NWR: Need Toronto sights and dining recs!

Meegles4

My H and I are visiting Toronto for about a day and a half next weekend. I haven't been in probably 15 years, he went for a b-party a couple years ago.

Any things you locals recommend that we see while in town? We're planning on catching a movie as part of the Toronto Film Festival, and also doing the CN Tower, but otherwise drawing a blank. H has seen the Hockey Hall of Fame and I don't have a huge desire to do that, or to see a Blue Jays game (H did that already, too).

What about any fabulous restaurants that we must try? We'll be staying downtown and will have a car but will likely plan to walk and use the transit system so restaurants downtown or easily near transit are best for us.

Thanks everyone!

Jewel224

What kind of cuisine do you like?  There are so many great restaurants here in Toronto.  You can try Bohmer on Ossington; Weslodge on King St., Auberge de Pommier.  Check Harbourfront out...great place to walk around.  Eaton Centre is always a great place if you want to shop.  Queen Street West is great to walk around as well.  What else are you looking to do?

souptin

ROM or AGO (Royal Ontario museum and Art Gallery of Ontario) for some culture.
Canoe for an upscale dining experience
Beta Shoe museum for a girly fun time
Queen West for the fashion district-lots of very cool unique shops
Kensington Market -very cool place with the most unique shops, it also butts onto china town which is an experience onto itself (if you find yourself there I highly suggest going to PhoHung for the best Pho soup you will EVER have)
This weekend is the veggie food festival if you are into that
If you are already checking out TIFF events keep in mind while TIFF is in town most bars in the downtown have extended liquor licenses and are open till 4AM so get ready to party!
If you plan to get around on transit and have an iphone I suggest getting the RocketMan app it makes taking transit a lot easier.
Hope some of this is helpful

Enjoy our awesome city!!

meghasaurus

A couple restaurants I frequent quite often are:
Kit Kat: http://www.kitkattoronto.com/ The website is totally cheesy but it has the greatest Italian food and is located at 297 King Street West right across from the TIFF Bell Lightbox.

Bocca on Baldwin is another Italian food place (26 Baldwin Street) that I adore. It is a couple blocks from the AGO which is a common date combo my and my fiance do.

I concur with Harbourfront - there are so many things to see and do (like ride a pirate ship!) and amazing restaurants. Plus you could take the ferry to Toronto Island in the evening to see the city at night - makes it look so pretty. Renting bikes to ride around the island is super fun too.

If you want to do some celebrity-gazing, you have to visit Yorkville. I like Hemingways but there are tons of places with patios to sit and people watch. The ROM is close to Yorkville as well.

naomikb

During TIFF the best restaurants are going to be REALLY tough to get into.  But you may run into some celebrities!

There are lots of great theatre shows if you're into that:
http://www.mirvish.com/

If you have time you can take the ferry across to the Islands.  You can walk around, rent bikes, play frisbee golf, go to the beach, go to the amusement park... there is tons to do there and lots of walking and seeing the outdoors.

Meegles4

Thanks everyone! I'd heard taking the ferry would be a good idea, so maybe we'll do that. Also thanks for the Pho rec, I'd heard Chinatown was good but always like to have a specific place in mind. Other cuisine we like is Italian, Mexican, tapas. So these suggestions are great! I hadn't really thought about how crazy things will be with TIFF, but luckily we're planning to take it easy and not be super rushed, so waiting for a table wouldn't be the worst thing :

busybride109

There are two popular taco places you could check out. Grand Electric on Queen St East and La Carnita on College street. Both places will be really busy as they don't take reservations. For Italian you can try Buca or enoteca sociale. You can have Dim Sum in Chinatown. I recommend  Rol San (cheap and good) or Forestview (with push carts). Pearl restaurant on Queens Quay also does good Dim Dum and is a much nicer experience with a view of the Water. For cheap eats you can check out Burrito Boyz and smoke's poutinerie. 

You're visiting at a great time where there will be a lot of things going on downtown. Have a great time!

Jewel224

For Tapas, try the Mambo Lounge on Bloor and Broadview.  It's Cuban Tapas.  For Spanish, try Casa Barcelona on Bloor West or 17 Steps Restaurant.  For Chinese - King's Noodles.  For Mexican - Mariachi`s Mexican restaurant - LOVE this resto - makes you feel like you`re in Mexico.  Their guacamole and fried ice cream rocks...and they`re reasonably priced.