Steele Basil
Section 39, Lot 69
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto
Arriving in Toronto from his native Greece at the tender age of 14, it took Steele Basil just three years to open his first restaurant, the Green Lantern Tea Room on Bloor Street West.
In 1936, Basil opened Steele’s Tavern at 349 Yonge Street, and for the next 37 years it was one of the most popular restaurants in the city and one of the first to be licensed.
In 1960, Basil introduced live entertainment and one of his first performers was an unknown 21-year-old singer from Orillia, Ontario by the name of Gordon Lightfoot.
Steele Basil died November 7, 1981 at the age of 74.
Mike Filey
Mount Pleasant Cemetery: An Illustrated Guide
Second Edition Revised and Expanded