Whitby’s The Springwood earns the only top marks among Canada’s 100 best restaurants

Whitby’s beloved restaurant The Springwood has been ranked among the very best in the entire country.

The ranking comes courtesy of Open Table, a restaurant booking and management company. The site also allows user-submitted reviews of restaurants. Every year, Open Table looks over customer reviews and identifies the 100 best-loved restaurants across the country.

“OpenTable’s Top 100 Restaurants in Canada for 2024 list is generated from over 1 million verified OpenTable diner reviews and dining metrics from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024,” the site reads.

The list is not ranked but is broken down alphabetically by province. Ontario dominates the list with 53 entries, most of which are in the GTA. However, only one restaurant in Durham Region made the cut.

The Springwood made the cut with a perfect five out of five stars. While the list is not ranked due to varying amounts of reviews, only The Springwood got a perfect score, though there are many 4.9s and 4.8s on the list.

According to owners Chef Matthew Simpson and General Manager Jasmine Lee, The Springwood can best be described as “a neighbourhood restaurant, whose values, regarding the menu, focus greatly on locally sourced ingredients, hyper-seasonality, regenerative farming practices and minimizing waste.”

Lee and Simpson met while working together in a Whitby restaurant in 2007 and set a goal to open their own place in town. They put the work in, honing their skills in high-end restaurants in Toronto.

They returned to Whitby in January 2023 and took over a fish and chip joint in dire need of upgrades. From January to April, they gutted the restaurant and radically changed the interior design. The pair opened their doors in May 2023.

“Guests are greeted by warm wood accents, lush greenery, and funky art deco accents. The space exudes a cozy and welcoming ambience, reminiscent of stepping into the home of a dear friend,” wrote the Town of Whitby.

They are then served a multiple-course meal made from locally sourced, fresh ingredients. Everything served is made completely from scratch including the bread and cheeses. Drinks like wine and beer come directly through partnerships with local producers.

Each offered course comes with several choices of dish

Over the last year-and-a-half, The Springwood has achieved culinary acclaim with a FeastON! certification through the Culinary Tourism Alliance. The certification means The Springwood “sources their goods and ingredients with purpose. They’re supporting Ontario’s farmers and makers who are working the land in ethical and sustainable ways.”

Open Table’s full list is available here featuring restaurants in Banff, Calgary, Edmonton, Kelowna, Montreal, Niagara, St. John’s, Toronto, Vancouver and Whistler.

1. The Springwood