6 restaurants that everyone in Toronto needs to try before 2026 is over — from a local foodie
If there's one thing I know about myself, it's that my restaurant bucket list will never be complete. For every Toronto restaurant I finally manage to cross off my list, another five seem to open, earn a Michelin distinction, introduce a new menu item, or become the latest place everyone in the city can't stop talking about.
And quite frankly, I'm not complaining.
Toronto's food scene has had an especially exciting year, and what interests me most isn't necessarily the city's most expensive tasting menus or hardest-to-get reservations.
It's the smaller, more personal concepts. Chefs reimagining comfort food, neighbourhood spots bringing something different to the table, and restaurants giving us an actual reason to leave the house when the temperature drops.
With not long left in 2026, I've started thinking about all the places that made my 2026 bucket list.
Some are brand-new openings. Others have been hiding in plain sight, and a few have already given me a taste of something so delicious that I have unfinished business with their menus.
These are seven Toronto (and nearby) restaurants you need to experience before 2026 is over.
Antylia
Price: 💸💸💸
Cuisine: Latin American
Address: 1059 Bloor St. W., Toronto, ON
Why You Need To Go: One of the things I appreciate most about Toronto's food scene is that some of its most exciting restaurants are also the ones challenging how we think about food.
Opened in August 2025 in the city's Bloorcourt neighbourhood, this progressive Latin American restaurant takes guests on a culinary journey through Mexico and beyond, drawing inspiration from Latin American traditions while celebrating Ontario's seasonal ingredients.
The restaurant earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand distinction in 2026, recognizing its combination of excellent cooking and value. But what makes Antylia particularly interesting to me is its commitment to sustainability.
Rather than treating sustainability as a trendy marketing term, the restaurant incorporates it into the way its kitchen operates. Ingredients are thoughtfully sourced and heirloom corn is nixtamalized and milled in-house using traditional techniques.
It's cooking that recognizes the cultural history of ingredients while still finding room for creativity.
I also appreciate restaurants where the experience extends beyond simply ordering from a menu. At Antylia, diners can watch elements of the food preparation and learn more about the cultural stories behind the dishes.
The menu offers both à la carte options and a tasting experience appropriately called "Trust Us."
While the tasting menu sounds like an incredible way to experience the kitchen's creativity, there's one dish that has especially caught my attention: the charred cauliflower.
I am an absolute sucker for a beautifully roasted cauliflower, especially when a chef manages to make a vegetable feel like the most exciting thing on the table.
Whether I go à la carte or let the kitchen take the lead, Antylia feels like the kind of restaurant that will introduce me to something I wouldn't necessarily think to order myself.
And isn't that half the fun of eating out?
Mailo's Pasta Project
Price: 💸
Cuisine: Italian Street Food
Address: 357 Bremner Blvd., Toronto, ON
Why You Need To Go: I've been around long enough to know that when a popular food concept makes its way to Toronto from Europe, you should probably take advantage of it.
And when that concept involves fresh pasta served as street food? You really don't have to convince me.
Originally founded in Greece, Mailo's made its North American debut in Toronto this summer, opening its first location at 357 Bremner Blvd.
The concept is simple but brilliant: take something as universally comforting as pasta and reimagine it as a casual, grab-and-go street food experience.
Instead of reserving pasta for a candlelit dinner with a glass of wine, Mailo's serves its creations in handheld cups, bringing a little European street-food culture to the heart of downtown Toronto.
Waterworks Food Hall
Price: 💸💸
Cuisine: Food Hall
Address: 50 Brant St., Toronto, ON
Why You Need To Go: Okay, it's technically not just one restaurant — but you do need to go here to eat. Waterworks Food Hall has been open in Toronto for roughly two years, and somehow, it only recently made its way onto my radar. After finally visiting, I genuinely cannot believe what I've been missing.
Now, before someone comes for me, I know we have food courts. I know we have St. Lawrence Market. But a proper food hall is something different.
Rather than lining up for national fast-food chains under fluorescent lighting, food halls celebrate independent restaurants, artisan food producers, and local culinary talent, often in spaces that encourage people to linger rather than leave immediately after eating.
And Waterworks is doing it right.
Located in a beautifully restored historic building, the food hall pairs gorgeous architecture with a collection of Toronto food favourites, including Grape Witches, Bello Pizza, Rasta Pasta, Hanoi Bites and Union Chicken.
Waterworks is about so much more than food, too.
There's an outdoor patio tucked away from the busy downtown streets, beautiful lounge seating, free Wi-Fi and an atmosphere that makes you actually want to spend time there.
During the day, it's somewhere you could settle in with a laptop and get some work done. In the evening, it can transform into a social gathering space, complete with private events and celebrations. Looks like I just found my next birthday spot.
The mid-century-modern-inspired lounge is so gorgeous that I've already started planning out my next visit.
We talk a lot about the disappearance of third spaces — places outside our homes and workplaces where people can gather, connect and simply exist without necessarily having a specific purpose. Waterworks feels like a step in the right direction.
It's the kind of place I could visit every weekend and still find something new to get excited about.
Rose's Pantry
Price: 💸
Cuisine: Eastern European
Address: 141 Robert St., Toronto, ON
Why You Need To Go: If there's one thing I've noticed about food culture lately, it's that people seem to be craving something simpler.
Rose's Pantry, the latest project from chef Shauna Godfrey, might be one of my favourite examples of this shift.
Attached to Godfrey's acclaimed neighbourhood restaurant Maven, the pantry takes inspiration from European specialty food shops and the kitchens of the women who raised her.
The entire concept feels like a love letter to the idea that good food doesn't need to be overly complicated to be memorable.
Inside, shelves lined with pantry staples, vintage glassware, ceramics and prepared foods give the space the warmth of an old family kitchen.
The menu features fresh breads, comforting prepared meals, salads, nostalgic sweets and carefully made sandwiches.
I've already had the pleasure of trying the herby egg salad sandwich, served on Maven's challah Pullman loaf. And yes, it's every bit as good as you're imagining.
But there's one thing I haven't tried yet, and it's been haunting my restaurant wish list... The schnitzel sandwich.
Rumour has it that Rose's Pantry makes a limited number of schnitzel sandwiches on weekends, available on a first-come, first-served basis until they sell out.
I love a sandwich with a little anticipation attached to it. And if getting my hands on one means showing up early on a Saturday morning, so be it.
Les Incompetents and Fat Rabbit
Price: 💸💸💸
Cuisine: French and Butchery
Address: 386 St. Paul St., St. Catharines, ON and 34 Geneva St., St. Catharines, ON
Why You Need To Go: I'm counting these two restaurants together because they're both in St. Catharines, and if I'm driving more than 100 kilometres for dinner, there's absolutely no chance I'm only eating at one restaurant.
Before Ontario's weather becomes truly miserable (and I'm not talking about charming December snow, I'm talking about the bleak, post-holiday depths of January), I want to make a proper food trip out to Niagara.
And these are the two restaurants at the top of my itinerary.
Both establishments come from the same culinary team, with chef and co-founder Zach Smith helping bring an exciting new energy to the region's dining scene.
Fat Rabbit is a meat-focused, farm-to-table restaurant and butcher shop, while its newer sister establishment, Bar Les Incompetents, takes a French-inspired approach to seafood, raw-bar offerings and bistro dining.
Both have attracted plenty of attention, including recognition in the Michelin Guide.
Les Incompetents earned a Bib Gourmand distinction in 2026, while Fat Rabbit has been recognized as a Michelin-recommended restaurant.
And while that's certainly impressive, there's something else about Les Incompetents that makes me love it before I've even stepped inside.
The name. Anyone who grew up watching the 1990 Christmas classic Home Alone will immediately recognize the reference to Kevin McCallister's sister Linnie, who famously tells him, "You're what the French call les incompétents."
A French bistro named after a Home Alone insult? That's already enough to earn a spot on my Christmas wish list.
The fact that it's housed in a restored former theatre makes it even better.
Between the two restaurants, I think a Niagara food weekend is officially overdue.
Golden Horseshoe Barbecue
Price: 💸💸
Cuisine: Barbecue
Address: 657 Dupont St., Toronto, ON
Why You Need To Go: If you haven't figured it out by now, I have a weakness for elevated comfort food.
Give me a restaurant that can take something familiar, whether it's a cheeseburger, a breakfast sandwich or a plate of barbecue, and make it extraordinary, and I'm sold.
Which is why Golden Horseshoe Barbecue might be one of the restaurants I'm most excited to visit before the year ends.
Golden Horseshoe is a Texas-style barbecue restaurant led by young pitmaster Andrew Golden and chef Kris Hansen.
It's already earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand distinction, while Andrew also received the Michelin Young Chef/Culinary Professional Award for 2026.
Not bad for a project that began with a backyard barbecue.
If 2026 has taught me anything about Toronto's restaurant scene, it's that there's no single definition of a great dining experience.
What excites me most about these restaurants isn't necessarily how many accolades they've received or how much attention they're getting online. It's that each offers something worth leaving the house for.
A new experience, a familiar comfort reimagined, an interesting story or simply a really, really good meal.
And as someone who believes that food is one of the best ways to experience a city, I can't think of a better way to spend the final months of 2026 than eating my way through this list.
Of course, knowing Toronto, another dozen restaurants will probably open before I get through it.
I suppose there are worse problems to have.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.
Stefano Faitas BYOPasta restaurant@staszy_
