{"id":39106,"date":"2026-10-16T20:17:48","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T00:17:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=39106"},"modified":"2026-10-16T20:17:50","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T00:17:50","slug":"victoria-hall-restaurant-will-carry-on-legacy-of-aqua-grill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/victoria-hall-restaurant-will-carry-on-legacy-of-aqua-grill\/","title":{"rendered":"Victoria Hall restaurant will carry on legacy of Aqua Grill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Aurora\u2019s Victoria Hall will soon begin a new chapter as a restaurant, peppered with the flavours many local foodies have come to know and love over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Friday, the Town announced the long-awaited details of a new lease deal for the historic building on the southwest corner of Mosley and Victoria Streets, a Council decision that has proved controversial \u2013 and it will see local restaurateur Stephen Ho take over the space, succeeding his popular Aqua Grill, a restaurant that was a staple in the Town\u2019s historic downtown core for more than a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVictoria Hall has been part of our community for more than 140 years, and so many residents have told me how important it is for them to access and enjoy the building,\u201d said Mayor Tom Mrakas in a statement. \u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m thrilled that Stephen and his team have come on board to open up a new space where families and friends can come together to enjoy a meal and celebrate milestones in a special setting in our downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Town says Ho\u2019s vision is to create an \u201cintimate\u201d 30-seat restaurant with an open kitchen and a small bar, with a \u201cfocus on honest, unpretentious food made from scratch, with an emphasis on sourcing from local producers and creating a relaxed atmosphere where people can share a meal and spend time together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the lease agreement, the tenant will be responsible for its own operations, interior maintenance, utilities, cleaning, and other ongoing operating costs, as well as leasehold improvements associated with the restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPreserving the heritage building isn\u2019t just about keeping it standing \u2013 it\u2019s about reimagining how that space can play a new role for our community,\u201d Mayor Mrakas continued. \u201cVictoria Hall has served many purposes throughout its history, and this is an opportunity to give it a new chapter while continuing the work we\u2019ve been doing to create an active and vibrant downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The history of Victoria Hall began in 1883 when it started off life as a church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In subsequent years, it has served as the Town\u2019s first public library building, a space for public health, and, in most recent years, it has been used by the Town as a community space, both for municipal-led programs and in a space booked by other community groups and individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the last year, however, it has been at the centre of controversy as community members pushed back against the building\u2019s future as a restaurant, pointing to potential traffic issues a restaurant can bring to an area already challenged by parking issues, and a desire to keep Victoria Hall as a community space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Details on when the building \u2013 and its new use \u2013 might open to the public are not yet determined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been part of this community for the last 20 years and I love what I do, so I am excited to continue that here,\u201d said Ho in a statement. \u201cI fell in love with the location and what\u2019s happening in the neighbourhood. For me, food is about connection and relationships. I want this to be a comfortable, relaxed place where you can come in for a plate of pasta, share some food with friends, and stay for a couple of hours. Nothing pretentious \u2013 just really good food, good value, and a place people enjoy being.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aurora\u2019s Victoria Hall will soon begin a new chapter as a restaurant, peppered with the flavours many local foodies have come to know and love over the years. On Friday, the Town announced the long-awaited details of a new lease deal for the historic building on the southwest corner of Mosley and Victoria Streets, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-headline_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-aaK","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-24 07:44:08","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39106"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39107,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39106\/revisions\/39107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}