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New Year, New Lockdowns in Ontario
When I took this photo of the message on the Paradise Theatre’s marquee a few days before Christmas, I wasn’t thinking that just a couple of weeks later we’d be locked down again… students back to remote learning (less than a week after the Ford government insisted in-person classes would start up after only a…
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Images From the City: Sign of Love and Hope
In the middle of the miserable third wave of the pandemic in Ontario, this sign went up across from a retirement home just north of Steeles. It means “when spring arrives life will be warmer.” For the residents inside that building, it was a reminder from their loved ones that things will get better, we…
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Opening Soon in Toronto: Rialto Patio in the Paradise Theatre
Last weekend people started to happily return to Toronto patios as Covid numbers continue to fall, hospitals close their Covid wards and more people get their second vaccine doses. Throughout the lockdown, the Paradise Theatre has been of course closed, but there were always comforting messages of hope on the iconic marquee. Seeing this message…
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Opening Soon in Etobicoke: Earl’s
Earl’s Kitchen + Bar has 67 locations across North America so it’s not surprising to see one opening near the busy Sherway Gardens shopping area in Etobicoke. But the development of this particular Earl’s sparked my interest because the construction of it seemed frozen in time- it ground to a halt just as the pandemic…
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Opening Soon in Etobicoke: On The Move Fresh Kitchen
The brown paper has been removed from the windows… On The Move Fresh Kitchen is about to open on the Queensway! It takes the place of Lucky’s Cafe which did not survive 2020; it closed not long after the first pandemic lockdown. This corner has been dreary for awhile so it’s wonderful to see a…
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Opening Soon in Parkdale: Gus Tacos
Well this is exciting. There is the original, beloved Gus Tacos in Kensington Market, on Augusta. Then owners Emilio Morales and Augustine Morales opened another Gus at Bloor and Dufferin, on Gladstone (this location opened last year in the middle of the pandemic, with a focus on takeout and food delivery.) Now a third location…
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Opening Soon in Etobicoke: Meza Resto Bar
Toronto restaurants that opened their patios a couple of weeks ago had to quickly close them again as the third wave of the pandemic fills up ICUs. It’s a terribly uncertain time, and tough to watch so many businesses close down in the city. On a hopeful note, there’s also many “coming soon” signs spotted…
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Patio Dining Returns to Toronto
It’s hard to blame people for wanting to enjoy some fresh spring air and the simple pleasure of having a drink on a patio after a miserable year of being cooped up. These were some very happy diners in Mimico last weekend, at Dakota’s on Lakeshore at Third Street. As Ontario enters a third wave…
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Martino Manor: On Hold for Halloween 2020
If you live in the Parklawn/Queensway area of South Etobicoke and take your kids trick or treating, you’ve probably enjoyed the spooktacular house just south of Mamma Martino’s Italian restaurant. The Martino family loves Halloween and have been transforming their home for years into a terrifying yet somehow also family-friendly spectacle of frights that the…
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Mamma Martino’s in Etobicoke: Toronto Restaurants with Patios
Ontario reported over 200 new cases of COVID-19 again today. That’s the highest single-day increase since June 29, when there were 257 cases reported. The weather is cooling, there is no avoiding that, and it’s concerning for restaurants and bars that have no outside seating. As the pandemic stretches past the six month mark there…
