Restaurants in Pickering

Up two flights of crimson stairs, the golden doors of Commerce Gate Dynasty Cuisine fling open to reveal an enormous dining room and event space. Miniature chandeliers glitter between the lines of red-and-gold moulding, and below, friends gather around tables of dim sum and traditional Chinese entrees. The menu is nearly long enough to have chapters, with options ranging from crispy deep-fried chicken to tender fillets of fish with chili. Another favourite is the sweet 'n' sour chicken, whose dichotomous flavours mirror the personalities of most beauty-pageant competitors.

Brothers Alex and Mark Rechichi always enjoyed constructing hearty, Dagwood-esque sandwiches, but noticed that most of the breads they employed in these edible masterpieces literally crumbled under the pressure of supporting a glorious quantity of healthy meats, veggies, cheeses, and sauces. Naturally, the brothers fell in love when they discovered the sturdy pita, which was both nutritious and versatile. Flatbread in hands, the two brothers founded Extreme Pita in 1997 with a goal of delivering enormous, structurally sound sandwiches to the masses. Since then, the eatery has spawned franchises throughout the U.S. and Canada, where customers can enjoy a variety of pita-based creations ranging from made-to-order wraps to pizza-style flat bakes to jalapeño cheddar chips. Extreme Pita's locations put an emphasis on reducing their carbon footprint by implementing an array of green practices, such as recycling and reusing, using energy-efficient light bulbs, and warming pitas with the sighs of a dragon.

A candle burns in every window of Candlelight and Memories’ periwinkle century home. It’s the first sign of owner Pat Montgomery’s mission to establish the spot as a serene sanctuary. In the tearoom, companions can sip more than a dozen varieties of tea while nibbling warm fruit scones. Hundreds of handmade wooden toys, quilts, and candles fill the adjacent gift shop, contributing to the shop’s rustic aura. In addition to afternoon tea, Candlelight and Memories hosts children’s parties, opening their upstairs loft for dressing up, making crafts, and planning cookie-jar heists.

Bartenders lean over the illuminated bar, pouring beers from the tap or tipping bottles into ice-filled glasses. Inside Seneca Pub, flat-screen TVs overhead broadcast local sporting events, and the smells of battered fish and chips and rich poutine fill the air. The snap of a cue ball breaking a rack resounds across the large, open space, where theme nights feature stand-up comedians or lying-down tragedians.

Not many people go from busser to restaurant owner, but then not many people possess Armando Mano's passion for fine dining. His first memories go back to his aunt's kitchen in Portugal, where the young Armando remembers spending the entire day watching her cook. He brought these memories with him to Centro Restaurant & Lounge, where he started toting plates in 1990, and they propelled him as he worked his way up to wine-bar manager, then general manager, and finally, 15 years later, to owner.

Today, he supervises a team that includes sommelier Mitchell Gomes and Executive Chef Symon Abad, who continually updates the Italian-influenced menu with new seasonal ingredients. Armando also oversaw a redesign of Centro's interior, which is now adorned in oversized mirrors, velour-upholstered chairs, and soaring 20-foot ceilings. In the kitchen, the restaurant adopted a Q water filtration system to provide clean, clear water without time-consuming expeditions to melt chunks of glaciers in the Yukon. Such leadership caught the attention of the Ontario Hostelry Institute, who awarded Armando a Gold Award for Independent Restaurateur in 2011.

The palate-popular chefs at The Lobster House emphasize freshness while assembling their hearty seafood dinners, using maritime lobsters that are shipped to the restaurant multiple times a week as the focal point of their menu. Before digging into salmon and halibut entrees, diners visit the eatery’s complimentary bread, salad, and ice cream bar, where they can hide scoops of ice cream beneath beds of lettuce to flout parental embargos on pre-meal sweets. The kitchen also prepares cut-to-order steaks boasting certified Angus meat that has aged for at least four weeks. Sandy tones wash over The Lobster House’s dinning room as sturdy wooden tables hoist hefty plates of delectable sea-fruits.