The the South Core & waterfront directory.

A sprawling 14,000-sq-ft lakeside brewpub — house beers, pub fare and one of the city's best multi-level waterfront patios.

Local pick: A pint on the rooftop patio at sunset

An award-winning Cantonese restaurant in Queens Quay Terminal since 1983, known for push-cart dim sum and panoramic harbour views.

Local pick: Push-cart dim sum with a lake view

The first East Coast home of aburi (flame-seared) sushi — a sleek South Core room with a raw bar and a big lakefront patio at Bay and Queens Quay.

Local pick: The signature aburi flame-seared sushi

An opulent steakhouse in the 1917 Toronto Harbour Commission building — aged steaks, seafood towers and old-world service near the arena.

Local pick: A porterhouse in the old Harbour Commission building

A cavernous, top-rated sports bar at Maple Leaf Square beside Scotiabank Arena — a 39-foot HD screen and a packed house on game nights.

Local pick: A game on the two-storey screen

A boutique fine-dining steakhouse across from Scotiabank Arena — dry-aged cuts and a polished room in the South Core.

Local pick: A dry-aged steak before a game

A lively urban tavern at Corus Quay beside Sugar Beach — pub plates and one of the East Bayfront's biggest waterfront patios.

Local pick: The harbourside patio at Sugar Beach

Toronto's pilsner brewery in the historic CPR Roundhouse beside the CN Tower — tours, a taproom and a big event space.

Local pick: A pilsner and a brewery tour

The full-service urban grocery serving CityPlace along Fort York Boulevard — produce, prepared foods and daily essentials for the surrounding condo towers.

A light-filled Toronto Public Library branch serving Fort York and CityPlace, with a striking literary-quotation façade.

Local pick: Floor-to-ceiling windows and the kids' area

Canada's largest shipping-container market — rotating retail, makers, food vendors, a brewery and a packed events calendar at Bathurst and Front.

Local pick: Craft beer, food vendors and weekend pop-ups

Canada's leading public gallery devoted solely to contemporary art, in a former power station at Harbourfront — free admission and often edgy programming.

Local pick: Free admission to cutting-edge shows

A converted 1927 cold-storage terminal on the water — boutiques, cafés, restaurants and the Harbourfront theatre, with lake views throughout.

Local pick: Lakeview shops in the heritage terminal

Toronto's grand 1927 transit hub — GO, VIA and the TTC beneath a Beaux-Arts Great Hall, now ringed by a sprawling food hall and shops.

Local pick: The York Street food hall under the Great Hall

A modern TDSB JK–8 school on the Canoe Landing campus in the heart of CityPlace, serving the condo community's growing number of families.

Local pick: CityPlace's downtown family school

An eight-acre CityPlace park designed with artist Douglas Coupland — a giant red canoe, fishing-bobber lights and playing fields above the rail corridor.

Local pick: The red canoe lookout over the Gardiner

A modern recreation centre on the Canoe Landing campus beside the park — a gym, indoor courts, programs and community space for CityPlace and Fort York.

Local pick: The gym, courts and programs beside Canoe Landing Park

The birthplace of Toronto — Canada's largest collection of War of 1812 buildings, with a modern visitor centre, period demonstrations and Garrison Common.

Local pick: The War of 1812 garrison and musket demos

The historic open military common surrounding Fort York — restored grassland and event grounds where the garrison once drilled, now a green link between the fort and the waterfront.

A playful Fort York park named for activist June Callwood — bright pink play structures, a splash pad and a soundscape of her voice, tucked among the condos off Fleet Street.

Local pick: The pink play features and the voice-activated mist

A 10-acre waterfront cultural hub since 1974 — theatre, dance, craft studios, the Power Plant gallery, a pond-rink and 4,000+ events a year.

Local pick: Free festivals on the lakefront all summer

A lakeside garden designed with cellist Yo-Yo Ma to express Bach's First Cello Suite — winding paths, a wildflower meadow and a grass amphitheatre.

Local pick: Free summer concerts in the amphitheatre

An urban beach on the central waterfront — sand, yellow umbrellas and Muskoka chairs looking out over the harbour.

Local pick: Yellow umbrellas and Muskoka chairs

The mainland gateway to the Toronto Islands — ferries to Centre Island, Ward's and Hanlan's Point, plus a waterfront plaza.

Local pick: The 13-minute ride to the islands

Home of the Maple Leafs and Raptors and the city's premier concert arena, anchoring the South Core beside Union Station.

Local pick: A Leafs or Raptors night

A whimsical urban beach at the foot of Lower Jarvis — pink umbrellas, Muskoka chairs and a candy-striped maple-leaf plaza next to Redpath Sugar.

Local pick: Pink umbrellas beside the lake

An award-winning East Bayfront park that doubles as a stormwater facility — sculptural water channels, a splash pad and a winter skating channel.

Local pick: The skate channel and art-water wall

A heritage park around the restored 1929 CPR roundhouse — the Toronto Railway Museum, a working turntable and Steam Whistle Brewing, beside the CN Tower.

Local pick: Turntable rides at the railway museum

The 553-metre national landmark — glass floor, SkyPod, EdgeWalk and 360 The Restaurant, with views to the islands and beyond.

Local pick: The glass floor and EdgeWalk

Canada's downtown aquarium at the base of the CN Tower — some 16,000 aquatic animals, a glide-through shark tunnel and touch tanks.

Local pick: The shark-tunnel moving walkway

The retractable-roof home of the Toronto Blue Jays beside the CN Tower — baseball, big concerts and stadium tours in the heart of the South Core.

Local pick: A Blue Jays game with the roof open