7 of the best restaurants in Toronto that locals (me) like to gatekeep

I'm exhausted by people constantly hopping online to tell me about the newest hidden-gem restaurant they discovered in Toronto , only for it to be the same restaurant I've already seen 14 times on my For You Page.

I love Toronto's restaurant scene, and I'm always looking for somewhere new to eat, but sometimes it feels like our definition of a hidden gem has become "a very popular restaurant that opened six months ago." For me, t he best restaurants in Toronto are the places I almost feel like I found by accident.

I'm talking about restaurants tucked into the back of grocery stores, hidden inside industrial plazas, operating out of church basements or sitting in neighbourhoods I probably wasn't already heading to for Saturday brunch.

There's something about having to actually look for a restaurant that makes finding it so much more satisfying.

Maybe it's the Toronto equivalent of a scavenger hunt, but some of my favourite places to recommend are the ones where giving someone the name isn't enough; you also have to explain how to find it.

And those are the restaurants I'm most tempted to gatekeep.

My criteria are simple: the food has to be genuinely delicious, and the restaurant should be at least a little difficult to find.

I'm not looking for trendy, bougie, vibey or aesthetically pleasing.

I want interesting food made by people who care.

So, against my better judgment, here are seven Toronto spots I almost don't want to tell you about. #1.

Bodega Henriette See on Instagram Price: 💸💸 Cuisine: Brunch Address: 1801 Gerrard St E, Toronto, ON Why You Need To Go: Breakfast in Toronto is a fight to the death.

Half of the places I actually want to eat at don't take reservations, and I'm sorry, but in a city like Toronto, how am I supposed to turn down a Saturday night out just so I can wake up early enough to beat the Sunday brunch rush? It's why I have a particular appreciation for neighbourhood breakfast spots like Bodega Henriette.

The small independent restaurant and café is already a bit of a journey for me to get to, tucked away in the east-end Beach Hill neighbourhood, but it has exactly the kind of breakfast menu that makes me willing to travel across the city.

Instead of another eggs-Benedict-and-avocado-toast situation, the menu takes familiar breakfast foods and makes them far more interesting.