Parkdale
No longer the down and out neighbourhood it once was in the late 1900's, Parkdale is slowly, but inevitably extending Queen Street's rejuvenation past the Dufferin jog. This diverse community is home to Tibetan, North African and West Indian enclaves mixed in with some of Toronto's best vintage fashion, furniture and fabric stores. Popular new bars and live music venues like Wrongbar happily co-exist with pub stalwarts like the Cadillac Lounge and Mitzi's Sister.
Explore
Reader Favourites
Add the Toronto Faves Facebook App
Latest Articles and Reviews
Toronto's Best In This 'HoodComments (18)
Ummm...Mitzi's Sister totally has a patio. In the back. It's smaller than the Rhino's or Cadillac Lounge's, but it's cuter and usually smells better.
Bachus probably makes the most caucazoid roti of all the places in the city. And Ghandi's is an East Indian take on a very specific Trinidadian/Guyanese dish.
Ali's Roti in Parkdale, is probably the best, authentic roti in the city.
I have to disagree with you about Bacchus. Their roti reigns supreme. Ali's is merely average.
Sorry Nick, but even as an Indian born in India, I have to say Bacchus' West Indian roti is THE BEST. It may be a bit Canadianized, but it's still very good. My mother, who is renowned in her Indian cooking, also loves Bacchus. I've eaten roti all over Southern Ontario and nothing compares. Ali's (a couple of doors down?) has good Doubles. Island ?? at the corner of King and Dufferin isn't too bad.
But Bacchus is one of the reasons I plan to move back to Toronto this year, from Guelph. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, like West Indian roti here in the boonies of Guelph or even in Kitchener-Waterloo.
Parkdale's becoming a great(*non-superficial) place to get things done and just kick back and have a beer. Life doesn't get any better than that(*And we're close to the lake for some fresh air!)
And on the flip-side, let's not forget the dis-advantaged and folks who live below the poverty line here. Community starts with tolerance and acceptance.
I really hope this place doesn't turn into the old Queen West, with high rents and phony people.
Hopeful Parkdalian,
There is blatant drug dealing happening on the corner of Seaforth and Brock street and no-one seems to be doing anything about it.
I notice this summer that the corner of Seaforth and Brock always seemed to have people standing around at all hours. After I inquired with neighbours about the loitering I found out that an older man with white hair in the basement apartment of the white and grey house on the northeast corner of Brock and Queen is dealing crack and has his clients wait at that corner. I have seen drug transactions myself! This kind of activity doesn't bother me provided that no undue harm is being done in the community. But there is harm being done! Just last monday a large hulking man with a heavy Polish or Russian accent was drinking beer at the corner and accosting people. He even exposed himself to my wife and I and urinated on a car.
People in the neighborhood are scared and irritated by this persistant nuisance and potentially dangerous scenario. I have contacted the police and crimestoppers and all I get is a shrug here and a shrug there.
@dontbelievethehype - Sounds like a dirty little hipster to me. You talk like you don't know Parkdale. You have seen drug transactions myself! Wow! Did you take a picture for the memories?
So you have contacted the police and crimestoppers and all you get is a shrug here and a shrug there? then STOP SNITCHING. Don't bother them and they won't bother you.
Damn hipsters...
Thanks for the info on the dealers in the area. I just moved to the area and will have no problem taking care of this trash. Crackheads are nothing but trouble and can be easily dealt with by one means or another.
Says the brave hipster who first was scared shitless, now talking bravado about taking out the trash. Leave the crackheads alone and they will do they same. STOP SNITCHING and put your name on it.
I love parkdale there is only a handful of places in toronto that you can get anything you need at arms length. There are so many good stores to go to my personal favourite is Lucky Lotto and Minimart, excellent service and just about everything you could need as far as groceries are concerned. They also seem to have the cheapest berries around!
I'm moving to Toronto soon and I found a place near King and Dunn. How is that area? especially at night?
LOL. What do you want the Police to do? "Calling all cars!.. Guy urinating/Exposing himself" Welcome to Parkdale pal. Where do you people come from?
LOL. What do you want the Police to do? "Calling all cars!.. Guy urinating/Exposing himself" Welcome to Parkdale pal. Where do you people come from?
I'm from Vancouver... so the open drug trafficing is really not that bad compared to the east van I'm coming from.
Honestly, I think Parkdale is a great place to live, I feel like I really lucked out by randomly picking this place to live (I knew nothing about Toronto when I got a place over the internet).
I really agree with what sketchees said, great place to get things done and not pay crazy rent. There is literally everthing I could possibly need within walking distance and I've found most of the locals really welcoming. And yeah, being close to the lake and high park is the icing on the cake.
parkdale is filthy , very filthy, i used to work there , and the area was just depressing, theres about two dozens car repair shops in that area, which definitely gives it a glitzy look, if you know what i mean. youclash.com
I don't know about that, its a place where many new Torontoians get their start, where you can find a place to live relatively cheap. Its also a place where you will find doctors living next to people on social services and crackheads next to sculptors and painters,gay next to straight. In short its a microcosm of what Toronto is in a small area. Nice place to live, urban and and always interesting. In short,its what a city should be.
King and Dunn is fine. Its a bit sketchy but street crime is about average compared to the rest of downtown. You would be a bit more comfortable walking down queen street at night rather then king though to get to Dunn. Theres more happening and that tends to make a person feel safer. Its a nice place to explore your new city from.
Good luck
RSS