Not a 24 Hour City

[simuls]

There are at least 3 Metros in the core that are 24 hr. New York is one of the few subway systems in the world that runs 24/7. The Paris metro shuts at midnight as does London's Tube. New York downtown and times square are mostly silent after 11 pm, but just as in TO, there's plenty to find if you know where to look-Chelsea,east village,TriBeCa/ossington,college,queen west. I'm not saying Toronto's an equivalent to NY, but in terms of late night, NY is also a joke compared to Buenos Aires where no one eats until after 10pm or goes to a club before 2am. Soho in London, even after allowing pubs to stay open after 11pm is scarily boring after midnight. It sounds like you were in the financial district of TO looking for stuff, if you'd been around Wall St. I think you'd have found the same problem. Each city has its own quirks, nooks, & crannies...it just takes sometime to find them ;-)

 

[taal]

Pretty much all Metros are 24 hours! ... everywhere.

There are a few exception to this though - but typically only when they're are a bunch very close for example, the Yonge square (as I like to call it)

Yonge and Eglinton ... 24 hours
Yonge and Lawerence ... midnight
Eglinton and Bayview ... 24 hours
Bayview and York Mills ... 24 hours

Anways, downtown there are a few metro's that are 24 hours - but there are quite a few restaurants that are.

NYCC actually probably has the highest concentration of 24 Asian eateries in the GTA.

 

[egotrippin]

The first and foremost late night thing that I'd like to see addressed is last call for bars and restaurants. 4 a.m., or hell even 3 a.m. at least would be nice. For me, and others like myself who sometimes don't go out until 10 or later, 2 a.m. is far too early for last call.

Though here I am on a Saturday night, not out, but rather posting online. Go figure.

 

[Dan416]

AFAIK most Tim Hortons in Mississauga are open 24 hours. And they're open 26 hours a day on Bajor

 

[Cast_Member]

Golden Griddle opens 24 hours and 7 days a week. Although its a family restaurant, you don't need to have children just to eat there. Gas stations and places like 7 Eleven have coffee all night.

 

[Torontovibe]

Frans Restaurant in the Pantages is open 24 hrs.

Just in St. Lawrence we have 4 stores open 24hrs, Sobey's, Metro, Rabba on Front St. and a variety Store on The Esplanade. I always see people walking around here after 2am. The Tim Hortons on King St. east is 24 hrs and so are the hotdog stands outside Union Station.

Chinatown restaurants are also open very late and are quite popular on weekends.

 

[MartinMtl]

What about the village/Church street aera? Surely there must be places there opened 24h, like in Mtl's village.

 

[Eug]

Well, even New York pales in comparison to many cities in Asia.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

What about the village/Church street aera? Surely there must be places there opened 24h, like in Mtl's village.

Winter & Summer are different. Spring through fall eateries are open late (2-4am), Starbucks until 2am, many restaurants serve food until last call & the video store is open until 2. About Oct. - April most places close a little earlier. PharmaPlus is open until midnight year 'round (a 24 hour Shoppers is just around the corner) & there are 3 or 4 variety stores open 24 hours year 'round.

Things are much better in Toronto than they used to be. In the 80's & early 90's it was very hard to find somewhere to eat after midnight (save for Chinatown & Greektown), we could only drink alcohol until 1 and until 11pm on Sunday's!

 

[OttoSchloss]

The first and foremost late night thing that I'd like to see addressed is last call for bars and restaurants. 4 a.m., or hell even 3 a.m. at least would be nice. For me, and others like myself who sometimes don't go out until 10 or later, 2 a.m. is far too early for last call.

Though here I am on a Saturday night, not out, but rather posting online. Go figure.

I'd like to see last call eliminated altogether. Civilized societies do not need a last call. Last call is for children and places where the PTB treat their citizens like children.

I'd also add, it's rare for a Starbucks to open all night or even beyond 10 p.m., even in New York City.

 

[syn]

The Annex has Kinkos and Metro open 24 hours. There were a few late night (closed around 2am) restaurants too, but I'm not sure if any in the area still do that.

 

[Torontovibe]

What about the village/Church street aera? Surely there must be places there opened 24h, like in Mtl's village.

My favourite shawarma place in Toronto is in the village and is usually open until 3 or 4 am. (La Tourk) Damn, they make some nice, big, juicy shwarmas!

The hotdog guy on Wellesley is always there, I think 24/7. Golden Griddle, on Carlton is open 24 hours I believe. Pizza Pizza is open til past midnight. (I think 1 or 2 am) I wish the village had a 24/7 Tim Horton's. Frans on Collage, is also 24hrs, as is McDonalds on Yonge, north of Collage. There are a few restaurants on that section of Yonge Street, that are open until 1 to 4am. I think there is also a 24hour Shawarma place on Gerrard near Jarvis too. Isn't the Sobey's Fresh on Yonge 24hrs? Thank god for all the 24 hrs Rabbas in the area. I go there quite often on my way home from The Village. There is also a little 24/7 variety store on Church that makes pretty good ham & cheese croissants at 4 in the morning, so there are a number of food options in that area.

Club Le Sandwich in Montreal was always a great place to go after the bars closed. Great chicken poutine and lots of hot stripper boys. (porn stars too lol)

 

[Torontovibe]

I'd like to see last call eliminated altogether. Civilized societies do not need a last call. Last call is for children and places where the PTB treat their citizens like children.

I'd also add, it's rare for a Starbucks to open all night or even beyond 10 p.m., even in New York City.

I have to admit, the last time I was in NYC, a few years ago, most of Manhattan was pretty quiet at night. There were only a few pockets of the city when I saw groups of people. The east side was totally empty. Even Greenwich Village was really quiet, unlike 15 years ago, when it was crawling with men late at night. (ah, the good old days lol) Where have the gay creatures of the night gone in Manhattan?

 

[wyliepoon]

I think not only restaurants, but retail stores along major shopping corridors (Bloor, Yonge, Queen West) should stay open later than their current closing times. I'm pulling number out of my head, but I think a 10pm closing time for retail stores and at least a midnight closing time for all eateries downtown is doable. Perhaps by opening later (such as opening at 12-1pm instead of 9-10am), these establishments could offset those morning hours (which are usually quiet hours anyway) and allow a late closing time.

 

[TO City of Light]

If having a Metro store as well as a few shawarma places and Sobey's open 24/7 makes a 24 hour city then Wasaga Beach has it too. In North America it is only New York and Las Vegas that I know of that really qualify for something a bit more meaningful. I stand to be corrected.

Madrid is certainly a party town until at least 5 am and while I don't know Barcelona, it probably qualifies too. Athens also. The rest of Europe is not that different from TO although closing a bit later. Two o'clock is pretty early for civilized people.

Someone mentioned Asia a few posts ago. I can only agree. I now spend most of the year in southern Thailand and there is no time night or day that there isn't a place to go to for whatever the heart desires - food, clubbing, quiet drink, etc. Bangkok is certainly not lacking in round the clock happenings.

But, these are not things that change quickly and the trend is definitely towards a more conservative lifestyle - even in Thailand.