Toronto restaurant beloved by the Blue Jays opens second location
Though hot dogs (and quesadillas) are the food most commonly associated with the Toronto Blue Jays, a number of past and current team members have an infatuation with one local Korean restaurant in particular — and the feeling is mutual.
Swing by Koreatown's Mapo Korean BBQ on any given day, and there's a 100 per cent chance you'll see a Blue Jay. Sure, most of those times the sighting will come in the form of a framed photo, but there's still a decent chance you could run into a flesh-and-blood player.
The Blue Jays love this place and, judging by the baseball-related ephemera adorning nearly every visible surface, the team at Mapo loves them right back. Though it's hard to trace back the origin of this affair, that it exists is uncontestable.
The Blue Jays aren't the only ones who adore Mapo, though. It's been a neighbourhood go-to for Korean BBQ for years, managing to stand out amid the noise and aromas of the seemingly infinite army of fellow Korean spots in the area.
With the lingering remnants of Blue Jays hype the team fostered during its World Series run in 2025 and the preexisting popularity of the restaurant, it was only a matter of time before Mapo expanded — and as of June 4, that's exactly what it did.
Planting its roots at Church and Wellesley, Mapo's second location is, in equal parts, a love letter to South Korea and to the Blue Jays. The back wall of a replica GS25 storefront inside the restaurant, for example, is papered with the headshots of players who've visited the original location.
The rest of the restaurant, though, appears plucked straight out of any major Korean city centre, littered with signs, tile and brick, to add a heightened visual element to all the flavours of its much-loved suite of Korean BBQ.
Opening its doors at the beginning of Pride Month and in the height of baseball season, Mapo should have no problem earning just as much love for its sister location as its original. Now, we'll just have to keep an eye out for the first player appearance.
Mapo Korean BBQ's newest location can be found at 499 Church St.
