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Toronto

Comfort Food restaurants in Toronto

  1. A

    Zelda’s

    Zany Zelda’s has a winning combination of familiar food, crazy cocktails, wailing ’70s disco and a spacious patio. An equally zany Church-Wellesley crowd adores the brash, colorful atmosphere, especially on drag and leather nights.

    reviewed

  2. B

    Swan

    Fickle Queen Westers remain smitten with Swan, a swanky, nostalgic diner just off the beaten path by Trinity Bellwoods Park. You'll find upscale comfort food like nothing anyone's family ever cooked; from oyster omelettes to racks of beer-marinated ribs, dishes satisfy both the stomach and the soul.

    reviewed

  3. C

    Mel’s Montréal Delicatessen

    You’re here for one thing and one thing only: Mel’s famous Jumbo Smoked Meat Sandwich. A cardiac arrest on a plate, this 8oz spectacular struggles to contain layers of Mel’s old-fashioned meat, shipped in from Québec twice weekly and cut against the grain to retain the juices. If you survive, one feed will last you a week.

    reviewed

  4. D

    Insomnia

    Can't sleep? Yawn into this arty café, where DJs take over after 10pm spinning R&B, lounge and rock. The eclectic menu has real staying power: roll up early for weekend brunch, hot cocktails on a cold night ($6.50), lunchtime pizza and pasta, or loosely defined tapas anytime. Nightly drinks specials and wi-fi internet access will help keep you awake.

    reviewed

  5. E

    Pier 4 Restaurant

    Sit inside if you want to, but the place to be on a muggy summer day is on Pier 4's lakeside patio, strewn with timber-topped tables like God's spilled Scrabble board. Patio food offerings are cheap and cheerful (burgers, wings, salads, sourdough chowder etc). Inside the faux-nautical restaurant – a landlubber's spoil of wicker and wood – the menu includes pastas, soups, steaks and seafood.

    reviewed

  6. F

    Future Bakery & Café

    Future Bakery stays busy selling budget dishes like cheese crepes and homemade borsht with sour cream. Out on the huge street-side patio, lecture-dodgers slap backs and chug pints or push through all-night study sessions with bowls of café au lait and slabs of caramel cheesecake. Twisted '60s psychedelic pop contorts the airwaves.

    reviewed