The 38 Essential Toronto Restaurants

"Since 2009, this restaurant with a fast-casual counter has sent a couple thousand famed Portuguese chickens out the door each week. Owned by Carlos Martins and managed by his three sons, including Le Cordon Bleu graduate chef Steven Martins, this spot has all the markers of a family-owned restaurant operation. The family takes care to source ingredients directly from Portugal (such as fresh fish and seafood), and Papa Carlos makes the rounds glad-handing and toasting with guests like a local celebrity. While the sit-down restaurant offers old-world charm, head to the counter side, where 20 hot trays are ever in action. In addition to the butterflied Portuguese chicken with requisite piri piri sauce (a secret family recipe), there are also creamy potato spheres, whole grilled sea bass, creamed cod, veal cutlet, and the coveted suckling pig with crackly, wafer-thin skin that blankets lasagna-like layers of fat and flesh." - Tiffany Leigh