The 11 best Toronto Michelin Guide restaurants, according to a local foodie

#1. Quetzal

Quetzal is the only restaurant on this list with an actual Michelin star, so the standards are high, and the expectations are higher. Mexican food is one of those cuisines that's often overlooked. Before dining at Quetzal, it's hard to imagine what you're in for, but once you've been, it's hard to go back.

This College Street hotspot is all about elevated Mexican cooking, the intersection of fire and flavour. Almost everything on the menu passes through wood-burning grills and hearths, giving the food and the room a smoky scent that immediately makes the experience feel different.

Most people, when they think of Michelin, they think uptight and stuffy (or maybe that's just me), but this spot has a lot of character and personality, proving it's about more than high prices and higher noses. From the masa-based dishes to the heirloom corn tortillas made in-house, the menu is creative. The agave-based cocktails are impressive, and if you're the kind of person who gets overwhelmed by too many good options, there's always the tasting menu. It's definitely a splurge at $100-plus per person, so this is one to save for a special occasion. But if you want to try one of Toronto's actual Michelin-starred restaurants, Quetzal is a major one.

Price: 💸💸💸

Cuisine: Upscale Mexican

Address: 419 College St.

#2. Linny's

Despite Linny's being a new addition to the city's restaurant scene, it's already established itself within the dining canon as another Ossington spot with special-occasion energy.

The restaurant comes from David Schwartz, the mind behind Sunny's Chinese and Mimi Chinese, and it has an old-school steakhouse mixed with a subtle deli feel. Named after his mom, Linda, the whole place has a little extra heart.

The menu leans into comfort classics with a twist. Think challah service with pickles, house-made sauerkraut and whipped cheese with berry jam, plus Caesar salad with crispy chicken skin instead of croutons. There's also Linny's Cut Pastrami, which is apparently so good that they opened a luncheonette to sell sandwiches.

Linny's is fun, polished and very Toronto-right-now. It's the kind of place you go when you want a big night out and don't mind paying for it.

Price: 💸💸💸

Cuisine: Jewish-American

Address: 176 Ossington Ave.

#3. Famiglia Baldassarre

Famiglia Baldassarre is one of those Toronto restaurants that feels like you've discovered something. An inside secret, even though everyone already knows about it.

If you want pasta for lunch here, you have to plan accordingly. The Geary Avenue spot only opens for a few hours each day, and diners line up on an industrial strip for a menu that usually includes just a couple of rotating pastas and some side accompaniments (as seen above, this time it was fresh cut prosciutto).

It's not a long, leisurely, candlelit Italian dinner. It's a pasta lunch as a mission. But for me, the experience is the appeal. The unique atmosphere is what makes it feel authentically Toronto.

The dishes are simple, honest and satisfying in a way that does not need dressing up.

It's Michelin Recommended, not starred or Bib Gourmand, but for a beautiful bowl of pasta in the middle of the day, it still earns its reputation.

Price: 💸

Cuisine: Italian

Address: 122 Geary Ave.

#4. Dreyfus

At Dreyfus, there's no flashy signage. The curtains are drawn. The front door is frosted. Like walking into a speakeasy, it's one of the city's best-kept secrets that you need to be let in on.

Inside, it's intimate, warm, and deeply indulgent, the way all French food should be. This is the dinner you have:

• prepping for hibernation
• after an annual physical
• or after a marathon

It's the cigarette of all meals: cheeky and naughty. Dreyfus is Michelin-approved, and for me, it offers an elevated take on pure indulgence.

Price: 💸💸 💸

Cuisine: French

Address: 96 Harbord St.

#5. Giulietta

Giulietta is proof that restaurants don't need to be out of the ordinary to make it into the Michelin Guide. The beauty of Italian food lies in its simplicity.

The College Street restaurant from Chef Rob Rossi is stylish without being cold, polished, or uptight. It has that neighbourhood-hotspot feeling where you booked it three months in advance, and you're wondering how everyone else got in.

The menu is full of modern takes on classic Italian dishes, from crudos to pastas to charred pizzas. This is the kind of place where you might go in thinking you'll be reasonable, and then suddenly you're ordering multiple pastas and pizzas. The only path to success is family style.

The food is comforting, yet refined. That's a hard balance to strike, especially in Toronto's extremely crowded Italian scene.

Giulietta is Michelin-recommended, not starred, but it has that easy confidence that makes it feel like a restaurant people will keep returning to.

Price: 💸💸

Cuisine: Italian

Address: 972 College St.

#6. Sunny's Chinese

Despite the fact that Sunny's Chinese is hidden in plain sight from the unsuspecting tourist, it's no secret that I'm obsessed with this place. Sunny’s Chinese is hidden inside Kensington Market, and it feels like you’ve stumbled upon a bustling night market in China.

You walk into this dark, abandoned mall hall, and then suddenly there’s a small sign and a door concealing an oasis with retro diner energy, cool neon colours, and a room that's both casual and exciting.

The food is incredible, it takes obvious dishes like orange chicken and brings them to a level of gourmet you didn't know was possible. Sunny’s draws its high-energy dining culture from hot spots across China, from shaokao spots in Chengdu and Xi’an to daXi'an dongs in Hong Kong. The menu is fun, regional, flavour-packed and full of dishes that make you want to over-order.

But the menu item I will order every time is the Blackbird Hong Kong French toast with black sesame jam, oolong condensed milk and butter. I always say this, but that French toast changed my life.

Price: 💸

Cuisine: Regional Chinese

Address: 60 Kensington Ave.

#7. Bar Isabel

Bar Isabel has that old-world College Street charm that's been a part of Toronto forever.

The room has a tavern-like energy that works for a group dinner, a date or even a solo meal at the bar. It's warm, moody under the red lights and busy without being too trendy. The food is Spanish-inspired, rustic and unfussy. It's quality ingredients, strong flavours and dishes that are meant to be shared.

Chef Grant van Gameren’s menu is heartfelt and straightforward, with dishes like pork secreto that show how much can be done with great product and simple flavours.

This is one of those restaurants where the vibe is almost as important as the food. It feels like a proper Toronto night out.

Price: 💸💸

Cuisine: Spanish Tapas

Address: 797 College St.

#8. Enoteca Sociale

Another Italian made the list, and Italian food is hard to judge in Toronto because we have so much of it, and so much of it is good. That's why Enoteca Sociale being in the Michelin Guide says a lot. This Dundas West restaurant has been around for over a decade, serving Roman-style Italian food that's simple, polished and comforting: the way all Italian food should be.

The space has had some gorgeous renovations, but it still has that neighbourhood restaurant charm.

The bread alone is reason to go. I genuinely think it's some of the best in the city. When I went, the arancini were mind-blowing, and the sticky toffee pudding was, like that French toast at Sunny's, the dessert that makes you start planning a return visit.

Enoteca Sociale is a Bib Gourmand spot, and it hits that perfect balance of elevated and familiar.

Price: 💸

Cuisine: Italian

Address: 1288 Dundas St. W.

#9. PAI

If you live in Toronto and still haven’t been to PAI, girl, what are you waiting for? PAI is one of those restaurants that has become such a Toronto staple that it almost feels too obvious to praise, but it’s popular for a reason.

The restaurant is named after the Thai village where Nuit Regular and her husband opened their first restaurant, and the menu is packed with regional Northern Thai dishes. The khao soi is the obvious must-order, and it deserves its reputation. It’s rich, comforting, spicy, and coconutty.

The menu is big, the portions are shareable and the spice levels make it accessible whether you’re cautious or fully trying to sweat through dinner.

PAI is Michelin-recommended, not starred, but it’s one of the most dependable restaurants in the city.

Price: 💸

Cuisine: Northern Thai

Address: 18 Duncan St.

#10. BB's Diner

BB's Diner was a recent try for me, and I left convinced it deserves the hype.

Located in Parkdale, this Filipino Diner has a bright, groovy, nostalgic feel with colourful booths, tile and signage. It gives me that same discovery feeling I have when I arrive at Sunny's.

It's known for brunch, but I went for dinner, and the dinner service was extremely good. The chicken wings? Do not skip them. I'm serious. Do not sit down and act like you're above ordering wings because they were one of the best things I tried.

The calamansi pie was also incredible. It had that lemon meringue kind of feel, but with a brighter, more interesting flavour that made it feel special. BB's has a Bib Gourmand designation, which makes sense because it's one of the more affordable ways to experience Michelin-recognized dining in Toronto. It's cool, delicious, unpretentious, and one of the more exciting spots on the guide if you ask me.

Price: 💸

Cuisine: Filipino

Address: 5 Brock Ave.

#11. La Banane

La Banane is sexy. There's no denying that. It's date-night material.

The Ossington restaurant has a loud, sultry, high-energy room designed for people who want a true Saturday night out.

The food is lavish, with a raw bar, tartare, foie gras and rich French-inspired dishes. The Gâteau à la banane is a signature for a reason: it features salted caramel ice cream and caramelized bananas.

So why isn't it number one? Mostly because La Banane is expensive, especially for a Michelin-recommended rather than starred restaurant. I'm not saying it's bad. Nothing on this list is bad. It made the Michelin Guide.

But for the price, I want to feel fully blown away. With La Banane, I felt like I had a chic night out, but I didn't leave quite as emotionally attached as I did with some of the higher spots on this list.

Price: 💸💸💸

Cuisine: French / Steakhouse

Address: 227 Ossington Ave.