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May 6, 2025
Canada’s 100 Best 2025: Key Takeaways from the Top 5
The much-anticipated 2025 edition of Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants has just been released, showcasing not only the finest in culinary artistry but also highlighting some of the most forward-thinking approaches to hospitality in the country. While these restaurants serve upscale food, the lessons they offer are universal — especially for those running full-service restaurants looking to elevate their brand, improve operations, or evolve their guest experience. This year’s top five aren’t just serving great meals — they’re shaping consumer expectations around experience, value, and storytelling. Here's a closer look at what they're doing right and how these insights can be applied across the broader restaurant sector.
🥇 1. Restaurant Pearl Morissette – Jordan Station, ON
Farm-driven fine dining meets immersive destination.
Nestled in Ontario’s wine country, Pearl Morissette isn’t just a restaurant — it’s an experience. Guests travel out of their way for it. Their 17-hectare farm supplies seasonal ingredients, and the venue’s rural charm is fully integrated into the dining journey.
Takeaway for Restaurant Owners: Pearl Morissette has embraced vertical integration by running its own farm, allowing for complete control over ingredient quality, seasonality, and storytelling. While not every restaurant can manage its own agricultural operation, the principle is scalable. Consider developing exclusive supplier relationships with local farms or producers — or even dedicating garden space on-site if feasible. More than ever, guests value transparency and traceability in what they eat. Integrating your sourcing story into the guest experience — through menu language, staff training, or visual displays — turns your food into narrative, not just sustenance.
In short: Build deeper sourcing relationships, tell a transparent ingredient story, and consider ways to make your supply chain part of your brand identity.
🥈 2. Mon Lapin – Montreal, QC
Natural wines, seasonal menus, and soulful hospitality.
Mon Lapin’s appeal lies in its subtlety. There’s no flash — just a confident focus on warm service, minimal intervention wines, and a deeply seasonal menu that evolves constantly.
Takeaway for Restaurant Owners: Mon Lapin thrives by staying nimble and deeply rooted in seasonality. Their small footprint allows them to pivot menus frequently without waste or chaos. The key here is empowered autonomy — giving the kitchen and floor teams freedom to evolve organically while staying within brand guardrails. Restaurant operators can learn from this by designing menus and systems that allow for agility. Small batch prep, flexible vendor contracts, and daily menu updates (even digital ones) can help keep your offering fresh and reduce overreliance on fixed supply chains. Also, take note of their low-intervention wine list — a trend that’s increasingly resonating with values-driven diners.
In short: Design for flexibility, update your menu frequently, and consider how your beverage program reflects your kitchen’s values.
🥉 3. Alo – Toronto, ON
Precision service and theatrical pacing.
Alo has turned fine dining into a refined performance. From its multi-course tasting menu to its immaculate service timing, the entire experience is choreographed for emotional impact.
Takeaway for Restaurant Owners: Alo is a masterclass in orchestrated hospitality. The pacing of courses, choreography of service, and sensory control (lighting, volume, even scent) is no accident — it’s designed like a stage production. For restaurant owners, the lesson here is to treat the entire meal as a curated journey, not just a series of dishes. This means investing in pre-service briefings, scripting key guest touchpoints, and aligning BOH and FOH on timing expectations. Even if you’re not offering a tasting menu, the idea of a “beginning-middle-end” experience arc can elevate the meal from transactional to memorable.
In short: Structure the guest journey, train your team to pace experiences, and make your service feel intentional from start to finish.
🍽️ 4. Edulis – Toronto, ON
Timeless charm through simplicity and consistency.
Edulis has built its reputation on European-inspired cooking, handwritten menus, and a resolute focus on quality over trend-chasing. It’s intimate, deliberate, and unapologetically classic.
Takeaway for Restaurant Owners: Edulis is proof that you don’t need to be trendy to be relevant. Its handwritten menus, quiet atmosphere, and unfussy presentations create an emotional anchor for guests who crave comfort and trust. For other operators, the key takeaway is to lean into your strengths and build consistency into your brand DNA. This might mean offering a rotating core of signature dishes, minimizing tech disruption, or designing interiors that feel warm and lived-in rather than showroom-polished. In a world of constant change, reliable familiarity can be your biggest asset — especially if you serve a repeat-local clientele.
In short: Focus on consistency, emphasize comfort, and make your space feel timeless rather than trendy.
🔗 https://www.edulisrestaurant.com
🍽️ 5. 20 Victoria – Toronto, ON
Modern minimalism with progressive values.
A relative newcomer, 20 Victoria is seafood-forward, intimate, and innovative in its approach to hospitality. It has implemented a no-tipping, all-inclusive pricing model — a bold step in an industry tied to traditional structures.
Takeaway for Restaurant Owners: 20 Victoria’s all-inclusive, no-tipping model is a bold response to hospitality’s longstanding labor challenges. More than a pricing structure, it’s a statement about fairness, transparency, and respect — and it’s resonating with both staff and diners. Restaurant operators should pay close attention here: even if you’re not ready to overhaul your model, think about how your compensation structure, menu pricing, and guest communication reflect your brand values. Whether it’s a “hospitality-included” note on menus or a staff wellness fund funded through cover charges, there are scalable ways to signal modernity and care. The minimalist tasting-menu format also shows the power of focus — offering fewer things done extremely well.
In short: Simplify your menu, rethink your pricing structure, and let your values show through your business model.
🔗 https://instagram.com/twentyvictoria
Final Thoughts
What unites these five top-ranked restaurants isn’t just culinary excellence — it’s a holistic approach to experience design. From staff training and space layout to sourcing, storytelling, and guest flow, they’ve all made thoughtful choices that result in strong, differentiated brands.
If your restaurant didn’t make this year’s list — don’t worry. These rankings are an opportunity to learn, not a judgment. Keep iterating, stay true to your vision, and take inspiration from the best in the game. Hospitality is always evolving, and the most successful operators are the ones who never stop improving.
Check out the full 100 list here: Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants 2025
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