Especially independent, non-chain restaurants. But there’s one that made the daring attempt to open at this time, made an impression, and has gotten better as time goes on.
Opened in April 2021 by the Pkhakadze family, Tiflisi is a Georgian restaurant in Toronto’s Beaches neighbourhood. From the street, it’s a small, unassuming spot, almost like any other commercial space, nestled in among the neighbourhood’s row of busy restaurants on Queen Street East. Nextdoor is Limon, formerly a Nando’s, with a colourful mural of lemons as its face.
But it’s the curly red letters of Tiflisi’s sign that catch your attention first. And then, peering inside, the warmly-lit, rustic interior. Brick walls, walls lined with cut log pieces, and a wooden ceiling like one from a cabin you return to from a day on the slopes. There’s also a mirror in the shape of Georgia’s national borders. Toronto certainly has some creative interior design.
