Kensington Market

Sunnys Chinese is a Chinese restaurant in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The business was named a Bib Gourmand restaurant by the Michelin Guide in 2023.

Double Double Land was a performance art space and music venue in Kensington Market, Toronto, Ontario. It was founded by Jon McCurley and Daniel Vila in 2009, and was known as an eclectic underground artist-driven venue which created a space in the Toronto art scene for less conventional and less profitable projects. It closed in June 2018.

Anshei Minsk (formally Beth Israel Anshei Minsk, informally the Minsk) is a synagogue in the Kensington Market neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1912 by poor Jewish immigrants from what is now Belarus (mostly Minsk), which at the time was part of the Russian Empire. The current Byzantine Revival building was completed in 1930. The congregation has had only three full-time rabbis: Meyer Levy (1916–1921), Meyer Zimmerman (1940–1954), and Shmuel Spero, who has served from 1988 to the present. It is the only Orthodox synagogue in Downtown Toronto with a full-time rabbi, and the only one that holds daily services.

New Ho King (Chinese: 新豪京) (jyutping: san1 hou4 ging1) is a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, Toronto. It first opened in 1976, and rose to popularity after being featured in Kendrick Lamar's 2024 diss track "Euphoria" and Drake's rebuttal "Family Matters" during the Drake–Kendrick Lamar feud. It is currently owned by Johnny Lu.

Hyman's Book and Art Shoppe, 1926–1971, was widely known in the Jewish community as Hyman's Bookstore. It was an important part of the early history of Spadina Avenue in Toronto, as well as the early Jewish community of Toronto. The store was founded in 1926 by Ben Zion Hyman and his wife Fannie (also known as Faygle). For most of its 45-year history, Hyman's Bookstore was located at 412 Spadina Avenue in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The book store specialized in Jewish books of both secular and religious interest in English, Yiddish and Hebrew. Hyman's Bookstore carried a complete line of Jewish ritual objects such as talleisim, tfillin, kiddush cups, menorahs, shabbath candlesticks, kippot and jewelry (e.g., mezuzahs and magen davids). It was also the main supplier of all the Jewish schools in Toronto. In 1941, Hyman used books from the store to found the Toronto Jewish Public Library. Hyman's Bookstore started a book registry in the late 1940s, so that there would be no duplication in Bar Mitvah gifts. Another one of Hyman's specialties was office supplies. In addition, the business was renowned for its Jewish greeting cards sold during major Jewish holidays. Many Jewish landsmanshaften [organizations of people from the same European area] depended on Hyman's service for mimeographing multiple copies of local community society newsletters and minutes. The store gained its fame as a meeting place of Jewish political ideas and viewpoints. It was often referred to as the "Jewish Parliament." Many heated conversations took place in the store, over bottles of Coca-Cola. They discussed viewpoints such as Labour Zionism, Mizrachi, Revisionism, and so on. All points of view were welcomed except for Communism. Many people came to the bookstore to have letters written in Fanny Hyman's handwriting (in English, Polish or Yiddish) to be sent home to their families in eastern Europe. "Hyman's Book and Art Shoppe" was the name of the store from 1926 to 1953. "Hyman and Son" was the name of the store from 1953 to its closing in 1971. A northern branch was opened at 1032 Eglinton Avenue West (near Bathurst Street). It was owned and managed by Ruth Warner and Gurion Hyman from 1953 to 1962.

The First Russian Congregation of Rodfei Sholem Anshei Kiev, known as the Kiever Synagogue or Kiever Shul, is a Modern Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by Jewish immigrants from Ukraine in 1912, and formally incorporated in 1914. The congregants were poor working-people, and services were led by members and held in their homes. Two houses were eventually purchased in the Kensington Market area, and in their place construction was completed on the current twin-domed Byzantine Revival building in 1927. The building was once the site of George Taylor Denison's home Bellevue. Changing demographics led to a decline in membership in the 1950s and 1960s, and the synagogue building deteriorated. In 1973, the Canadian Jewish Congress decided to help preserve it, and in 1979, the Kiever Synagogue became the first building of Jewish significance to be designated a historical site by the province of Ontario. By 1982 sufficient funds had been raised to restore the building. The congregation's first and longest-tenured rabbi was Solomon Langner, who served from around 1929 until his death in 1973. As of 2018, the synagogue president was Adam S. Cohen.

The El Mocambo is a live music and entertainment venue in Toronto, Ontario. Located on Spadina Avenue, just south of College Street, the venue has played an important role in the development of popular music in Toronto since 1948. It is best known for the 1977 surprise show by The Rolling Stones, which became nationally notorious for the presence of then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's wife, Margaret Trudeau, who was partying with the Stones.

Chinatown, Toronto known also as Downtown Chinatown or West Chinatown is a Chinese ethnic enclave located in the city's downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is centred at the intersections of Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street, West. The present neighbourhood was the result of the government expropriating Toronto's first Chinatown in the late 1950s to make way for a new city hall and public square. As a result of the expropriations, a number of businesses and residents based in the city's first Chinatown moved west towards Spadina Avenue during the 1950s and 1960s, later joined by other Chinese immigrants during the 1960s. The neighbourhood is one of several Chinatowns in Toronto that developed during the latter half of the 20th century.

The Standard Theatre is an inactive theatre in Toronto that originated as the city's main venue for Yiddish theatre, and later became the Victory Burlesque, which would be the last traditional burlesque theatre in Toronto when it closed in 1975. It is located at 285 Spadina Ave. the corner of Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street. The building was erected in 1921 as the Standard Theatre, a venue for live action Yiddish theatre, and was described as the only building in North America built for the purpose of being a Yiddish theatre. It was designed by Benjamin Brown, one of the city's first Jewish architects, and financed by selling shares to members of the large Jewish community of Kensington Market. The theatre was home to a large number of productions of classic Yiddish works, comedy, and translations such as Shakespeare in Yiddish. It was also a centre of Jewish left-wing political activism. The centre for the activities of the Progressive Arts Club. In 1929 an event commemorating the death of Vladimir Lenin was raided by police. In December 1933, the agitprop play Eight Men Speak about the imprisonment of Canadian Communist leader Tim Buck premiered. The police ordered the play closed and threatened to revoke the theatre's licence if the play was performed again. The theatre remained a centre of Toronto's Jewish community until the building was converted into a mainstream movie cinema known as The Strand, which opened in October 1934. In 1941, it became the Victory, a cinema in the Twentieth Century Theatres chain. The theatre consisted of a single stadium seating screen and concession area selling snacks. Stairs from the street level on Spadina took moviegoers to the screen. In 1961 it became the Victory Burlesque, joining the Lux (which had opened in 1959) and the Casino (which has existed since the 1930s) as one of three burlesques in Toronto but by the mid-1960s, the Victory was the sole traditional burlesque in the city. It became an iconic destination, especially for students from the nearby University of Toronto. In its last years, it also featured musical acts such as the New York Dolls, Kiss, Iggy Pop and Rush. Facing competition from adult theaters and modern strip clubs it closed in 1975. The Jewish community had left the area, and Dundas and Spadina was now the centre of Toronto's Chinatown. The Victory was thus sold and subdivided in 1975 into shops on the main floor and a Chinese language cinema upstairs, first named the Golden Harvest under ownership by the iconic Hong Kong cinema and then the Mandarin. This cinema closed in 1994, and the building was renovated and is home to a number of retail stores. An independent theatre, Acacia Centre for the Performing Arts, opened in 2010, but it is no longer active. The former ticket office is gone and the newer staircase to the upper levels is now a retail area.

The Free Times Cafe is a live music venue and restaurant in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The cafe was purchased by Judy Perly in 1980. The restaurant serves a menu of Jewish, Middle Eastern and Canadian food as well as all-day breakfast. The restaurant also has live music nightly and has featured singer-songwriters and performers such as Ron Sexsmith, Emm Gryner, Sarah Slean, Jack Carty, Keith Jolie, Esthero, The Lemon Bucket Orkestra, Lorne Ryder, Rehan Dalal, Erik Bleich, Jory Nash, Glen Hornblast, Laura Fernandez, Kat Goldman, Jason Fowler and Liam Titcomb. There is an open stage on Monday nights. Bob Snider's Live at the Free Times Cafe was recorded at the venue.

The Hotel Waverly was a four-storey low-rise hotel in downtown Toronto. Opened in 1900, the hotel was built for J.J. Powell. It was one of the oldest Toronto hotels in continuous operation.

Spadina Avenue (, less commonly ) is one of the most prominent streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Running through the western section of downtown, the road has a very different character in different neighbourhoods. Spadina Avenue runs south from Bloor Street to the Gardiner Expressway, just north of Lake Ontario. Lower Spadina Avenue continues the last block to the lake after the expressway. Another street named Spadina Road continues north from Bloor, but with new street address numbering starting over at zero. For much of its extent, Spadina Road is a less busy residential road (especially north of Dupont Street and the railway track underpass).