The Opera House gets facelift, makeover of restaurant and patio

Photo: Dean Seguin

Strolling past The Opera House these days you can't help but notice what a fresh coat of paint has done to cheer up the look of the historic building. Operating as a live music venue since the early 1990s, the aging exterior was in need of a renovation and recent improvements have been made to its facade.

The Opera House Grill, the small, nondescript and somewhat drab restaurant attached to the venue that only opened during performances, has also been given a complete overhaul including a makeover of its licensed street-side patio.

Photo: Dean Seguin

General manager Athena Ellinas-Towers says that after 25 years it needed some TLC. She says her family started in the hospitality industry over 35 years ago with a small restaurant on the Danforth, and that will have an influence over the new menu at The Opera House Grill.

"Small menu, simple food — souvlaki, gyros, Greek fries and burgers," she says. "Bringing taste of the Danforth to Queen Street."

The patio has been licensed for several years but was primarily used as a smoking area for concert-goers. Now that the bylaw no longer allows smoking on patios, Ellinas-Towers says it was time to open up the grill to a larger crowd.

The new restaurant and patio should be open for business sometime over the course of the next week