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Even though Toronto hasn’t agreed to host a casino—and may not even decide until 2014—the rampant speculation as to where it should go continues. The two main contenders: Etobicoke and the downtown waterfront. The Toronto Star reports U.S. giant MGM Resorts International is really only interested in spots close to the lake and the downtown business district, like Ontario Place or the Port Lands. Though a recent poll touts Woodbine racetrack as a preferred casino location among Torontonians, MGM believes suburban Etobicoke is fine for an old-fashioned (read: lame-o) casino, but not for the multi-billion-dollar entertainment mecca it would like to build.
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The last couple of years have been fantastic for Toronto diners. The city has experienced an explosion of hole-in-the-wall masterpieces, opened by people you’ve probably never heard of, doing inventive, surprising things with small kitchens. They often don’t care much about decor, and the rooms are usually noisy, but the places are packed night after night. A few weeks ago, on a Monday, I called one such restaurant to book a table for the following Thursday, and the man on the other end of the line laughed at me. He said he had an opening on a Thursday—six weeks from the day I had in mind. Other terrific restaurants don’t even take reservations. If you want a table, plan to wear comfortable shoes, because you’ll likely wait in line. At about 7 p.m. toward the end of the week, Dundas West and Queen West and East are the sidewalk gathering places of curious foodies in from Mississauga and Lawrence Park, eagerly awaiting the opportunity to rack up points on their credit cards. (That is, if the low-tech restaurant in question takes credit cards.) 
