School Bakery & Café

70 Fraser Ave
Toronto, ON
(416) 588-0005

Perfect For: Brunch

School’s out for summer, but a couple of weeks ago, I gladly (and voluntarily) went to School…School Bakery & Café that is. Though I originally thought that a visit to SBC would be a cool surprise for le boyfriend, he went on to inform me that he was the one who suggested this place months ago, and I was just probably not paying attention. Well, it didn’t matter who discovered the place, School Bakery & Café is one cool restaurant – and is perfect for brunch!

First of all, there are a lot of tables – it is crucial to have generous seating for the hungry masses on Sunday afternoons, when most brunch places have snaking line-ups. We waited for 5 minutes before getting a table, and another 15 to get the menus – it seemed that they were a bit understaffed. Needless to say, when food arrived, taking photos for the blog escaped both our minds and we all but licked out plates clean.

One of my favorite things about SBC brunch was the variety of dishes on the menu. It’s not just your regular eggs and bacon and toast. No, at SBC you are treated to tempting dishes such as “Overstuffed Croissant of Smoked Salmon and Spicy Scrambled Eggs”, “Super Cheesy French Toast”, and “Chipotle Biscuit Sandwich”. And though I wanted to sample every dish on the menu, I settled on Caramelized Banana Pancakes ($15) with a side of bacon ($3), while le boyfriend went with the Overstuffed Popover with Gruyère, Smoked Bacon, and Greens ($11). Both were delicious, though I must add that the bananas on my pancakes were not at all caramelized and the coffee was sub-par. But even that didn’t change the fact that I want to come back to SBC for brunch, lunch, and dinner, as all three menus are permanently etch-a-sketched in my mind.

And the decor…it’s almost worth a trip to School just for the ambiance. Pencils, and blackboards, and apples…oh my! There are flat-screen TVs to watch the World Cup, patios to enjoy the sun, and baked goodies to round out your meal…what’s not to like? If you find yourself looking for a new place to try in the Liberty Village, try going to School…you might enjoy it for once.