Restaurants in the Annex Toronto: A Bloor to Harbord Route

Picture a student-area afternoon with a proper appetite: a stretch of Bloor Street West, a detour south toward Harbord, and a table waiting at every stop.

Why does the Annex suit a food walk?

The Annex rewards slow walking, because its streets carry layers of different eras. The City records Spadina Gardens, at the corner of Lowther Avenue, as one of Toronto’s first apartment buildings, built in 1906. The East Annex Heritage Conservation District was designated in 1994. Add a film history to that mix. The Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema opened on December 23, 1913, as the Madison Theatre. By 1919, Allen’s Bloor Theatre, now Lee’s Palace, and the Alhambra Theatre had opened near Bloor and Bathurst. Hot Docs today describes its cinema as a year-round home for first-run Canadian and international documentary films. The cinema also hosts many of the city’s independent film festivals.

That makes a dinner-and-a-film evening an easy plan here. Read our Annex neighbourhood hub for more on the area, or see how Spadina got its name before you start walking.

How do you get to the Annex and where do you rest?

Spadina Station is a handy front door. It is an interchange where a pedestrian passageway connects the Line 2 and Line 1 sections. If you want a cultural warm-up first, the Bata Shoe Museum sits at 327 Bloor Street West, at the southwest corner of Bloor and St. George.

Between stops, the Bloor Annex BIA has made places to pause. Its parkettes are at 320 Robert St., 290 Major St., 306 Brunswick Ave. and 2 Howland Ave. The BIA says they have won awards including the 2023 Toronto Urban Design Award of Excellence for Small Open Spaces and a National Award of Excellence from the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects. At the corner of Bloor and Brunswick, which the BIA says has long been a home for buskers and performers, it has built an accessible stage. It has also built two outdoor eating areas, one in front of Trinity St. Paul’s United Church at 427 Bloor St. W. and one on the northeast corner of Brunswick Ave. The BIA keeps a Food & Drink directory of the restaurants, cafés and bars along Bloor Street West, which is a good place to look for the spots we did not have room for.

Which restaurants make a good Bloor to Harbord route?

We built this route around five places that we could confirm were open when we checked on October 20, 2026, from our own checks of booking pages, restaurant sites and local business-area announcements. Walk them in this order, or mix and match.

1

Blanco Cantina

The AnnexOfficial site Share

Start lively. Blanco Cantina is at 384 Bloor Street West, and the Bloor Annex BIA announced its opening in January 2025 as a spot for tacos and drinks. It is our pick for a group that wants to kick off the afternoon with something shareable and loud.

2

Celeb Thai Kitchen & Bar

The AnnexOfficial site Share

A little further along at 394 Bloor St. W., Celeb Thai Kitchen & Bar is a newer arrival. The BIA’s July 2026 post says it opened there and features authentic Thai food made with fresh ingredients. On its OpenTable listing, the restaurant describes itself as a small family Thai restaurant on Bloor Street West, a short walk from Spadina station, the University of Toronto and Lee’s Palace. For a quick, satisfying stop between Spadina and the rest of the route, this is a smart one.

3

Brasserie Côte

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Slow down at 400 Bloor St. West. Brasserie Côte describes itself as a French bistro in the Annex serving classic French dishes. The BIA’s March 2026 post reports that the team soft-opened it at 400 Bloor St. W. We like it for the sit-down moment of the route, the one where you linger over a long, unhurried table.

4

Bellis, inside Nomas Hotel

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Keep going along Bloor to 561 Bloor St. W. On its OpenTable listing, Bellis describes itself as a Japanese-Italian inspired dining bar inside the Nomas Hotel that moves from a café by day to a cocktail bar by night. That day-to-night switch makes it a natural place to end a long wander, whether you started with coffee or with lunch.

5

Rasa

The AnnexOfficial site Share

Finish south of Bloor. Rasa is at 196 Robert St. It appears in the MICHELIN Guide’s September 22, 2026 article under the Bib Gourmand restaurants in the 2026 Toronto and Region selection. Rasa describes itself as a globally inspired, sharing-style restaurant, which makes it a fun table for a group with mixed tastes. Check the restaurant’s site before you go.

How do you plan the afternoon?

Treat the route as a loose loop with plenty of room to improvise, and bring a friend or two who enjoy sharing. Begin near Spadina Station, work your way along Bloor by street number, and then head south of Bloor to Robert Street for the finale. Share plates where you can, because a group of four can sample far more of the menu than one diner can.

Want to stretch it into a full day? Book-end the meals with culture. Visit the Bata Shoe Museum before lunch, take the afternoon to wander the side streets and parkettes, then check Hot Docs for a documentary to cap the evening. Good company matters more than a perfect schedule, so leave a little room for whatever catches your eye along the way.

If the Annex leaves you hungry for more neighbourhood eating, try Little Italy restaurants next, or browse our guide to what to eat in Toronto for the wider city picture.

Before you head out, check each restaurant’s own site for hours, menus and booking details, since they change. Then send this to the friend you would bring along.