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Smith
Categories: Restaurants Canadian (New) Restaurants Breakfast & Brunch Canadian (New), Breakfast & Brunch
553 Church StToronto, ON M4Y 2E2
Neighbourhoods: Church-Wellesley Village, Downtown Core
(416) 926-2501
- Hours:
Tue-Thu 5 pm - 11 pm
Fri 5 pm - 2 am
Sat 11 am - 2 am
Sun 11 am - 4 pm
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- Free
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
- Dogs Allowed:
- No
10 reviews for Smith
10 reviews in English
-
Review from Elif K.
Toronto, ON
5/12/2012
My best friend and I went here for brunch this morning. We got there at about 11:45am and didn't have to wait at all. It's pretty tiny on the first floor, so I was pleasantly surprised we were seated so soon! The servers are all super friendly and casual with us...I love that!
To be honest, I woke up in a great mood this morning and I felt like I was going to love it there, even before we walked in...and I was right!
My best friend is a vegetarian and they were super accomodating for her. I'm the meat eater between us...Even though we both ordered the classic breakfast, mine with extra crispy bacon and sunny side up eggs...hers with roasted tomatoes and a poached egg...we both loved it. The toast that comes with your meal is wonderfully buttery and divine. The roasted potatoes are delicious...and the serving sizes were very generous. All this for just $10.00. That's an amazing deal, fo sho!
We both have a serious addiction to hot sauce...and normally when you ask for it, you get Tobasco sauce...not here! At Smith, they have an entire tray, hot sauce-holder thingy filled with at least 10 different kinds of hot sauces. Needless to say, we were in spicy heaven!
By sheer coincidence, my friend happened to run into her friend who is their brunch chef...she's amazing and was gracious enough to bring out some of their lemon poppyseed scones. OH.MY.GOODNESS! They're baked fresh and served with a homemade creme fresh and homemade raspberry rhubarb jam. Wowza, they're GOOD! Do yourself a favor, and order these. You can thank me later. :)
The only reason why I'm giving them 4 stars out of 5 is because we kept having to ask for more coffee. And really, that's not a big deal at all.
If you happen to use the washroom upstairs...you're gonna love it. It's quite unique and actually fun to use too! :)
Happy Brunching! -
Review from Steven C.
5/12/2012
Reccomended by my brother with the following "great food!.. make sure you try the scones, trust me just go" so we did, it was a windy and cold spring day in toronto, and the minute we walked into Smith we felt warmth and cozziness -
Decore:
The decore was great with a vast array of of vintage plates and cuttlery that the owner has collected over the years.
What we ate:
We started with an order of the scones - just one look at them we decided to order more!.. they were warm, flufy, fruity and wonderful.
We were 6 people - we have the Huevos Rancheros (a breakfast fiesta in your mouth), french toast (what was supposed to be 'dessert' was devoured instantly). bendict and baked kale salad. -
Review from Tong J.
Loved the vibe, homey and eclectic however the food was a disappointment.
Always looking for a good brunch alternative since Fabarnak is closed on Sundays, sadly. When we arrived at Smith, the place was extremely busy on the first floor. Luckily, there were several available tables on the second floor. The initial impression I had of the service was impersonal and a tad disorganized.
We ordered one of the most popular items on the menu, Huevos Ranchero. Taste wise, it was a decent dish. Guacamole and salsa were flavorful. Not sure what happened to poached eggs and potatoes on our plates, both were cold.
Maybe they were having an off day, based on previous Yelp reviews. We'll give them a second try. -
Review from Alice T.
4/16/2012 1 Check-in Here
Smith caught my eye a little while back, cute house on Church with a newspaper box out front with it's menus printed on newsprint.
We went for brunch and it was really enjoyable.
I love that they have set items on their menu that they make slightly different each day or maybe week? Makes me want to go back to see what they have next time. :)
For example, their scones that day were cinnamon cranberry scones with candied pecans and a pear and amaretto jam. The pecans were by far my favourite part because they were still crunchy and flavourful which suggested they toasted them before mixing them into the scones batter. Gotta love that attention to detail.
I had the Smith Benedict which was peameal bacon, poached eggs and a leek fondue. It was good but not at the level of the scones or the potatoes...
And while the Benny may change I hope they never change their potatoes because they were amazing. I'm pretty sure they boil them first and then deep fry or roast them at a high temperature because they were light and fluffy on the inside and very crispy and caramelized on the outside with a hint of thyme. Delicious!
We sat upstairs which was really cute but I was right beside a staircase up to another level which meant I did have to move a few times to let people through.
There were two large tables beside us and it looked like a great setup for a large group for brunch.
All in all a great experience and one of the nicer brunches I've had in the city. -
Review from Jon O.
3/11/2012 1 Check-in Here
After walking past Smith repeatedly and curious about the newspaper-style menu in a classic newspaper box outside I finally stopped in for brunch with a few friends.
The first think you'll notice about Smith will be the décor. Original, funky, and interesting. We sat at the 6-person table by the window, which was next to an actual boat anchor hanging from the high ceilings. Throw in some modern art, a black/white/grey colour scheme, and unisex bathrooms with one long sink that uses water fountain spouts and a foot petal to turn them on and you have a unique dining experience.
I ordered the huevos rancheros, as recommended by other Yelpers, and I wasn't disappointed. I especially liked the authentic tostada. One poached egg was a little runny (the way I like it) and the other was cooked a little longer and not runny at all - not sure if that was a mistake or by design. The hash browns were light and fluffy, but not soggy at all. The texture was great, but I could have used a little more flavour from the spice rack.
My dining companions ordered the eggs benedict, the coddled eggs, and the Smith breakfast with peameal bacon. Note that the peameal is more like a slab of ham than bacon. Everyone seemed pretty satisfied, although the coddled eggs apparently could have used a little more punch.
Moral of the story: you won't be wowed by bold flavours, but everything is cooked well and with an eye on detail, as you would expect based on the restaurant's design. -
Review from Natalie T.
East York, ON
3/3/2012
My Brunch review.
VIBE
Smith used to the old "Straight" bar owned by the same owners as Wish and 7 West. The owners definitely know their design and it's one reason why I love coming to their establishments. Really funky lighting decals, splashed mirrors and white wooden floors. It's just a cool place. Never thought I'd be listening to dance music during my brunch. It was actually a nice surprise!
Service is friendly but you almost wonder if they're listening to your conversations. But all in all, they were fine.
That's another thing: I was so close to the other diners that it didn't feel like I could have a private conversation.
WE ATE
Scones and Eggs Benny for us.
The scones were delicious! They had anise in them which gave it a liquorice taste. It was different. The creme fraiche was fantastic. Yum!
We were told Eggs Benny and Huevos Rancheros were the most popular items on the brunch menu. I'm wishing I got the Huevos.
The eggs benny was no more than a a thick slice of ham on an english muffin with the goopiest sauce (perhaps it was hollandaise because it didn't look like it!) splattered on top. It looked messy and gross and I didn't finish it.
The side potatoes were great.
Our neighbours had the waffles/pancakes and they looked fantastic. Definitely a generous portion there.
But the Eggs Benny crown remains at Easy.
OBLIGATORY CATCHY REMARK
Ordinary sounding name but not ordinary looking digs.
Don't get the eggs benny. Do get the scones. -
Review from Joanne W.
I joked with one of the management that I was going to be the second person to write a review for Smith on Yelp. And I guess I'm going to be that person ;)
My two girl friends and I came here today for brunch (Saturday at 12 PM). We were debating between here and Fabarnak -- but we had decided to go to Smith instead since it was new. We heard about this place due to BlogTO's "Top brunch places" article that came out a week ago. Apparently this restaurant had opened up about 2.5 months ago, and business was quite slow back then. However, since that article came out, business has been booming like mad for them (management told us that they were packed the next day).
Decor is great. Simplistic with a touch of traditional look to it. Not too haughty-taughty. I absolutely loved the mirrors that they had upstairs, mixed in with the fireplace that they had underneath it.
The downstairs area of the restaurant was packed full - however, we were lucky that they decided to open the upstairs for us. It was nice, because it felt like we were VIPs. We sat at a communal table -- we later had three ladies sitting next to us - and it wasn't awkward at all.
My friends and I had ordered the following:
1) Buttermilk scones (with blue cheese, and pear amaretto compote): Absolutely delicious - the special was with blue cheese. I'm usually not the biggest fan of scones or blue cheese, but it was paired quite well with the pear amaretto compote. Definite recommend!
2) Huevos rancheros: According to Foursquare, somebody had recommended this place - so I ordered it myself. I've only had huevos rancheros somewhere else before, and that was at O&B at Bayview. I really liked Smith's Huevos rancheros better -- much more flavourful. The potatoes served with it as well were delicious -- not too salty and quite flavourful.
- Friends had ordered the french toast and the eggs benedict (friend had changed it to a florentine because she's vegetarian). No complaints from them.
The food was REALLY good here, and I was quite satisfied afterward. (Also - free refills on coffee).
Our server was great (apparently he was management or something and was called in early that day at 9). There were a few things he forgot/missed (e.g. asking the chefs if we could do eggs florentine instead of benedict, pepper, etc.). However, he was technically supposed to work that day and doesn't usually serve food and what not - so I can write that off. Despite that, he was quite friendly and joked with us the whole time. Not only that, we were there for QUITE some time (about 2 hours), and they were really friendly about that as well.
Oh also - did I mention that the music here is absolutely amazing?!
I would definitely recommend this place for brunch!Listed in: I love brunch (& breakfast).
-
Review from Lynn C.
1/22/2012
Went to the nearby Farbarnak for dinner and it was completely booked and could not seat us, so I went on Yelp to look for another restaurant. Only two reviews but both five stars, must have potential.
The place is small and the ambiance is very romantic. Not what we were expecting. And as romantic as it was, the lighting was waaaay too dark, and we had trouble reading the menu and we could not see what we were eating at all. We were seated upstairs because it was full downstairs.
The menu is written on newsprint and it opens up to be gigantic, with 4 folds, which made it hard to navigate.
The prices were surprisingly high. Each entree ranged from $20 to $30 with the average being $27. The bread costs money. $3. Seriously?
The service was a bit pretentious. Our server appeared to be polite but kept pushing us to order more food and we felt like we were being pushed out because we didn't want desserts or more drinks.
The food was more than good, which made the place at least 3-stars.
We ordered:
- mill st. organic
- the minimalist cocktail: Great drink and not too sweet
- top sirloin: the steak itself was too hard and jerky, but the mushrooms and mash potatoes were phenomenal.
- morroccan chicken: we actually had real pieces of chicken--drumstick and everything. The chicken was tender and juicy, but the flavour was only on the skin. The coucous, and I cant tell what is in the couscous (i think i tasted apricot and olives, and yellow squash, among other things) because I cannot see what's in my plate, was really good.
The above was over $70 before tax.
Perhaps I'd come back for brunch and see what the hype is about, but I likely would not come back for dinner. -
Review from Zainab K.
Toronto, ON
1/29/2012
Not bad at all! Nice addition to neighborhood!
LOVE LOVE the decor and ambiance - especially if you sit near the windows. Nice brunch music.
Great services. Food was was pretty good too! :) -
Review from Joseph K.
Toronto, ON
9/14/2011
Love this new place. It has become my favorite restaurant in the village. Tasty, affordable and great atmosphere.
