"So many people have been bugging us to open in the city," one of the owners of Pizza Nostra told Streets of Toronto in October. He was explaining why the family-run pizzeria picked Etobicoke for its first Toronto address.
The same thing has been happening up and down the borough this fall. Several of the newest places here are established names opening another location, and Etobicoke is where they chose to put it. An Israeli café brand with more than a century behind it opened on The Kingsway. An east-end brewery opened a second taproom on Kipling. A pizzeria with a following is planning a shop on The Queensway. Up on Finch, a new rooftop restaurant opened as a destination in its own right. Down on Lake Shore, a new café has moved into a storefront locals already know.
Taken together, they cover most of Etobicoke's main roads, from the north end to the lake.
Where the new places are
| Spot | Address | Road | What it is | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Koré Rooftop | 6628 Finch Ave. W. | Finch | Modern Indian, rooftop dining | Opened Sept. 18 |
| Rorschach Brewing Co. | 815 Kipling Ave. | Kipling at Norseman | Second taproom and bottle shop | Open |
| Cafe Landwer | 259 The Kingsway | The Kingsway | Israeli café, brunch through dinner | Grand opening Oct. 5 |
| Cafe Delicia | 3341 Lake Shore Blvd. W. | Lake Shore | Coffee, matcha, desserts, gelato | Open |
| Pizza Nostra | 802 The Queensway | The Queensway | New Jersey-style and Sicilian pizza | Owners hoping for December |
Three of the five belong to businesses that already operate somewhere else. Their reasons for coming here are where the story starts.
The Kingsway gets a café brand that dates to 1919
Cafe Landwer held its grand opening at 259 The Kingsway on Monday, October 5. According to Stephanie Dickison's OPEN/CLOSED column, the Israeli restaurant traces its history to 1919, and The Kingsway location is its ninth outpost.
The menu covers most of the day. Brunch includes shakshukas, pancakes and omelettes. Later in the day there are hummus plates, schnitzels and burgers.
Kipling and Norseman now has a taproom of its own
The day the column covered Cafe Delicia, it also welcomed something less expected for central Etobicoke. Rorschach Brewing Co. has opened its second taproom and bottle shop at 815 Kipling Ave., at Kipling and Norseman. Dickison's October 15 column listed it as open, with grand-opening celebrations to follow. The brewery also runs a location at 1001 Eastern Ave., in the east end.
Rorschach's Kipling menu is mostly beer, and its prices are easy to plan around:
- Short pours at $6.75, full pours at $9.25 and long pours at $11.50
- A flight of four 5-ounce pours for $13.75
- Happy hour on weekdays from 1 to 5 p.m., with $5 full and short pours, not offered on holidays
At happy hour, a full pour costs $4.25 less than its regular $9.25. The lagers on the current list include Crisp Peak, a 4.5% "Dewy Mountain Lager," Super Dry, a 4.9% Japanese rice lager, and High Light, a 4.5% premium lager.
The only food on the menu is Humble Potato Chips, so plan to eat before or after.
For people in Etobicoke, the change is distance. There's now a Rorschach taproom on Kipling, and a bottle shop with glassware and merchandise in the same room.
Pizza Nostra chose The Queensway for its Toronto debut
The Pizza Nostra story is the clearest case of a business picking Etobicoke on purpose. According to Streets of Toronto, the family-run shop plans to open at 802 The Queensway. An owner confirmed the plan by phone and said, "We are hoping to open in December."
Brothers Marco and Andrea Grande opened Pizza Nostra with Marco's wife, Lilly, in 2015. Streets of Toronto reports that the brothers started out working at their father's butcher shop on Jane Street. Marco brought that background to the pizzeria and makes his own sausages and cured meats in-house. Andrea learned pizza while running his cousin's shop in New Jersey, which is where the East Coast style comes from.
The shop got wide attention when it earned an 8.0 on Barstool Sports' One Bite pizza reviews. Streets of Toronto noted that the score put it alongside North of Brooklyn, Badiali and Descendant.
Here's what's planned for The Queensway, according to the same article:
- 16-inch pies in the New Jersey thin-crust style
- Sicilian deep-dish slabs
- Slices for a quick lunch
The pies regulars already ask for include the Vodka Pepperoni and the Marco Special. December is the owners' target, so check their channels before you go.
Finch has a new destination, and it was built for occasions
Koré Rooftop at 6628 Finch Ave. W. opened on September 18, according to Toronto.com. It's the one opening on this list that could bring people from other parts of the city into north Etobicoke.
Toronto.com describes the food as modern Indian cuisine served with panoramic city views. Menu items include Stuffed Paneer Tikka, Chow Mein, Corn Ribs, Kele Ka Kebab and Chicken Changezi. Streets of Toronto called it a cave-themed rooftop with tandoori dishes, curries and fusion pastas, and noted its private-dining domes on the roof.
The restaurant itself pitches the space for special occasions, romantic evenings and gatherings with friends and family. You can book a table through Koré's website. In the north end, a birthday dinner or anniversary table can now be booked close to home.
On Lake Shore, a new café in a familiar storefront
The southern end of the route is the smallest opening and the most local. Cafe Delicia is now at 3341 Lake Shore Blvd. W., in the space Farmhouse Smoothies used to occupy.
Dickison's column lists a long menu for a café:
- Locally roasted coffee, organic matcha and other specialty drinks
- Croissants, sandwiches and waffles
- Cakes and desserts made in-house
- Gelato and milkshakes
The other openings on this list mostly bring an outside name to Etobicoke. This one takes over a storefront locals already know, and with gelato, waffles and coffee on one menu, it can work as a morning stop or an after-dinner one.
Putting the route together
From north to south, the new spots line up along roads you already drive. Koré sits on Finch. Rorschach is at Kipling and Norseman. Cafe Landwer is on The Kingsway, Pizza Nostra is planned for The Queensway, and Cafe Delicia is on Lake Shore.
The three openings from outside names each show something about how the borough is seen. A century-old café brand put its ninth location on The Kingsway. A brewery with an Eastern Avenue location picked Kipling for its second taproom. A pizzeria whose fans kept asking for a Toronto shop chose The Queensway.
The other two were built for this place. One is a rooftop on Finch with private-dining domes and a city view. The other is a café that took over an existing storefront on Lake Shore.
If you're mapping out a weekend, a Cafe Landwer brunch on The Kingsway can come before an afternoon at the Kipling taproom, since Rorschach serves only chips. Then watch The Queensway in December.
At Appugliesi Real Estate Group, we keep track of which corners of Etobicoke are getting new tables, from Kipling and Norseman to 802 The Queensway. If you'd like to talk about what that means for a street you live on or are thinking about, Schedule a Consultation and we'll go through it with you.
