era / Baked Goods
Nova Era Bakery now has seven locations in Toronto including the one pictured above at 352 Oakwood Avenue. The first location on Dundas West still makes the delicious Portuguese style...
Odile Chocolat / Grocery Stores
Odile Chocolat's bright turquoise exterior sits on a quiet strip on Dundas West, just west of Bathurst St.. Behind a glass case lies rows of chocolate truffles wrapped in crinkly...
OMG Baked Goodness / Baked Goods
OMG Baked Goodness on Dundas West radiates an electric and eclectic energy that justifies its outcry of a name 100%. And the hot pink sign and huge antlers(!) in the...
Opera Bob's Public House / Restaurants
Opera Bob's is a newish pub on Dundas West near Ossington. It's a bit of a cavernous space inside which could use a bit of a makeover already; but when...
Penny Arcade Vintage / Fashion Stores
Penny Arcade is, hands down, my favourite vintage store in Toronto. Nestled in among dingy-looking storefronts on Dundas West just west of Ossington, the long space feels welcoming the second you...
Pho Linh / Restaurants
Colonialism sucks, right? Sure it may not be cool to admit you're a fan, but riddle me this batman: where d'ya think that yummy bowl of soupy noodles...
Pho Phuong / Restaurants
The rich, spicy and refreshing flavours of pho make it the gateway dish for Vietnamese cuisine, but don't let it stop there. Many of the Vietnamese restaurants scattered throughout the...
Pixel Print / Design Stores
Pixel Print is a new, local graphic design and print shop that can be found on Dundas West between Ossington and Dufferin. Inside, the hybrid shop happily offers a range...
PM Gallery / Galleries
p|m Gallery is tucked into a bright stretch of Dundas West, between a Portuguese café and Henhouse (a bar), a few doors down. I stopped by the other day to...
Porchetta & Co / Restaurants
Porchetta & Co. is a carnivore's dream. On a cold wintery day, venturing here is akin to walking into a bacon-scented sauna. The tiny restaurant welcomes its patrons with steamy...
Press Club / Bars
The Press Club is a low key bar on Dundas West that has a good beer selection and a side patio....
Quinta / Restaurants
Quinta opened in early July on a stretch of Dundas Street West, and brings a new take on Portuguese cuisine to an old Portuguese neighbourhood. Inside the cream-coloured dining room, the...
RAD / Fashion Stores
R.A.D. has exactly 24 items in stock. Each one is black, gray, or cream. "I definitely have an urban colour palette," owner Kia Waese chuckled. The former ad agency art...
Red Canoe / Fashion Stores
Red Canoe is a brand that boasts licensing deals with Boeing, CBC and the Royal Canadian Air Forces - if you ever wanted the retro logo of the CBC on...
Ride Away Bikes / Services
Ride Away Bikes has been around since 2010. They offer new and used bicycles. They refurbish donated used bikes and sell them back into the community for around $100-$250. They...
Salsicharia Pavao / Grocery Stores
Salsicharia Pavao is a fixture in Little Portugal and a longtime Toronto source for imported Portuguese groceries and freshly prepared meats. The butcher shop is family-owned — as many beloved...
Saving Grace / Restaurants
Brunch at Saving Grace feels like visiting a friend who has a better apartment than you, but isn't smug about it. The small, high-ceilinged room seats twenty people (many,...
Someone / Design Stores
Someone (or someone.ca since the store does a brisk online business) is a letterpress shop on Dundas West in Brockton Village that specializes in high quality letterpress printing for cards,...
Suitcase Vintage / Design Stores
Suitcase Vintage strikes me as the truest incarnation of what one might call a "nostalgia shop." Now, as anyone who has seen Midnight in Paris likely knows, the term doesn't offer...
Sweet Woodruff / Design Stores
Sweet Woodruff is a new and comprehensive floral design studio that specializes in events such as weddings, custom bouquets for businesses, and they also offer delivery throughout the GTA for...
Tampered Press / Cafes
The Tampered Press is a hybrid café combining health with hot cups of coffee. Mismatched wooden chairs in a sea of soft green line the different sized tables, while bookshelves...
The Arrow / Cafes
The Arrow is said to have some of the creamiest ice cream around. Unfortunately for me, I dropped by the new Dundas West cafe and ice cream shop a little...
The Dog Bowl / Services
The Dog Bowl sits just north of Trinity Bellwoods, making it a perfect spot for some last-minute doggie treats. You'll also find accessories such as dog beds and leashes, toys,...
The Federal Reserve / Restaurants
The Federal Reserve has annexed the former Zoots Cafe location on Dundas West. This up and coming area has seen an influx of new restaurants and bars of late (including...
The Grove / Restaurants
The Grove serves up contemporary English food on Dundas West. Think combinations like pork, poached eggs and turnip and a selection of puddings for dessert. Photo from The Grove's Facebook page....
The Guild / Restaurants
The Guild is the latest of a number of brunch-oriented restaurants to open on a reinvigorated stretch of Dundas at Dufferin. Yet, considering it took almost two years to bring...
The Happy Hooker / Restaurants
The Happy Hooker is the newest addition to the thriving stretch of Dundas West between Bathurst and Ossington, offering an inexpensive seafood-centric menu that draws inspiration from the West Coast. Taking...
The Hogtown Cure / Cafes
The Hogtown Cure opened up last week, following a whirlwind construction schedule, and it's a prime location for a shop that dubs itself a deli and cafe (with deli standing...
The Palmerston / Cafes
The Palmerston cafe covers everything from ice cream, brunch to beer. They have a spacious outdoor patio, large screen TVs and cozy tables for two inside. I visited last Saturday during...
The Port / Restaurants
The Port is a seasonal ice cream pop-up operating out of Grain Curd & Bean on Dundas West. This shop is pretty much the epitome of no frills — cash...
This End Up / Restaurants
This End Up, sandwiched between sports cafes and a whole lotta businesses that start with "Brasil", is the latest restaurant to open up on the stretch of Dundas West that...
Unlovable / Bars
Unlovable is positively subterranean in a city that has its share of underground and basement bars. Practically camouflaged beneath a travel agency on Dundas West, the place is invisible unless...
Victory Industries Tattoo and Apparel / Services
Victory Industries is the mom and pop version of a Toronto tattoo shop. Which is to say that the quote-unquote mom and pop in question are into a '50s aesthetic...
Wallflower / Bars
Wallflower opened up just over 2 weeks ago on Dundas West, and is announced on a Saturday night by a street-side sandwich board, and a large front window coated in...
Wiggle Room / Restaurants
Wiggle Room is a new east-coast style burger joint running out of Market 707. The Aptly named space measures in at only 8' by 10' and is now occupied by...
Woodlawn / Fashion Stores
Woodlawn Boutique is a rustic-looking new boutique near Dundas and Dufferin. the intersection isn't a shopping destination quite yet, but Ainaz Maleko definitely recognizes the potential, especially with stores such...
XPACE (Lansdowne) / Galleries
XPACE is one of the more recent victims of Ossington's rapid gentrification, having closed its doors at the end of last year due to rent increases. Thankfully, it did, however,...
Yummy Pizza / Restaurants
Yummy Pizza is right at the corner of Dundas West and Lansdowne. While there are a scattering of seats to eat-in, this is mostly a take-out joint that not only...
Neighbourhoods
Other Neighbourhoods
- Annex
- Baldwin Village
- Bayview and Leaside
- Beaches
- Bloor West Village
- Bloorcourt
- Bloordale Village
- Cabbagetown
- Chinatown
- Church Wellesley Village
- Corktown
- Corso Italia
- Danforth
- Distillery District
- Dundas West
- East Chinatown
- Eglinton West
- Etobicoke
- Financial District
- Forest Hill Village
- Harbourfront
- Junction
- Junction Triangle
- Kensington Market
- King East
- King West
- Koreatown
- Leslieville
- Liberty Village
- Little India
- Little Italy
- Markham
- Mount Pleasant
- North York
- Ossington
- Pape Village
- Parkdale
- Port Lands
- Queen West
- Richmond Hill
- Riverside
- Roncesvalles Village
- Rosedale
- Scarborough
- St. Clair West
- St. Lawrence Market
- Upper Beaches
- West Queen West
- Yonge & Bloor
- Yonge & College
- Yonge & Dundas
- Yonge & Eglinton
- Yonge & St. Clair
- Yonge & Wellesley
- Yorkville
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