Toronto is home to some stellar dining spots scattered around the city, with local gems emphasizing the character of each neighborhood. Among the city’s most iconic areas is Harbourfront, a laid-back district on the shores of Lake Ontario where families, locals, and visitors flock to waterfront trails, lively cafés, and art galleries. Known for its popular ferry leading to Toronto Island’s beaches and its Harbourfront Centre, this must-visit destination boasts some top-notch hotspots serving local and global cuisine, from the tastes of the Mediterranean to the complex flavors of India. For an intimate date night, a lively brunch with a group or a family-friendly gathering, the best Harbourfront restaurants in Toronto await.
Feast on creative pizza and hearty pasta on a lovely streetside patio near the CN Tower or wow a special someone with a MICHELIN-starred dinner with spectacular waterfront views. Gulp down a cold glass of Moosehead beer with a nasi goreng, order a poutine with chipotle chicken from a waterfront patio on Lake Ontario and embrace the Japanese pub experience with a luxurious lobster roll as you enjoy the variety and quality of Toronto’s Harbourfront cuisine.
There are plenty of warm and welcoming lakeside spots, so read on for a guide to the best Harbourfront restaurants in Toronto to book right now on OpenTable.
The best Harbourfront restaurants in Toronto – read on for a guide
For a pizza party with family and friends – visit Taverna Mercatto in Harbourfront
This urbane Italian hotspot serves up piping fresh fare near the Rogers Center and the CN Tower. With an invigorating menu created under the guidance of chef Doug Neigel, Taverna Mercatto hits all the right notes for the perfect symphony of ambience and flavour. As you walk up to Taverna Mercatto, you’ll see a front-facing patio covered by opaque glass, allowing diners to enjoy their meal outdoors come rain or shine. Step into a slick, modern dining room with an open kitchen where curious diners can watch the magic happen. Creative pizza concoctions offer adventurous diners novel choices like the boscaiola with wild boar sausage, while those with a more traditional appetite might try the marinara pizza with garlic and oregano. All pizzas are made with California-grown organic tomatoes, and a gluten-free crust is available upon request. Seafood fans can have the arctic char with roasted cauliflower, and when carbs are calling your name try the squash agnolotti with almonds, spinach, and fennel purée. Complete the meal with a good night Irene cocktail with bearface whisky, or a nonna’s affogato with vanilla gelato and espresso. Tiramisu or flourless chocolate cake are two of many indulgent desserts. With a stellar location, outstanding Italian cuisine, and an inviting ambience, Taverna Mercatto is one of the best Harbourfront restaurants in Toronto for a memorable pizza party with family and friends.
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For one of the best Harbourfront restaurants in Toronto for French cuisine – go to The Rosebud in Harbourfront
Serving up a weekly French menu, The Rosebud Harbourfront offers a dining experience that’s perfect when you want an intimate meal to impress your favourite foodie. Start with a shareable cheese and charcuterie board with Bayonne ham and toasted sourdough. The hot smoked trout with pear and dill is to die for, while the beef cheek offers a new culinary experience with hen of the woods mushrooms, truffles, and gnocchi. For a fresh seafood delicacy try the black cod with fingerling potatoes and mussels. Embrace French desserts with a chocolate mousse whipped to perfection. The wine list is kept to a few top choices and rotates regularly. Sit by the counter to watch the skilful chefs prepare your meal up close.
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For a brewhouse patio on top of Lake Ontario – pop by Amsterdam Brewhouse & Restaurant in Harbourfront
This stellar brewhouse doesn’t just serve up tasty food, it also hosts four waterfront patios facing the islands in the Toronto harbour, making it the ideal setting for a Spring outing. Amsterdam Brewhouse & Restaurant specializes in craft beer and phenomenal food in a massive 14,000 square foot dining room directly on the cool waters of Lake Ontario. Offering the perfect beer accompaniment, the Amsterdam good big wheel pretzel is served with mustard and a caramel reduction for dipping. If you’re feeling hungry, grab the smokehouse burger with bacon and an onion ring over a custom ground blend of local beef. Wash it down with a space invader craft beer. If you’re in a more plant-based frame of mind, try the waterfront power bowl with marinated beets, avocado, and kale under a yuzu citrus vinaigrette. Don’t miss the boneshaker brisket mac and cheese with 12 hour smoked brisket, best paired with a cool glass of boneshaker beer. Wood oven pizza with southwest smoked chicken or classic toppings like pepperoni hits another home run. Complete the experience with a slice of New York cheesecake under a salted caramel wort reduction.
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For a MICHELIN-starred meal at one of the best waterfront restaurants in Toronto – don’t miss Don Alfonso 1890 in Harbourfront
With a panoramic view of the Toronto harbour, this MICHELIN-starred marvel is everything you’d expect and more from one of the world’s best contemporary Italian restaurants. Featuring the flavours of the Amalfi coast, Don Alfonso 1890 invites you to a memorable meal from the 38th floor of the Harbour Westin hotel, overlooking Lake Ontario. The perfect spot to enjoy a summer day. Diners can choose between a signature tasting menu and an à la carte menu. Incredible dishes are yours to discover, like the ravioli stuffed with west coast crab, or the anguilla wild rose scented tagliatelle with eel gelato and pulverized egg yolk. Try tender organic Manitoba bison tenderloin with seared organic vegetables, while seafood lovers can have the Nova Scotia lobster with trout roe and mixed Ontario mushrooms. With 745 wine labels and counting, a wide range of regions are represented by biodynamic and organic wines.
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For one of the best Indian restaurants near Harbourfront – visit Barkat on Queen West
Serving up rich Indian cuisine near Harbourfront, this South Asian treasure incorporates hand ground spices and traditional methods to create something new and impressive. With an extensive menu of carefully crafted dishes from one of the world’s great cuisines, Barkat is a top-tier choice for an unbeatable South Asian dining experience. If you’re stopping by for brunch, try the chicken masala benny or the masala omelette with masala fries. Popular menu choices for lunch and dinner are the aloo tikki sliders appetizer with potato patty and in-house aioli on a brioche bun, or the tofu tikka masala with coconut. The smoked butter chicken is an epic experience in complex flavour melodies with makhani sauce and fenugreek powder. A rasmalai saffron milk reduction with green cardamom is the perfect treat to enjoy for dessert, and be sure to cool off with a smooth mango lassi.
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For one of the best waterfront restaurants in Toronto with an eclectic menu – check out Irene in Harbourfront
Hosting a stunning waterfront patio and a dining room with multi-storey floor-to-ceiling windows, this Harbourfront spot shares a varied menu inspired by the best of everything from around the globe. Irene is one of the best restaurants in Toronto’s Harbourfront area for top-notch food and scenic views. There’s the kimchi steak tartare with pickled vegetable salad and a sous vide miso egg, the signature salad with goat cheese and candied seeds and the special Irene smash cheeseburger with two three-ounce prime chuck patties on a brioche bun. Order the nasi goreng for Indonesian sweet and savoury rice with coconut and fried egg, and finish on a sweet note with the espresso crème brûlée. New Brunswick’s own Mossehead lager is the perfect patio beer, or try the crystal chai delight with vodka and pineapple juice. Kids are not forgotten with a special menu including challah grilled cheese or popcorn chicken. For incredible international cuisine on Toronto’s vibrant waterfront, Irene awaits.
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For one of the best Harbourfront restaurants in Toronto for classic Canadian fare – try The Goodman Pub and Kitchen in Harbourfront
With a sunny patio overlooking the lake, and a menu of Canadian favourites made with quality ingredients, this Harbourfront hotspot is dazzling diners with stellar food and an incredible location. The Goodman Pub and Kitchen offers panoramic views of the lake and heated patio cabanas for outdoor dining in changing weather. The rustic indoor dining room has side panels opening to the street, allowing fresh lake air to flow through as abundant sunlight illuminates the experience. With 24 beers on tap and another 20 in bottles, connoisseurs will be right at home as they sip a cold one over crispy blue Lake Ontario. Pop a piece of buffalo cauliflower bites in a dill ranch drizzle, or order the poutine with sous vide brisket or chipotle chicken. The house-designed Goodman bowl offers plant-based diners a wholesome feast, while the homemade meatloaf from fresh Ontario beef and pork is kissed with a hint of brown sugar. Meat lovers should try the 72-hour sous vide beef brisket for an experience in tenderness. Cap it off with a slice of chocolate cake with fudge icing for an indulgent delight you surely deserve, and try a non-alcoholic drink like the strawberry lemon mojito.
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For stone-oven pizza and stunning waterfront views – stop by Pie Bar Pizzeria in Harbourfront
With incredible Lake Ontario views and stone-fired pizza that hits all the right notes, this Harbourfront spot serves up Italian favourites right on the lake. Pie Bar Pizzeria takes inspiration from the Italian countryside to create magnificent meals. Try the gnocco fritto starter with confit garlic butter and shaved parmesan, or appreciate freshness with the roasted beet and goat cheese salad with walnuts and reduced balsamic. Pizza is the star of the show at Pie Bar, cooked to perfection in a stone-fired oven. Creative pizza options include the pesto margherita, the Angry Bee with calabrese salami, jalapeno and honey, and the Godfather with double smoked wild boar bacon and dry cured pepperoni. For pasta lovers, don’t miss the lamb bolognese handmade pasta with goat cheese and mint. Sip on a non-alcoholic non-peach berry belli, or have the sandbagger hard lemon seltzer for an alcoholic kick as you treat yourself to a slice of lemon mascarpone sponge cake. Perfect for groups, dates, and families, Pie Bar Pizzeria awaits.
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For one of the best Harbourfront restaurants in Toronto for Japanese tapas – go to KINKA IZAKAYA HARBOURFRONT in Harbourfront
Offering the izakaya pub experience to discerning diners in Toronto since 2009, this gem serves delightful Japanese cuisine in a sun-soaked dining room. With a menu full of interesting and tasty creations, KINKA IZAKAYA HARBOURFRONT belongs with the best Harbourfront restaurants in Toronto. Try the truffle Tokyo fries with truffle sauce as you sip on an iced oolong tea under soaring windows. Order the chef’s sashimi sampler to experience 16 pieces of the best sashimi of the day. Lobster tempura and avocado meet prawn in the lobster rolls, and the kinoko cheese bibimbap is a stone rice bowl with tempered egg yolk and parmesan cheese. Drink the utopia cocktail with jasmine gin and amaretto, or order a glass of Japan’s Sapporo beer on tap.
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For a special occasion – visit bosk at Shangri-La Toronto in Harbourfront
With a contemporary Canadian menu made from fine local ingredients, this elegant spot in the Shangri-La hotel offers wholesome and delightful cuisine to the Harbourfront district. bosk at Shangri-La Toronto is a culinary experience from start to finish. Try the squash fritti featuring kabocha squash from Cookstown farms with honey and spiced almond, and the stellar spelt flour pasta with pecorino espuma in lemon butter sauce. Quebec veal shank with bone marrow polenta is a tender and juicy experience, while the Ontario rainbow trout with pistachio gel is an amazing take on the popular local fish. Complete the experience with the b-wall honey cake with Norfolk fruit growers apple compote and vanilla semifreddo. bosk at Shangri-La Toronto boasts a luxurious outdoor patio with table-centre gas fires and plush seating looking out to the street, so you can enjoy it the whole year. With warm pine tones and floor-to-ceiling windows, the dining room is bright and perfect for business meetings, dates, or upscale get-togethers with friends.
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Toronto’s Harbourfront district hosts a diverse array of acclaimed eateries offering amazing meals for every personality and preference. Sip on a cool craft beer over the lake with a big wheel pretzel, or experiment with French cuisine and try beef cheek with truffles. Appreciate quality and hand ground spices in an unbeatable smoked butter chicken on Queen west. Pop by a waterfront stone-oven pizzeria offering an angry bee pizza topped with honey and salami, or check out an upscale Canadian spot that serves tender Quebec milk-fed veal. With some of the world’s top restaurants, and a buzzy downtown area frequented by tourists and locals alike, the best Harbourfront restaurants in Toronto await your reservation.
