Since late August, the storefront at 3204 Yonge Street, where Woburn Avenue runs west into Bedford Park, has run two services in one room. In the daytime it's a brunch café with Library Coffee on the machine. At 4:30 p.m. it turns into a snack bar with charcoal-grilled skewers and cocktails that cost no more than $20. The place is called Baba. Its founders have said the format is meant to draw neighbours in during the day and bring them back for dinner.
Baba is built around the second visit, and the evening it adds to this part of Yonge runs from 4:30 to 10 p.m., at a scale that suits regulars who live close enough to walk.
Who took over the old Chop Hop space
The Uptown location of Chop Hop x Pantry at 3204 Yonge was reported closed in July 2026. Baba moved into the same address. Chefs Michael Medeiros and Kevin Chen opened it, and the two have known each other for close to ten years.
Toronto Life reported that they met while working at One Hazelton. Later, Medeiros was executive chef at Lyla and Chen was his executive sous-chef. In January, Chen told Medeiros he was leaving to start his own project and wanted Medeiros in on it. They found the space at 3204 Yonge in the spring and finished the renovation in seven and a half weeks. "We ended up loving the community, the venue and everything that came with it. So we decided to pull the trigger very quickly," Medeiros told the magazine.
Toronto Life also explained the name. It honours the chefs and mentors who trained them. "It's an homage to the men who raised us in the industry," Medeiros said.
Two services, one changeover at 4:30
The two-shift setup runs through everything else here. blogTO quoted Medeiros on the goal: "We want Baba to feel familiar from the first visit...a place where people can stop in during the day and return at night for a completely different energy."
In practice, the day splits like this:
| Service | Hours listed on Baba's site, October 2026 | What's on |
|---|---|---|
| Brunch | Daily, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Brunch dishes off a flat-top grill, Library Coffee |
| Snack bar | Monday to Saturday, 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. | Charcoal-grill plates, cocktails, non-alcoholic drinks |
| Sunday evening | No evening service | Closed after brunch |
When Baba opened, Toronto Life reported the café running from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with brunch starting at 9:30. The Yonge Lawrence Village BIA directory shows different hours again, including a Sunday that runs to 5 p.m. These differences are normal for a restaurant still finding its schedule. Baba's own site is the most direct source.
Each service has its own kitchen setup. Hungry416 reported a charcoal grill at the centre of the evening menu and a flat-top grill for brunch. The restaurant planned to open with about 10 brunch dishes and 12 evening items, and to change the menu with the seasons.
What the kitchen makes, and what it brings in
The food mixes Western and Asian comfort cooking, and a lot of it is made from scratch. Toronto Life lists these early details:
- Mapo bolognese, with a slow-braised sauce and house-made rice tofu noodles
- Coffee-marinated steak and eggs
- A pastrami sandwich inspired by one Medeiros used to eat with his father every other week
- Burgers made from meat ground in-house, with pastrami and pickles also made in the kitchen
The ingredients they buy come from Toronto businesses. Coffee is from Library Coffee. Hungry416 notes the micro-roaster recently ranked No. 54 on The World's 100 Best Coffee Shops list. Bread comes from Tre Mari Bakery. Chocolate comes from bean-to-bar maker Mokable, and blogTO reported it goes into a chocolate-marinated striploin.
The evening drinks list is by Nick Hao, who comes from Uh Bar and Slice of Life. Toronto Life described three cocktails. One is a gin gimlet with St-Germain, tomato and yuzu. Another is a banana-and-coffee paloma. The third is the Baba Negroni, made with fig leaf and mole bitters. Hao also runs the non-alcoholic menu.
The prices fit a neighbourhood restaurant more than a big night out. Hungry416 reported cocktails at no more than $20 and larger plates at about $40 to $45, as of the August 2026 opening coverage.
A small room with a 1920s bank vault
The room holds about 37 to 40 people, according to Hungry416. In the evening, a seven-seat bar becomes the centre of the room. The founders based it loosely on a Euro-Mediterranean taverna. The decor uses dark wood, blue and white accents and mirrored finishes.
The building also kept something unusual. Streets of Toronto reported that the space still has its original 1920s bank vault. Baba turned it into a growing wall of disposable-camera photos of the founders' friends, families and community. None of the opening coverage says which bank used the building, so that part of the story is still unknown.
Baba is walk-in only. Larger groups are asked to call ahead. Hungry416 reported plans to add a patio later in the season. We haven't seen confirmation that it has opened.
How Baba's 10 p.m. close compares with its neighbours
blogTO called Yonge and Lawrence a "sleepier stretch" of the city's main north-south street. The other recent openings nearby help explain what Baba adds. Their hours look very similar.
Pii Nong Thai, 3321 Yonge Street. This two-storey flagship puts a Thai restaurant, a Thai market and Lamai Thai Massage under one roof. The BIA directory lists it as open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. This month, Pii Nong Thai's site is promoting a Toronto-only menu that runs October 1 to 31.
Gus Tacos, 3185 Yonge Street. The Mexican street-food chain lists its Yonge and Lawrence location on its own site. In June 2025, WhatNow reported that the branch was expected to open by the end of that month. Customer reviews on a delivery platform show it was serving by mid-August 2025.
Bello Italian Sandwich Co., 3305 Yonge Street, announced. In August 2026, food writer Stephanie Dickison reported that Bello was slated to open two Yonge Street locations, including this one. We haven't confirmed that it has opened.
Pii Nong Thai and Baba both stop serving at 10 p.m. Baba doesn't push the strip later into the night. It adds something new between lunch and closing time. It's a sit-down bar with a cocktail list designed by a working downtown bartender, and it's a short walk from the side streets on both sides of Yonge. blogTO said Baba offers "the type of inventive, slick experience more commonly found downtown." Toronto Life reported that the founders' stated goal is "old-school hospitality" and a following of loyal regulars. They aren't trying to compete with the city's best-known snack bars.
Before you walk over
- Sundays: brunch only. Baba's site lists no evening service on Sundays.
- Arriving after 4 p.m.: the room changes over at 4:30, so a late lunch can run into the snack bar menu.
- Groups: walk-in only. Larger parties should call 416-485-5111 first.
- Hours: the BIA directory and earlier press coverage don't match the restaurant's own listing. babasnackbartoronto.com is the one to trust.
- Menu: the founders planned seasonal changes, so the opening dishes described above may have changed since August.
Two chefs who found this corner in the spring and had it open after a seven-and-a-half-week renovation are counting on the people who live within walking distance. When we talk about homes near Yonge and Woburn, we include which places on the strip are open at 9:30 on a Tuesday night. If you're wondering how that kind of local detail affects what your house is worth, the Jamie Dempster Team is glad to talk it through. Request a Free Home Evaluation and we'll walk you through what's changing on your stretch of Yonge.
