Scratch Kitchen

Friends and i had brunch at Scratch Kitchen this weekend– we ordered the Eggs Benedict, Breakfast Poutine and Soft Scrambled– they were all delicious! The baileys latte is a must, and the sangria and liqueur cider were impressive! The service was excellent and we definitely will return and try these Fat Daddy Pancakes with all the great reviews.

Great service and explanation of the menu… make sure to ask because it’s not just breakfast it’s better! Coffee solid and the rancheros were incredible. Shared the waffle among 4 of us and it’s so unique and crispy. The poutine was very impressive and super filling. Friends had the Benedict with brisket and it was tasty. While I am not a fan of pancakes others raved about the thick style.
Highly recommended after a late night:)

I love the location of this place for the very subjective reason that it is around the corner from my boyfriend’s house. Otherwise, it is a terrible spot, and is why I hate going to his house– smack in the middle of York Mills and Lawrence, and a pain in the ass walk from either. Not a good spot for food traffic.
That being said, it’s worth the walk. I’ve been quite a few times, and usually the service is pretty great, though sometimes a little slow (you have to be willing to make a few reminder calls to the servers). The bartender is stand-​out– she’s remembered random requests for drinks and specially made favorites no longer available (the rhubarb margarita) on many occasions.
The menu rotates, with a few staples. The bread is awesome, but they never give me enough (it’s brunch! I want a whole basket!). I’m a vegetarian, so I haven’t sampled their house-​cured bacon, but the consensus is that it’s fantastic. The environment is laid back and the kitchen is open, it’s clean, the beer is local, and the staff are knowledgeable. I’ve been for dinner once, and it held up as well as brunch did.
Great addition to the neighborhood. Wish it was in a spot where it could get more foot traffic, but I suppose that’s a win for me.

Overrated. Our party ordered a variety of dishes and none were spectacular. Food was average. French toast was bad.

Service: Sat at the bar. Had to get own menu. Did not get flatware or napkins until I asked, and that was after food was served. Did not get ordered drinks and one of 3 meals came as we tried to leave. Overall, pretty slow, and not too worried about whether we had what we ordered it seems.
Food: 2 bones found in my pulled pork sandwich. Sandwich had been sitting in its juices long enough that one piece of bread was dissolving. Fish and chips — fish was pretty blah. Fries were not bad.

Food was not good. One of the worst bfast I’ve ever had.
Bacon and eggs, eggs overcooked and the sides burnt (how is that even possible?), hardly any bacon, focaccia bread raw undercooked.
Friend got the Big Daddy pancake, greasy and not that tasty. Not even any fruit or icing sugar with it. We had to ask for maple syrup;they don’t give it with the pancake.
Service was great and they tried to remedy the eggs but they were disgusting both times. Never had my coffee refilled once.
Nice decorations and mood, but if the food is no good. What’s the point. Just another place trying to be overpriced hipster.
May try it out again for dinner drinks as they have decent craft beer. But never again for bfast.

Dissapointing. our previous experience of scratch Kitchen was poor but we decided to give it another go. Service was slow, 30 mins wait for eggs and bacon. Then when it did come the food looked like it was thrown on the plate and the portion sizes were very small. I wouldn’t mind but I was given half a poached egg and the server acted very indigent when I complained. It’s a good concept but very badly implimented.

We had to walk out, first time I’ve ever walked out on a restaurant after already ordering food.
The 2 people at the table next to us were waiting 90 minutes for their food, when it finally arrived it looked like it was cooked in 3 minutes and thrown on the plate. Would have been nice if the manager had offered them free coffee (or something) while they waited. Small portion, large plate, runny undercooked food — were the comments from the 2 people.
When I realized I’d ordered the same breakfast we started to worry. Then we saw a worker pour new water into the coffee machine — yellow water. Then we saw the disorder of the kitchen — cooks were out in the hallway next to the kitchen tossing, mixing, preparing food — didn’t feel very sanitary. It felt like the restaurant’s first day open, they were completely overwhelmed — but I believe they have been open for several months.
Will not return, there are other options in the area. Too bad, great location, would like to see something better managed open up in its place.

Small. Very very small. .
We were a group of 12 people and had made reservations weeks in advance to reserve the basement for brunch. We got there and nothing was done. Waited 15 min till finally going downstairs to see that the tables were still not set up.
The service was horrible and the food were extremely small portions and not very satisfying.
10 menu items. Nothing to eat if u don’t want breakfast.
No salads. Tisk tisk!
The steak and eggs came with literally 4 slices of tiny pieces of steak, 7 little hasbrowns and 1 Slice of burnt toast soaked in butter.
Will never go back.

This past Saturday my fiancé and I went to Scratch Kitchen after weeks of intending to pop in for a good brunch.
This was the absolute worst brunch experience we’ve ever had!
We ordered their famous Fat Daddy skillet-​pancakes, and it took 45 minutes for them to bring us the wrong pancakes, and pancakes that were COMPLETELY burnt to a crisp. Even the table next to us were shocked. When we told the waitress, she said our correct order of pancakes were in fact ready in the back, but equally as burnt as these. We ended up walking out an hour and a half after arriving hungry, disappointed and angry about the quality of food and customer service.
Words of caution: If they manage to burn 4 Fat Daddy pancake orders in a row, and still try to serve them, there’s a big problem.
Only redeeming quality: the free waters were nice.

I would have given this place three stars if it’s not for their famous «Fat Daddy Pancake». It is literally the best pancake in Toronto in my opinion. The only better one I have ever tried is the pancake desert at Le Mremner in Montréal.
Scratch Kitchen is quite popular for its brunch and there is always a lineup. They have different brunch menus every time I am there, and there was a time when I was totally obsessed with their pancakes, I went to Scratch Kitchen back to back in one weekend. Their pancakes are extremely delicious: super buttery, socked in real maple syrup, big and fat, and served with very tasty homemade berry or orange topping. It seems that their topping are different day to day. It is only $ 9. I wouldn’t say I am a big fan of any other items on its menu, but I can never say no to their pancakes.
I also like the decoration of Scratch Kitchen a lot, especially the flying pigs drawing on the black board. How adorable they are!

Came here a few days back for brunch. my boyfriend& I had no idea the place was about to close but they welcomed us inside. I ordered the BLT which was really well done and had a fresh and light side salad & house fries. Richard really wanted pancakes and they surprisingly still made it for him even though they had to make a whole new batter. The pancakes are honestly really on point. It’s really huge too. Service was great, they were attentive & super friendly !!

Right on the cusp of urbanity on Yonge, I generally like the space Scratch is in. Narrow and long, it feels smaller than it is and is quite comfortable. I like the giant chalk board outlining their menu and options and that the front opening melts away to take advantage of good weather. Unfortunately, I wasn’t a fan of the food.
I had the ‘Fat Daddy’ pancakes after having run a half marathon and having a big hunger. I found the pancake that came disappointing. It was heavy and greasy and particularly tasty. I also tried the ‘Caprese and Eggs’ which was almost entirely tomatoes and not exciting. Lastly, the service was poor. Our wait time to be served was very long and generally it was very inattentive. We collectively left disappointed

They don’t have a ton of choice for brunch, but it’s a good solid choice for brunch. We got there around 1pm and there wasn’t a wait at all. I ordered their BLT which included their in-​house cured bacon and came with a side of salad and home fries. The dish as a whole was great and the portion was just-​right.

Scratch Kitchen is a new brunch restaurant opened on Yonge St and a bit south of York Mills Rd. It just recently opened, but it must be getting some good buzz as there were lots of people and the place, though small, was packed. It was pretty narrow and cozy inside, and I thought the service was good. The interior had the feel of a café and they even have some TVs and a counter reminiscent of a small town diner. The menu here was small and we came for brunch. Items like bacon and eggs, breakfast sausages, and pancakes littered tables all around us.
I ordered the Fried Chicken and Waffles ($ 16), and I have to say… it was actually pretty disappointing. I thought the waffle was done pretty poorly as it was pretty rock hard, and I didn’t even finish it because it eventually felt like I was eating a cracker than a waffle. The chicken was also disappointing as the batter was also cake-​y and did not have any seasoning or flavor. The chicken meat was moist and juicy though.
Despite the disappointment of my meal, my gf ordered what was perhaps the best pancake I’ve ever had. The Fat Daddy Pancake ($ 9) is a simple (and very large) pancake that is skillet cooked and finished off in a stone oven. The pancake was so filling and its topped with some fresh fruit marmalade, hot melted butter, and maple syrup. The age old combination combined to form this amazing pancake.
2 Different dishes with completely opposite opinions. That pancake warrants repeat visits alone, but I’m a bit skeptical of their other dishes. They look pretty good, so I’m inclined to give them another go around.

Should I be getting off at Lawrence Station and walk north? or York Mills to walk south? Coming to this stretch of Yonge Street always post a challenge but Scratch Kitchen for brunch/​lunch totally worth it!
We arrived around Sunday 2:30 to an almost empty restaurant. Great to avoid the weekend brunch rush.
What should I eat? Most of the breakfast item is reasonably priced from $ 7 and with everything made from «Scratch» and locally sourced, they sure means good value!
We shared:
Fat Daddy Pancake ($ 9) skillet-​baked pancake with poached pears and real maple syrup
Sausage and Eggs ($ 9) Berkshire Pork Sausage with 2 free range eggs, home fries and homemade bread
Pancake was so fluffy, buttery and light but a little crispy outside. Highly recommended!
Friday night they have prix menu which changes every week in what’s on the menu and how much. Waitress advised us to call Wednesday if we want more details.
Scratch Kitchen has a lot of potential and I definitely would be back for some craft beer!

3.5 STARS
This is a cute little brunch spot that I believe opened up less than 2 months ago. It definitely has the potential to be 4 STARS but I think they need time to work out some kinks.
It’s pretty busy on weekends so they definitely need more staff to get service and seating going a little quicker. It seems if you get here before 11am on weekends you should have no wait… but anything after and there is a line up.
The food is pretty good and pretty decent sized portions. I had the grilled cheese which comes with salad and home fries. Overall it was good — the homes fries had that nice crispy texture that I love. I did have to as for ketchup like 3 times — they were just so busy they couldn’t keep up.
They have daily specials on their chalkboard and take your order via ipad. The menu is pretty limited in selection in comparison to other places, but for me that is not a bad thing — i don’t like places where they menu is a book. Too many choces overwhlem me.
I will definitely give this place another chance in a few months to see if they ironed out any of the kinks

Visited Scratch for a late brunch Saturday. Very nice and cozy space and it was not busy when we arrived. We were seated right away near the back and set up with cutlery and water but this is where the glitch in service occurred.
We sat there for 20 mins before our waitress came back to take our order like they had forgotten about us. It may have been due to the large group who came in after who appeared to be friends or family with the wait staff and kitchen staff.
So we wave down our waitress and order the steak and eggs and the Fat Daddy pancake.
The pancake is enormous and very tasty. I’m not usually a fan of pancakes but this one passed the test. The edges were surprisingly crispy and it was not soggy in the middle. The poached pears added a nice tartness to balance out the sweetness of the maple syrup that was already added to the pancake when it arrived. Only thing would be I would ask for the butter on the side next time.
The steak and eggs were nice. Nothing bad to say, just a very typical brunch dish. The only complaint my boyfriend had was the portion was skimpy.
Overall, it’s a nice brunch spot midtown. The lines are crazy and the food is good.
Will go back… Hopefully we won’t get lost again in a crowd of their friends and family…

Brand spanking new restaurant, right next to my beloved macaron joint!
I had the prix fixe menu for dinner, which was $ 25 for 4 courses. The first course to come were 2 fresh raw oysters. These were smallish but decent. There wasn’t the usual array of sauces to season the oyster with, but had the basic Tabasco and lemon slices.
Second course was cured Chinook salmon on bitter greens, with pickled beets and goat cheese emulsion. It came with a side of fresh Dijon mustard seeds, which gave off just the tiniest kick. The salmon was fine, and goat cheese mixed in well with flavours.
Third was the main, which was beef short ribs, braised apple, dirty mash with whiskey pork gravy. The portion was just right. The ribs were yummy, one rib being nice and fatty, the other one lean. The apple gave sone sweetness to the dish and my table all loved the dirty mash.
Dessert was a good sized apple crumble topped with some 10 year aged cheddar. Omg, the aroma was AMAZING! I’ll go back just for this alone!
House wine was $ 1 per ounce, which is nice if you want just a few social sips. I’m very social, so I got 5 oz :)
The bad — the layout of the tables seems a bit off. I think maybe they rearranged the tables out of their usual location to accommodate for our large party (12 people) but there was only a foot of room to pass through. Also, the playing doesn’t seem very uniform. My dessert dish would have a teensy drizzle of caramel, and a chunk of cheddar, while my friend had no caramel and a whole sheet of cheddar! Scratch must still be working to be consistent.
Overall, I would definitely come back. The food itself was delicious and adventurous, and I’m curious to see the next menu!

Came to Scratch Kitchen on a Sunday morning (around 10ish). Wasn’t too busy during that time but it picked up really quickly. A line up formed as we were leaving. First thing you would notice is the big chalk board menu and their open kitchen style. They have a liquor license and serve wine by the oz. Onto the food. Like the name of the restaurant «scratch kitchen», the food was made from scratch — from bread/​jam to their own cured bacon. We thoroughly enjoyed our food. I loved the fat daddy pancake and pulled pork sandwich. My friend loved his grilled cheese and bacon sandwich. Staff are friendly and our coffee was refilled often. We would definitely come again!