The world's best market, according to National Geographic — St. Lawrence Market's South Market operates Tuesday through Saturday with 120 vendors including legendary specialty food producers. The Saturday Farmers Market (North Building) and the Sunday Antique Market add three distinct experiences to one address.
Neighbourhood: St. Lawrence / Old Town · Address: 93 Front St E, Toronto, ON · Hours: South Market: Tue–Thu 9am–6pm | Fri 9am–7pm | Sat 5am–5pm | Farmers Mkt: Sat 5am–3pm | Antique: Sun 5am–5pm
Why Visit
If you like food, nowhere else in Toronto lets you graze, shop, and people-watch under one roof quite like St. Lawrence Market. The specialty vendors, plus rotating farmers and vintage sellers, guarantee you’ll find things you can’t get anywhere else.
What Makes It Unique
Unlike many city markets, St. Lawrence is three different markets every week: legendary legacy food stalls in the South Market, a real-deal farmers’ market on Saturday, and a chaotic, entertaining antiques swap on Sunday. The in-market food is actually good—try the peameal bacon sandwich at Carousel Bakery or Kozlik’s must-sample mustards.
If you only do one market in Toronto, make it St. Lawrence Market. People love to throw around “best market in the world,” but this is one of the few places where that kind of hype doesn’t feel ridiculous. It’s not polished into some tourist fantasy. It’s busy, a little noisy, full of regulars, chefs, office workers on lunch, and visitors trying to figure out how many things they can eat before they admit defeat.
The main event is the South Market, open Tuesday to Saturday, with around 120 vendors packed into a building that always smells like coffee, bread, smoked meat, spice, and whatever’s coming hot off a grill. You don’t go here for one thing and leave. You circle. You sample. You change your mind. Maybe you came thinking sandwich first, then suddenly you’re standing at Alex Farm Products trying to decide how much cheese is too much cheese, and the answer is always more than you planned. A few steps later you’re at European Meats staring at rows of sausages, pâtés, and cured meats, convincing yourself you need provisions for a long expedition when really you’re going back to a hotel room.
And yes, you should absolutely get the peameal bacon sandwich from Carousel Bakery. This is the Toronto sandwich. Thick slices of cured peameal bacon on a soft bun, juicy, salty, simple, and better than it has any right to be. People argue about whether it’s overrated; those people are usually trying too hard. Get it, take a few napkins, and eat it standing at the counter like you mean it.
What makes the “full experience” special, though, is that this isn’t just one market. Saturday changes everything. The Farmers’ Market in the North Building starts early, and I mean properly early. If you can manage a 6 a.m. visit, do it at least once. That’s when the place feels most alive in a very specific Toronto way: farmers unloading crates, vendors setting up tables, regular customers already making the rounds, everyone moving with purpose but not panic. You get the best produce, the best selection, and the sense that this is still a working market before it becomes a destination. Then you can wander back for that Carousel sandwich and a coffee and feel extremely pleased with yourself.
Sunday is different again, when the Antique Market takes over the North Building. It’s slower, more browse-y, with old signs, vinyl, silverware, odd bits of furniture, postcards, and the kind of stuff you didn’t know you wanted until you’re carrying it around.
A few honest tips: go hungry, but not starving, because the crowds get annoying if you’re already in a bad mood. Weekdays are easier if you want space to look around. Saturdays are worth it for the atmosphere, but get there early. Bring a tote bag. Bring cash as backup, though most places take cards now. And don’t treat it like a checklist. The best version of St. Lawrence Market is when you leave with one perfect sandwich, some cheese, something cured, and the feeling that you got to see Toronto doing what it actually does, not performing for visitors.