Iconic soul food restaurant from Mississauga expanding to downtown Toronto
Published October 15, 2025 at 11:15 am
A restaurant for halal soul food originating in Mississauga has now finally expanded with a new location in downtown Toronto, so people in the area can get a taste of all their goodness, including a bite of famous cornbread.
The Hive is the new restaurant from the team behind Honey Soul Food in Mississauga. The Mississauga restaurant has garnered a reputation far and wide for their soul food like mac and cheese, chicken wings, shrimp and salmon rasta pasta, candied yams and waffles with peach maple syrup.
Now, the team behind Honey Soul Food has opened The Hive in downtown Toronto, and they should be bringing more of the same delicious soul food vibes to downtowners. Just like the original restaurant, everything at The Hive is 100 per cent halal.
Along with favourites like their famous mac and cheese and rasta pasta, The Hive should also be serving up creations such as Cajun-battered Jack’D Up Chicken Sandwiches, sorrel BBQ short ribs and plates of seafood-focused such as a Hive Seafood Fry.
The best part is, the brand new restaurant comes equipped with two happy hours per day, both of which are multiple hours long. The first is from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., and the second stretches from 9 p.m. until late in the evening. During these happy hours, sides are just $6.
The Hive is open until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, so that means you can get some serious partying done on the weekend while chowing down on some reasonably priced eats.
Of course, with a restaurant open until the wee hours of the morning, you have to have handcrafted cocktails to wash down all that tasty soul food, and fortunately The Hive has those in spades as well.
Honey Soul Food was started up by Chanée Dowdie and Jason Martelly-McLean in 2021, and the pair have worked with incubator programs Foodpreneur Lab and Black Entrepreneurship Alliance to bring their dreams to life.
“With roots in Rexdale and a passion for community empowerment, Chanee is dedicated to breaking generational poverty through mentorship, entrepreneurship, and innovative food experiences,” reads the Honey Soul Food website.
“Jason Martelly-McLean is the co-owner of Honey Soul Food, blending his background in HR and marketing to help grow the business. Originally from Montreal and raised in Rexdale, Jason is passionate about empowering communities through entrepreneurship and creating sustainable programs that uplift underserved populations.”
The Hive is now open at 907 Dundas St. W.