17 Local Restaurants to Visit

What started as a community initiative has become a tradition here at NVISION. Back in 2020, CEO George sent each team member out with a quest, to go out and support a local business on behalf of NVISION. Since then, our team has shared and connected with over 40 businesses.

“Take care of your local community, and your local community will take care of you.”

Here are the restaurants we had a bite of this year.

Toronto

Shane visited 2 local cafés. The first was Cygnet Coffee, his favourite spot in the city. “The nicest owner, staff, and the best flat white. Lived down the road for my first year in Canada and hit it up every day. Ashamed to even think about how many vegan cookies and slices of chocolate pumpkin loaf I’ve gobbled from there.”

The second café Shane visited was Rustle & Still Cafe. A Vietnamese spot with “great coffee and amazing baked goods.” Shane continues, “So easy to miss if you’re walking but keep your eyes peeled! The picture is of me experiencing my first wind chill of -30 and never wanting to leave this pothos-covered heaven.”

Sylvia went to Sushi Run, a local restaurant that has been satisfying her sushi cravings for years. Even during COVID, Sylvia still would go and get takeout to support the business and enjoy their yummy sushi. “The friendly server Annie would always greet me with “Hi beautiful girl!,” Sylvia shares, “One day, the name of the restaurant changed, and I was so happy when I found out she actually took over ownership!” 

Steve took a trip to Pizza Nova for his shop local. Although it is a franchise, this particular Pizza Nova was the first to open in Canada. He shares that, “ever since, it’s been our local pizza joint. I still take my own family there and my high school friends regularly hold mini-reunions at “the Nova.”

Sam B. shares a hidden gem of North York, Hung Long. Prior to COVID, the restaurant used to be packed. “This place has a wide variety of items but their shredded pork rolls and their noodle dishes are always amazing and with generous portions. Francine and I decided to indulge during some Saturday night football,” says Sam.

Making a stop at Rosie’s, Nicole had a taste of some classic burgers and fries. Iconic, nostalgic, and delicious.

York Region

Rebecca ordered from Sushi Spot in Markham. Her son is learning how to use chopsticks, so it was a fun meal for them. Her family is a big fan of Sashimi as well!

Another Markham spot, Starving Artist, is a waffle brunch restaurant that takes its name seriously. Bowie laments, “I regret not coming here sooner, the food is delicious and the walls are PLASTERED with local art for sale.”

Michael brought home his shop local from El Bocho in Richmondhill. “It’s a great Mexican restaurant/bar that has a ton of character, inside and out. So excited to eat here again! I highly recommend the birria tacos, they are so incredibly flavourful!”

Corey went to Shells BFC for his shop local, he mentions, “they mainly do Burgers & Fried Chicken with their own twist.” This restaurant was highly impacted by COVID having to scale down locations and staff, so Corey was excited to be able to support them.

London

Madison chose to buy cookies from The Cookie Place. It is a local business that sells gourmet cookies you can’t find anywhere else. Her favourite cookie was cookies and cream.

Lisa went to Quynh Nhi, her favourite local Vietnamese restaurant. She has been ordering from them for at least the last 10-15 years. 

Daniel went to Papa Pizza which in fact opened in 1967. The owner, Leo Buragina (Papa), is now 91 years old and still opens and closes the diner! “Leo was the first person to bring Panzarotti’s to the city and he became famous for it,” Dan continues to say, “Leo helped a lot of Italian’s to immigrate to Canada and is well respected in our community.”

Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo

Sam C. made a trip to visit a local gem, Latinoamerica Unida, a family-run, authentic, Mexican restaurant. Sam C. said, “that has the best margs and chimichangas!” 

Marino went to a restaurant called Graffiti Market, which makes amazing Detroit-style pizza. Marino mentions, “they built an amazing place difficult to explain with words, combining great atmosphere and other local products (like coffee, beer) offering to the visitors the best of the region.” 

Hamilton

Mark and his family grabbed local eats from Chef Martin’s Sushi House. Him and his family are huge sushi fans. When it came to shop local, “Chef Martin’s always delivers quality food so there was no question as to which restaurant we were going to support.”

Winnipeg

Joel, dialling in from wonderful Winnipeg went to Pancho and Lefty’s. They have delicious tacos, burritos and much more!

NVISION is proud to be able to give back to our community. A big thanks to George Arabian for giving us all the opportunity to shop local. And we encourage you to do what you can to support local! Check out more places to support in our last round of local recommendations.