Landlord shuts down buzzy new Toronto restaurant after only 4 months

The much-buzzed-over Toronto venture by a popular Vancouver-based restaurant chain has already shut its doors despite only opening this past summer.

Backed by Freehouse Collective, the team behind Belfast Love, Death and Taxes, the Walrus Pub and a host of other eateries and bars in Toronto and Vancouver, Sing Sing Adelaide seemed too big to fail.

The first Toronto location of a chain founded Vancouver back in 2019, the restaurant and beer bar landed a high-profile spot in the Financial District, taking over a piece of prime real estate on the ground floor of First Canadian Place.

Serving up an eclectic menu designed to satisfy even the most discerning of finance bro palates, at Sing Sing, you could find after-work bites ranging from pho to pizza, beef carpaccio to grilled salmon.

Following the restaurant’s grand opening in June, another win for Sing Sing and its fans; the news quickly dropped that yet another location for the chain was in the works in Toronto, this time taking over a space on Danforth, taking over the space left behind by Atlantis Greek Cuisine.

On Nov. 6, though, just months after the restaurant had opened, the restaurant was shuttered for good, after a notice of lease termination from the buildings landlord appeared in the window of the Adelaide West restaurant.

According to the notice, the restaurant was evicted by its landlord after failure to pay rent, bringing to an end Sing Sings short and sweet run in the Financial District.

The notice posted at Sing Sing. Photo by blogTO.

The closure doesn’t come as quite a large surprise when you dig below the surface, though — it comes in the wake of Freehouse Collective, then named the Donelly Group, filing for creditor protection amid financial troubles a little over a year ago.

At the time, the restaurant group owed approximately $20.6 million in unpaid taxes, rent and accounts payable, resulting in a restructuring that saw eight bars sold off, including Death & Taxes, earlier this year.

It stands to reason, at least judging by the group’s failure to pay rent on the Sing Sing property, that Freehouse’s financial difficulties persist, and that the Adelaide location was simply the latest casualty.

At the time of publication, Freehouse Collective/The Donelly Group has not returned blogTO’s request for comment on the eviction.

Despite the breakneck speed of the closure, though, Paul Done, Sing Sing’s PR representative, confirms to blogTO that Sing Sing’s Danforth location is still very much on the way.

“Work to open the Sing Sing on Danforth is proceeding at full speed and we’re excited to open this new location,” he tells blogTO.

While the precise opening date of the Danforth restaurant has yet to be determined, it was initially slated for fall of 2024, so could be landing on the landscape sooner rather than later.

Sing Sing Danforth will be located at 526 Danforth Avenue.