Toronto's August 2026 Openings: A Steakhouse, an All-Day Brunch Room and a Market Taqueria

August is usually the quiet stretch of Toronto's restaurant calendar — patios are full, kitchens are short-staffed, and most operators wait for September. Not this year. Three of the month's higher-profile arrivals landed within a week of each other, and they could hardly be more different: a deliberately silly steakhouse on King West, an all-day brunch room on St. Clair West, and a Mexican market counter tucked into the lower level of St. Lawrence Market. Here's how they compare, and which one actually suits the night (or morning) you're planning.

Sonny Can't Dance: the big-swing steakhouse

The most talked-about of the three is Sonny Can't Dance, which opened Thursday, Aug. 13 at 788 King St. W. It comes from Municipal Goods, the hospitality group behind Paris Texas, Whitestone Ranch and Small Talk Jazz, and it takes over the former Pizza Wine Disco space.

Calling it a steakhouse undersells how odd the menu is. There is Ontario beef and Japanese Wagyu A5, which is the part that reads conventional, but the kitchen also sends out sushi, oysters, pasta, pizza and a prime beef burger. The room is retro and colourful rather than clubby and dim, which is a clear signal about the intended mood. The gimmick that has generated the most attention is a weekly Wednesday dice roll where a diner can win their entire bill for a dollar.

Who it's for: groups who want a steakhouse budget experience without steakhouse solemnity, and anyone who has already done the King West circuit and wants the newest room on the strip.

Solena Brunch & Bar: the daytime option

Solena Brunch & Bar held its official grand opening on Wednesday, Aug. 19 at 1224 St. Clair Ave. W., in Corso Italia. The format is all-day brunch — the room runs daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. — paired with illy coffee, signature cocktails and opening-day offers.

The design leans Mediterranean: teal seating, warm wood finishes and botanical murals. That matters more than it sounds, because Corso Italia's dining scene skews toward long-standing Italian cafés and bakeries, and a purpose-built brunch room with a cocktail list is a genuinely different proposition for the strip.

Who it's for: weekend brunch with people who want to linger, or a mid-week working breakfast west of the downtown core. The 3 p.m. close means it is not a dinner plan.

Tecolote Market: the market counter

The third arrival is the quietest and, for regular downtown eaters, possibly the most useful. Chef Elia Herrera — a third-generation Mexican chef and restaurateur — opened Tecolote Market on the lower level of the South Market at 91 Front St. E., inside St. Lawrence Market.

Tecolote is not new to Toronto: Herrera and her sister Marlene launched it at Kitchen Hub inside Longo's Liberty Village in 2022 as a pickup-and-delivery operation, then opened at Chefs Hall on Richmond St. W. in 2024. The St. Lawrence Market location is the fullest expression of it so far, combining a market concept with fast-casual cooking. The menu centres on fresh corn tortillas made using traditional nixtamalization, along with cod-battered Baja burritos, tacos and chicken enchiladas.

Who it's for: lunch, weekday errands, or anyone who has walked through the South Market a hundred times and wants a reason to go downstairs.

How to choose

Start with the clock. Solena closes at 3 p.m. and Tecolote runs on market hours, so both are daytime decisions; Sonny Can't Dance is the only one of the three built for a night out. If you are choosing between the two daytime options, the split is between a sit-down room with cocktails and table service (Solena) and a counter you eat at quickly or take with you (Tecolote).

Then consider geography. These three are not close together. King West, St. Clair West and the St. Lawrence Market district are separate trips, and trying to pair two of them in a day means committing to transit time rather than a stroll.

Finally, adjust for opening-week reality. All three of these rooms opened in the same month, which means menus, hours and service pacing are still settling. Calling ahead — or checking the venue's own channels the day of — is worth the two minutes, particularly for a Wednesday visit to Sonny Can't Dance, where the dice-roll promotion drives volume. If you want the calmest version of any of them, go in three or four weeks, mid-week, early.