Ontario restaurant chain closing all of its locations this month
A GTA-founded healthy-eating chain with locations across the country, including four in Toronto, just announced it'll be closing all of its restaurants this month.
Founded with a location at Mississauga's Square One Mall, build-your-own-bowl chain Basil Box has been an unshakeable member of the Toronto quick service restaurant scene since its first location in the city opened at the corner of Queen and Spadina a decade ago.
Centred around healthy (or healthy-seeming) bowls with a subtle Asian flair, Basil Box's bread and butter was its build-your-own offering, where diners on the go could choose from the likes of rice noodles and salad greens, sauteed vegetables, lemongrass chicken and coconut curry tofu.
After the 2016 Toronto debut, the chain's fleet ballooned, spawning additional restaurants across downtown Toronto, the GTA, Ottawa and even Edmonton.
In 2024, however, the major Queen and Spadina location closed its doors, which, perhaps, was the first sign of distress, as the chain took to Instagram on Monday, May 4, to confirm that the company will soon be winding down its operations altogether.
"After a lot of thought, and for deeply personal reasons, we've made the difficult decision to close all Basil Box locations," the post reads.
"Basil Box has been a labour of love since 2015," the team goes on to write. "What started as an idea grew into something we're incredibly proud of — thanks to an amazing team and the support of so many loyal guests over the years."
The end of Basil Box isn't here quite yet, though. Fans of the chain still have until May 14 to build one last box and to send their well-wishes to the team after 11 years.
Basil Box has Toronto locations at TMU, Royal Bank Plaza, Toronto General Hospital and Yonge and Finch.
Fareen Karim
