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Pizzeria Badiali is the original Dovercourt slice shop from chef Ryan Baddeley and partners, known for long-fermented dough, crisp-edged New York-style pies, and a menu that makes Vodka Pie, Burrata Marinara, and Cacio e Pepe feel like the core order rather than one-off specials.
Mother is a Queen West cocktail bar where fermentation, natural ingredients, and low-waste technique drive the drink list. Go for Dirty Tomato, zero-proof Tomato Soup, polished small plates, and a candlelit room that still leaves room for walk-ins.
Florette is a Queen West dinner room built around funky food, wine, and cocktails rather than a single-cuisine lane. Jerry Zhang's cool-aunt room and Mann Bijlani's compact menu meet in dishes like Manila Clams, Hamachi Crudo, Rigatoni, and Chocolate Tart.
Lyla is a Queen West Mediterranean restaurant from Daniel van Welie and Amen Habtemariam, with current chef Daniel Kim leading a seafood-forward menu that runs from raw bar and Octopus Bravas to lobster linguine, brunch, Golden Hours, and private dining. The clearest read is Mediterranean sharing with a raw-bar spine rather than a single-cuisine room.
Pennies Bellwoods is a Strachan Avenue sliders bar built for casual rounds: griddled burgers, fried-chicken sliders, loaded tots, late hours, patio energy and weekly AYCE steamies keep the room useful for groups without making dinner formal.
PREQUEL & CO. APOTHECARY is a Queen West cocktail lounge built around Frankie Solarik's apothecary theatre, a serious Champagne-and-absinthe drinks program, and French-leaning small plates. Reserve for the room, lead with the cocktails, and use the food as part of the bar experience.
Mamakas Taverna is a polished Greek/Aegean dining room on Ossington, with a menu built around whole Lavraki, Oktapodi, Moussaka, Greek wine, and shared-table prix fixe strategy. Owner Thanos Tripi gives the story a grounded people thread.
Nabe Hana is a compact Ossington Korean restaurant built around family-recipe comfort: a namesake one-pot dish, homemade pogi kimchi, rice bowls, soups, dumplings, and a tea-cocktail list from mother-and-daughter team You Kyung and Grace Cho.
Bar Poet turns Queen West pizza night into a late-running social ritual: Italian-leaning pies and handmade pasta, cocktails and beer, nightly DJs, and a room that keeps serving until 2am. The menu moves easily between an OG Margherita, the richer mortadella-and-hot-honey Life Is Gucci, and mushroom-driven Heroic Dose pasta, with weekday happy hour and online reservations making the energy easier to plan around.
Union is a 2009 Ossington French bistro from chef-owner Teo Paul, built around daily seasonal menus, local farm sourcing, a lived-in room, and current lunch, brunch, patio, bar, and dinner use cases. Start with tartare or elk sliders, then read the kitchen through steak frites, rotisserie chicken, mussels, or whatever the day’s produce is carrying.
