Staple Toronto Portuguese restaurant opens second location after over 30 years
A longstanding Portuguese restaurant in Toronto just expanded its footprint with a new location, but you don't need to look very far from the original to find it.
Perhaps it's the juicy allure of charcoal-grilled chicken or the spicy, zippy draw of piri piri. Maybe it's the mere fact that Toronto's Portuguese community rides particularly hard for one another, but the city's Portuguese restaurants seem to have an undeniable staying power.
Piri Piri Grill notwithstanding, it's living its best life as an Italian eatery now, but I'm happy for it nonetheless.
Since 1993 — that's 33 years, if you're keeping count — one such local staple has been the Junciton Triangle's Bairradino Churrasqueira (formerly Cantanhede O Bairradino, not to be confused with the Little Italy Portuguese restaurant, Bairrada Churrasqueira, which is similarly longstanding.)
A classic churrasqueira to boot, Bairradino has earned itself a reputation for serving some of the best Portuguese-style barbecue chicken in the city from its cozy Lansdowne quarters for decades, while consistently serving a swath of Portuguese comforts.
While it's only natural for restaurants — any business, really — to want to expand when they enjoy any degree of success, the team at Bairradino has, instead, historically opted to hold steady, prioritizing perfecting operations for its immediate community.
Until recently, that is, because, after more than 30 years, Bairradino Churrasqueira has finally expanded its stronghold on the city, opening a secondary satellite location this past November.
A blink-and-you'll-miss-it satellite version of the Bairradino Churrasqueira, Bairradino Rotisserie & Grill may not be home to any in-house dining space, but it does offer up all of the restaurant's most popular dishes and meals, so you can dig into that famous grilled chicken on the go.
Here's the kicker: Bairradino Rotisserie & Grill happens to be located on the very same street as the original.
While Bairradino Churrasqueira is located at 662 Lansdowne Ave., near Wallace Ave., Bairradino Rotisserie & Grill is tucked away next to the No Frills at Lansdowne and Dundas West.
The new Portuguese restaurant just so happens to have slotted itself into the former home of Fahmee Bakery, which churned out some of Toronto's favourite Jamaican patties from that very same retail and production space for three years before setting its sights back toward Scarborough, where the business began.
The location is still well within the reach of the Churrasqueira's Junction Triangle fan base, but brushing against Brockton Village and upper Parkdale, it's also exposing entirely new populations to the magic that is Bairradino. Que delícia!
Bairradino Rotisserie & Grill is located at 222 Lansdowne Ave.
Bairradino Churrasqueira
