What Happened to Phil's Original… After Restaurant Makeover? (Toronto, ON)
Current status
As of October 2026, Phil's Original BBQ has closed — confirmed via torontolife.com, February 5, 2014.
Last verified
What the source shows: Toronto Life reported on 2014-02-05 that Phil's Original BBQ had closed at College and Ossington, BlogTO covered the same closure in February 2014, and a Google Places listing for 838 College Street is marked permanently closed.
- Season / episode Season 3, Episode 16
- Original air date
- Address 838 College St, Toronto, ON M6H 1A2
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What happened after Restaurant Makeover?
Phil's Original BBQ was a Toronto barbecue restaurant at 838 College Street, in the Little Italy stretch of College near Ossington. Its episode, titled "Phil's BBQ", aired on 2007-01-29 as the sixteenth episode of the third season of Restaurant Makeover, the HGTV Canada series in which a chef and a designer rework one restaurant on a limited budget with matching money from the owners. Rotten Tomatoes' season listing describes the episode only as an update on Phil's Original BBQ, and Wikipedia's list of renovated restaurants names chef David Adjey and designer Meredith Heron.
No source read describes the owners' problems as shown on screen or the relaunch. The only description of what the rescue changed comes from BlogTO's February 2014 item on the restaurant's end. It said the room received the show's usual quick refit while the kitchen kept its food as it was, and it described Phil's as one of the few restaurants from the series that had lasted that long.
Toronto Life reported on 2014-02-05 that the restaurant had closed after about two decades at College and Ossington. Toronto Life also pointed to a growing field of rival smokehouses and weaker customer reviews. BlogTO's February 2014 item covered the same event and noted that the restaurant had been running since 1991.
Wikipedia's list says the space became Buster Rhino's Southern BBQ. BlogTO reported in November 2015 that Buster Rhino's had ended service at 838 College Street, its only Toronto restaurant, with the owners citing personal reasons and its other restaurants in the Durham area still operating at that time. A Google Places listing for Phil's Original Barbeque at 838 College Street was marked permanently closed when checked on 2026-10-19. No source read says what occupies the address now.
Phil's Original BBQ, a Toronto barbecue restaurant, was the third stop in the episode "Urban Diner, Fat City, Phil's BBQ" of You Gotta Eat Here! (Food Network Canada), which aired 2012-09-14 according to TheTVDB and TVmaze. TheTVDB lists the Toronto segment under the shorter name Phil's BBQ. Its synopsis says host John Catucci learned a slow-smoking barbecue technique it labels the big smoke from a figure in the city's barbecue scene, and then tested whether the restaurant's sweet, sassy sauce could stand up to the heat. TVmaze's episode summary names Phil's Original BBQ in Toronto as an additional stop alongside Urban Diner in Edmonton and Fat City Franks in Calgary. This entry records only the 2012 episode appearance and carries no information about the restaurant's present operation.
Featured on Restaurant Makeover
- Show
- Restaurant Makeover
- Season / episode
- Season 3, Episode 16
- Original air date
- Episode title
- Phil's BBQ
- What was featured
- Toronto barbecue restaurant refit; BlogTO said the food stayed unchanged
- Role
- Featured restaurant
- Name on the broadcast
- Phil's Original BBQ
- Show
- You Gotta Eat Here!
- Season / episode
- Season 1, Episode 18
- Original air date
- Episode title
- Urban Diner, Fat City, Phil's BBQ
- What was featured
- Barbecue smoking technique and a sweet, sassy sauce at a Toronto barbecue restaurant
- Role
- Featured restaurant
- Name on the broadcast
- Phil's Original BBQ
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Visit info
- Address
- 838 College St, Toronto, ON M6H 1A2
- Venue type
- restaurant
- Official website
- None found
- State hub
- TV restaurants in Ontario
Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.
Sources
- torontolife.com — https://torontolife.com/food/phils-original-barbeque-closes/
- blogto.com — https://www.blogto.com/deadpool/2014/02/phils_original_bbq_smokes_its_last_brisket/
- blogto.com — https://blogto.com/eat_drink/2015/11/buster_rhinos_bbq_abruptly_closes_its_toronto_location
- Google — https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=43.6544412,-79.4230321
- Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restaurant_Makeover
- rottentomatoes.com — https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/restaurant_makeover/s03
- TheTVDB — https://thetvdb.com/series/you-gotta-eat-here/episodes/4323530
- api.tvmaze.com — https://api.tvmaze.com/singlesearch/shows?q=you+gotta+eat+here&embed=episodes
- TheTVDB — https://thetvdb.com/series/you-gotta-eat-here/seasons/official/1
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Record rmk-041 · last verified .