A brand new izakaya just quietly opened its doors in Toronto
Published February 28, 2025 at 10:05 am
Toronto just quietly became home to a brand new izakaya this week.
Cheongju Izakaya just soft opened its doors, and is serving up all kinds of comforting classics with both Japanese as well as Korean influences.
“Cheongju (청주) is a cozy home-style Japanese eatery with a Korean twist, paying homage to its city name,” reads the restaurant’s website. “With a wide range of Japanese and Korean liquor, our goal is for you to enjoy our warm accompanying bites as you settle down with your friends and family.”
True to izakaya style, Cheongju serves a range of snacks with some smaller and larger options, and they also serve a full array of sushi.
For Japanese snacks, there’s shrimp, cauliflower and yam tempura as well as chicken karaage and gyoza. Korean snacks include tteokbokki and Korean fried chicken.
The sushi menu consists of an assortment of typical options like sushi pizza, rolls, aburi sushi and sashimi.
To wash it all down, Cheongju has a basic drinks menu that also blends Japanese and Korean options. There’s Orion and Sapporo draft beer as well as sake, highballs and Korean soju. They also serve a cassis margarita with cassis and yuzu, and other cocktails and mocktails.
The best part is, Cheongju should be open late with hours until midnight every night. During their soft opening phase, they’re also offering a 10 per cent discount on everything but alcohol until March 2.
The restaurant has taken the place of Nile River Restaurant.
Cheongju Izakaya is now open at 598 College St.