What Changed on Roncy This Summer: New Openings, a Grocery Swap, and a Street Doubling Down on Independents

Walk the strip on a Saturday morning and the shift is obvious before you read a single sign. The Wine Rack is gone. La Cubana is gone. Lambretta's old two-level space has paper on the windows. In their place: a listening lounge run by two siblings in their twenties, a New York red-sauce room with a hand-refinished dining set, and a diner tied to one of Parkdale's most-missed breakfast institutions. Meanwhile, the Loblaws two blocks north is closing and coming back as a No Frills without a pharmacy.

The easy read is that Roncesvalles is turning over, as it always does. The more interesting read is that the turnover this summer has a direction. Independents are moving in on the storefronts corporate operators are stepping back from, and the BIA is spending its 2026 programming budget on the pieces that keep foot traffic loyal to owner-operated shops. If you live here, that shapes what the next twelve months of walking Roncy will feel like.

The three openings actually worth walking past

Café Russo, 139 Roncesvalles Ave. After one of the west end's favourite listening bars, Sounds Good, shuttered in February, a new space for coffee lovers and audiophiles has opened on Roncesvalles, taking over the old Wine Rack. Siblings Rakiya and Suleiman Abdullahi, both in their 20s, opened Café Russo after just three months of planning, leaning on advice from other business owners and documenting the journey on TikTok. The Black-owned Roncesvalles café doubles as a cozy "listening lounge," featuring vinyl records, classical music and a curated menu of unique drinks like their signature vinyl shot latte. The café is located at 139 Roncesvalles Ave and regular hours are Monday to Sunday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. On weekends, guests are invited to bring their own records to spin.

Proper, 392 Roncesvalles Ave. In the former La Cubana space, owner Michael Edwards and chef Julien Cawagas, whose kitchen résumé includes Eataly and Giulietta, opened in late January. From the wishbone chairs he refinished by hand to an all-Italian wine list featuring some of the smallest markups you'll find in the city, the former entrepreneur and business consultant is leading with as much heart as his head will allow. The delivery is that classic New York meets Toronto trattoria experience, with no-nonsense Italian comfort food in a cozy setting. Coming soon: coffee and snacks via the once-popular takeout window.

Toasted, opening in the former Lambretta Pizzeria space. John Poulakos, who ran Parkdale's Pete's Corner Grill until a landlord sale to a fast-food franchise closed the diner in 2020, is returning to the neighbourhood. Toasted is his new all-day breakfast, brunch and lunch spot, opening soon on Roncesvalles in the two-level space that was once home to Lambretta Pizzeria. The location has cycled through a few identities since Lambretta closed — Simply Social, Meetpoint — but nothing has stuck. Poulakos is hoping that Toasted will tap into what locals are looking for in a neighbourhood eatery: big portions of homestyle cooking, affordably priced.

Three openings, three owners with clear personal stakes in the block. That's the pattern worth watching.

The Loblaws swap is the story under the story

Two blocks north of the strip, the anchor grocery is trading down.

Grocery store and pharmacy customers in Toronto's Roncesvalles neighbourhood will notice some big changes this spring. Grocery giant Loblaw will soon convert its existing Loblaws store and pharmacy at 2280 Dundas Street W. to a No Frills store. The Loblaws will close on May 2. The new No Frills, which will not include a pharmacy, will open later in 2026.

The company framed the move as a better neighbourhood fit. For 2026, lower-end discount stores appear to be a big part of the business strategy of Loblaw, and in February the company announced a $2.4 billion investment to expand and renovate its store network, including launching 70 new stores. Of those new shops, more than one third are expected to be discount stores, either No Frills or Maxi grocery stores. If you rely on the in-store pharmacy, a sign at the cash register of the Shoppers Drug Mart on Dundas Street West says the shop will remain open until 2027, which gives roughly eighteen months to sort out prescription transfers.

Put the two stories side by side and you get the summer's actual through-line. Corporate is optimizing for price sensitivity a few blocks off the strip. On the strip itself, three new owner-operators are betting the opposite way: that people will pay for a hand-refinished chair, a vinyl listening room, or a homestyle plate that a chain can't replicate.

What the BIA is spending its summer on

The programming calendar tells you where foot traffic is being pushed. This year the Roncesvalles Village BIA, which oversees 270 commercial properties within its catchment, is running three initiatives residents will actually run into on the sidewalk:

• Around the World on Roncy. A passport-style sticker campaign tied to a new mural, with a scorecard upload for a chance to win. If you have kids, this is the summer walk to plan.
• Roncy Garden Beds 2026. The planters along the avenue, which have won public-space awards in prior years, are back with a refreshed program.
• The FIFA World Cup mural and design push. The BIA is seeking mural artists to propose and execute a large-scale mural tied to upcoming neighbourhood celebrations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The project reflects the City of Toronto's theme, "The World in a City," and will celebrate the cultural diversity that defines both Toronto and Roncesvalles Village. Graphic designers are also invited to submit proposals to develop cohesive visual assets for Roncesvalles Village's 2026 FIFA celebrations, which will include multiple design elements along Roncesvalles Avenue.

These aren't decorative choices. They're the connective tissue that keeps a shopper walking past four independent storefronts instead of driving to a big-box lot.

What's still ahead this year

Two things worth putting on the calendar before the summer disappears.

The first is a fall opening. An award-winning pastry chef is opening his own shop this fall: Steven Tran Pâtissier Chocolatier is coming to Roncesvalles. That gives the strip a serious pastry counter to pair with Café Russo's coffee program, which is the kind of adjacency that quietly changes how people plan a Saturday.

The second is the Polish Festival, and this year is not a normal year. The Roncesvalles Polish Festival Committee is refreshing the festival's visual identity as it celebrates its 20th anniversary in September 2026. The 19th Annual Roncesvalles Polish Festival lands September 19th and 20th, and per the BIA, the festival is North America's largest celebration of Polish culture, held over two days in September, and attracts upwards of 400,000 visitors over the weekend it is held. If you live within a few blocks of the avenue, the practical planning starts now: which side of the street your car needs to be parked on, whether you're hosting relatives, whether you're volunteering.

Why this summer matters more than the average turnover cycle

Roncesvalles has always cycled through storefronts. What makes this summer specific is that the incoming operators are, without exception, personally identifiable. Rakiya and Suleiman at 139. Michael and Julien at 392. John at the old Lambretta space. Steven Tran arriving in the fall. A first-name street stays a first-name street only if the tenants keep showing up in person.

The Loblaws-to-No Frills swap sets a useful baseline against that. The corporate read of this neighbourhood is that price sensitivity is rising. The independent read, judging by who is signing leases on the avenue itself, is that people will still pay a premium for a room with a point of view. Both can be true. The interesting question, if you live here, is which side of that split you're spending your Saturdays on.

If you're thinking about your own next move on the strip, whether that means a home purchase, a sale, or a longer conversation about what a west-end address is worth in a market this active, Christina Cruise knows the block. Let's Connect.