Noochy Licious

Neighbourhood: Dundas West / Roncesvalles · Address: 1454 Dundas St W, Toronto, ON · Hours: Mon: Closed | Tue–Fri 5:00 – 10:00 PM | Sat–Sun 3:00 – 10:00 PM · Price Range: $ · Phone: (647) 345-8300

Why Visit

Eat mac and cheese that tastes shockingly rich and cheesy—without a drop of dairy. The rotating list of toppings, from buffalo chick’n to black truffle, means every trip can be a new experiment.

What Makes It Unique

Noochy Licious lives and dies by its obsession with perfecting vegan mac and cheese, using nutritional yeast to create an authentic cheddar-like flavour that fools even dairy-lovers. Few Toronto spots go this deep on one dish—or offer so many topping options tailored specifically for vegans, gluten-free diners, and comfort food fans.

Noochy Licious is one of those Toronto spots that makes sense the second you walk in, even if you’re not vegan and even if you think of mac and cheese as something that should probably involve butter, milk, and a fairly serious amount of regret. The whole place is built around one idea: make vegan mac and cheese so convincing, so comforting, and so customizable that people stop treating it like an alternative and just start treating it like dinner. That’s the promise, and for the most part, it delivers. The base is the nooch mac, named with a wink for nutritional yeast, or “nooch,” which gives the sauce its cheesy, savory edge. It’s built from cashew cream, nutritional yeast, Dijon, white wine, and spices, and it lands somewhere between a classic cheddar sauce and a very polished plant-based version of one. It’s creamy without feeling heavy in a cloying way, and it has that slightly tangy, slightly salty thing that keeps you going back for another bite.

What makes Noochy Licious work is that it doesn’t act apologetic about being vegan. It isn’t trying to hide the fact that there’s no dairy here, and it doesn’t need to. The menu is basically a series of arguments for how far the mac-and-cheese format can be pushed without losing its comfort-food identity. The buffalo loaded mac is probably the one that most people think about first, because it’s the easiest entry point for anyone who likes big, salty, spicy flavors. It comes with Buffalo sauce — the familiar Frank’s RedHot-and-fat formula in spirit, if not always in exact old-school form — plus a blue cheese alternative and celery for crunch. That combo does what it’s supposed to do: the heat cuts through the richness, the celery keeps things from getting too dense, and the tangy dairy-free “blue cheese” element gives the whole bowl some needed bite. It’s messy in the best way, the kind of thing you eat with a fork and then keep scraping the bottom of the bowl because there’s always a little more sauce left than you expected.

The truffle mac is the one people order when they want something that feels slightly more upscale, or at least more indulgent in a different direction. It takes the same base and adds truffle oil, black pepper, and whatever fresh herbs they’ve got on hand. It’s a strong flavor, and not subtle, which is kind of the point. Truffle oil can be divisive, sure, and most of it isn’t actually made from real truffles, but that’s almost beside the point here. What matters is that the aroma hits you first and the nutritional yeast gives it a kind of umami backbone that keeps it from feeling like a gimmick. It’s the version you order when you want mac and cheese but you also want to feel like you’re getting away with something a little fancy.

The bigger appeal of Noochy Licious, though, is the structure of the place itself. It’s basically a mac bar, and that format is part of the charm. You choose a base, you layer on the toppings, and then you get something that feels made-to-order without waiting forever. That’s a very Toronto-friendly setup, especially in a neighbourhood where people are often stopping in between errands, heading home after work, or grabbing dinner before meeting friends nearby. The kitchen runs on efficiency, so once you’ve ordered, things move quickly. If you’re in and out at a quieter time, you can be eating within minutes. At busier times, there’s still not a sense of chaos, just a steady rhythm of people ordering, waiting, and picking up bowls that look like exactly what they came for.

The atmosphere is casual and straightforward rather than polished or performative. You’re not going there for white tablecloth energy or a long, lingering dinner with lots of small plates. It feels more like a place that knows its lane and doesn’t waste your time. People tend to come in knowing what they want, or at least knowing that they want mac and cheese in some form, and the energy reflects that. There are usually a mix of takeout customers, people eating solo, and pairs or small groups who clearly came because somebody suggested it and everybody agreed immediately. It’s the kind of spot where nobody is trying too hard. You get the sense that a lot of customers are regulars, or close to becoming regulars, because the menu is niche enough to inspire loyalty but broad enough that people keep coming back to try one more version.

The neighbourhood suits it well. Dundas West and Roncesvalles have that useful Toronto quality of feeling busy without being downtown-busy. You’ve got a mix of residential streets, independent shops, casual restaurants, coffee places, and people just moving through the area on foot. It’s not the kind of part of the city where you go because you’ve built your whole day around one restaurant; it’s more like a place where you can make a few stops, grab a meal, and still feel like you’re in a real neighbourhood instead of a strip made entirely for visitors. That matters here because Noochy Licious is at its best when it’s part of a broader casual outing. You can grab lunch, wander a bit, and maybe pick up coffee or groceries nearby. It fits the area’s low-key, practical personality.

What separates Noochy Licious from a lot of other vegan comfort-food places is how narrowly focused it is. Some vegan restaurants try to do everything — bowls, burgers, wraps, salads, desserts, brunch, sandwiches — and sometimes that means the identity gets blurry. Noochy Licious doesn’t have that problem. It has a point of view, and the menu is built around it. That specialization shows up in the details: the sauce has enough body to feel like mac and cheese, the toppings are chosen to support the base rather than bury it, and the whole thing is designed around the fact that people want indulgence, not a lecture. Even if you’re not vegan, there’s something reassuring about a place that’s this committed to one category and has spent the time figuring out how to do it properly.

The practical advice is simple: don’t show up expecting a slow, sprawling meal, and don’t expect the best experience if you’re in a rush during peak hours without checking the crowd first. Lunch and early dinner are the obvious busy windows, especially on weekends, and if you’re going then, a short wait is normal. It’s not usually the kind of wait that feels outrageous, but it can creep up if a few people arrive at once and everyone’s ordering custom bowls. If you want the smoothest visit, go a little earlier or a little later than the main rush. Also, if you’re the kind of person who gets overwhelmed by choice, it helps to glance at the menu before you walk in, because the options are simple but the toppings can still slow you down if you haven’t decided whether you’re in a buffalo mood or a truffle mood. And if you’re eating in, bring the same expectation you’d bring to any good mac-and-cheese place: this is comfort food, so it’s going to be hot, rich, and more satisfying than delicate.

The honest reality is that Noochy Licious works best when you accept it on its own terms. It’s not trying to imitate a classic bakery café or a polished sit-down pasta restaurant. It’s a focused, inexpensive, quick-service place where the food is the point and the experience revolves around getting a very specific craving exactly right. Sometimes that means the line moves a little slower than you’d like. Sometimes the room feels busy and everyone’s waiting for the same few popular orders. And sometimes the best strategy is simply to go when you’re genuinely hungry, order the version you’re most curious about, and not overthink it. That’s when it shines. If you’re visiting Toronto and want a plant-based meal that doesn’t feel like a compromise, or if you just like the idea of a bowl of mac that’s been pushed as far as it can go without losing the plot, Noochy Licious is absolutely worth your time.