Toronto restaurants closing has become an unfortunate trend this year, and two critically acclaimed spots are the latest casualties. Singaporean restaurant Kiss My Pans and its east-end sibling Agak Agak are both shutting their doors this September. Co-owner Jeanne Chai says rising costs, immigration hurdles, and fewer diners made the decision impossible to avoid.

Kiss My Pans, located at 713 College St., will close on Sept. 7. Meanwhile, Agak Agak on Gerrard Street East will close a day earlier, on Sept. 6. Both restaurants earned a spot on the Star’s Top 100 Under $100 guide, making the news even harder for loyal fans to swallow.

Why These Beloved Toronto Restaurants Are Closing

Chai didn’t hold back when explaining the pressure that led to this outcome. “We’ve been struggling for the past year,” she said. “We were trying our best and it’s like, ‘Do I need to face the inevitable for another two years? The price of things aren’t going down and I’ll never feel any ease or could thrive. The pressure was just too much to worry about.”

Immigration policy played a major role as well. According to Chai, strict rules made it difficult for her cooks to secure permanent residency. As a result, she lost three of her five cooks, who either left Canada entirely or moved on to careers outside the kitchen.

On top of that, liquor licensing added more stress than expected. The costs and bureaucratic red tape involved proved to be a constant headache. Meanwhile, her rent increased last month, adding yet another financial blow to an already difficult situation.

Global conflicts haven’t helped matters either. Chai explained that ongoing instability abroad has made ingredient shipments unpredictable and, in many cases, far too expensive. Coffee, in particular, became a breaking point for her business.

“I was told my coffee would go from $140 to $340 per case. That’s ridiculous. I’m already charging $5 for a coffee. The changing market realities and the cost of living, they increased so much that the consumer can no longer bear it. If I raised my prices more, it’ll just be another slow decline in our business. And unfortunately, in 2026 Asian food is still expected to be cheap.”

A Menu Toronto Diners Will Miss

Kiss My Pans built its reputation on bold, authentic flavors that never watered down tradition. The char kway teow delivered smoky wok hei in every bite, while black carrot cakes offered a punched-up twist on the classic Chinese daikon cake. Sweet, peppery, and tossed in a molasses-thick soy sauce, the dish came finished with a zing of spicy sambal.

A standout trio of crispy appetizers arrived in an ornately painted tiffin tower. Shrimp paste-marinated chicken wings sat alongside pork and shrimp rolls wrapped in delicate beancurd skins. Deep-fried tofu with shredded cucumber and spicy peanut sauce rounded out the offering, giving diners a true taste of Singapore.

“We never wanted to dumb down the spice, the umami,” Chai said. “My philosophy is that if you want to try our food, you have to try it the way we eat it or else it’s not what we want to share with Toronto.”

From a Catering Business to a Toronto Food Landmark

Before it became a full restaurant, Kiss My Pans started as a small catering business in 2018. At the time, Chai and her husband and business partner, David Burga, were living in Singapore. She made cheese, fruit, and charcuterie platters long before Singaporean cuisine ever entered the picture.

The couple eventually moved to Toronto and opened a brick-and-mortar deli at College and Crawford streets in 2021. Cheese and cured meats sat front and centre on the menu. However, what truly captivated customers was happening behind the counter: cups of kopi, Singapore’s iconic coffee drink.

Bold Robusta grounds are filtered through a coffee sock, then poured between two kettles to cool the brew. Sweetened condensed milk is added afterward, mellowing the strong, slightly floral coffee. This small detail hinted at the bigger Singaporean story still to come.

Dedicated Singaporean restaurants remain rare, even in a food city as diverse as Toronto. After a positive response to her pandan kueh kosui at the Smorgasburg food festival in 2022, Chai began testing more Singaporean dishes at the deli. The reaction from customers confirmed she was onto something special.

First came nasi lemak on Sundays, introduced simply to gauge customer interest. Then, gradually, more dishes were added on a trial basis. A brunch menu followed shortly after, and the team eventually outgrew the deli’s tiny kitchen entirely.

The business relocated a few doors down, and Kiss My Pans opened as a full-fledged Singaporean restaurant in November 2023. Building on that momentum, Chai and Burga expanded further with Agak Agak in Cabbagetown in 2025. It seemed, for a while, like the growth would continue.

What’s Next After the Toronto Restaurants Close

Chai still hopes someone with more resources will step in and take over the restaurants. Her goal is to maintain a downtown home for Singaporean food, even if she can no longer run it herself. For now, though, she’s focused on the final weeks before both locations close for good.

She hasn’t ruled out a return, either. Chai says she remains open to the idea of pop-ups sometime in the future. Until then, Toronto diners have just a few short weeks left to say goodbye to two restaurants that helped put Singaporean food on the city’s map.