This rural Ontario spot is Canada’s best restaurant, according to annual list

It may be the 11th edition, but the 2025 Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants List is coming out in unprecedented times. From a barn overlooking an orchard in Ontario’s wine country to an exclusive eight-seat dining experience in Calgary, the annual ranking is a snapshot of a homegrown culinary scene worth celebrating at a time when more than ever want to show their support.

Restaurant Pearl Morissette (RPM) in Jordan Station, Ont., was named the country’s best restaurant (up from No. 6 last year). Montreal’s Mon Lapin, which took the top spot in 2024 and 2023, Toronto’s Alo, Edulis — marking its 10th consecutive year in the top 10 — and 20 Victoria rounded out the top five.

RPM is a destination in itself. Set in the Niagara region of southern Ontario, a two-acre regenerative garden supplies fruits and vegetables, herbs, flowers and eggs. Since opening in 2017, co-chefs and co-owners Daniel Hadida and Eric Robertson have prided themselves on using Canadian ingredients, such as West Coast Dungeness crab, East Coast halibut and Fraser Valley rice, alongside produce they grow on-site.

Their approach has won them recognition at home and abroad. In February, Hadida and Robertson announced that they’re publishing a book with Phaidon, saying, “We’re very much looking forward to showing the world our little corner of Canada, and to show Canada is not just maple syrup (even though we have a damn good one).”

An “overwhelming” number of judges picked Restaurant Pearl Morissette as their first choice, says Jacob Richler, the editor-in-chief and publisher of Canada’s 100 Best. “Ten per cent, which is unusually high for a rural restaurant or any restaurant for that matter.”

Richler has always enjoyed RPM but notes that it’s better than ever. “At a time like this, when most people are thinking about what they like about Canada, it’s wonderful to have a restaurant that’s so reflective of a particular slice of the country. It’s distinct and unique.”

Canada’s 100 Best is based on votes from a judging panel of 160 chefs and other hospitality professionals, food writers and tastemakers, who rank the year’s 10 top dining experiences. Thirty-one restaurants on the 2025 list weren’t on last year’s, and 24 are newcomers. Ontario dominates with 40 restaurants (16 in the top 50), followed by Quebec with 29 (17 in the top 50) and B.C. with 19 (11 in the top 50).

Le Violon in Montreal is 2025’s Best New Restaurant and No. 11 overall. Richler describes it as “very Montreal”: a confident blend of mostly French and Italian traditions.

“It’s just good European cooking through the Quebec prism, which is local ingredients and understated plates. Simplicity, which can underwhelm some people but always impresses the aficionado because it’s so much harder to do well.”

This year, Canada’s 100 Best changed its methodology from a linear point system to reflect the judges’ “most passionate enthusiasms.” Richler thinks this recalibration, as well as an ever-expanding panel, has improved the depth and quality of the list from top to bottom. He highlights the strength of restaurants in the 80s and 90s, such as The Fish Man in Richmond, B.C., (No. 89), Riviera in Ottawa (No. 88), Naagan (No. 92) in Owen Sound, Ont., and Fat Rabbit (No. 97) in St. Catharines, Ont., as well as the top 50.

The “Buy Canadian” movement is growing. With a new sense of patriotism, many are skipping trips to the United States and considering domestic destinations instead. According to Statistics Canada, the number of Canadians crossing the land border dropped 32 per cent in March, and air travel fell 13.5 per cent compared to the same month last year.

Richler hopes that people use the list as he does — to travel and eat well while doing it. On his next visit to Montreal, he plans to visit the restaurants that did better on this year’s list than last, such as Mastard (No. 40) and Bar St-Denis (No. 27).

He was taken by the calibre throughout the list, especially when he reflected on the dining scene in 2014 when he started Canada’s 100 Best.

“I didn’t feel then as emphatically as I do now that 100 is a modest number of restaurants to put on a list in this country. There are fantastic things going on, coast to coast,” says Richler. “The quality of the dining experience in our best restaurants is emphatically fabulous and something to be proud of — and worth travelling for.”

1. Restaurant Pearl Morissette (Jordan Station, Ont.)
2. Mon Lapin (Montreal)
3. Alo (Toronto)
4. Edulis (Toronto)
5. 20 Victoria (Toronto)
6. Eight (Calgary)
7. Beba (Montreal)
8. Quetzal (Toronto)
9. Published on Main (Vancouver)
10. AnnaLena (Vancouver)

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