The Arcadian Court is a restaurant and banquet hall in the Canadian department store The Bay's downtown Toronto, Ontario store, whose wrought iron railings, arched windows and huge chandeliers made it one of Toronto's most exclusive dining spots for many years.
First opened in 1929, when the store was part of the Simpson's chain, the Arcadian Court was intended to compete with the Royal York hotel and the College Street Eaton's store for downtown lunch business. The restaurant had both a main floor and a mezzanine, which was men-only for many years.
The restaurant hosted many of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's first radio broadcasts, and in 1967 it hosted the first auction ever held outside Britain by Sotheby's.
In 1971, the store was acquired by the Hudson's Bay Company, and became downtown Toronto's flagship Bay store. In 1989, some of the mezzanine space was converted to gallery space, which displays the Canadian art collection of Kenneth Thomson. In 2004, this gallery space will be closed, and the Thomson collection will be transferred to the Art Gallery of Ontario.
The Arcadian Court also figures prominently in Margaret Atwood's novel The Blind Assassin, as the centre of Toronto's high society to which Iris Chase Griffen is introduced.
The Arcadian Court brand name has been carried on into other restaurants operated in Bay stores, though none are as opulent or exclusive as the Toronto original.
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