CafeTO

CafeTO Brings Outdoor Dining to the Streets of Queen West

Last year, Toronto City Council approved and launched the city-wide CafeTO program —a never-seen-before initiative in this city to support restaurants, bars and cafes by providing space for expanded outdoor dining areas on City sidewalks and curblanes, and in private outdoor lots.

This program was popular and critically important to the survival of local bars, restaurants and cafes, and it also supported overall foot traffic and shopping at local retailers and other businesses.

CafeTO transformed the streetscape of Toronto’s mainstreets and Queen Street West was certainly no exception with over 25 participating establishments.

As we usher in CafeTO 2.0 in 2021 with the re-opening of outdoor dining, we’ve asked local Queen West businesses to reflect on the importance of this economic recovery program:

Photo credit: @parkafoodco

“CafeTO has been a blessing for us! As a restaurant without an outdoor patio, it gave us the opportunity to provide a much needed dining experience for our customers and helped to drive more traffic during the warmer months. We are grateful to the City of Toronto for executing the CafeTO program so quickly last year and we look forward to participating again in 2021!” – Eric Chao, Owner/Operator, Parka Food Co., 424 Queen St W, www.parkafoodco.com

Photo credit: Richie Dos Santos Photo credit: @queenmothercafe

“Saku Sushi’s gross sales went down 50% when dine-in was prohibited. When CafeTO was introduced our sales went up by 130% and I was able to hire all my employees back! About a third of my employees depended on this work exclusively as there were no other jobs to be had at this time.” - Suyeon Choi, Operator, Saku Sushi, 478 Queen St W, www. sakutoronto.com

“The CafeTO program was very helpful to the Queen Mother Cafe during the summer months of 2020. The extra seating made up for some of the losses we incurred due to the limited capacity under which we had to operate. In addition, it gave us a more visible presence on the Queen St West frontage. My only complaint is that aesthetically the look was more of a construction zone than an inviting eating venue. If the patios could be made more attractive and appealing they would draw even greater business our way and become more of a win-win-win, for our patrons, for us, and for the city.” – Andre Rosenbaum, Owner, Queen Mother Cafe, 208 Queen St W, www.queenmothercafe.ca

“Last summer and fall, Toronto transformed into a city of patios, allowing people to safely enjoy the brief time we get outside. It was also a lifeline to so many in the hospitality industry. It allowed us to generate revenue and lean less heavily on subsidies, create jobs, and make it this far. Despite its hiccups, Toronto’s CafeTO initiative was a huge success and we all look forward to the months ahead when it comes back. This year, Torontonians need it more than ever to re-engage those “third places” that we miss so much. Not your home. Not your Job. Where you can be free.” - Shamez Amlani, Owner/Operator, Drom Taberna, 458 Queen St W, www.dromtaberna.com