13 Toronto-Area Restaurants Make Air Canada’s 2026 Best New Restaurants List
Air Canada’s 2026 Best New Restaurants list includes 13 restaurants in Toronto, Niagara, and Collingwood, giving Southern Ontario almost half of the 30 spots on this year’s national longlist. Nine are in Toronto itself, while four more turn the list into an easy road-trip map for diners willing to head beyond the city.
The airline released the finalists on September 17. Eligible restaurants opened between May 1, 2025, and April 30, 2026, and were selected with input from an independent panel of culinary tastemakers in collaboration with reservation platform DINR. The final Top 10 will be announced in downtown Toronto on November 16.
Nine Toronto Restaurants Made the 2026 Longlist
Toronto’s finalists cover tasting menus, seafood counters, neighbourhood taverns, and Italian dining rooms. Air Canada’s complete 2026 finalist guide includes profiles of each restaurant and the dishes its reviewers found most representative.
- Antylia: a Bloorcourt restaurant from chefs Aldo Camarena and Ashley McKay, drawing on Mexican and Ecuadorian roots while working with Canadian ingredients.
- Bar Eugenie: a Harbord Village bistro from Alo Food Group alumni Rebekah Bruce, Ronnie Fishman, and Lee Bonds, with subtle Filipino touches across a compact sharing menu.
- Liliana: chef Marvin Palomo’s Queen West restaurant, where an Italian menu structure meets his Filipino heritage and years cooking in Hong Kong and Toronto.
- N.L. Ginzburg: the College Street trattoria from Zachary Kolomeir and Carmelina Imola, mixing Italian cooking with Jewish diasporic references.
- OLDESEOUL TAVERN: a Queen East Korean tavern pairing drinks with plates such as gochujang shrimp cocktail, kanpungi wings, and pork ribs with fermented kimchi.
- Radici Project: an Italian-Japanese tasting-menu restaurant in Little Italy led by chef Emiliano Del Frate and sake sommelier Kayo Ito.
- SAMMARCO: the Italian steakhouse from chef Rob Rossi and restaurateur David Minicucci, centred on dry-aged Canadian beef, pasta, and tableside service.
- Seahorse: a Summerhill seafood bistro built around oysters, cocktails, seafood platters, and a compact neighbourhood dining room.
- Zia’s Place: chef Jess Maiorano’s Brockton Village restaurant, with southern Italian cooking, fresh pasta, natural-leaning wine, and an extensive amaro selection.
Several of these names fit into Hungry 416’s broader guide to the best new restaurants in Toronto for 2026. The Air Canada list is narrower: it covers a specific opening window and leads to a national Top 10 rather than ranking every notable Toronto opening.
Niagara and Collingwood Add Four More Finalists
Southern Ontario’s showing continues outside Toronto. St. Catharines has two finalists: Bar Les Incompetents, chef Zach Smith’s seafood-focused French(ish) bar, and Restaurant Capelin, a 12-seat counter from Kat and Alex Seaborn built around Niagara produce, freshwater fish, and local wine and cider.
Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Revé also made the list. Chef Adriano Cappuzzello connects his Sicilian background with Niagara ingredients in a tasting menu that moves through dishes such as ricotta-filled zucchini flower, scallops, cuttlefish, and octopus. In Collingwood, LORE gives chef Jeremy Austin and Cassie Austin a return to the town where their restaurant story began, following the success of The Pine in nearby Creemore.
The Top 10 Reveal Comes to Toronto in November
Air Canada will reveal the 2026 Top 10 on November 16 at a downtown Toronto event. This year marks the program’s 25th anniversary. The airline plans to introduce an Icons hall of fame for influential chefs previously recognized by the program and to run one-night dining collaborations between alumni through DINR.
The anniversary program also includes a $25,000 contribution from Air Canada and the Air Canada Foundation to La Tablée des Chefs’ Kitchen Brigades program. Air Canada says its combined support for the organization now exceeds $500,000.
For diners, the longlist works best as a starting point rather than a verdict. Toronto’s nine finalists range from casual late-night rooms to formal tasting menus, and the Niagara and Collingwood picks make a strong case for building a weekend around dinner. Reservations may tighten as the November announcement approaches, especially at smaller counters.
Which of these Toronto-area restaurants would you add to your must-try list? Share your pick in the comments.
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