New Toronto restaurants cause confusion over ties to Vegandale
When a vocally non-vegan restaurant announced they'd be opening in Parkdale, suspicions arose about their ties to The 5700, the company attempting to rebrand the neighbourhood as Vegandale.
"I received a number of tips from people who've worked or work for 5700 Inc (parent company of Vegandale) and other sleuths that have suggested that the 2 new places: pizza and snackbar covered in anti-Vegandale branding, opening across from each other are indeed connected to 5700inc or Vegandale," states a @parkdalelife caption.
The restaurants in question are IST Snack Bar and another business nearby owned by the same person, Parkdale Pizza. Both have been marketing themselves with anti-Vegandale branding. IST denies any connection to The 5700 or Vegandale, other than having purchased their space from The 5700.
There's only one post on the Parkdale Pizza Instagram account so far, but it’s flooded with comments asking whether the pizza served there will be vegan and if the shop is related to The 5700.
Slated to open April 5, Parkdale Pizza claims it is not affiliated with Vegandale either, stating "5700 Inc. does not own the building and our lease is directly with the landlord."
When reached for comment The 5700 stated, "We can confirm, as IST has done so previously, they simply purchased the venues from The 5700."
"Invoices for work done for these restos have been made out to 5700 and a number of people associated with 5700 have been doing work for these places," states the @parkdalelife Instagram post.
The 5700 responded, "Beyond our establishments, we don't track our employee's whereabouts, this is not George Orwell's 1984."
Curious vegans, non-vegans, Parkdale residents and Torontonians from other neighbourhoods can investigate themselves when the first of the two non-Vegandale businesses, IST, opens this Friday. Both restaurants plan to have vegan and non-vegan options alike on the menu.
Jesse Milns
