Sunnyside Pavilion Cafe

I can see that this place gets lousy reviews for service, but our server this afternoon was a total sweetheart. She was friendly, helpful, and quick and made us feel so comfortable and at home on the patio that we ended up staying longer and ordering more than we planned. It certainly helps that the patio is gorgeous. I had a couple of reasonably priced.($ 8) piñata coladas that were very tasty and very boozy, as well as the quesadilla. The quesadilla itself was a little bland, it could have used some jalapeño but I really liked that it came with guacamole that didn’t cost extra. When combined with the nice spicy salsa, sour cream and guac, it was pretty good. My fiancé had a mushroom burger that he really enjoyed. The food was not the greatest ever but it was reasonably priced and the patio is one of the best in Toronto, combined with the great service we got today, I’ll definitely be back.

This is one of those hidden gems in the heart of Toronto that is worth visiting if you’re in the area. Right along the boardwalk on the west end of the city, is a patio that overlooks the beach and Lake. Most times in the summer you can watch some beach volleyball.
It’s a great ambiance and a very nice date setting. Since renovating they have some nice high top tables and lounge seating. It makes you feel like you’re on vacation for a second.
Grab a drink and just bask in the sun, or have lunch or dinner.
I love their pizzas. It’s thin crusted but still has a bit of a crunch that makes the dough crispy. We had the mushroom pizza with kale Parmesan and balsamic. It was great. We also had the lobster tacos as an appetizer. It was really good bursting with fresh lobster meat.
Drinks and two dishes was about $ 27 per person.

Lovely ambiance. Unfortunately we found a rude waitress. We waited to be seated and she let in a couple who were behind us. We had to ask and she mentioned that they were waiting. We did not see them waiting though. There were a lot of tables available so I did not understand the wait… we asked her for a table with shade and she said that she was not sure. We could see atleast 5 tables… I guess we were a bit too polite…
We would have spent atleast 100 dollars. Too bad. Maybe business is too good for the management here. The Asian waitress was definitely the worst we have ever seen…
bad experience. Stay away!

Ceaser was good but the food was terrible. Pizza wings and calamari all tasted like frozen food. We also had to wait while there were empty tables.

Food is horrible. Got all excited about a wood oven pizza, it was burnt but soggy, how does that even happen?
I’ve had better frozen wings at home, fries were stale, and calamari was the worst I ever had.
Thank got they have a view. Come for drinks, don’t eat here!

A favourite spot of mine, this Café offers a perfect vantage point to enjoy the great scenery offered by the beach while enjoying a pint and some great pub food! A unique spot for Toronto and since it is pretty large you can usually get a table without a wait… this place gets top marks!!!

Beautiful location, awful service. The server we had was constantly swearing in front of customers, which consisted of elderly people and children, throughout the entire breakfast. My friend and I tried to tell her politely that people could hear her and she flew off the handle yelling at us and saying «BYEEEE» as we walked away. There was a blatant disregard for anyone around her and she made everybody extremely uncomfortable. We left half way through our breakfast because we were so disgusted with her attitude. A man and his young son came in as she was yelling at us and he said he would rather go to Pizza Pizza. Save your 20 $ and go to McDonalds for a breakfast sandwich and a smile.

This amazing patio is only open seasonally and the perfect summer destination. It’s located right along the beach so wherever you sit you have a clear view of the beach and water. It’s also located right along the Sunnyside boardwalk so there are an endless stream of runners, walkers, and bikers passing by.
The food is really tasty, I’m a big fan of their salads.
They also do events (weddings) in the upstairs space.

Gord and I had an early supper at the Sunnyside Pavilion Café. It was closed last year for renovations so it’s good to see it open again. It’s on the beach and a great spot to people-​watch.
We sat on the patio.
We’d been walking for a while so our cold beer tasted goooooood!
Gord ordered the Cali Club Wrap with no tomatoes or jalapenos with a Caesar salad rather than fries. He said the salad was so-​so but the sandwich was really good. I ordered a pepperoni pizza. It was just okay. It seemed like a frozen pizza. I doubt I’d get it again.
Nick was our server and he took good care of us.

The spot is beautiful, the food is ok to medicore, but the servers are young and clearly not well trained. We were there on a warm sunny afternoon when a guy came along closing all the shade umbrellas without a word. We would not have sat down if there hadn’t been shade. When we asked we were told there was too much wind, though we hadn’t noticed any. We weren’t allowed even to keep it open until they brought the bill. Will think twice before returning.

Ordered the veggie ‘wood-​fired oven’ pizza and it was pretty good! Lots of goat cheese, and the crust was consistent thickness throughout. Location is also great — right along the beach.
Service went from good to horrible though, over the course of our meal.

It gets a five for atmosphere. Beachside view chilling as you sip on a beer, what else do you want?!
Lots of low scores for the food. It’s fine, it’s a beachside café. Grab some nachos and have a few at the beach, right in the heart of Toronto!

This place looks nice from the outside stay away from the food. go play volleyball or enjoy the pool, just not eat or drink here. The patio is relatively small. The service was not great, the waitress did not act like she wanted to be there or talk to us. Our group of 8 order about 95 $ worth of pizza at the dragonboat discount rate. Even then, i don’t believe their 12′ pizza justified the price tag. We got chicken, grilled veggie and Mediterranean pizza for some variety. The chicken supreme has the most toppings, while the veggie pizzas didn’t have much fresh vegetables at all. I can also tell the cheese had an artificial taste to them. honestly, dr. oetker’s ristorante frozen pizza tasted better than the thin crust here. oh and the crusts were actually burned Black on half of the pizzas we ordered.

Great location — right on the water.
You can watch the beach volleyball players in the summer while you sip a daquiri or a beer.
Used to come here all the time when I lived in High Park, as I would often pass this location on my runs.
Food is also pretty good — although prices are a little expensive for what you get.
Service is generally alright, however it does get very busy in the summer so don’t expect extremely quick service.
Perfect if you want a relaxing drink by the water and aren’t in a rush.

This place is like visiting the «before» in a kitchen nightmares episode.
It’s sad that there are few places in Toronto to enjoy our waterfront. It’s a tragedy that one of the few waterfront places has such awful service and disgusting food.
For $ 22 you’d think you’d get at least a decent pizza instead of something so obviously reheated.
This place has the location and architecture to be a real gem and a destination spot, but instead they’re happy to be moderately busy with no repeat customers.

VIBE
This is one of my favourite beach side locations in the city (okay, well maybe there’s about two to three in the city but I’m a romantic, what can I say?). I was here before the crowds settled in on a Sunday on a sunny day. It was great: without the clutter of people, we could just relax and enjoy the view of the sun glistening on the lake.
If the courtyard in the back got a fresh coat of white paint it would look brand new. Unfortunately, it looks deteriorated. That said, the architecture is fantastic and very photograph-​worthy.
Staff: because we were near the entrance, the staff were on attendance and it felt like we were being watched. I hate the hover! That said, our waitress was fantastic — she was nice and friendly; she managed her tables well.
WE ATE
As stated in an article in The Standard, you could classify Sunnyside as a crappio– great patio but crap food. That said, for what it was the food was decent and yes, it was way overpriced.
We had the fried shrimp which were great and not over battered; the chicken quesadilla which came with guac (yay!) and a greek salad — which wasn’t really a greek salad but a spring mix salad from a bag, red onions, feta (at least it wasn’t Canadian feta) and kalamata olives. Though the portion was big, for $ 11, this was ridiculously overpriced. Most salads in Greektown are about $ 6 to $ 7.
They make a pretty mean piña colada here.
OBLIGATORY CATCHY REMARK
Sunny side up! I’d still come here just to get some sun. Sunnyside is one of those places that’s a discovery and make you happy to escape your own neighbourhood.

the prices are not at the low end but then you’re paying for the great view. and location.
and the patio is huge — they can accommodate everyone almost any day.
there is some slight discount on the pizzas and I think sandwiches for paddlers but not on anything else.
they have cool frozen drinks variety. with ice cream and alcohol=) yay=) life can’t get better when you’re sitting on a patio next to the lake sipping sweet chill drink with a couple of friends.

I like it. Beach life exists on the West Side too, minus the congestion and the traffic and it’s way more low key. There aren’t as many annoying rollerbladers around either. That and there’s the lovely Sunnyside Pavilion Café, where you can get obliterated and effed out of your mind. It’s not the cheapest for eating and drinking. A pint of Stella is $ 7 but after having a second one, you’re not thinking too much about the price. I had a wonderful view of the lake today, of people playing volleyball and the lone canoer as I knocked a few back on the patio. It was a dream come true. Our server called me «hon» and «sweetie» which made me feel good. The bathrooms are also surprisingly decent. I’m sure there’s history to the Pavilion, so I’m going to Wikipedia about it right now.

I would give this place probably a 3.5 if that was possible. Great atmosphere right on the beach and by high park. Sunnyside Café is very pretty, especially during sunset if you are sitting at the lovely patio. I highly recommend the brochette with feta, which was delightful as was the service. My friend and I both had the strawberry pecan salad and the boccacini salad respectively.
I could barely finish the generous portions, but it was a perfect for a nice summer dinner. The only downside was the surprisingly small and dull selection of beer and wine.

I’ve always been a fan of Sunnyside — the bathing pavilion was built in 1932 and is one of my fav buildings in the city.
Yesterday I kicked back with some friends on the patio, had some interesting new beers (Keiths white for one), stellar service and some decent apps. On a muggy Toronto day, sitting down having beers at Sunnyside definitely hit the spot.
There’s also now a swimming area just off the beach/​patio, cordoned off and filtered for freshness I’m told.