The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is returning to light up the city from Sept. 10 to 20, and restaurants are getting in on the action with festival-inspired cocktails, special tasting menus, extended hours and plenty of options for pre- and post-screening dining.
From the traditional festival hub around King Street to TIFF’s return to Yorkville, here are hot spots offering something special during the festival.
Riley’s Fish & Steak
Where 155 Wellington St. W.
Located steps from Roy Thomson Hall, the Princess of Wales Theatre and Royal Alexandra Theatre, Riley’s Fish & Steak is perfect for dinner before a TIFF screening. The restaurant’s $65 pre-theatre prix fixe menu is available daily from 4 to 6:30 p.m. and features a selection of Riley’s signature dishes, including its prime rib. Riley’s also offers happy hour and a 45-minute lunch menu depending on your festival schedule.
It recently opened a spacious covered patio for soaking up the last days of summer and for streetside star gazing. Whatever your TIFF plans, Riley’s Fish & Steak can be your go-to.
Chotto Matte
Where 161 Bay St.
Chotto Matte is marking TIFF with its Golden Ticket Steak & Sushi Experience, a surf-and-turf-inspired eight-dish menu combining premium steak with the restaurant’s signature sushi, accompanied by a complimentary glass of wine for $70 per person.
Available from Sept. 1 to 20, the experience also comes with a TIFF-season bonus. Guests who book the Steak & Sushi Experience through the restaurant’s Golden Ticket promotion will automatically be entered for a chance to have their entire meal covered by Chotto Matte, up to a $200 value. Golden Ticket bookings run Sept. 10 to 20 from 5 p.m. onward, so head to its online bookings for a chance to enter and dine like a star!
PUNCH at Le Germain Hotel
Where 30 Mercer St.
PUNCH is leaning into the TIFF energy with extended hours, festival events and a new tasting menu created specifically for the occasion. Throughout the festival, the restaurant will be open from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m., with food available until 11 p.m., making it an ideal spot for dinner and late-night drinks post-film.
New for TIFF is the Chef’s Journey in Flavour, a $95 multicourse experience with an optional $55 wine pairing. The menu moves through dishes including Nova Scotia lobster with Ontario corn, crispy rice and lentils with paneer and Bengali sweet mango pickle, lobster with mussels and little neck clams, and minced lamb kebab with Kakori spices and pomme purée. Dessert features genoise sponge, vanilla mousse, compressed peaches and tarragon ice cream. Vegetarian alternatives are available upon request. PUNCH will also host a number of festival events throughout TIFF, including after-parties and industry gatherings, so be on the lookout for industry insiders.
ONE Restaurant at The Hazelton Hotel
Where 116 Yorkville Ave.
This TIFF, the festival action is returning to Yorkville and ONE Restaurant at The Hazelton Hotel will have a front-row seat. Yorkville Avenue will close to vehicles and transform into a pedestrian-focused festival destination, bringing TIFF events and parties back to the neighbourhood. For the occasion, ONE is debuting two festival-inspired cocktails. Old Fashioned Glamour combines The Macallan Double Cask 12 Years Old, Valdespino Fino Inocente Sherry and orange, while The After Party mixes vodka, Cointreau, fresh blood orange and lemon juices, finished with a sugar rim.
There’s also some added cocktail theatre courtesy of the Macallan Bar Cart. Mixologists prepare drinks tableside, with guests choosing from classics including a whisky sour and old fashioned. The experience is available in ONE’s dining room and bar lounge, as well as through select in-room service at The Hazelton. For those looking to keep the evening going, ONE also serves a late-night menu from 10 p.m. until close, while its Bar Lounge (a celeb hot spot) hosts DJs Wednesday through Saturday.
Primadonna
Where 600 King St. W., 4th floor
Located in the heart of King Street West, Primadonna is among several INK Entertainment properties with TIFF menu specials. Set to roll out on Sept. 10, and running until the last day of the festival, this spot has a feature cocktail called La Première, made with tequila, aperol, Prosecco, lime, and lychee juice.
Along with the drink special, it is offering a set menu. Titled The Main Character Menu, the three-course meal comes with select starters like beef carpaccio or the frutti di mare, a main course that includes their spicy shrimp vodka rigatoni, along with your selection of dessert. The aperol spritz cake is one of the selections for that.
Bar Romy
Where 295 Adelaide St. W.
Writers Room at The Park Hyatt Toronto
Where 4 Avenue Rd., 17th floor
In Yorkville, Park Hyatt Toronto is celebrating TIFF with a limited-edition cocktail menu and live music at Joni, making it another neighbourhood stop before or after the festival action.
Available at Joni and Writers Room from Sept. 10 to 20, the TIFF cocktail menu features two cinematic creations. The final draft combines Hennessy V.S, verjus, mead, agave and passion fruit, while the opening scene features Chopin Vodka, grapefruit-thyme syrup, herbal liqueur, lychee, wine and soda.
At Joni, the soundtrack continues with live jazz and swing inspired by the golden age of cinema. Performances run throughout TIFF, with John Amato Trio opening the festival on Sept. 10. It’s your soundtrack to TIFF.
Aloette Spadina
Where 163 Spadina Ave.
Aloette Spadina is expanding its schedule for TIFF, opening for lunch (and its regular dinner) every day throughout the festival (Sept. 10-20), along with its famous Saturday and Sunday brunch.
The lunch menu includes plenty of options for a quick meal between screenings, including lobster and shrimp fritters, tuna tartare, Hokkaido scallop crudo, chorizo ragu cavatelli and Aloette fried chicken, alongside the signature Aloette wedge salad and black truffle burger. For dessert, there’s the restaurant’s lemon meringue pie and strawberry shortcake sundae.
On Fridays, festivalgoers with more time can also stop in for Aloette Déjeuners, a $59 three-course prix fixe lunch inspired by a leisurely European afternoon. The meal begins with shared bites, including ’nduja olive skewers, tuna tartare canapés and oysters, followed by choices including mushroom cavatelli, grilled sea bream and the Aloette burger and fries. Records from Kops spin throughout lunch, and guests are encouraged to bring along a favourite vinyl of their own for a unique festive feel.
St. Regis Toronto
Where 325 Bay St.
St. Regis Toronto has a couple of TIFF offerings this year at their dining destinations. At LOUIX LOUIS, a TIFF-take on their iconic King’s Cake (13 layers of classic red velvet finished with silky vanilla buttercream) will be available from Sept. 10 to 21 at $55 per slice. And if you’re looking for more than just a slice, at Astor Lounge, the lobby bar, you can enjoy a TIFF-inspired Afternoon Tea. At $98 per person, this tradition returns featuring Egg & Caviar, King Crab, and film-inspired sweets ilike the Popcorn Box and signature King’s Cake. The Afternoon Tea runs from Sept. 1 to Oct. 11.
And for more of an exclusive experience, from Sept. 10 to 26, you can book a private Champagne sabrage experience led by a St. Regis Butler. There is only one available booking per day.
Cassius on King
Where 624 King St. W.
Steps from TIFF’s King Street action, Cassius on King offers a particularly festival-friendly happy hour, running daily from 3 to 8 p.m. The extensive menu includes $2.50 oysters, $8.50 truffle fries, $9 arancini, $14 pizza margherita, $16 rigatoni amatriciana and $18 Italiano burgers, alongside $10 cocktails, $12 wines by the glass and $8 beers. You heard that right.
The King West restaurant also makes it easy to keep the night going after the credits roll. Cassius transitions from Italian restaurant to late-night destination with DJs, parties and VIP bottle service, making it an option for both an early pre-screening bite and a post-premiere night out. TIFF is a party after all.
Shangri-La Toronto
Where 188 University Ave.
The Shangri-La Toronto’s Lobby Lounge and Bar is bumping year round, and during TIFF that is no exception. The vibrant space will have limited-edition TIFF 2026 signature cocktails, and is bringing back its annual TIFF Afternoon Tea.
Among its cocktail offerings is The 20th Take, described as a silky clarified serve with Don Julio Reposado, chocolate, black currant tea, lemon and coconut. Another is Caught on Camera, which pair Redbreast 12 Year with mint-infused Bianco Vermouth, blueberry, lemon and absinthe. Cocktails start at $26, and are available from Sept. 1 to 30.
And for this year’s TIFF 2026 Afternoon Tea, the menu includes “screen-worthy” savouries like Popcorn-ette, a popcorn parfait cornette with maple gastrique and puffed sorghum, Movie Play Tartare with Martin’s Farm flank tartare, hot dog dressing and Kozlik’s crunchy mustard and a Tostada Sandwich with smoked cheddar crema, tomato gel and nacho vegetables. The Tea also includes peanut butter & pretzel scones, among sweet finales like caramel corn and maple bacon donut. This runs from Thursday to Sunday, from Sept. 3 to 27, at $108 per person.
