House of McGrath opens in the historic Comstock Building with family-run dining and brewery
A two-storey restaurant and social house from a Toronto family honors the Financial District's beer heritage with seasonal cuisine and live music.
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House of McGrath has arrived on the Toronto dining scene as a family affair that transforms the storied Comstock Building into a gathering place honoring the neighbourhood's beer history.
Co-founded by Matthew McGrath, a Toronto native who grew up selling tie-dye shirts near Yonge and Dundas, the restaurant operates across two storeys with distinctly different vibes. Upstairs is the dining room, where the kitchen serves seasonal cuisine with locally sourced ingredients—herb-roasted duck confit, vegan mushroom wellington, house-brewed beer, and a carefully curated wine list built around Canadian spirits. Downstairs is an intimate social space with live entertainment and pool tables.
The McGrath family—Matthew, his wife Michele, and all four of their children—are involved in operations and menu development. Matthew's family is Irish Catholic; Michele's is Brazilian. The cuisine draws on generational European cooking with a contemporary twist, reflecting Toronto's diverse flavours and diaspora communities. Boeuf stew and feijoada share the menu while bossa nova and 1940s jazz play in the background.
The space is designed as a time capsule of the Financial District in the 1920s, with stone from a local quarry and reclaimed wood from an old farm down the road. An electric cedar sauna, steam shower, and wood-burning fireplace provide ambiance in each room.
The restaurant reflects an inclusive hospitality approach: plant-based and dietary-restriction options are not afterthoughts but creative, satisfying parts of the menu. For Victoria McGrath, the eldest daughter and VP of Operations, who follows a plant-based diet, these dishes stand on their own.
The Comstock Building's brewing history runs deep—it has housed successive breweries since the late 1980s: Denison's, the Strand, Duggan's, Beer Academy, and Batch. The Victoria Brewery, founded just down the street in the 1840s, went on to form part of the Molson Coors empire.
House of McGrath is located at 75 Victoria Street in the Comstock Building. Make a reservation online to experience the full evening.
