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Welcome to WEST QUEEN WEST!

August 28, 2024
A teal graphic with an illustration of The Theatre Centre with a streetcar passing by. White text reads Welcome to West Queen West - Stay, Explore, Listen, Play, Connect.

We love living in the West Queen West neighbourhood!
Get to know some of our neighbours:

SLEEP AND STAY. 

The Toronto hot spot hotel destination located in the Queen West neighbourhood! At the Drake you can sleep comfortably while simultaneously surrounding yourself with art, culture, and 10/10 hospitality. Since opening their doors in 2004, the Drake has strived to foster a neighbourhood hub. 

Sleep, eat, and ignite your curiosity! 

While at the Drake make sure you also check out the Drake Underground. Known as one of the best venues in Toronto – you’re certain to catch some legendary shows and parties. The venue hosts over 200 artists each year and has events almost every night of the week. 

Learn more here: https://www.thedrake.ca/thedrakehotel/ 

EXPLORE.

One of Toronto’s most beloved parks and meet up spots. Before spending the day exploring Queen West Neighbourhood, why not gather your friends at the Trinity Bellwoods Gates? The iconic gates belonged to the former Trinity College before being restored in 2007. The park is spacious with beautiful cherry blossom trees in the Spring, along with volleyball & tennis courts to keep you active in the Summer. This is the perfect place to spend an afternoon lounging and catching up with pals.

Visit the Trinity Bellwoods Farmers Market! 

Every Tuesday 3pm to 7pm (Rain 🌧️ or Shine ☀️)
May 7 to October 29 

Visit: Queen St West at Strachan Ave

LISTEN.

Established in 2010, Poetry Jazz Cafe on Queen St West is the spot for live music & poetry. If you enjoy Jazz, Blues, Soul, & Rock, they are the hub showcasing the next generation of artists in Toronto and beyond. Poetry Jazz Cafe has featured over 700 groups. Current bands that you can see include:

QNA. BAND 
RE.VERSE 
SHAFTON THOMAS GROUP 
THE CHRIS CHEKAN BAND

Learn more here: https://www.poetryjazzcafe.com/livemusic 

EVENTS.

A historic landmark on West Queen West with four unique spaces. Explore the Great Hall’s beautiful and unique venues:  Main Hall, Conversation Room, Longboat Hall, Drawing Room. In 1889 it became home to Toronto’s West End YMCA and featured a bowling alley, swimming pool, and an elevated circular wooden running track. It then passed through multiple organisations, unions, and companies, establishing itself as a pillar for public speaking and community events.

The Great Hall, which has gone through comprehensive renovations and modernizations, continues to prove itself as a versatile event space to check out a show or rent for your own needs: Corporate, Wedding, Social, Production.

Make sure to check out their restaurant: Astoria in the Great Hall, which is a French-American Bistro & Cocktail bar. 

Learn more here: https://thegreathall.ca/info/

DID YOU KNOW?

Queen Street West is home to Canada’s largest mental health teaching hospital: The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. It’s also one of the world’s leading research centres. CAMH is leading social change with their commitment to setting the standards for care, research, and education. The facility has over 5,000 staff members and offers exceptional care to more than 38,000 patients each year.

“Facing addiction head on.”

Learn more here: https://www.camh.ca/

Scroll down for more WQW recommendations from Stevey & Sofia! ⬇️

Stevey and Sofia smiling into the camera in a selfie outside of The Theatre Centre

Hey Theatre Centre friends!

Stevey here.

I’m the current Outreach Coordinator for The Theatre Centre.

Come along as I spend a Tuesday afternoon with Sofia, our Social Media Coordinator, exploring West Queen West! 

Sofia at the counter in front of many Columbian snacks and goodies

Our day started by fuelling up with some empanadas from Piragua Colombian Specialty Store (893 Queen St W)!
They were the perfect snack to grab and go for our day exploring the community. 

Empanadas in a brown box

We then popped over to Trinity Bellwood’s Farmers Market which takes place every Tuesday from 3-7pm (241-257 Shaw St) between May and October. It was a beautiful sunny hot July day, so we treated ourselves to popsicles from The Pop Stand and admired the gorgeous local sunflowers for sale.

Sunflowers for sale at the Trinity Bellwoods Farmers Market
The Trinity Bellwoods sign that says Open 3-7
The interior of forno cultura that has a curved white ceiling and tables along the windows. There's customers looking at the baked goods.
green beautiful plants inside of a store

Next up it was coffee time! We grabbed some biscotti and iced americanos from Forno Cultura (1056 Queen St W) – they have fresh baked goods, delicious espresso, and the interior is worth the visit in itself.

There are so many amazing shops along West Queen West! We stopped first at Poppies – Flower & Plant Shop (1094 Queen St W) This is the perfect place to grab opening night flowers or a new plant friend for the green thumb in your life.

outside of poppies flower shop on queen where plants and flowers are out on display

We kept walking down Queen and popped into Craft Ontario Shop & Gallery (1106 Queen St W) – a beautiful spot to check out a diverse collection of Ontario artists. You can pick up a cute gift, new piece of work, and view art in their gallery by a local Ontario artist.

Sofia opening the door to Craft Ontario
the interior of Craft Ontario full of beautiful hand made art pieces

We kept walking down Queen and popped into Craft Ontario Shop & Gallery (1106 Queen St W) – a beautiful spot to check out a diverse collection of Ontario artists. You can pick up a cute gift, new piece of work, and view art in their gallery by a local Ontario artist.

Body Care products lining the shelves in the store Helen and Hildegard
stevey opening the door to helen and hildegard's store

Okay – now we were ready to eatso we headed to one of my favourite Thai restaurants in all of Toronto: Lao Thai (4 Gladstone Ave), right across from the gorgeous Gladstone Hotel (1214 Queen St W) Sofia and I treated ourselves to fresh tofu spring rolls, chicken pad thai, and two thai iced teas 😍If you’re looking for a delicious, affordable, quick and easy meal – this is the place to go to! 

Exterior shot of the beautiful brick Gladstone hotel with a bright blue cloudy sky behind it
chicken pad thai on a white plate with green garnish
fresh spring rolls and thai iced teas pictured on a dark brown table
two cocktails "cheersing" outside on the theatre centre rooftop patio

To wrap up our beautiful day exploring West Queen West, we obviously headed to our favourite community hub on the whole street – The Theatre Centre (1115 Queen W.) It was Spritz O’Clock at the cafe/bar, so we treated ourselves to their happy hour $10 spritzes on the rooftop patio. 

Thanks for coming along with us!

Next time you explore West Queen West, make sure to pop by The Theatre Centre and say hello! 

 
 

xoxo, Stevey & Sofia