The house sits in the middle of a box formed by four main streets so it’s peaceful and quiet yet only a 5 minute walk to Bloor/Danforth and Spadina/University subway lines as well as the Spadina LRT to the ferry docks. The Royal Ontario Museum, Art Gallery of Ontario, Yorkville, Chinatown, and little Italy are all about a fifteen minute walk. I think it’s the most convenient neighborhood in Toronto. Bloor Street near Brunswick has a number of restaurants and cafes with outdoor patios, a movie theatre, hardware, dry cleaner, stationary, framers, flowers, beer, and TWO 24 hour grocery stores amongst others. Harbord street to the south has recently been described by a food writer as the best strip of restaurants this side of Manhattan. Top it off with a bakery and a garage/repair shop. Being close to the University of Toronto means lots of good bookstores as well as a lively street life.
If you want fine shopping there’s Bloor and Bay fifteen minutes to the east featuring Cartier, Tiffany’s, Holt Renfrew, Harry Rosen, Roots, etc. Walking to bay along Bloor you pass the Bata Shoe Museum, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Varsity Stadium, Royal Conservatory of Music, and the Royal Ontario Museum at Avenue Road, the eastern limit of the Annex.
The Annex was created when the area north of Bloor Street between Avenue Road and Bathurst Street up to Dupont was annexed to the city of Toronto around the beginning of the 20th century. Because most of it was laid out for development at that time, more or less before the automobile, the lots were fairly narrow creating a population density sufficient to support a vibrant commercial centre along Bloor Street. And it’s still that way making it one of the easiest places to live without a car as most everything is within walking distance. Walk up to Bloor Street from my place and you find the Future Bakery on the corner, a European style cafe and a great spot to have breakfast, lunch, dinner or drinks! And don’t forget the CAKES! It’s a casual place with a patio where everyone from students to seniors likes to gather with no pressure. The Brunswick House Tavern is across the road (and has been since 1876) serving food and drinks and entertainment on weekends. A couple of doors away finds the Mount Everest restaurant with excellent Nepalese/North Indian cuisine. Right next door Thai Basil has award winning Thai food with an inviting atmosphere. There’s more sushi places on Bloor than you can shake a (chop) stick at! My favorites are Sushi on Bloor which unfortunately often has lineups, and Mariko for a great lunch special. Another place worthy of mention is Ginger’s (Vietnameese) where my favorite is #46 Fish with ginger/lime sauce, mango salad and rice. Country style is the last of the many Hungarian restaurants that defined Bloor street in the 60’s and 70’s when refugees from the 1956 Hungarian revolution settled and brought their Schnitzels and Goulash to a generation of hungry students. Kilgour’s Bar Meets Grill is popular with locals for after work drinks and dinner and has pretty well all the hockey games available at any one time. They provide a gathering place for the many Habs (Montreal) fans in Toronto and things can get exciting when the Habs play the Leafs! The James Joyce Tavern has Guiness on tap, as well as lots of other choices, music every night and pool tables in the back. There are a couple of places with Middle Eastern food, my favourite being Gazhal next to the Bloor Cinema which never seems to close! The Bloor Cinema is a great asset to the neighbourhood and is one of the last remaining large theatres which still has it’s balcony. They show an interesting mix of second run, classic and cult films as well as hosting screenings for the Toronto International Film Festival and others. A new addition to the mix is The Annex Live a fine dining establishment of cool marble and white leather recently built out of the old Poor Alex Theatre and featuring different levels giving excellent views of the stage where live jazz is featured on weekends. Lees Palace has the latest music from local and touring bands and is booked by the House of Blues. Mel’s Delicatessan serves Montreal smoked meat with eggs 24 hours a day and they have a patio.
There are still more bars and restaurants along here as well as Hardware, Flower, Stationary, Clothing, Travel, Video+game, Picture framer, Drug, Book and news, Beer, TWO 24 hour food stores and a 24 hour Kinko’s copy shop. Harbord Street one block south has been described in a local arts magazine as the best strip of restaurants this side of Manhattan. Splendido has everything including gourmet wine and food tastings in their wine cellar room. 93 Harbord has fine Tunisian style cuisine. Harbord Room is open till 2 and has a late night industry following. Messis sits where Poretta’s once reigned over the street, and new arrival Tati (Italian) rounds things out along with Harbord House, Momo (middle eastern) and Boulevard Cafe (Peruvian).
