It’s a common feeling in Toronto right now: the city is changing so fast that even the places we thought were permanent are starting to disappear. The issue isn’t that people have stopped eating out or that the quality of the food has declined. It’s just that the city around these restaurants is becoming a place they can no longer afford to stay in.
Take for instance The Mandarin at Yonge and Eglinton. Even if you’ve never been, you know exactly where it is. For 35 years, it was the go-to spot for everything from graduations to holiday parties and big family birthdays. But on Jan. 18, it’s closing for good. And it isn’t closing because people stopped coming; it’s closing because the entire block is being redeveloped. We tend to brush off buffets as a relic of the past, but they were one of the few places left for a loud, unabashed community to actually gather.
Out in Scarborough, Lucky Lin’s is facing the same thing. They’ve been a neighbourhood staple since 1991, and their Caribbean-style fried rice is the best in the city. They are closing their Finch Avenue doors on Jan. 13, not because they’re struggling, but because the landlord won’t renew the lease. They’re hoping to reopen near Kingston and Sheppard in February, but it’s a reminder that even if you have a loyal following, you’re still at the mercy of property values.
Then there’s MIMI Chinese on Davenport. It’s the high-end, Michelin-recognized version of the story. They just hit “pause” on Jan. 4 to figure out a rebrand. This is the new reality for 2026: even the trendy, successful spots have to “relaunch” or “pivot” just to keep up with the rising costs of staying open in this city.
Toronto isn’t going to run out of Chinese food anytime soon. Places like Sunnys, DaiLo and Hong Shing are still packed. But the kind of places we’re losing actually matters. It’s the corner spots where they know your name and the massive halls that could hold a whole family tree. We’re losing the stalwarts of our neighbourhoods, and the city is going to feel a lot more hollow without them.
