The eastern district of the GTA is strange and uncharted territory for most downtowners. You may know it by one of its many undesirable nicknames: Scare-borough, Scar-town, etc. Indeed, Scarborough doth not have the best reputation. But personally, I have great memories of spending time in Scarborough. Believe it or not, I’ve been on some saucy dates and attended some mucho fun parties in Scarborough. Some of my most beloved friends (and likely some of yours) are from Scarborough. There ARE reasons to be excited about Scarborough, I say! Here are some of them.

The Scarborough Bluffs are amaze-balls.

The geological wonder of the GTA is a fun place to hike, picnic, have a campfire, or just kick back and drink some tall cans. It stretches for 14 km along Lake Ontario, and at its highest peak it’s 65 m above the shore. Stars are crazy from here. It’s a secret surfing spot for some. Above all else though, it’s a brilliant make-out spot.

Scarborough General is taking hospital food from zero to hero.

Toronto Life included Scarborough in their top 30 reasons to love Toronto now! Scarborough General Hospital staff saw that most patient’s food was going uneaten, so they asked patients why. They said it tasted like hell (and what hospital food doesn’t?) So the hospital did something about it. According to Toronto Life, “new menus include global flavours like congee, frittatas with fresh vegetables, made-from-scratch soups and Moroccan chicken with lentil pilaf. Fresh produce is a staple, and plenty of it comes from the supplier 100km Foods, which helps Ontario farmers sell directly to chefs.” Now that sounds like a menu you could get better on. 

Art abounds!

Aside from celeb homeboys Mike Myers / Choclair etc, local artists in Scarborough are always up to something – Scarborough Art in the Park (July 7), Scarborough Writer’s month (February), and an inaugural Scarborough Jazz festi (September 28 – 30).

For some sweet visual arts, feast your eyes on this cool digital anthology.

Prime Italian Pastries

Think Little Italy is the only place to go when you’re craving cannoli? WRONG. Scarborough has a few killer bakeries. I once had the best cannoli of my life at Fransesca’s Italian Bakery (2 Invergordon Avenue). Everything about it was perfect. The Godfather himself would have crunched down on this thing and had tears in his eyes. I’m not the only downtowner who maintains this sentiment, either.

It’s fun to get sauced at The Olde Stone Cottage Pub

There’s something about this bar that makes me feel as comfortable as I am when hanging at a close friend’s apartment. But with lots of really stellar beers on tap. It’s in an oldschool heritage building with a nice cottage vibe. They’re celebrating Beerfest right now. Go for a pint of Innis and Gunn and listen to some live musack.

Of course, there are many more reasons to love Scarborough but this should get you started on exploring. 

~ Kait Fowlie