{"id":519903,"date":"2026-03-07T07:26:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T07:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/519903\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T07:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T07:26:12","slug":"cassette-blogto-toronto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/519903\/","title":{"rendered":"Cassette – blogTO – Toronto"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cassette is the new-and-improved restaurant at Toronto’s Gladstone House.<\/p>\n

For a building that’s been around since 1889, West Queen West’s Gladstone House (formerly the Gladstone Hotel) has seen its fair share of food and beverage concepts.<\/p>\n

Most recently, the restaurant space on the building’s ground-level east wing was Melody Bar, which quietly closed its doors in 2022. After three years of collecting dust, the doors to the space finally reopened with a fresh coat of paint, refreshed concept and new menu in October 2025.<\/p>\n

Cassette is here, and it’s turning the volume up on not only the food and beverage guests can find at Gladstone House, but programming for the community at large.<\/p>\n

\"cassetteThe new restaurant maintains Gladstone House’s punchy vibe, an homage to the neighbourhood’s rebellious, creative air, while simultaneously appealing to the diverse tastes of the hotel’s guests.<\/p>\n

With a name that refers to the preeminent mode of audio consumption in the 70s, 80s and 90s, there’s an equal weight given to retro aesthetics (see: black and white checkerboard tiles and nostalgic menu items) and music, the latter of which is highlighted amply in regular live music nights and weekly DJ sets.<\/p>\n

\"cassetteAt the same time, it’s not hokey. There’s a cohesive sophistication about both the interiors and the menu at Cassette. Childhood party staples like sliders ($25), for example, are made new on the menu with the inclusion of kebab-inspired lamb patties, sumac salad, cucumber and tzatziki.<\/p>\n

\"cassetteCorn ribs ($14), a summertime carnival classic, are generously slathered in Tajin butter (bathe me in it) and a drizzle of lime.<\/p>\n

Uncommon on menus at sit-down restaurants in the city, these puppies made me seriously question why that is. They’re addictive, and they’re good enough to warrant a trip for them alone, paired with a spicy cucumber margarita, called Soundcheck ($18) on Cassette’s menu.<\/p>\n

\"cassetteSpeaking of cocktails, the beverage menu takes on a similarly playful-meets-poised approach. Classics, like the aforementioned spicy marg or the Extra Dirty ($19), a martini served with olive oil-washed Tanqueray or Ketel One with extra olives on the side, pair with unique signature cocktails that are easy to love.<\/p>\n

Pictured above, the Kiss Cam ($16) is a vodka-based beverage with rich cassis, tart passion fruit and peach bitters. I can’t confirm why this particular beverage was given this particular name, but I imagine it has something to do with the way the bright tropical flavours make you pucker, pleasantly, on the first sip.<\/p>\n

\"cassetteOther menu items subscribe to the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” school of thought, and the Gladstone Burger ($28) is a perfect example.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Containing everything you’d want on a burger, like a dry-aged patty, caramelized onion, gruy\u00e8re and Marie Rose sauce, and nothing you don’t, like tomatoes (fight me on it), it’s a complex yet wholly familiar bite. Exactly the type of thing you’d want to order, along with a pile of extra napkins, for late-night room service.<\/p>\n

\"cassetteThe Cassette Chicken Tenders ($19) make a serious bid for some of the best chicken strips in the city. Pounded flat\u00a0a la\u00a0schnitzel, each bite of chicken is supremely crispy and seasoned all the way through.<\/p>\n

The addition of cornflake crust ups the crunch factor even further, and a generous dusting of flaky salt cuts through deep-fried monotony.<\/p>\n

\"cassetteThe Spiced Cauli-Steak ($18)\u00a0means that the non-meat-eaters have something just as tasty to fall back on, but even those of us who do won’t be disappointed.<\/p>\n

Surprisingly juicy and tender charred cauliflower sits atop a bed of cauliflower puree with earthy chickpea gremolata, with a tasty punch of pickled onion for brightness.<\/p>\n

\"cassetteIt’s easy to feel, when it comes to hotel restaurants, that, when you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all, but Cassette is living proof that a well-positioned, calculated risk can yield results you’ll want to play over and over again until the tape snaps.<\/p>\n

While there are no communal tables to be found here, the room feels apt for connection, whether through the intimate performance stage, low lighting or lengthy bar and friendly staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you’re staying at the hotel as a visitor to the city and stumble on one of Cassette’s already popular trivia nights, it feels likely that you’d get a good snapshot of what the city is\u00a0all about: we\u00a0don’t take ourselves too seriously, we’re an approachable force to be reckoned with, and we love our music.<\/p>\n

Cassette is located at 1214 Queen St. W.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cassette is the new-and-improved restaurant at Toronto’s Gladstone House. For a building that’s been around since 1889, West…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":519904,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[49,48,145433,7976,3302],"class_list":["post-519903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cassette","tag-restaurant","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/519904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}