Neighbourhoods
Queen West
No longer the hippest address in town, the original Queen West is now a retail strip fronting global brands like Zara, H&M and Lululemon mixed with sneaker shops and longtime indie favourites that continue to persevere despite sky-rocketing rents. Things get a bit more interesting and eclectic west of Spadina where locals favour spots like Tequila Bookworm, Fressen and The Cameron House. Not to be missed are the galleries and rooftop garden at nearby 401 Richmond.
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specific in Queen West?
Ackee Tree Jamaican Cuisine / Restaurants
I'm addicted to Roti, and I have a feeling that a lot of other people are too. The only Ackee Tree I've been aware of is the one that resides in...
Analogue Gallery / Galleries
Analogue Gallery is a newish Queen West gallery that aims to exhume from the annals of music history the unpublished images of noted photographers. For music lovers, the small...
Arepa Cafe / Restaurants
Arepa Cafe has a steady stream of customers at the lunch hour. The narrow cafe is well-lit, and bright colours and beautiful, exposed brick walls line the room's length. A...
BakkaPhoenix Science Fiction Bookstore / Bookstore
BakkaPhoenix is Canada's oldest science fiction bookstore. The store opened as Bakka Books in 1972, changed hands in 1980, then again in 2003. Among my group of friends, the store...
Built / Bookstore
On my bike ride down to BUILT, I had the distinct feeling that it was just the other day that I was chatting with David Michaelides about the perilous state...
David's Tea / Grocery Stores
I like tea. A lot. It's awesome with my Saturday morning chocolate chip pancakes, and it even makes my Monday morning toast taste better. This is why I was so...
Ematei / Restaurants
Two summers ago I took a trip to Japan, partly to connect with a family and culture I never really knew I had, but also... to eat tons of amazing...
Gandhi Roti / Restaurants
Who makes Toronto's best roti? Ask most people and they'll say Gandhi at 554 Queen West. The ten-seater roti restaurant has been serving up super-fresh, made-to-order lunches and dinners for...
Georgia Scherman Projects / Galleries
Located on Tecumseth just south of the Queen West strip, Georgia Scherman Projects is, as the name suggests, a project-based gallery. A circular sentence if I've ever written one,...
HoSu Bistro / Restaurants
I admit that sometimes I order menu dishes just because I find the names intriguing. "Chicken Bibim Bop" sounds more like a (possibly painful) dance move to me, but it's...
Java House / Restaurants
Sitting on the corner of Queen West and Augusta, Java house is a ragged-yet-lovable little cafe/resto hang-out with a big patio, tiny kitchen and cheap eats menu that sees no...
Johny Banana / Restaurants
Johny Banana is a brightly coloured, pleasant little eatery on the corner of Queen and Bathurst. Decked out in lime green and orange, and covered in paintings of Mexican wrestlers...
Le Gourmand Grocer Cafe / Cafes
As I sit here writing this, I can hear thunder rolling in the distance and can feel a cool breeze on my skin. Perfect weather for some tea and...
Leigh & Harlow / Fashion Stores
I keep thinking it's too early to be daydreaming about the Toronto International Film Festival. The Brange. The parties. The paparazzi. Then I realize it's almost August and the celebrity-filled...
Love of Mine / Fashion Stores
Love of Mine is the best new store that's opened this year (so far). A jewelry buyer for many years, owner Anna Damelin has chosen a stellar collection of designers to...
Manpuku / Restaurants
It's Friday night, and there's a line of hungry patrons streaming out the door of Manpuku, the new-ish Japanese eatery in the Village Grange complex. I think there's something in...
Mission Burrito / Restaurants
Mission Burrito is the latest entrant in the ongoing burrito battle taking over this city, but they're the first burrito place to be as bold as to claim to offer...
Morba / Design Stores
It's a furniture store. No, it's a home design store. No, wait - it's a furniture and home design store on drugs, a lot of different drugs at the same...
Pages Books & Magazines / Bookstore
Pages doesn't really need an introduction. Of all the independent bookstores in Toronto, Pages is perhaps the most well known. It's on almost everyone's Best of Toronto list and it's...
Peter Pan / Restaurants
After a series of positive food reviews, I was in search of somewhere that couldn't live up to my standards. My standards aren't that high, really... there are just...
Queen Mother Cafe / Restaurants
My friend and I have been having lunch at Queen Mother Cafe for years now. The ritual remains the same each time, as does our order: Ping Gai. The interior...
Sadie's Diner / Restaurants
Breakfast and brunch restaurants have a special place in North American culture. They provide an experience, not to mention a meal, that is of a decidedly different flavour than...
Shanghai Cowgirl / Restaurants
It was 3 in the afternoon when my girlfriends and I realized we didn't have lunch. We weren't super starving, but definitely wanted more than a snack. We were in...
Swipe Books / Bookstore
As I repeatedly circled around Richmond and Adelaide in search of the new location of Swipe Books, I began to wonder how a store so difficult to find could have...
Tempo Chinese Restaurant / Restaurants
After a long day in meetings and shooting along Queen West, I was famished. Heading west past Spadina, the "All Day Dim Sum" sign at Tempo Chinese Restaurant caught...
The Cabinet Salon / Fashion Stores
The Cabinet Salon is an old-fashioned style salon in a new-fashion part of town. Young stylists and friends Emma Rose and Alex MacDonald bring their old-fashioned approach to hair...
The Healthy Greek / Restaurants
While other similarly named Greek restaurants are busy passing off hot dog buns as bread, Queen Street newbie, The Healthy Greek, is serving up fast, top quality fare for very...
The Prague Fine Food Emporium / Restaurants
Up until this week, my fill of Eastern European dining was generally found in the all-you-can-eat perogie Wednesdays at Future's Bakery. I hadn't had good schnitzel since Alegria closed...
The Rex / Restaurants
It's no secret that The Rex Jazz & Blues Bar (Queen & St. Patrick St) is a musical institution in this city. With 2-3 (mostly free) shows every day,...
The Rosebud / Restaurants
In Orson Welles' 1941 masterpiece, the reporter shadowing the life of media mogul Charles Foster Kane, musing on what exactly Kane's enigmatic last words meant, says: "Maybe Rosebud was...
Neighbourhoods
Other Neighourhoods
- Annex
- Baldwin Village
- Bayview and Leaside
- Beaches
- Bloor West Village
- Bloorcourt
- Bloordale Village
- Cabbagetown
- Chinatown
- Church Wellesley Village
- Corso Italia
- Danforth
- Distillery District
- Dundas West
- East Chinatown
- Financial District
- Forest Hill Village
- Harbourfront
- Junction
- Kensington Market
- King East
- King West
- Koreatown
- Leslieville
- Liberty Village
- Little India
- Little Italy
- Mount Pleasant
- Ossington
- Parkdale
Community
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