This place was fantastic! We were there as a large group of 20+ people so had a set menu which was fabulous. Flavours were incredible, service amazing, and the cocktails were yum! Would go back in a heart beat. read more

We were going to see "Come From Away" at the Royal Alexandra in June and wanted to eat nearby. Byblos is around the corner. We're not real big Mediterranean Fans, but this place has converted us. Byblos (named after the oldest city in the world) is only couple years old, very modern style and on two floors. Try and get upstairs, less crowded, and less noisy. The food was amazing. We had roasted red beets, and I don't even like beets, but they were mind blowing. The Baked Basmati rice was equally astounding. All dishes are meant to share, (think Chinese family style) we also had lamb ribs as an appetizer. For entrees we shared crispy duck (the best) grilled branzino (out of this world). We also had seared cauliflower as a side dish. The deserts were all equally to die for. Our waitress was perfect, very willing to interpret the menu and explain what each dish was, and was always available, even though the place was crowded with the before show crowd. This place is a hit in a city with hundreds of four-star restaurants, so you know it must be top notch. Can't wait to go back! read more

Finally checked out Byblos on a Friday night! First off the food is very tasty! Great flavours and items to choose from. Portions are a little small so try and order accordingly. I went with one other person and we got 3 small plates and 2 larger and we probably could have gone for another dish to be completely satisfied. However, the waiter did suggest that we get 6 - should have listened to him. The service was good. Our waiter was very friendly. Our small plates arrived very quickly, however, our larger plates took a little longer, but not long enough to really complain about. My only complaint about this place is the hostess...RUDE RUDE RUDE. We unfortunately arrived late for our reservation, due to traffic. I had called and left a message as it went straight to voicemail and called a few times after that but got sent straight to voicemail again. Once we arrived the hostess with her bright blue long hair and goth lipstick told us that she had given our table away because we took too long. I explained to her that I had called and left a message because I had been sent directly to voicemail. Another hostess comes by and the blue haired girl tells her the situation and says that I "claim" to have left a voicemail with her snotty attitude. She then turns to me and says that they will see if they can get me another table upon which I asked how long that might takes, she then turns around and snaps "I WILL LET YOU KNOW WHEN I CHECK". I was floored. It was actually disgusting and appalling. Why girls in the service industry have so much attitude is beyond me. Because of this one person's atrocious attitude I will NOT be returning to Byblos. Hopefully they hire better behaved staff members that properly present themselves in public. read more

Ordered the Turkish manti dumplings, beet salad, mussels, shaksouka and the lamb ribs, for two people good amount of food . Thoroughly enjoyed the beet salad, dumplings and lamb ribs. Mussels were way too spicy and shaksouka just OK. Did not appreciated $5 extra charge for extra few pieces of bread. Bread is complementary in many restaurants, especially Eastern themed ones. Servers bringing the dishes to tables and presenting are quite nice but I did not get the same vibe from the other staff (in my two visits) read more

Four of us went there for a birthday dinner and it was ok. Decor and service were pretty good, nothing outstanding though. We had the lamb ribs which though very tasty were pure fat under the crispy layer. The beets were good but portion of beets was tiny (3 small blobs). The cauliflower was fantastic. We had two large dishes - crispy squid which was good and the slow roasted lamb. This was an expensive, huge piece of meat and a huge disappointment as, although tender, it was completely tasteless. We only managed to get through 1/3 of it as it wasn't worth eating. We also had a very good rice dish and finished with deserts which were ok. Considering the reviews I'd read, it was all in all a disappointment, although there were some nice dishes. I really expected something more special. I'll give it another try another day and order different dishes. read more

Great atmosphere. Amazing fresh fig salad. I could eat that salad all day and everyday. Wine selection was great. Service was super friendly. read more

Loved this place.. It's mediterranean with a twist, and loved the portion sizes, because the experience is meant to be sharing of dishes, it allowed us to taste more of the great menu that they have.. The atmosphere and interior are amazing as well.. read more

One of my favorite's in Toronto. Food is great and loved their other establishments, except FIGO.

Byblos is the best in the city - from the ambience, the wait staff, and most importantly, the food - everything here WOWs me, each time I come. Try the manti dumplings to start - I have dreams about them :) read more

When I first came to Byblos late last year, I had heard so much about it from trusted foodie friends that I was concerned it would not match inflated expectations: it surpassed them. Have been there twice since, and each time we had superb culinary experiences. So why is Byblos so good? All the food is spectacularly flavoured and decadent. Spices, herbs, textures are combined into what feels familiar and novel, comforting and eclectic. The clear Middle Eastern influences, dishes, and spices are recognizable, but flavours explode with a pallet that's 100 times brighter than any other Middle Eastern cuisine I've tried. Crispy Eggplant, Duck Kibbeh, Tuna Ceviche, Marcona Almonds, Fig Salad are favourite starters. Slow Braised Ontario Lamb Shoulder is good for four to share and is fall off the bone insanely delicious, the best lamb I've ever tasted. The downtown location (near theatre district) and décor are excellent, and the wine cellar is extensive. Service is superb. Overall this is now my favourite restaurant in Toronto and you owe it to your taste buds to give Byblos a try. read more

This place is so refreshing! The food is so damn good. I wasn't a big fan of mediterranean food, or so I thought, until I came and experienced it here. Everything was so flavourful, and presentation was on point. Love the interior and the ambiance of the venue. Make sure you come with a big appetite, and have dinner "family style". read more

The menu is so unique and varied. Wonderfully prepared. Love the roasted beet. Great vibe. The dumplings are a must for dessert.

It is one of the best restaurants in Toronto. I have been there several times and tried most of the menu items. Definitely try the crispy eggplant for appetizer as well as the beef tartar. For the main course the lamb and fish are delicious and so tasty. we also tried the lentil rice and the crispy couscous and loved them. The restaurant itself is very cozy and welcoming. I love the furniture and the staff are very nice. read more

Easily one of the best restaurants in Toronto. The food is incredible. Great wines as well. It's so hard to choose your food because you will want to order it all (twice we've had the server order for us)! read more

It is a great combination of Turkish ,Lebanese and Israili food .The flavors are really authentic and who ever is in the kitchen he knows what he is doing .... it is not westernized middle eastern food .... The ambiance and service were lovely too ....one of the best places I have been to in Toronto read more

It was pretty good. Definitely on the pricier side. Nothing really jumped out at me overall. The decor and vibe was really nice. I think for me, its a nice place to grab a couple of drinks. read more

Best mediterraniean food in the city by far! lovely ambiance, great drinks, amazing bread - I will be back for sure!

Good food cool decor, server was very helpful and sweet however she was very busy (on a weeknight), which takes away from service time. We waited 15 min for our drink order! Besides that, well worth checking out. read more

Love the branzino and the sauce that comes with it. Beets were very good too. Good place for a date but be prepared to spend $$. I think the money is worth it for the quality, service, and consistency in dishes after coming here multiple times. read more

Let me tell you my horrible experience at Byblos. I went there with my boyfriend for our 2 year's Anniversary. He is of Turkish nationality and found this place has Turkish Dumpling and would like me to taste them. Also we looked at the reviews and found them generally good. We sat at the table at our reserved time. Shortly after we looked at the menu, the waitress came. We already decided on the Turkish Dumplings that belongs to the Large list and Sujuk from Bread list. We are going to order another one or two small dishes. I asked the waitress what the word Mezze means, funny things start from here. She asked if it was the first time we went there, I answered "yes". She said let me help recommend. She then literally recommended us to order at least a couple dishes from each List (they have 7 lists) and according to her we should order 14 dishes. Wasn't it stunning!!! 2 people 14 dishes. We ordered the third dish Couscous from Side list and told her we would see if that would be enough, if not we would order more. She said listen to me, it would not be enough, the things you ordered can't even feed the smallest stomach in the world... Even if it sounded very rude, inappropriate and pushy already, we still kept polite to her and said we were not heavy eater especially for dinner. Even for the food we already ordered, she tried to upgrade. We ordered the Turkish Dumplings on the Menu, it is $14. She said they had special fillings with lobster... I asked if the price would be the same, no she answered, it would be $32. We ordered the hand rolled cousous, she said the Crispy hand rolled couscous was better, which was $3 more. What a cheap sales person! We did not order any drinks, because I don't drink any alcohol and my boyfriend only drinks one can of beer each week. Especially at that point, we already regretted going there and did not like the place. She definitely did not like us since we did not order from the whole menu and no drinks as well. I know she was not happy and she would do something, because she went to the back and came back looking at me with very odd and rude look. In the next 30 mins, the waitress who took our order continued to be around us, asking the 2 ladies sitting besides us how they liked their dishes and serving the 5 ladies who came 30mins after us, she never came to ask us and when I had eye exchange with her. She was very cold and unfriendly. During those 30 mins, we saw the 2 ladies next to our table, ordered just before us, almost finished their 3 or 4 dishes (they did not order the whole menu ) and people coming after us get served. So I asked another waitress who came to clean the table besides us what happened to our dishes. She said she would check. And in the next 10 mins, waiters/ receptionist many workers looked at our way and finally a manager- like man came with 2 dishes of snacks and told us they just realized they missed our order and asked us to eat the snacks while they began to prepare our dishes. I asked if they had started the preparations, if not, we will cancel the order. And they did not even start. We left... The waitress of course was the person behind all of these. But if she dared to do this and was not afraid of being fired, that means the management gave consent to this kind of behavior. Looking at all these good reviews, I can not imagine how unlucky we were to have such horrible experience. The worst sales pitch and service ever experienced! They will not get even one star from us. But we have to choose one to post this review! My advice: don't get even close to this place! read more

Good service great hearty comfort food. Yum. It's a tad bit pricey but a lot of delicious.

What a ridiculous concept. What a ridiculously pompous place. First off, grown men, I mean men that don't live on Queen Street and work on movie sets, do not want to share their food. Speaking of which, the food itself wasn't that great either. Our waiter, oh, I mean our 'food consultant'--had the humour and presence of a mannequin. He referred to our meat dish as 'protein'...mmm...what a yummy and appetizing way to anticipate our main course! My mouth was watering with the thought of our perfectly prepared protein...not! Our consultant, deemed that 2 pounds of protein would suffice as a main course for 4 people but the only problem was, the lamb shoulder was about 1 1/2 pounds of meat and a 1/2 pound of fat--oh, I mean adipose tissue, since this place is very technical. And such cute little condiment dishes on the side! The different rice dishes were pointed out to us by a different server that came to our table. As if any of us would know what kind of rice dish was which just by hearing the Middle Eastern names for them. Not having spent much time in Lebanon or Afghanistan, we had no idea what this guy was listing to us. The best dish was the calamari--oh no, I mean the crispy squid. One thing for sure, we could always have ordered more food, but the cheeseburger I had on the way home really hit the spot! We just wished we had started there. read more

they really made me excited hen i walked in and smelt the atmosphere. i enjoyed my spaghetti

Very good Restaurant. Go with a group so you can share as many plates as possible and use your waiter as a resource to decide what to order they know their stuff. Had my birthday with five friends in April 2016 and then had a family gathering of 7 there in November 2016. Order the yoghurt and beet appetizer. Their yoghurt is homemade. The lamb dish was the highlight of our meal for foodies visiting from San Francisco. We pretty much ordered 80% of the menu and everything was flavourful, interesting and of good quality. There was an issue with the fish not being properly deboned but our server remedied the situation and went above and beyond. I think as the night goes on it becomes a younger crowd and noisier , I prefer going earlier and leaving before 9pm but that's me ;) also the desserts are OK but not as strong as strong as the food and cocktails. Will cost some $$$ but is worth it. This may be a trendy restaurant with good buzz but the fact is the food speaks for itself and having good service on top of that is a bonus. read more

My husband and I went last Saturday night with another couple. The ambiance (we sat upstairs) was really great-loved the long prep table! Service great-we loved hearing what each dish was comprised of. The food was very good-different and fresh. We ordereded a lot of food! My husband and friend's husband LOVED the lamb. Said it was fall off the bone best lamb they have ever eaten. We all really enjoyed the fish. The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because we ordered the beet salad. The server told us she would ask them to give us 4 beets instead of 3. When the dish arrived I was very surprised that for $12 they give you maybe a quarter of a medium size beet. Not very good value in my opinion. It was very tasty and I wanted more. Then, the kicker, when the bill arrived they charged us $1 for the extra piece of beet. We were floored and all thought this was disgraceful! Really??? The bill came to $270 with tax and tip and you felt it necessary to charge us $1.00 for an extra piece of beet! What a way to ruin a lovely meal. read more

Arrived early ahead of a hockey game, so the atmosphere was not what it could have been until around the time we were leaving, but no fault of the venue. The look is great though - we sat in the upstairs "lounge" area, which although cozy, the combination of low-backed, curved banquettes with small round tables make things a bit uncomfortable as knees knock and you look for a way to lean. Tried a good variety, with the yogurt baked fluke being the standout. Labneh (the thickest, most delicious yogurt) accompanied a few different dishes and my wife and I could not get enough. Rich flavouring with sour, sweet and savoury appearing throughout - molasses based sauces drizzled over kibbeh, manti dumplings and lamb ribs (good, but understandably sparse) was a nice touch. Could have tried any of the desserts, but settled on the yogurt mousse and the loukoumades (as good or better than any you can find on the Danforth). read more

We are big fans of Mediterranean cuisine. So we had to finally visit Byblos after booking weeks in advance. The setting was cosy, the staff amiable. However, our waiter insisted we order everything all at once, we actually felt really coerced and didn't like this. We just wanted to sample appetizers first and see how hungry we were afterwards. Appetizers came and what immediately hit us was how small they were given the price. We had a small dollop of yogurt, a few sticks of fried eggplant and a three fatty bones of lamb ribs, no meat at all. The basket of bread which was not free had only 3 pieces even though there were four of us. The fig salad was tasty but there was no more than 1 whole fig in the salad, the rest was tousled salad leaves, nothing special. Then came the main course which was overall tasty but not exceptional. At $31 the fluke was the best part of the meal, but there wasn't enough there even for one person to enjoy, less than 3 oz. The duck kebbeh never came and we had to argue with the waiter that it did not. The manti were nice, good sauce drizzled over them but once again very tiny portion for the price. The rice at $14 was not sufficient in quantity either. Overall, for ambience I would give this place 4 stars, service 3 stars (at no time were we asked how everything was), for food 3.5 stars, overall value 2 stars. Sorry, don't want to be mean, but we are all connoisseurs who left the restaurant hungry and ended up having a $5 falafel afterwards. Not worth the effort and money. read more

pricey but definitely worth every penny! the food was amazing and authentic. i have been to Turkey three times and Byblos cooks like the Turks do in Turkey. would recommend getting a reservation as they don't really have available seats for walk-ins. read more

pretty decent experience! came here for my brother's return home and had a great night out. staff were helpful, prices were decent, and the atmosphere was very ambient. read more