Crosstown Craft BBQ Opens Permanent Restaurant
Crosstown Craft BBQ, a well-known Toronto pop-up, is opening a permanent restaurant location. The new establishment will serve the same barbecue menu that gained the pop-up a significant local following. The specific address and opening date have been announced.
- The new restaurant is located at 51 Comstock Rd. in Scarborough's Golden Mile and is slated for a summer 2026 opening. - Pitmaster Ruben Silva started Crosstown Craft BBQ as a pandemic hobby six years ago, gaining a following after he and his wife Tatyana began posting about the meals they cooked on their backyard pellet cooker. - The pop-up became known for its authentic Central Texas-style barbecue, with brisket being a consistent best-seller and tender beef cheek emerging as a sleeper hit. - Before securing a permanent location, the pop-up grew an online following from 400 to nearly 30,000, with events often selling out in hours. - The new space will be equipped with a 750-gallon smoker capable of cooking 1,700 pounds of meat at a time, a significant upgrade from their previous 500-gallon smoker. - In addition to staples like brisket and ribs, the menu will include house-made cheddar-jalapeño sausages and rotating specials such as smoked beef cheeks and lamb shanks. - Silva focuses on traditional techniques, using true offset smokers and salt and pepper-based rubs, even sourcing custom-seasoned salt from a small town in Texas. - The location in the Golden Mile was chosen because it's near where the first pop-up started, bringing the business full circle.
