A selection of the city’s oldest eateries
Many restaurants have been serving Torontonians for generations
Near the end of the Bayview extension at Cherry and Front Sts. stood the former Canary Restaurant — easily recognizable to patrons by its yellow bird neon sign. Toronto Maple Leaf paraphernalia greeted patrons inside the greasy spoon diner, which was housed in the former Cherry Street Hotel and Palace Street School, dating back to 1859.
The Canary, which had sat in its landmark location since the mid-1960s, closed in April 2007 from lack of business, due in part to the yearlong shutdown of the Bayview extension south of Queen St., owner Nick Vlahos told the Star.
“People used to drive down the extension, stop here for breakfast and then head off to work,” said Ana Wovanovski, who ran the restaurant with brothers Nick and Tom and mom Rita.
“It became like a Cheers hangout. People spilling their problems over coffee,” said Vlahos. The restaurant attracted a diverse clientele from truck drivers to hockey players.
Although the Canary Restaurant has been closed for nine years, the revitalized neighbourhood is known today as the Canary District in honour of the diner.
Other eating establishments housed in historical Toronto buildings, however, have fared better and remain in operation; many have reinvented themselves.
One example is the Gladstone Hotel, which was built in 1889 and named after the adjacent avenue. The Victorian building remains the oldest continually operating hotel in Toronto. The boutique hotel offers art exhibitions, events and dining.
Another is the nearby Drake Hotel, at 1150 Queen St. W., which was constructed in 1890 as Small’s Hotel. It was purchased in 2001 by Jeff Stober, who extensively renovated it to include a hotel, basement nightclub, live performance venue, restaurant lounge, corner café and streetlevel patio. Its urbanized menu boasts a brunch with choices that include blueberry scones, Drake Benny, Tres Taco and Kale Gnocchi, washed down with drinks such as mimosas or a gin and cucumber Caesar.
But sometimes it’s the simple meals that are best remembered. Two restaurants tied for being the oldest fish and chips eateries in Toronto debuted in 1930: Duckworth’s Fish and Chips at 2638 Danforth Ave. and Reliable Halibut and Chips — a Leslieville tradition at its corner location on Queen St. E. between Logan and Carlaw.
The family-owned Fran’s Restaurant was opened by G. Francis (Fran) Deck and his wife, Ellen Jane, in 1940. The first Fran’s in Toronto was an unassuming, 10-stool diner at 21 St. Clair Ave. W. and Yonge St. Here, patrons could enjoy homestyle cooking and the friendly atmosphere while sampling the signature “Banquet Burger,” better known in today’s fast-food circles as a bacon cheeseburger.
The flagship restaurant, which closed in 2001, became the haunt of famed and eccentric pianist Glenn Gould. According to the CBC archives, “Sometime between 2 and 3 every morning Gould would go to Fran’s, a 24-hour diner a block away from his Toronto apartment, sit in the same booth and order the same meal of scrambled eggs.”
The restaurant received frequent requests for its chili, rice pudding and homemade apple pie.
Fran’s locations included those at Yonge St. and Eglinton Ave. (1945-2001), Yonge and College Sts. (1950-present) and Yonge and Dundas Sts. (1960-84).
In August 2010, another Fran’s opened near Yonge and Front Sts. across from the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, with a full-service bar in its outdoor patio. The Fran’s chain is now owned by Kim Joon and his sons.
In 2014, Fran’s took another leap, debut- ing at a booth in the modernist-styled CNE Food Building, constructed in 1954. The food developed for the fair included pie shakes, peanut butter-Sriracha balls, a Thanksgiving waffle and a Big Breakfast Maple Toast Box. “Imagine deep-fried slices of thick egg bread drizzled with maple syrup, hollowed out and stuffed with bacon, sausage and an egg,” the Star’s Jennifer Bain said of the breakfast creation in August 2014.
The Old Spaghetti Factory, in business since 1971 on the Esplanade, is housed in a former 1898 blacksmith shop. The 600seat restaurant holds a special place in the memories of kids and students who headed there for an inexpensive meal offering heaps of spaghetti at affordable prices. The space is filled with antiques and artifacts, including an antique elevator, streetcar, European stained glass windows, gas lamps and a 100-year-old carousel.
The Senator Restaurant, tucked away on Victoria St. near the glitz and glamour of Yonge-Dundas Square, started life as the Busy Bee Diner in 1929. The “B” was an open kitchen and counter where patrons came for traditional meals and coffee to go.
“The Senator has been slinging coffee and eggs since 1929, under various names and owners. It connects to a time when sodas were jerked, and jewels, not tomatoes, were heirlooms,” Bain wrote in the Star in October 2013.
The diner was renamed the Senator in 1948 and its current interior fixtures were from the Toronto Refrigeration Co. that same year. Its kitchen was renovated in 2013 but the original interior remains. The Star’s Alf Holden described it as scene from Edward Hopper’s painting Nighthawks. Today’s menu includes pork tenderloin and Arctic char.
The Wheat Sheaf Tavern at the southwest corner of King St. W. and Bathurst St. dates to 1849, thus securing its place as Toronto’s oldest watering hole. It serves casual fare. The tavern was a popular hangout for the garrison at Fort York. The Wheat Sheaf also housed labourers and operated as a hotel.
Urban legend has it the thirsty troops dug a tunnel from Fort York to the Wheat Sheaf Tavern, half a kilometre north.
In an article in the Torontoist in 2012, tavern co-owner Maria Tsakiris said the legend of the tunnel has been around for at least 50 years, but that there was no physical evidence that the tunnel existed on the premises.
Although the possibly of travelling through a “subterranean booze tube” was unlikely, there was the chance soldiers entered the tavern via a particular sewer that resurfaced just a few paces west of the Wheat Sheaf at Walnut Ave. and King St. W. A malodorous journey, but perhaps the pints were worth it.
Almost 20 years after the Wheat Sheaf opened, Euclid Hall at 515 Jarvis St. was built. It would evolve into the Keg Mansion. The building was constructed in 1867 for Arthur McMaster, a nephew of prominent businessman William McMaster.
In 1882, it was purchased by Hart Massey and his wife. The couple had the house renovated but left the original Gothic facade mostly untouched.
The area eventually became too urbanized for the Masseys and the mansion was bequeathed to the University of Toronto’s Victoria College in 1915. It served as the first home of Toronto radio station CFRB (now NewsTalk 1010) in the 1920s. It was repurposed as an art gallery for several decades until 1960, when it morphed into a restaurant named Julie’s Mansion.
In 1976, it became home to the Keg restaurant and was renamed the Keg Mansion. The past has come back to haunt today’s diners.
So, next time you’re dining on a Keg Classic prime rib dinner or tucking into the signature Billy Miner pie with its mocha ice cream and chocolate crust, watch for the ghost of Lillian Massey’s maid, who hanged herself above the main stairs. You may hear phantom footsteps of children from the second floor, or see a young boy running up and down the staircase.
And don’t down too many Keg-sized drinks or water, which could send you scurrying to the bathroom. Some patrons visiting the women’s second-floor washroom have reported feeling they were being watched.
One woman sitting in the stall reportedly had her privacy invaded when, to her horror, the lock came undone and the door swung open.
No one was there.
“People used to drive down the extension, stop here for breakfast and then head off to work. It became like a Cheers hangout. People spilling their problems over coffee.” ANA WOVANOVSKI ON THE CANARY RESTAURANT