Had a nice dinner here having purchased a groupon, our server was friendly and attentive making for a good dining experience. For apps: Lobster bites: Fried green tomatoe with lobster, fish eggs and greens on top. This was tasty and had a good combination of flavours. Baked Escargots: There were about 8 escargots baked in a creamy cheese sauce with mushrooms, served with crustini. This was heavier so I found it good for sharing. Main: Beef Striploin: This was pretty big (10oz) cooked to a perfect medium with horse radish butter on top, which added nice flavour. This was served with creamy kale and mushroom and roasted sunchoke. The creamy kale and mushroom was very salty...and I found myself drinking a lot of water that night. Dessert: Strawberry rhubarb cheesecake: This was a nice cheesecake, with a hint of tart rhubarb on the inside. (it was crustless) perfect end to a meal. Maple Beignets: I was expecting a warm light and fluffy beignet, and was disappointed it tasted more like a tim bit. The amaretto creme anglaise was good. After my first bite, I regret not ordering the milk chocolate mousse instead. read more

One of my old time favorites when I visit home...I have been going to this place forever...used to be the Belair Cafe....my hamburger was delicious...however, the service was not so great :( read more

I came here for Winterlicious and was so stuffed by the end of my meal! I had the duck pate, duck breast, and the banana tart with coconut mousse (the duck breast was definitely my favourite). To my surprise, the portions were larger than I expected. The atmosphere is perfect for a date night and the service was impeccable. Price seems on par with the rest of Yorkville. I would definitely return for their regular menu when I'm in the mood to splurge. read more

They get props for having Badoit water. My favorite mineral water! I was with a coworker and we stumbled on this place for a late-night dinner on their patio. The appetizers we shared were really great and my squab entree (it was a while ago but I think I had squab?) was unique and delicious! Great service. Great beef tartare. Great wine and a great patio to take in this little fun strip of Toronto! read more

I am a big brunch person and love the idea of lingering over mimosas and eggs on a sunny weekend afternoon. Sassafraz is in my neighborhood and we really like the ambience. We walked in off the street one Saturday and they were able to seat us inside right away ( there was a wait for patio seating). My SO got bennys and I ordered scrambled and although the portions aren't huge, the food was impeccable. I truly eggs are the trickiest to get right and these were close to perfection. We were allowed to linger (which is very important for my Zen).Brunch for two without alcohol was about $50 including tip and tax. Definitely going back for more. read more

This is a very fancy restaurant where you can spot some of the hollywood stars during the TIFF. Thus I had high expectations. The food is well presented in beautifully arranged dishes, but it was not particularly interesting or tasty. For the price they charge, I was expecting more. The service was attentive, but not as high quality as you expect from a place like this. In sum, you will not have a bad meal or be mistreated, but for the prices they charge you can get much more interesting food and higher quality service in town. read more

Had their burger. Best burger I have had in a while. Had nice seasoning mixed into the patty that really made the flavours comes out. French fries were delicious. Service was good as well. Will definitely be coming back here again to try the rest of the menu! read more

If you are looking for a fancy place to celebrate your birthday, anniversary or just want to have a luxury night this is the place to go. Yes it is over-priced but which fancy restaurant isnt? I think for the service and the food its worthy. All the servers are professionally trained, they know what they are doing. I went there for my sister's birthday and i brought a cake there, the servers know exactly what to do without me instructing them. Also, one time i went there and i lost my voice they offered brought me honey water without me asking for it. I have been to this place several time for different occasions. The menu changes from season to season, the sides for the food is different but it all taste good. The first time i went it was great and the next time i went there i was surprised that i could find it better than last time,because you usually dont get amazed by a restaurant twice. It is a beautiful and elegant in there. I have tried their beef, chicken, shrimp risotto and foi gras. It was all good. The only thing negative about this restaurant is that the lunch at this place is not as good as it should be. also i think the regular food taste better than the summerlicious or winterlicious :) read more

I was there for summerlicious with 3 other friends. We heard alot about Sassafraz and we went there with high expectations. Sad to say, we walked away swearing we will never go back. The food was not spectacular and the service is BAD! Our server Ely W. was cocky . (perhaps it was because we were no George Clooney or Julia Roberts). To top it all, after an hour and a half, he asked us to leave with the excuse that they need to make way for another seating. We were there at 1:00 and the restaurant was half empty!!!! What was that all about?!?! Never, never, never go there. read more

The first time I've heard about this restaurant was from my ex-girlfriend Heide, in grade ten. She was from the upper echelon of the Forest Hill community, and I was an emerging name in the...Pacific Mall/Metro Square consensus........ I've never gotten to experience the restaurant prior to the electrical fire which forced the restaurant to completely re-think everything about the business. I just remember hearing that I would need at least a week's notice to reserve a table. This intimidated me as a sixteen year old, as it should have. I didn't even know where Forest Hill, I thought she lived in the Woods. I imagined myself having a love & hate relationship with the restaurant over the years of frequently it, but the simple fact is that they've been nothing but highly accommodating in every aspect of service, and the food has never disappointed, or embarrassed me before. I don't see Toronto as a world class city, but after given serious thought, the restaurant Sassafraz could be considered on par with some of the top restaurants I've ever been to anywhere in the world, especially given the circumstances of being located in Toronto, a city which in my opinion does not strive for, or demand the absolute best of anything. In terms of real estate, Sassafraz holds the most coveted corner of all of Yorkville, and it is certainly the most distinct in architectural design--not that it's unique, but in that it is a big yellow house. Some people use the weather system, some use the news, but I use the Maitre'Ds standing outside of the restaurant to verify whether if it's really summer. The girls working there are always pleasantly dressed and well groomed. For such a young demographic to be working in a high demand business, they are actually properly trained as service persons. I do appreciate their professionalism, considering the Sassafraz is also a local hangout for some of the most pretentious people in all of Toronto. There is this elderly gentleman who dresses like he is a metropolitan cowboy, and often parks his Rolls Royce Phantom outside while chatting up whoever he can find younger than him. I don't have anything against him, and I certainly would like to be in his situation when I am older, but I don't think I'd be as garish. And for the waiters, all I can hope is that the tip is well worth putting up with that kind of pish-posh. There are more expensive, and higher-end restaurants in the city, but somehow I always find myself here for a special occasion. I took the two loves of my life here on our first date, and they've gone relatively well. Relatively well for me is as good as it gets. I took a dear friend here once during the time adjacent to the Stafford Festival, and I ended up meeting Harold Perrineau, and Mr. Laurence Fishburne! Yeah, Morpheus himself! I wish my phone rang during my conversation with him, so I could have told him to take it first...HA! Mr. Fishburne tried to hook a brother up after my conversation with him, and commented about the woman I was with in the following: "Wow, you know, you two, you two make an incredible couple." I withheld every urge to shove out my fist and go for a props with the Hollywood legend. My most memorable evening was during my friend Tia's twenty-third birthday. I booked the VIP table on the second floor, but I received a call telling me it was double booked last minute. We were given the centre floor in the restaurant area, which ended up being empty, so really I did have in the end our own VIP room, and bigger! I saved $100 because that's the donation which is given to the Fire Fighters Association when booking the VIP table, which I was glad to pay. They restaurant accommodated us with complimentary cake slicing which would have been $3 per slice, and a complimentary bottle of sparkling wine. The service was delivered by a Egyptian looking gentleman, and the evening was just simply perfection. Sometimes Sassafraz do experiments, like booking a live pianist which ended up singing Britney's Spears' 'Baby One More Time' too freaking loud in the Bar area. I could barely hear my friend while he echoed that trademark "Ack Ack Ack AcK!" into the microphone. If he kept going, I swear I was going to ack right into my food. There are a few key points about the restaurant which I am a fan of, like the vine backdrop in the restaurant, and the cheese tasting menu. But there's no point for me to mention it all, because I feel that Sassafraz is a place where you should develop your own experiences and stories. It is without a doubt one of the more romantic spots in Toronto. Not everything will be perfect, but that's the excitement about it I guess. Like last time I came here, it was the morning after the biggest birthday party of my life, it was around 10am, I walked to the front doors of the restaurant to see it was open for breakfast, and was greeting by an elderly Italian man who shouted the following at me: 'VAT DO YOU VAN read more

Not having the luxury (finances!) of taking restaurants of this ILK for granted, I've enjoyed a couple visits to Sassafraz.. Ultimately it's pricey (for me it is; middle class), if you don't mind dropping a 100 or so for dinner.... and then eating a couple hours later due to very small portions! Get into drinks, etc.. not ordering from the Winterlicious type menus; very expensive. read more

It's always great to come to Sassafraz. We have been here for lunch several times. The food and service are always great. We love the very informal lunch setting, especially with our toddler. The one thing I would like to see is a change in the menu every now and then. read more

We had 5 person dinner last night The girls loved the decor, it feels very comfortable & friendly surroundings. Lot of details on the walls & the waterfall. Not too many salad choices & they were out of the large steak, so ended up with lamb chops, which were cooked well, but smaller portion. Service was good & accommodating. Will repeat read more

Terribly over-priced and overrated... Didn't follow through on the promise of the menu items. Pork belly could be great if a decent portion, but not here. The scallops were nice but the sea beans had a slightly off-putting smell. We were drawn in by the quail at $39, but oh my, the surprise that it was only half a quail! The 10 oz filet could've been more tender, clearly not aged meat. Nice flavor but lacking a charred crust. Service was delightful, tho. Great decor and a wonderful piano player on Sat nights. read more

Hi and, a special thank you to the staff for what they did for me in terms of how much I learned and, what I can apply to my next job. I am glad that the staff were nice, and, also I focused on their kindness. The management were great and, might I add nice to be thought of so much, have a Happy Valentines guys!!. read more

Came with a Groupon. Ambience: Amazing. I had come a few times before the fire & reno's, but this is the first time I've come since. Nicely done. Appetizers: The marrow was great, and the highlight of the meal. Wine: Andeluna from Mendoza, Argentina. Hard to compare, fantastic. Mains: they were ok. For the price, I don't think it's fair value. Hard to see why this is such a hotspot for celebs and such during TIFF. Dessert: Before this, I was ready to give them 4 stars. Their lava cake... didn't run. More like a brownie. In summary, I wouldn't choose to come back, but it's not "bad" food, just not great or good value. read more

Their food is not as good as before, but i still like the ambience of the restaurant. I take my friends from other cities when they come visit me. read more

Dinner here had great ambiance; the food was not as great an experience. The texture and flavors were great (the soup de jour was especially a highlight), but the portion size of the entree was typical of "upscale" restaurants in Yorkville. The small salmon fillet on a large plate was solid (hard to mess up salmon), and the potato/spinach dumplings were a great counterpoint to the salmon. The dessert was slightly disappointing, not in flavor but in accessibility; the graham cracker topping the dark chocolate marquise only served to maim the structure of the dessert. And the marshmallows were just weird. read more

Pretty good- atmosphere is nice, although a bit loud, food is solid but lacks a bit on flavor and presentation. Service is just ok, not exceptional. Overall, enjoyable, but not a complete "fine dining experience". read more

Great food, great setting, good attentive service - BUT the timing between courses just sucked ! We were the first table of 8 seated upstairs around 8:15PM, then another table of 8 came in, followed by another table of 6. As expected, our appetizer came, followed with our main course and the plates were cleared by 9:35PM.... all the while, the other 2 tables were also served with appetizers and main course as in sequence (ie: after ours.......). Then, to our amazement, deserts were served to other tables while we waited for ours.... Waiters were nowhere to be found and finally, our deserts came at 10:15 without any explanation or acknowledgement about the 40 minutes wait between main and desert.... we were just speechless...... read more

This is an amazing place. Food, drink and atmosphere are fabulous. There is a great bartender, Hannah, who makes awesome drinks though I have not seen her behind the bar lately; hope she returns soon. And Alex, one of the servers, is fantastic, really knows the menu and always gives me great direction in terms of what to order. All the specialty cocktails are delicious and my fave appetizers on the menu are the unbelievably delicious beet salad and the poached lobster -- sublime. For main courses, you cannot go wrong with any of the steaks or the wildly fantastic braised lamb risotto. LOVE THIS PLACE! read more

We have tried Sassafraz to find a nice place to recommend for our hotel guests with high expectations and of course, for ourselves to enjoy a nice dinner. Summerlicious seemed to be a fantastic choice to test different restaurants. The location and interior is very nice, but not fine dining as expected. Unfortunately, two of or plates had stains and we had 4 different servers during our dinner. No water top up, my husband got served first- the service itself was not very authentic and not courteous... no big issues, but in total not the best dining experience. The food was okay, but not worth the price. If you compare the (usual) price you pay for what you get (especially the service), Sassafraz would not be a restaurant to recommend. read more

My fiance (now husband) and I booked the upstairs of Sassafraz for our small wedding. We wanted a nice dinner for our guests with a beautiful space and room for dancing - Sassafraz was terrific and fit our vision of the big day perfectly! Dennette was awesome to work with and her friendliness helped make a stressful planning experience incredibly enjoyable. The setup/service and food on the day of the wedding was incredible. Our guests loved the food and the atmosphere and still days later we're getting so much positive feedback on the food and the venue. I definitely recommend this venue for a small/medium size wedding! read more

I went with a friend on Saturday for Winterlicious and we were seated in the cafe, which was super cute and cozy. Our reservation was for 6pm because we had plans that night but we ended up leaving at 840! We were having such a good time and didn't feel pressured to leave at all. The food was really great, I had the marrow and mushrooms for my app and it was good, the trout I had for the entrée was to die for though and I couldn't get enough of it. The chocolate cake dessert was a bit of a letdown but overall the atmosphere, the drinks, the piano player and great service really made for a wonderful experience. read more

This place has the worst service. No staff acknowledged us. We had to keep flagging someone to et our order, water etc. we didn't have one consistent wait staff. Also te food is below average. Sassafraz is literally the definition of mediocre Canadian businesses succeeding because there isn't much competition. read more

Sassafraz came highly recommended to us and we traveled a long way, hoping to enjoy a romantic evening. The food was fantastic forever the service was extremely poor. This rating is only getting two stars because of the service. The meal was quite expensive and the fact that our waiter treated us so poorly really put a damper on the evening. My hope is that management takes note of this post and makes the necessary changes, the restaurant has great potential with a staff that completely undermine the experience! read more

My favourite restaurant in Yorkville. They have the best burgers ever and the service is always good.

I like the ambiance and service but food is oftentimes terrible. Dates like to bring me here but there is nothing impressive about this restaurant. There are better dining choices in the area. read more

I'm sorry but for a restaurant in the heart of Yorkville this restaurant has totally gone down hill . The prices are to what to expect in Yorkville but the food was terrible , I actually felt bad that they killed the lobster to create such a terrible non tasty dish. Service was below average and it looked like they was a shortage in experienced help . read more

Amazing food here. Sometimes the pricier places in Yorkville don't hold up in quality, but Sassafraz really delivers. I have enjoyed all of my meals here. read more

Sassafraz - strawberry rhubarb cheesecake for dessert! so decadent - French Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Summerlicious is always a gamble, and today's dinner at Sassafraz was unfortunately only average. I started with the buffalo mozzarella with fig, which was oddly paired with pomegranate seeds and mango sauce. It was only okay (for good mozzarella I would go to Scaddabush!). For my main I had the duck breast as recommended by the server, and this was good but not mind-blowing. The last bite of my dish had that melt-in-your-mouth rendered fat, but the other pieces were actually a bit tough and lacking in flavour. For dessert I had the chocolate mousse which was definitely the best part of the meal, but again not particularly impressive. I would say that the best thing about Sassafraz is the ambiance. It is a beautiful sunflower yellow building on a prime corner of Yorkville - a place to dress up and be seen, and maybe to spot a celebrity, but not a place for a satisfying meal. read more

Yorkville tends to be filled with people that THINK they are somebody, and Sassafraz has let this attitude get to its own head unfortunately. Our evening started by being scolded for being 10 minutes late for our reservation (on a Wednesday nonetheless), even though the second floor was half empty and remained like that for the rest of the night. The food was mediocre, the service was full of attitude and snobiness, and they kept pushing the bill on us and rushing us out - let me say that we were a quiet group, the place was half empty and nowhere near closing time. If you want to be served mediocre food while being giving the cold shoulder, just go to your in-laws! At least you will not spend an insane amount of money on it. read more

Sassafraz is a family fave of ours. The space is really very picturesque, with the white sofas, open windows and live jazz music by the bar, and the clean neutral palette of the main dining area, accented by a living wall at the back of the room. Service is always polite and attentive without being obsequious. I have never had a bad meal here, whether for brunch, lunch, or dinner. Mains include solid standbys such as a perfect burger, steak frites, fish and chips, mac & cheese, and fish tacos. Desserts vary, and are always well executed, like strawberry shortcake, and creme caramel. Sassafraz is always a great choice for group celebrations, or even a quiet dinner for two. read more

I came here for my bday last week, after a very very long time. I was glad to realize that the service here is still stellar. Our group of 8 were really well taken care of - everything was on time, well prepared and the server(s) made sure to always be at hand without interrupting every few minutes. The food was delicious as well. Will definitely be back more often ! read more

I like sitting outside at this place. Drinks are pretty good, and it was strong, which made me feel like I was getting a deal because you usually don't feel like that in Yorkville, especially at the nicer places. Ice coffees are good too. Their service is good but not warm or inviting, just good as in they bring you what you need in a reasonable amount of time. I had beef tartare once upon a time with quail egg on it and that was really good. I've had other food items since then and they're quite good too. read more

Went to Sassafraz with 17 family members this past Easter. They did a great job on all accounts! Food was great as was our wait staff. Our table of 17, located down the middle of the restaurant was wonderful! Restaurant is open and airy .... what is more, you could actually hear each other's conversation .... how novel these days! Great experience! read more

A solid choice for anyone dining in the yorkville area. Got the 3 course lunch for $30+ and it was great. Service was attentive and server made sure our drinks were refilled read more

NYE 2014 dinner was just ok... The chowder was good an my friends tell me the pork belly was excellent. HOWEVER -- the Amuse Bouche of seared tuna was bland, Sweet Potato Ravioli was undercooked and the pasta was too thick/hard, strip loin was under seasoned and barely warm (I know meat needs to rest but come on), and the chocolate cake barely had any flavor. For a $100 set menu it was not worth it - we won't be going back. I would rate 2 stars, but since our friends' wedding dinner last NYE 2013 was a much more enjoyable experience I'll give it 3 total. read more

love the atmosphere -- maybe it was the waterfall wall ?? maybe it was the high ceiling and the beam of the sunlight coming through and warming up the whole 2 floors of the restaurant ? maybe it was the idea of a baby grand piano in the main floor?? overall --- i always enjoy my summerlicious/ winterlicious moments here .. Yellow roof house stands out in the lovely area of Yorkville. FOod is good , but I can't say AMAZING (maybe i need to come here for regular menu instead of always getting the fixed resturant week menus)... but I love this place for a date night or an evening with friends. read more

Sassafraz is a favourite whenever visiting dreary Toronto. Loves the cocktails. Interesting wine list. And I don't recall ever having any food there that was less than outstanding. read more