Toronto restaurant famous for its fried chicken is permanently closing

One of Toronto's best barbecue restaurants that's brought joy to its community over the years is sadly permanently closing its doors.

It's been a tough past few years for Stockyards Smokehouse and Larder on St. Clair West, which has proudly held a reputation for serving some of the best ribs, fried chicken, cheeseburgers, BLT's and grilled cheeses in the city.

Thomas Evan Davis, founder and owner of Stockyards Smokehouse, tragically passed away overseas last year. The business and neighbourhood have been mourning the loss ever since.

He opened the restaurant five minutes from where he lived to be close to his family: his daughter, and wife Monique Nanton who has been running Stockyards as the owner.

"It's been a long and hard past couple years," Nanton tells blogTO. "My husband died last year and I'm tired."

News of the closure has been spreading through the community by word of mouth, with everyone saddened by the recent turn of events.

"My heart is broken. I've always said they make the best burger, and the best Southern Fried Chicken anywhere. Tom's passing has been a horrific loss to the restaurant and to our community, and apparently it was too much to keep the restaurant going," a community member wrote in a Facebook post.

"Everyone... let's go and give them as much business as we can in these last couple of weeks. I'm going to have to have another burger... and as much fried chicken as I can ingest.  So sad to see this amazing place close down. Rest in Peace Tom.  It was a great run."

Someone else wrote in a social media post, "I will miss it greatly as I do Tom all the time. This was my way to remember him, but sadly that will be no more. Go in for one last visit, say hi to the crew, hug Lisa, and get your fix while you still can."

Stockyards is closing some time around the end of the month. Nanton has no exact date yet.