Inmigrante — Restaurant in Toronto

If you happen to be going along Queen Street east in the beaches, do yourself a favor and check out Inmigrante. This newish little restaurant is an exciting addition to this strip.

THE VIBE If you enjoy intimate settings with a touch of a tropical feel, you'll dig this restaurant.

From the moment we walked in, we were greeted by the warm and friendly staff. We had a quick look at the menu and decided to stay and give the food a try - so glad we did!

As I sipped on my sangria while listening to Reggeatone, I'd forgotten for a moment that it was actually the first day of fall. A feeling I know many Torontonians will appreciate in the winter months.

The very friendly manager Antonio showed me the patio, and I was blown away. What a cute little tropical oasis they've got back there. I wished we'd gotten there after 5 pm. when the patio opened to have a seat back there.

This private patio is complete with its own bar, seating for around 30 ish - I'm guessing - and heaters so patrons can dine outside when it's cold. I could see people wanting to rent this gorgeous patio out for an event.

THE FOOD Don't let the smallish size of this place fool you. The food is BIG on flavor!

We had two amazing appetizers - Chicken Empanadas with pico de gallo (salsa) and Yuca Frita (cassava fries) with their delicious savory dip and loved every bite.

Almost everything on the menu looked appealing. So much so that we'll be going back soon again for dinner.

THE SERVICE The staff here were all warm and friendly, they answered all our questions about the food, we're extremely polite and had just such amazing energy.

FINAL THOUGHTS When it comes to Latin food, there's really not another place along the Queen East strip that I can think of that compares to Inmigrante, especially not anywhere that does tapas/appetizers and entrées like this.

If you enjoy Latin food that offers a bit of Mexican, Venezuelan, and other Latin countries that's just bursting with flavors and want a little tropical "micro vacation" while dining and sipping on a cocktail, I very highly recommend you try Inmigrante...you'll be...

Don’t make the mistake of giving the server control of the food selection as this was very inadequate.

Good vibe / nice drink options / Aguaxhile (Ceviche) & guacamole & some tacos stood out as bests. . Pretty expensive for some of the more smallish plates as others have noted. It adds up furiously so expect that. Decent quality and good freshness.

We asked the pleasant server to help us order to cover the table decently for dinner portions for all of us,…. A mistake ,as it seemed like we each barely got a few bites of this and that, awkwardly sharing out some tiny tacos and things.

They could have easily just doubled some orders they brought to make the whole dining experience feel less petty and uncomfortably scarce of food. (I suppose some cases this would be embarrassingly expensive for them to do, but regardless, it’s their job to create the complete experience, not just let diners struggle.)

This made the gathering somewhat annoying rather than just relaxed and pleasurable. I don’t think the server really saw to our needs as it fell far short and we ordered more. It felt ridiculous because they seemed clueless (or shameless?) how little food actually arrived based on their own recommendations, like half or less of the basic amount we were reasonably expecting. The situation looked silly.

Again prices don’t reflect this. Feels a bit contrived and a bar-like tactic, kind of teasing rather than feeding people and racking up a big bill, whether or not so intended. It makes a substandard impression which takes away from the positives.

Not really attentive to place settings and water for our outdoor table, kind of ignored the diners present from beginning to end and we had to ask for things.

They might also do well with more proper outdoor furniture .

Nice outdoor space and decor feels really cool. They have a good kitchen and I hope Inmigrante do well as a Beach resto-taberna and they iron out the kinks. Just my thoughts if it helps. I’d like to update and give...

We were very excited to try Inmigrante for the first time. We booked a reservation, yet our table was not ready when we arrived, us having to wait around 10 minutes to get seated: defeating the purpose of a reservation. This was still excusable.

Shortly after, we were asked if we wanted "tap water" or "sparkling water" (a 750 ml bottle). The obvious choice was sparkling water, for it has more substance. Turns out that we were billed $9 plus tax for this water, which was not announced to us before we ordered it.

This all occurred before we received the menu, which later depicted the price of the water.

It would have been nice if the server would have let us know that the water was not complimentary, and that we would have to pay $9 for it.

On the contrary, the orders came out quite quickly.

The portions were very small, the birrias were $25 plus tax for 3 small tacos. The flavour was good, yet the portions were rather small.

We left the restaurant paying $100 plus tip and we were still hungry. I understand that this is a "tapas"/"botanas" restaurant, yet if you intend to sell appetisers, then price the appetisers proportionally.

The price of the food would deserve a lower price tag, or a higher portion.

Overall a decent restaurant, yet I do not appreciate the non-disclosure of the price of the water, alongside the small portions of the food for the astronomical price.

I did love the patio, which was very beautiful.

In conclusion, Inmigrante is a 4 star restaurant, for the patio made up for the faults of the experience. (Due to the large amount of money that is spent to dine here, the service also could have been better.)

We still shall be back for more...