Before its recent demolition the building at 364 Huron served many functions including the Huron Grocerteria seen here in the 1960s. 

By Nimrah Khan and Brian Burchell 

The building at the corner of Huron and Glen Morris Streets, just west of the Robart’s Library, has been many things, but its built form has been largely unchanged for 140 years—until now.

According to the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, 364 Huron St. was constructed in 1879. A bricklayer named Charles Williams made it his home according to the City of Toronto Archives (CTA).

There is a long gap in the historical record, but at some point, it became the Huron Groceteria. A post on X by the CTA suggests you could buy meat, groceries, sandwiches, coffees, and more there. The business evolved into the Huron Deli which thrived in the 1980s. 

The building, which was largely unchanged, then became the Varsity Deli: “The best Korean restaurant on campus” and the only one apparently, according to Four Square, a now shuttered online city food guide. 

In its final iteration before the building’s demolition, it was occupied by the U kitchen, which according to the banner out front, featured “Chinese food-fast-food takeout.”

According to a City of Toronto report published in 2021, the MarsRock Development Group proposed a redevelopment of the site. The proposal was a “three-storey mixed-use building with nonresidential uses on the first two storeys and one dwelling unit on the third storey, and a two-storey laneway suite at 364 Huron Street.” 

The new build at 364 Huron St. is now nearly complete, and a few of the restaurants featured at the front of the building will be: Tororoast, a toast and coffee shop; The Gables, European cuisine; Guksu, a Korean restaurant known for its noodles; and  Burger Lab: “stay tuned for burgers.”

From a bricklayer’s home to burgers in 146 years.