St. Lawrence Market, Kensington, Night Market, and the best food truck spots — Toronto's street food scene explored, including what to order and when to go.
You don't need a reservation at a $180-a-head restaurant to eat well in Toronto. The city's street food scene — spanning St. Lawrence Market, Kensington's global stalls, rotating food truck festivals, and year-round covered markets — is one of the most diverse in North America and completely accessible to everyone.
This is the guide we use ourselves. No pretension, no filler — just the spots that actually deliver.
National Geographic once named St. Lawrence Market the best food market in the world, and while that's a big claim, it's not wrong. The South Market (open Tuesday–Sunday) is the main hall — 120 vendors across two floors selling everything from peameal bacon sandwiches to aged cheeses to fresh fish caught the same morning.
The peameal bacon sandwich from Carousel Bakery is the mandatory Toronto food experience. Get there before noon on a Saturday — the line gets long but moves fast. The sandwich costs under $8 and will rearrange your understanding of what a sandwich can be.
Market hours South Market: Tue–Thu 9am–6pm, Fri 9am–7pm, Sat 5am–5pm (yes, 5am). The Saturday Farmers Market in the North Market building runs 5am–3pm with produce vendors and prepared food.
View St. Lawrence Market → — See our full St. Lawrence Market guide
Kensington Market isn't a market in the formal sense — it's a neighbourhood where the food just spills onto the street. Jamaican patties from the Kensington Patty House, empanadas from the back of a converted house, Mexican tacos from a tiny counter on Augusta, fresh tamales on the weekend. Everything is cheap, everything is interesting, and nothing is trying to impress you.
Toronto has a rotating food truck scene that operates at festivals, markets, and designated food truck parks. Lakeshore and Exhibition grounds host the biggest food truck festivals in summer. The North York City Centre area has a rotating food truck lunch circuit on weekdays. A few trucks to watch for year-round:
Chinatown (Dundas & Spadina) Densest concentration of cheap, excellent food in the city. Walk up Spadina or east along Dundas and pick anything with a queue. Vietnamese, Cantonese, Sichuan, Malaysian — all under $15.
Little Ethiopia / Little Somalia (Bloor West) Injera, sambuusas, and tilapia stew for prices that seem impossible given the quality. The strip along Bloor between Dufferin and Lansdowne.
Roncesvalles (Polish Village) Borscht, pierogi, and Polish deli meats at the Roncesvalles area — the area around the Staropolska restaurant is the local institution.
Browse Food & Drink → — Explore our full Toronto food and restaurant guide
WTF Toronto creates guides using independent editorial research, official sources, local knowledge and firsthand experience where available. Commercial relationships are disclosed where applicable.