5 new restaurants in Toronto's The Annex area you need to try at least once

Toronto's Annex neighbourhood is a bustling hub at the intersection of numerous major neighbourhoods, so it only makes sense that it's home to a slew of great restaurants.

Hugged by Toronto culinary hubs like Davenport, Koreatown, Harbord Village and Yorkville, the Annex, despite once being best known for housing a huge discount store, is becoming a tour de force of food in its own right.

With big wins, like the sister location of Ossington's Cote de Boeuf, on the way, things are only heating up on The Annex's food scene, but the past few months have already brought a dazzling crop of new restaurants to the neighbourhood you should get excited about.

Here's our roundup of the new restaurants in The Annex you need to try at least once.

Golden Horseshoe BBQ

When 24-year-old barbecue prodigy Andrew Golden and Carbon Bar Executive Chef Kris Hansen joined forces, there was no way this Dupont BBQ joint would be anything other than sheer perfection.

Let the ever-present lines, near-daily sell-outs, and heaping platters of juicy brisket, glistening ribs and snappy sausages be all the evidence you need: sheer perfection has been achieved.

Peaceful Restaurant

Arriving by way of Vancouver in late September, this northern Chinese restaurant has added a welcome dose of Mandarin cuisine to the Bloor West strip.

Five-spiced beef rolled with sweet hoisin sauce in green onion flatbread and perfectly unctuous, peanutty Dan Dan Noodles are just a few of the standouts from the first Toronto location of the chain, which has received a seal of approval from none other than Guy Fieri himself.

Big Way Hot Pot Bloor

If your biggest deterrent from enjoying hot pot with your pals is the debate of what to put inside of said hot pot, this uber-popular B.C.-based chain that allows you to create your own individual pot is a no-brainer.

Since opening in early September, the chain's new Bloor West location is seldom seen without a crowd out front and a packed dining room. With more than a dozen soup bases and 100 ingredients to choose from, it's not hard to see why.

Casa Mezcal

Mercifully, Toronto didn't have to live too long without this much-loved Mexican restaurant in our lives after its King West and Church-Wellesley locations quietly shuttered in the past year.

The restaurant has since made a home on Dupont, taking over the expansive space that once housed Fet Zun and turning it into a bona fide fiesta, with a beer garden out back and as many margaritas as your heart desires.

Daisy May's

This new Bathurst brunch restaurant has been tasked with filling the considerable shoes left behind by Grapefruit Moon and, dare I say, it's succeeded.

With charming vintage interiors and a quaint patio, this restaurant serves elegant takes on diner classics alongside an impressive selection of local and natural wines. Breakfast sandwiches and Beaujolais? Now we're talking.