City Toronto Directory

: The owners often lived on the premises to keep costs down, according to Toronto Star. Sing Tom opened Toronto first Chinese café in 1901, at 37-1/2 Queen St. The cafés required more startup capital, and involved long hours, remaining open from early in the morning until late at night, seven days a week. W., opposite E.J. Lennox towering new city hall. Only 10 years later, the figure had risen dramatically to around 100 cafés. According to the City of Toronto Directory, there were 19 Chinese restaurants by 1912, about half in the Ward. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.