ARTS & CULTURE
14 Obiter Dicta
Jurisfoodence: In Search of Toronto’s Best Brunch
Food Adventure #3 – Easy Restaurant
kate henley › staff writer
Easy Restaurant
1645 Queen St. West / 713 College St. West
A
fter my disappointing experience at
Aunties and Uncles, I was hoping that this
week’s brunch adventure would boost my
confidence in the Toronto brunch scene.
I chose Easy Restaurant, as it is another spot with a
great reputation and has a location on College Street,
a stone’s throw from my apartment. Unfortunately,
this may have been my first mistake, as I have since
heard that the original location on Queen West is
much better than the new one. Nonetheless, I found
that, generally, Easy Restaurant had the opposite
problem of Aunties and Uncles: the service was good,
but the food was lacking.
Brunch Hours
Easy Restaurant is open 9:00-5:00 seven days a
week, with a single menu that serves both breakfast
and lunch.
Wait Time/Service
Despite its reputation, when my brunch companion
(BC) and I arrived at Easy there were only two tables
filled in the entire restaurant. Perhaps this should
have tipped us off about the food, but we chose to
attribute it to the time of day that we arrived at the
restaurant (a Wednesday afternoon), especially
considering the disclaimer on the menu regarding
wait times on weekends. While this could be solely
because the restaurant was dead, our server was very
friendly and attentive, and our food came within a
reasonable time frame.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere at Easy is relatively laid back: the
restaurant’s walls are covered in posters from old
movies, including Easy Rider (which I have to assume
has something to do with the name of the restaurant
– can anyone confirm/refute this?) While we were
eating, Cheech and Chong’s Up in Smoke was playing silently on a big screen, while classic Motown and
rock music from the 1960s poured out of the speakers. Though I was into this scene, my BC felt that the
atmosphere was forced and noted that it was strange
that the posters weren’t the actual posters from the
movies, just stills with the movie’s title.
Considering there was no one in the restaurant, it
is hard to say whether it provides an atmosphere for a
private conversation or a loud gathering with friends.
However, I will say that it is suitable for all ages, so
you can bring your parents or your children (there’s
even a kid’s menu) and all will be happy.
Coffee
Of the places that I have tried so far, the coffee at Easy
is ea