🦝 Food Trucks, Bookstores, and Puppy Yoga

Happy Thursday West End!

I hope everyone has survived the whiplash of exiting the holiday break and entering the real world. As sad as it is to leave the holidays I always love the first week of January because it means I get to gobble up year-end lists and recaps from all the publications that put them out.

Here are some fun Toronto/Canada specific ones I really liked:

What Toronto Read 2025 by Toronto Public Library
Most Popular Restaurant Openings of 2025 by Toronto Life
24 Great Canadian Albums from 2025 by Exclaim
50 Most Influential Torontonians of 2025 also by Toronto Life
100 Predictions for 2026 by Macleans

Let’s get into it!

West End Updates

Food Truck to Become Food Restaurant

For the past year the food truck Bodega Geary has been selling coffee, patties, and ice cream in front of an old body shop. While the truck has served customers, its owners have been renovating the shop, transforming it into a late night diner set to open very soon.

Geary Station will be yet another wonderful entry into the West End breakfast scene, delighting visitors with tasty brunches and then staying open late to serve cocktails in a backroom space.

More info in this Toronto Life article.

New Café and Wine Bar in Bloor West Village

A few weeks ago Lyla’s House opened up their very pretty new space to thirsty West Enders. This is the brand’s second location, with the original venture a neighbourhood staple up in Georgetown (with 4.6 stars on Google Maps). I live my life by Google Maps, and 4.6 stars means a must-visit. Here’s a handy guide to interpreting restaurant Google star ratings:

4.5 stars and higher: Definitely visit this place
4.0 to 4.4 stars: Probably visit this place
3.0 to 3.9 stars: Maybe visit this place, do not use the washrooms
Less than 3 stars: Visit this place only with police escort

Near the intersection of Bloor and Runnymede, Lyla’s styles itself as the ultimate third place. Specialty coffees and pastries in the morning, tasty wines and small plates in the evening. More info on their instagram

Community Initiatives

If you know of a local cause that could use a shoutout, reply to this email.

Meals On Wheels

Have you mastered the dark art of driving in the West End? Meals On Wheels is urgently looking for a volunteer to drive meals to seniors and adults with disabilities in the “Keele/High Park, Jane/Bloor, Runnymede area”. This volunteer would work with a partner from Monday to Friday, making the lunch rounds between 11:30AM to 1:30PM. If you’re interested, get more info here.

Relatively Affordable House of the Week

You probably saw the beautiful listing photos above and thought that I’d gone back to showing fancy homes for the ultra-wealthy. Incorrect! A cursory glance at the title of this section would have revealed that this is in fact a relatively affordable rental property. For $2500 a month you could have this beautiful upper floor apartment in Roncy, complete with a high-end kitchen, a balcony, and more natural light then you can handle. Check out the listing here.

Events

If you have an event you’d like included in a future West End Raccoon, please submit it here.

Thursday and Friday

Don't Quit Your Dayjob @ TBD - Thursday 6PM
A cross between a creative writing exercise and a Japanese game show. $5

The Traitors Watch Party @ Three Dollar Bill - Thursday 8PM
A fun watch party featuring comedy, some games, and a live tarot reading. Details

Parkdale Presents @ The Bell & The Beacon - Thursday 9PM
This is a musical variety night featuring a ton of quick sets from local performers. No cover, PWYC.

Yoga @ McCormick Rec Centre - Friday 530PM
Pretty cheap weekly yoga class run by the city and starting this week. Details

TWILIGHT @ Revue Cinema - Friday 630PM
A screening of the penultimate Breaking Dawn Pt 1. It can not be understated how big of a deal this movie was for the girls at my elementary school. $17

Board Game Night @ Left Field Brewery - Friday 7PM
Come solo or come with a group. Come with games or come without. Meet new people or quietly sit in a corner playing solitaire. Details

Kari-oke @ Steadfast Brewing - Friday 7PM
Free karaoke night hosted by the eponymous Kari. I love whenever I get to use the word eponymous in this thing. Details

Class of 2026 @ Rivioli - Friday & Saturday Night
Every year Exclaim magazine releases their "Class of the Year", a list of new Canadian musical acts destined to dominate the world of CanCon. This weekend they're putting on a two night concert with groups from the 2026 graduating class. Details

Saturday

Enter the Dough-Jo @ 360 Cooking Studio - Saturday 9AM
This kitchen near High Park runs bread-making classes every Saturday morning. As your baking improves you're awarded belts like you're training in Karate. Prices vary

Puppy Yoga @ Toronto Glow - Saturday 10AM
We all like yoga, but do you ever feel like it's missing something? Come to this event to see if that missing ingredient is a bunch of cute puppies running around. $60

Window Wonderland @ The Junction - Ending this weekend
This is your last chance to check out "Window Wonderland" which has transformed The Junction into a free outdoor art gallery, with more than 30 artist designed window paintings and wall murals. On top of that, there's an app that you can point at the murals to see them come to life. More info here

Bookstore Walk @ Dufferin Station - Saturday 11AM
A group walk to some of the best (and craziest) bookstores in the city. Details

The Romantic Interleaf @ MTCC - Saturday 12PM
If you've noticed a preponderance of blazers with elbow patches around the city, it's because the Modern Language Association is having a convention this weekend. Now obviously if you read the West End Raccoon you're a fan of high literature, so here’s one of the sessions that'll be talking about books and stuff. Details

Gallery Reception @ Stephen Bulger Gallery - Saturday 2PM
Opening reception for an exhibition of works by Joan Lyons, a photographer from New York who has been displayed in just about every cool museum. Joan will give a tour of her work at 3PM. Details

Cardio Kickboxing @ McCormick Rec Centre - Saturday 230PM
Another cheap City of Toronto class, this one for kickboxing. Details

Toronto Language Exchange @ Madison Pub - Saturday 7PM
CETWEOK! This is a big pub get together in The Annex where language learners meet to practice their new tongues. Details

NIN Dance Party @ Ground Control - Saturday 9PM
A Nine Inch Nails music video party where you can win tickets to see the band. $12

House Party @ Danu - Saturday 9PM
It's a night at a bar but it's designed to feel like a good ol' house party. Details

Fast Times @ The Piston - Saturday 10PM
An eighties dance party at the always popular Piston. Dance like no one's watching and…… Mike Nykoluk is coaching the Leafs. $15

Sunday and Monday

Jewelry Appraisal @ Canoe Landing - Sunday 10AM
A pop-up where you can bring your jewelry, gold, coin, and other valuables to be appraised. Unfortunately there is no indication that CASH MAN will be in attendance. Details

Perfume Workshop @ Karma Co-Op - Sunday Noon
Create your own signature scent at this workshop. Details

BAR /bahrr/ @ The Rivioli - Sunday 330PM
"It's not a typical cuadro-style tablao performance ;) It's something MORE!!" That's good, I'm getting real tired of those typical old cuadro-style tablao performances. Details

Scrabble in the City @ The Rhino - Sunday 5PM
Meet up with some beautiful Torontonians in a bar and play Scrabble. Details

Bonus fun Scrabble fact: The world champion of French Scrabble doesn't even speak French. He was the English Scrabble champion and he just memorized a French dictionary because he loves Scrabble so much.

Blues Dancing @ T.O. Lounge - Sunday 7PM
A big night of blues dancing with an optional (free) hour long lesson to start. Details

Trampoline Hall @ The Garrison - Monday 7PM
Trampoline Hall is a really cool lecture series where interesting people speak about interesting things. The catch is that the speakers can't be professionals in whatever they're giving a talk on. Tickets always sell out super quick, sales open at the same time this email was sent so move quickly. Details

🎵 Live Music Report 🎵

🎵 Jazz Night @ Junction Underground - Thursday 8PM
🎵 Daisy Progosh (Indie) @ Blue Bird Bar - Thursday 8PM

🎵 Noise Hotel (Indie Rock) @ Painted Lady - Friday 630PM
🎵 Alacati Kafasi (Turkish) @ NeuLokal - Friday 830PM

🎵 Lotus Wright (Blues) @ The Local - Saturday 2PM
🎵 Sophie Kay (Pop) @ Painted Lady - Saturday 7PM
🎵 Dead Beyond Fear (Metal) @ Hard Luck Bar - Saturday 8PM
🎵 Midnight Society (Rock) @ Junction Underground - Saturday 8PM
🎵 Black Budget (Punk) @ Bovine Sax Club - Saturday 9PM

🎵 Dave Clark (Country) @ The Local - Sunday 2PM
🎵 Matthew Lawrence (Folk) @ The Local - Sunday 9PM

🎵 Canopy @ The Local - Monday 9PM

Thank you!

Thanks for reading the West End Raccoon!

As always, if you know a friend or family member who might be interested, please share the newsletter with them: www.westendraccoon.ca

Have a great weekend, and talk to you next Thursday!
Xavier