A Toronto pizza shop has placed second in the world for Detroit-style pizza. It’s been on Queen Street East the whole time.
The spot is Descendant, a 20-seat room located at 1168 Queen St E that most people outside the neighbourhood walk past without knowing what’s happening inside. Chef Sotirios Tzakis entered an international competition in 2025 and finished second globally in the Detroit-style category. The pies are thick, rectangular, and borderline ridiculous — with crispy caramelized edges, an airy crust, and toppings that range from classic to unexpected without losing the plot.
That pretty much sums up Leslieville.
Queen East runs from Broadview to Coxwell (the doorstep of The Beach), and what’s on those blocks right now is worth paying attention to. There’s a brewery with a working rooftop farm. A Turkish brunch spot that survived a kitchen fire and came back swinging. A French bistro with 300 wines packed into a room that seats 30. And a brand new Italian restaurant named after a Formula 1 driver who beat the old Italian restaurant’s namesake on the track — more on that below.
2025 was a rough year here. Ascari Enoteca, Greta Solomon’s, Pumps — neighbourhood fixtures gone in one wave. But what replaced them has been worth watching. The best restaurants in Leslieville right now are earning the neighbourhood its reputation.
Here are eleven of them.
The Queen East hit list
1. Descendant Detroit Style Pizza
Signature Dish: Soppressata Marmalade — mozzarella, smoked caciocavallo, Calabrian chilies, Mike’s Hot Honey, and soppressata on a thick Detroit-style rectangular crust.
Vibe Check: Tiny, focused, and serious. Twenty seats, brick-lined Montague Hearthbake ovens, and a kitchen that does one thing at an extremely high level. There’s no noise here beyond the pizza.
Address: 1168 Queen St E
Why It Made the Cut: Second-best Detroit-style pizza in the world, per the 2025 international competition. Not a local award — a global ranking. But they also took top prize in Canada. The pies aren’t cheap (budget around $50 for a small), but the smoked caciocavallo and the caramelized crust edges will settle that debate quickly. Start with the Soppressata Marmalade.
2. Avling
Signature Dish: Red Fife Buttermilk Pancakes on weekends; rotating seasonal mains built from produce grown one floor up
Vibe Check: Restaurant, craft brewery (yes, you heard that right), and working urban farm — and none of it feels forced. Warm and unhurried, the kind of room you sit in for two hours without noticing. The rooftop has actual vegetable beds. Spring and summer bring farm tours. The beer is brewed in-house, and the menu changes when the seasons actually do.
Address: 1042 Queen St E
Why It Made the Cut: Nothing else in Toronto is quite like Avling. A working rooftop farm feeding the kitchen below, an on-site brewery, and a seasonal menu that earns the word. Open Tue–Sun.
3. Eastside Social
Signature Dish: Clam chowder, grilled octopus, PEI mussels; $2-a-shuck oysters on weekday specials
Vibe Check: Coastal and casual, but nobody’s being precious about it. Campy and fun, and the seafood is taken seriously. Works for a quiet Tuesday dinner or a Friday night with a group.
Address: 1008 Queen St E
Why It Made the Cut: East Toronto doesn’t have many dedicated seafood spots. Eastside Social fills that gap nicely without the inflated downtown price tag or the formality. If oysters are your thing, the weekday oyster deal alone is reason enough to go regularly!
4. Pasaj
Signature Dish: Pasaj Pancakes — cloud-light stacks with sour cherry jam, labne, tahini helva, and crushed pistachios; Sucuk Bennies on crispy zucchini fritters instead of English muffins
Vibe Check: Turkish café that feels like a good secret. Intimate, a bit loud when full (and it fills up), and worth every minute of the wait. Weekend brunch reservations book out two weeks ahead — go early or plan in advance.
Address: 1100 Queen St E
Why It Made the Cut: Pasaj had a kitchen fire in October 2025 that shut it down for months and the community rallied around them with support. It came back. The pancakes are still worth a two-week-out reservation, and coming back from that kind of setback only adds to what the place means to the neighbourhood. No other brunch spot in the city is doing what Pasaj does with Turkish flavours. The restaurant is currently open for breakfast, brunch, and dinner, with the following hours: Wednesday–Friday (11 a.m.–4:30 p.m.) and weekends (9 a.m.–5 p.m.)
5. Batifole
Signature Dish: Pan-seared scallops with fennel and lemongrass hollandaise
Vibe Check: Cosy, unpretentious French bistro. Seats around 30 people. Slow down, drink well, eat better. 300-label wine list. Tue–Sat only.
Address: 744 Gerrard St E
Why It Made the Cut: Go here when you want to impress someone who actually eats. Three hundred wines in a room that fits 30, and a short menu where nothing is filler. It’s been on Gerrard Street for years and most of the city still hasn’t found it. That’s their loss.
6. Fangio Trattoria
Signature Dish: Handmade pasta; bistecca with chimichurri; the “Fangio-masu” — a tiramisu crossed with an Argentinian cake that has been outselling everything else on the menu since day one
Vibe Check: Thirty-nine seats, open kitchen, glowing banquettes, and a garage door that opens the room to the street in warm weather. The cocktail program is solid — the house Negroni and the Toronto (Red Bank Whiskey, Fernet, maple syrup, bitters) are both worth ordering.
Address: 1111 Queen St E
Why It Made the Cut: When Ascari Enoteca closed after 14 years, the neighbourhood felt it. Fangio Trattoria stepped into the same space and did something smart: Italian with a streak of Argentine flair, named after the F1 driver who was Ascari’s greatest rival on the track. Early days, but the pasta and the Fangio-masu have people going back quickly.
7. La Paella
Signature Dish: Paella Valenciana and Paella de Mariscos — proper, made to order, not rushed
Vibe Check: The opposite of trendy, which is a compliment. La Paella has been doing this long enough that it doesn’t need to impress anyone. Phone reservations only after 5 PM. Mon–Sat evenings.
Address: 1146 Queen St E
Why It Made the Cut: Authentic Spanish paella in Toronto is rarer than it should be. La Paella isn’t trying to be anything other than what it is, and that confidence shows up in the food. If you’re going for the paella, call ahead.
8. Eat BKK Thai Kitchen
Signature Dish: Northern Thai-style poutine (exactly what it sounds like); mango salad; Thai iced tea
Vibe Check: Laidback Thai street food bar. Bright, casual, and the kind of neighbourhood spot you end up at three times in a month without planning to. Lunch specials run frequently. Open daily.
Address: 898 Queen St E
Why It Made the Cut: Eat BKK goes well past the standard Thai menu. The Northern Thai-style poutine is a specifically Toronto thing, and it works. Good weekday lunch stop, good late dinner, works for most occasions.
9. Wynona
Signature Dish: Creste di gallo with lamb ragù; Ontario striploin with chimichurri
Vibe Check: Intimate Italian with a warm, slightly Renaissance-painting quality to the room. Natural wines, candlelight, house-made pasta. The best date-night restaurant on Gerrard Street.
Address: 819 Gerrard St E
Why It Made the Cut: Wynona sources from Ontario farms and makes its pasta in-house, and neither of those things is just a menu note — you taste them. Small, focused, and excellent. Mon–Sat evenings. Reserve ahead.
10. Maple Leaf Tavern
Signature Dish: Pork chop with sherry, capers, and mustard sauce
Vibe Check: A 1910 heritage building with warm wood everywhere and elevated pub food that earns the room. Feels like it knows exactly what it’s doing, because it does.
Address: 955 Gerrard St E
Why It Made the Cut: Not everything needs to be a new concept. Maple Leaf Tavern has been cooking good food in a beautiful old building on Gerrard for years without making a fuss about it. The pork chop is the move. Wed–Sun evenings.
11. Maha’s
Signature Dish: Maha’s Mind Blowing Chicken Sandwich — marinated chicken piled with herbs
Vibe Check: Off the main strip on Greenwood Avenue, small, and cult-level. Weekend lineups form early. The kind of place that gets called a hidden gem right up until it isn’t.
Address: 226 Greenwood Ave
Why It Made the Cut: Egyptian brunch isn’t something Toronto does in many places. Maha’s does it well enough that people line up for it, and the sandwich lives up to it. Go before the whole city catches on.
Getting there
The 501 Queen streetcar runs straight through Leslieville. So westerners can leave their cars at home. Pape Station (Line 2) puts you walking distance from the Gerrard Street cluster — Batifole, Wynona, and Maple Leaf Tavern are all in that stretch. Street parking exists but Queen East gets busy on weekends — not advised unless you go off-peak.
Questions answered about eating in Leslieville
Do I need a reservation?
For Pasaj, yes — book two weeks out for weekends. Batifole fills up quickly; call ahead for any evening. La Paella takes phone reservations only after 5 PM. Wynona and Fangio Trattoria are worth booking for dinner. The others are mostly walk-in friendly, though Descendant moves fast on weekend nights.
Is it expensive?
Ranges widely. Eat BKK and Maha’s are very affordable. Eastside Social is mid-range. Descendant and Batifole are on the pricier side but worth it. Nothing on this list will empty your wallet the way downtown locales will.
What’s the best stretch to walk?
Queen Street East between Broadview and Coxwell is the main drag. Okay, that is a fair distance, but you asked. Gerrard Street East between Broadview and Greenwood is quieter and more local — good for an afternoon that starts at Batifole and ends at Wynona.
The final take
Second-best Detroit pizza in the world. A rooftop urban farm above a brewery. A French bistro with 300 wines that barely anyone outside the neighbourhood knows about. A Turkish brunch spot that burned down and came back. The list goes on.
Leslieville doesn’t shout about itself, and that’s part of why it’s still good. Worth the trip from wherever you are in the city.
Leslieville Street Sign By SusanRichards85 – wikicommons, CC0,
You must be logged in to post a comment.