Frank

This a great spot to have a nice lunch break while visiting the amazing AGO. We did have to decline the table they teied to seat us at right in the traffic path between the kitchen and the lower level (now WHY would they offer that table to anyone), and insisted upon a nice banquette table.
Our server was absolutely flawless, attentive and ever so amiable which made for the most pleasant lunch.
My partner had the Benny… quite nicely presented but thought that avocado was overkill on the beautiful salmon benny, but otherwise a nice plate. I had the chicken NOT piccata… it was done with a tomatoe sauce over the chicken breast then parmesan, far too heavy to serve with waffle (which was cold) and a fried egg and i think ruined it. definately NOT piccata which is coated and sautéed in a LIGHT sauce and would have been lovely… this would have made this dish innovative perfection at $ 21…instead it was just wrong on SO many levels. The wine list is excellent.
We would go back, and give it another try it was a great convenient spot to break our day of gallery touring.

This is a review of their Espresso Bar inside Galleria Italia.
Ambience: 4.5÷5
Food: 3.75÷5
Everything served at the café is good.
Service: 3.5÷5
Notes: Great café, only issue is on weekends and during special exhibits it can get overcrowded with little room or privacy to catchup with friends. To access the Espresso bar you will need to have either membership or purchased tickets.
Repeat: Yes

I wouldn’t call this a Canadian restaurant of the same level as Canoe or Boralia. But the food is good and the location (next to AGO) can’t be beat: you can look at art and after enjoy a nice glass of wine and a meal.
For my visit, the service was impeccable. My server was very attentive and everything on the menu could be altered to exclude wheat. He recommended a great wine pairing.
The food was good. Not exceptional. I had the streak frites with bone marrow and house made aioli. The steak was cooked exactly as requested but a bit bland. I’ve eaten a fair bit of bone marrow around the world… this was a bit over cooked.
Overall, the 4 rating is a bit misleading. I would rate the restaurant as follows:
Service: ⁵⁄₅
Food: 3.5÷5
Ambiance: 3.5÷5
Location: ⁴⁄₅
Overall: 3.75÷5
Price: ³⁄₅
Overall: it’s easy to find a table, the food is good but overpriced, and the service fantastic. If you’re looking for a place to eat after a night at the gallery, this is a good option. However, I wouldn’t make a special trip or go out of my way to eat here with so many other great restaurants in Toronto.

I feel bad rating a restaurant with only one star, but the food was very bland, and it wasn’t even healthy. Tried the venetian flat bread without proscuitto (it was just bread with a little bit of cream and the tiniest cuts of fresh fig), scallop (one scallop, with pureed peas… the peas were good but it was just peas, very bland), and the burger.
SO, food was not good, but the atmosphere and service is good.

Had lunch with hubby here yesterday. I usually like the food at Frank, but was disappointed yesterday. Everything was very salty. We shared Caesar Salad with tiny salty pumpernickel croutons that resembled cat food, not so appealing. We both had the hanger steak which was delicious but the fries that came with it were incredibly salty. However, our waitress was really super and provided excellent service.

Went on tour to Toronto and one of many stop we have to have lunch at downtown Chinatown, my wife and me we desired to go on our own to a different restaurant and was the best decision, we end up at ‘FRANKS’ you feel the elegance of the restaurant very modernist at the entrance the reception is very polite, waitress bring as the menu and we chose the tapas all of the six choices were delicious, crispy cauliflower, Cesar salad crostini, grilled cheese, kung pao chicharron. and mussels cover and a delicious chef own specialty and the merlot wine was great aromatic and good flavor and a pisco sour cocktail very innovative, We didn’t regret walk way from our group specially when a delicious food is

Doing TIFF film tonight so decided to try Frank.
Ordered a couple of cocktails (graffiti and the daiquiri), Californian salad, and duck and bison striploin for mains.
The salad was delicious. A perfect blend of greens with strawberries, blackberries, tomatoes, grapes, quinoa, pumpkin seeds, and avocado. I would never put that combination together myself but will now definitely try it at home!
Duck and bison were delicious and perfectly cooked with a nice accompaniment of veggies and starches.
Dessert was sublime. The pineapple corn bread was soooo good. It came with a popcorn accompaniment and matcha crème. I could eat that again and again. The spelt molasses cookie crumble with ginger ice and a delicious chocolate enrobed treat was also delish.
Service was friendly and attentive. I accidentally dropped a roasted tomato into my partner’s cocktail and our server brought us a complementary replacement beverage.
It is a hidden gem, especially on a Saturday night in TO and definitely worth a trip back.

The AGO is a great place to soak up some artsy culture. They have new exhibits regularly throughout the year with lots of extra activities for the whole family. On our most recent visit, we checked out the Picturing the Americas show. It was a fascinating international collection of breathtaking landscapes from Tierra del Fuego to the Arctic. We also popped in to the pop-​up photo collage workshop, grabbed a pair of scissors and a glue stick and let our creative juices flow.
To complete the evening, we headed over to the gallery’s restaurant, Frank. There, we were greeted to a spacious, bright dining area. The décor is modern and airy with a relaxed but classy feel. The bar offers some interesting cocktails. We had the Paloma Hermosa, a tangy tequila and grapefruit drink with a fruity ice sphere floating among chunks of colourful citrus. Yes it’s a work of art.
The bistro style menu offers light fare presented artistically of course. The ingredients are fresh and delicious. Maybe a tad over-​priced but you get a discount if you are a gallery member.
I had the PTA beet cured trout with foraged greens, cucumber ribbons, pistou,
edible flowers and shaved radish. A feast for the eyes! I’d like to visit Frank again for Sunday brunch next time I’m at the gallery. You can make reservations on the AGO website.

Nice place, especially after a visit to the AGO.
Started with the Paloma Hermosa, $ 15 but well worth it. Super tasty drink and plenty of it.
For a main, I had the $ 22 Frank Burger, probably not worth the money, but hey, it was date night and I felt like a burger with fries. I would have likely been better off with one of the other mains which look much more haute cuisine.
Generally a nice place, great vibe, nice location and attentive staff.
Enjoy!

I’d been meaning to go here since it opened. Finally had brunch here and i highly recommend it whether you’re going to the AGO or not. One of the more family-​friendly high end places in T.O. The 2 course brunch was friggin’ great and the staff was nothing but accommodating and super-​friendly. Come for the kick-​ass food, and stay for the amazing service!!!

HOLY CATS! Why doesn’t this place have a higher star rating?
We came across this place while touristing around in Toronto. We wanted to go to the museum but wanted food first so we were SOO happy when we saw this place attached to the museum ready for us to eat some brunch.
We had to try the Bloody Caesars… spicy of course. They were perfect and refreshing.
For food we had the Huevos Rancheros and the Burger with fries. So good and nothing else to say about that.
I really wanted something sweet so we ordered this blueberry tart… it was practically the best part. or it was the last thing I remember.
It’s worth the extra price tag especially if you are visiting from out of town.

This was my second visit to Frank, but my first for dinner. A friend was in town and we wanted to sit somewhere on the quiet side so we could drink prosecco and catch up. We chose Frank because it just so happened Summerlicious was on and we thought it would be a great way to experience the restaurant at the more affordable rate of $ 35 per person.
I arrived to spectacular service. The gentleman who greeted me even went as far as to pull my chair out for me when we arrived at the table, which I found quite lovely. Our server was prompt and pleasant, though a straight-​to-​business kind of girl. I started with the pineapple salad and my friend had the cod fritters. We both enjoyed our meals, but I found the turkey bacon unnecessary and a somewhat funny looking garnish. I didn’t eat it, but loved the tangy pineapple dish. For our mains, we both went for the flank steak. I’m not much of a red meat person, but our server was adamant that I would love it – and she was right. I ordered it medium and was pleased with how it was cooked as usually I’m more of a MW girl if I order beef at all. It mostly tasted like roast beef with a giant ravioli stuffed with mushrooms and gravy rounding out the comfort food feel of the meal. The arugula salad with bursting cherry tomatoes lightened it up and completed the pallet.
Finally, I opted for the mango passion fruit smoothie while my friend went for the cookie. Both of us enjoyed our meals and I must confess I kind of regretted not getting the cookie as it looked so good. Despite my dessert envy, we truly had a great time at Frank. I only wish we had arrived earlier to check out the gallery beforehand. Next time I’ll be sure to do that.

This was my third visit to Frank, and yet for some reason, this is my first time to review. Yesterday I stopped in for lunch with friends before checking out the Moore Bacon exhibit :) They were offering a Summerlicious menu for $ 20 — a very good value compared to the regular price point of the menu — so I went for it! I started with the salted cod fritter; it was a generous portion and I enjoyed the mango sauce though I tasted no jerk in it. The downside was the fritter was very salty. Fortunately for us, we had a bottle of Chardonnay to wash it down (only $ 28 and quite a nice wine). For my main, I tried the quinoa and sweet potato burger. It was stacked so tall that I figure you’d have to unhinge your jaw like a snake to be able to fit it all in your mouth! Even cutting the burger in half, I struggled. The final course was dessert. After a burger and a deep fried appetizer, I figured what the hell? I went with the ice cream sandwich. It was nothing fancy and perhaps because I am not a huge sweet fan, I could have done with about a half of the serving, but it was still a fun way to round out the meal, and I must confess… I ate it all.
The best things about this meal other than the company were as follows: firstly, the plating of the food was very nice. My friend even had an orchid on her pineapple salad. Secondly, our server was warm and efficient and made the meal that much more pleasant. All in all, the third time was a charm and I really enjoyed my time at Frank.

This is a review for lunch, Winterlicious 2014, not their regular service: first, the server– she was just a ball of misery and completely unhelpful. When my salad came, I noticed there wasn’t any (or barely any) dressing, I asked if she can get me more and her reply was to inspect the salad closely, which at that point I said, if she had to inspect it that long then there’s nothing there, she then points to A SINGLE LEAF and says «look, it’s there». ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? It would have been faster if she just went straight to the kitchen and gotten the damn dressing. Then our table waited about 20 or so mins for our second course to arrive, during this time she did not notify us why it was taking so long, when it was coming, nor refilled our waters.
Ordered the lorco (South American veggies stew). It was ok. I have nothing to compare the taste to. Perhaps it could have been a bit more stew-​y than broth-​y. Friend’s steak was tasty except the meal was advertised with 3 sauces, she got ONE plus salt. Other friend’s piri piri chicken was good and was a big enough portion.
Dessert also took nearly as long.
I know it was Winterlicious and all so I didn’t expect 100% of the service but c’mon, if y’all don’t want to participate in Winterlicious, then don’t! so people like us don’t waste our money on horrible experiences such as this. It was also handy that 15% gratuity was already included in the bill because if it wasn’t, that miserable, miserable lady was getting nothing from me.

My experience for this spot was for a brunch before going for an exhibit.
They have a brunch menu on line which was sadly not up to do date so I was left to make a new choice from what I had planned already as the menu is very limited and doesn’t cover a wide range.
My choice was the following item
Ahi Tuna Tartar
Burger
Poached Pear with a cappuccino
The beer selection is not available on line but is actually quite good. 3 big bottle Italian beers (750 ml) along with an interesting mix of small sized offerings (Blanche de Chambley would be my choice for those)
We were a somewhat larger group of 6 so people took our time in ordering. Service was prompt at this time. Since no one else ordered an appetizer my tuna tartar was first to arrive.
Visually appealing this was the best dish for my meal. Nice crispy won ton with yuzu and sesame provided a nice tang. The edamame wasabi hummus was surprisingly bland and didn’t have any kick associated with wasabi. The side of salad was decent.
Then the wait began and the server disappeared for a bit and the main took their time in arriving. The burger didn’t look appetizing as the patties was just overwhelmed the dry over sized bun. Poor meat to bun ratio IMO and the condiments didn’t help much either. Fries were just run of the mill and spicy apple ketchup was forgetful. I couldn’t finish the whole burger even and left most of the bun untouched. Others in the group had a similar opinion of the place as well.
Then came time for dessert the portion isn’t what one expects for starters. The poached pear was half decent. The rhubarb pie and pineapple cake went well the crowd.
All said and done one can do a lot better for the amount you would spend here.
2.5 stars.

Went for winterlicious. Their menu was diverse and well worth the visit. I had the chowder, bison burger and pecan pie which was a winning combination. The mushroom risotto I tried was bland and boring as was the apple tart. Servers were warm and attentive and made us feel very welcome. Frank is a great venue to have a drink at the bar (although it seats probably 10 max). I will definitely be back! I would have gave it a perfect but for such an expensive restaurant, their risotto should have been better, same with the tart as these are staple items.
PS: expect weird art installation stuff if you dine on the 2^nd floor. The overall décor is wonderful and hip though.

FRANKly, my dear…
(I can already feel it; there’s a lot of wordplay potential here)
…Frank is an excellent option for a visit pre-​, post– (or even mid-​) AGO show. Heck, bypass the art gallery entirely… Frank won’t mind.
I love to slip into a bar stool at Frank for a glass of wine en route home. The surroundings are modern, sleek, and there’s something incredibly relaxing about watching the scramble of Dundas Street pass by on the other side of the window while you sit and sip on a carefully chosen somethingboozy. There is impressive choice, so prepare to do some reading when you are passed the wine list.
The service here is excellent: super-​attentive, unobtrusive (great spot for a business drink) and — even when the dining room has had reservations — I’ve never had a problem finding space immediately at the bar. Water top-​ups seem to be amazingly managed by some ninja waitstaff.
I’ve only ever had bar snacks (meaty olives, frites with lemon aioli) and desserts (dense chocolate cake, every time) so cannot speak to the complete range of food on offer. However, speaking Frankly (here I go again)…I have no reason to think that the full menu wouldn’t be as wonderful as the bits and pieces I’ve tested already.
Unilocal note: Frank participates in Summerlicious, so if you want to try 3 affordably priced courses at a restaurant you might otherwise bypass… this is the time to go.

I came in here twice for Summerlicious lunch and more recently for their actual dinner menu. Both summerlicious experiences were on pary with most other summerlicious lunches I’ve been to over the years, good food but always leaves you craving for more. So it was with excitement I showed up for their dinner menu.
But before I get in to food stuff, the actual restaurant seems to fill in every possible corner that the AGO could afford to give it, resulting in a very unusual and unnatural sense of space. They have a maître d that stands out because he has a mean handlebar moustache all gel’d up and ready to go, and everyone else in the staff showed great personality and service on both my summerlicious and «non-​licious» dining experiences.
I had a grilled octopus appetizer followed by my first ever go at scallops as an entrée, and the octopus was delicious in all it’s dressing and had an almost poultry texture and the scallops were very «fish ball» in taste which I enjoyed and definitely did not regret my decision. My dessert was an apple tart if I remember right and was a great finish.
My only negative about the experience was their drinks menu, it was very expensive for drinks that look great on a menu but come out extra strong (elite event-​like) and don’t go great with a meal. But at least they don’t cheap out on the alcohol ounces.
Add all that up and you’re looking at around $ 100/​person for a full meal, so go in expect to dish out some dough, but it is easy to spend only $ 50 here and leave feeling satisfied and sober.
And the fact that you can wander in to the AGO (hours of operation permitting) as an after meal destination is a minor plus too since the AGO shop has some neat stuff you get to play with.

We’ve always enjoyed the food available at large art galleries so for our first trip to the AGO we assumed their would be delicious dining choices. After viewing a few floors of art we checked out the rather lacking meal selection in the café before we headed upstairs to Frank’s. Our casual traveling clothes must not have fit the atmosphere because we were placed in a back corner behind a wall, despite plenty of seating available on the main, more open floor. We are vegetarians and there were very limited options, maybe one main course that didn’t appeal to us, so I chose the tomato asparagus soup and my husband chose the mushroom tamales (an appetizer.) My soup tasted like canned soup and his tamale was tiny and terrible. I thought he was being a picky eater until I tasted it myself. It tasted like a chocolate bar rolled in dirt. We paid our $ 30 bill (water only) and headed downstairs back to the café where he had a grilled cheese that tasted like sweet onions and veggie chili and I couldn’t even finish my sad, bitter latte. All together we spent over $ 50 on a terrible meal in a cold atmosphere. The AGO needs to take a hint from other major galleries and offer a wide variety of delicious foods to suite everyones dietary needs at a reasonable price. As travelers we wanted the convenience of staying in the museum for lunch. I’d advise everyone to eat before you go. Yuck!