Restaurant Comings & Goings

[Towered]

Makes sense for Hungarian food. Why would you eat that with so many better options. Doesn't make quite as much sense for Italian. But Italian food is not dying out in Toronto at all. The city is stuffed with restaurants making very traditional Italian food, as well as American-Italian food, and updated versions of Italian classics. A lot of them are staffed by young Italian folks who have fled to Canada because there are no jobs in Italy.

Goulash???

 

[Towered]

I wonder how well Vaughan will do given the local Italian population out that way. It's a bit like putting a Mandarin at McCowan and Steeles, the locals know what real food tastes like.

Funny you say that, because the last couple of times I went to Mandarin, the patrons were overwhelmingly Asian.

 

[ShonTron]

I finally got to Italy last fall, mostly to the Naples/Campania area, though with a side trip to Rome. Firstly, "real" Italian cuisine is easy to find here in Toronto, and not just in the traditional Italian commercial strips like College Street or St. Clair West. It's more dependent on what you're looking for in particular -- decent and good Southern Italian food is easy enough to find if you are in the know, especially proper Neapolitan pizza.

Secondly, my spouse and my inlaws are from Hong Kong. They know what "proper" Chinese food is, and I really enjoy it. Yet I, and even my spouse, will enjoy westernized Chinese food on occasion. It's not a binary thing.

All that said, I went to Olive Garden not too long ago in Michigan. I still really enjoyed the breadsticks and salad, and they make those really tasty. The mains were meh.

 

[Northern Light]

I LOVE Olive Garden. I just wish they were also opening up in Toronto downtown or mid town. Or even Scarborough some place...

They will be downtown again.

In their last effort here, they had locations at Front + York, Atrium and Yonge+Eg.

All did well, the Atrium one made money hand over fist.

The issue they had last time .....well, why do most of the U.S. retailers that fail here, fail? They ran the eastern Canada ops out of the U.S. and in spite of their success had a poor understanding of the market.

This is now being run by Swiss Chalet's parent company, that won't occur again. (well, never say never, Recipe nee Cara has had its share of flops, but this is unlikely to be one)

 

[Northern Light]

This is a bit of a hoary old stereotype. As someone who's part Italian and has Italian friends in Vaughan, I can tell you that my friends' kids (I'm 51) are the third (and even fourth) generation Italians in this country and a lot of the old "Nonna" recipes have died out with them. My friends still try to keep some of the culinary traditions alive, but *their* kids likely won't. They're more likely to hit a Thai or Ramen place or a Kelsey's/Jack Astors/Milestones along Highway 7 or Rutherford than a resto specializing in Sicilian, Roma or Tuscan dishes. About the only hard-core Italians I know that still cook in the traditional manner are still in North York and never made the trek north after starting on College, then St. Clair and then Downsview.

As others have noted, Toronto has some of the finest, authentic, Italian restos going.

In what is now Eataly's most successful market, it has never been easier to get authentic Italian ingredients of quality.

I get what you're saying in that 3rd and 4th gen immigrants of all types lose many of their ties to their heritage cooking/culture, but in Toronto, they are replaced both by more immigrants familiar with Italy and its cooking (or Thailand or France or Span etc.) as well as people who are well traveled and/or just love great food.

Of course, that is not specific to Vaughan, and more than it is Little Italy.

 

[Richard White]

This is now being run by Swiss Chalet's parent company, that won't occur again. (well, enver say n ever, Recipe nee Cara has had its share of flops, but this is unlikely to be one)

*cough* Pickle Barrel.

 

[Northern Light]

*cough* Pickle Barrel.

While the long time location at The Atrium is gone...... there are 7 more, including 2 in Toronto (mid town and Yorkdale)

While the menu has evolved to look more Cheesecake Factory (over 300 items) than Jewish Deli.......and its not to my taste, Recipe is making good coin off it.

 

[artyboy123]

I finally got to Italy last fall, mostly to the Naples/Campania area, though with a side trip to Rome. Firstly, "real" Italian cuisine is easy to find here in Toronto, and not just in the traditional Italian commercial strips like College Street or St. Clair West. It's more dependent on what you're looking for in particular -- decent and good Southern Italian food is easy enough to find if you are in the know, especially proper Neapolitan pizza.

Secondly, my spouse and my inlaws are from Hong Kong. They know what "proper" Chinese food is, and I really enjoy it. Yet I, and even my spouse, will enjoy westernized Chinese food on occasion. It's not a binary thing.

All that said, I went to Olive Garden not too long ago in Michigan. I still really enjoyed the breadsticks and salad, and they make those really tasty. The mains were meh.

thumbs uip for this comment! I enjoy quite a bit of westernized Chinese food!

 

[Richard White]

While the long time location at The Atrium is gone...... there are 7 more, including 2 in Toronto (mid town and Yorkdale)

While the menu has evolved to look more Cheesecake Factory (over 300 items) than Jewish Deli.......and its not to my taste, Recipe is making good coin off it.

I worked at the Atrium location from 2007 to 2008. We had a woman there named Rose at the time who worked at the original location back in the 70s.

The food and atmosphere was better back then, still very bloated but at least it was somewhat quality. I went to the Pickering location last year and it was almost like eating frozen food from Harveys.

As I said before, I rode inside the Dumbwaiter there once!

 

[Northern Light]

As I said before, I rode inside the Dumbwaiter there once!

Was it a big dumb waiter? Or were you a Little Richard?

 

[Richard White]

Was it a big dumb waiter? Or were you a Little Richard?

It was inteded for plates and things.

I was much younger and 50 lbs lighter at the time. Would I do it again, probably not but after a few too many shots during an after hours clean-up anything is possible.

That place had some stories but nothing like when I worked for SIR corp in 2006/2007. They used to have a Corporation Ski Trip called "Ski Cup" that was canceled due to liability. Let's just say that for HR purposes what happens at Ski Cup stays at Ski Cup.

I have some stories about the ski trip but let's just say it turned into Fear and Loathing in Blue Mountain. What I can tell you is that we almost lost our deposit due to copious of amounts of alcohol and a fireplace. Thank god for fire extinguishers.

 

[Towered]

It was inteded for plates and things.

I was much younger and 50 lbs lighter at the time. Would I do it again, probably not but after a few too many shots during an after hours clean-up anything is possible.

That place had some stories but nothing like when I worked for SIR corp in 2006/2007. They used to have a Corporation Ski Trip called "Ski Cup" that was canceled due to liability. Let's just say that for HR purposes what happens at Ski Cup stays at Ski Cup.

I have some stories about the ski trip but let's just say it turned into Fear and Loathing in Blue Mountain. What I can tell you is that we almost lost our deposit due to copious of amounts of alcohol and a fireplace. Thank god for fire extinguishers.

Sigh...so much wonderful debauchery that I've not had the pleasure of partaking in. My company's Christmas parties are always dull as dishwater...

 

[Richard White]

Sigh...so much wonderful debauchery that I've not had the pleasure of partaking in. My company's Christmas parties are always dull as dishwater...

Ski Cup was fun.

Think of it like 1970s Studio 54 if Studio 54 was a Ski Resort.

 

[Towered]

Ski Cup was fun.

Think of it like 1970s Studio 54 if Studio 54 was a Ski Resort.

You're speaking my language!!

 

[Bayer]

While the long time location at The Atrium is gone...... there are 7 more, including 2 in Toronto (mid town and Yorkdale)

While the menu has evolved to look more Cheesecake Factory (over 300 items) than Jewish Deli.......and its not to my taste, Recipe is making good coin off it.

I first went to the Atrium Pickle Barrel in 1986 during my second visit in Toronto. It was memorable because the sleeve of my jacket touched my chocolate cake without me noticing and I ended up with icing all over my very 1980s mint green outfit.