The plates that define Toronto: what they are, and where to eat the canonical version.
The plates that define Toronto. what they are, where they came from, and where to eat the canonical version.
Peameal bacon is brine-cured pork loin rolled in cornmeal, sliced thick and griddled. Toronto's signature sandwich stacks it on a soft kaiser with mustard at the St Lawrence Market counter.
Where: Carousel Bakery
Price: $9-12
Jamaican beef patty in Toronto is a turmeric-yellow flaky pastry turnover filled with spiced ground beef, often served in coco bread. The Toronto-style buttery crust differs from the Jamaican original.
Where: Patty King Bakery, Caribbean Queen of Patties
Price: $4-8
The butter tart is the Ontario gooey-runny pastry filled with butter, brown sugar, eggs and corn syrup, sometimes raisins or pecans. The crust is short and flaky; the filling pours when you bite.
Where: Wanda's Pie in the Sky
Price: $3-5
The Caesar is Canada's tomato-and-clam-juice cocktail, vodka with Clamato, hot sauce, Worcestershire and celery salt rim. It is Canada's national cocktail and ordered hourly at Toronto bars.
Where: Bar Raval, Bymark
Price: $10-18
Hawaiian pizza is the contentious pineapple-and-ham pizza invented in Chatham, Ontario in 1962. Toronto chains like Pizzaiolo and the city's pizzerias claim it as a Canadian original.
Where: Pizzeria Libretto, Pizzeria Libretto University, Bitondo Pizzeria
Price: $18-24
Khao soi is northern Thai egg noodle curry, the coconut-curry broth ladled over boiled noodles with crispy fried noodles, chicken or beef, pickled mustard greens, lime and shallot.
Where: Pai Northern Thai Kitchen, Khao San Road
Price: $18-24
The Double Down is Patois's signature Jamaican-Chinese fusion sandwich, jerk chicken between two whole Jamaican beef patties, melted Swiss cheese fondue and a Sriracha hit. The patty is the bread.
Where: Patois
Price: $18-22
King's Crown Nachos at Sneaky Dee's are a triple-stacked Tex-Mex platter of corn chips with refried beans, melted cheese, salsa, sour cream, guacamole, jalapenos and your choice of meat.
Where: Sneaky Dee's
Price: $15-22
The smoked meat sandwich is Ashkenazi cured brisket steamed and sliced thick, piled on rye bread with mustard. Toronto's Jewish-deli canon at Centre Street Deli and United Bakers anchors the city standard.
Where: Centre Street Deli, United Bakers Dairy Restaurant
Price: $14-22
The Nanaimo bar is the three-layer no-bake Canadian dessert square: a coconut-graham-cracker chocolate base, custard buttercream middle and chocolate ganache top. Toronto bakeries carry it year-round.
Where: Wanda's Pie in the Sky
Price: $3-6
Toronto dim sum is the Cantonese morning tea ritual: bamboo steamers of har gow, siu mai, pork buns and rice rolls served lunchtime in Chinatown rooms and weekend banquet halls.
Where: Lai Wah Heen, Pearl Harbourfront, Rol San
Price: $30-45 per person
Souvlaki in Toronto is grilled skewered pork, chicken or lamb served on a plate with tzatziki, lemon potatoes and Greek salad. The Danforth's Greektown runs the city's reference plates.
Where: Mamakas Taverna
Price: $18-26
Peameal bacon is brine-cured pork loin rolled in cornmeal, sliced thick and griddled. Toronto's signature sandwich stacks it on a soft kaiser with mustard at the St Lawrence Market counter.
History: Peameal bacon was developed in 1850s Toronto by William Davies for British export. Davies's Toronto pork-packing plant became the largest in the British Empire, earning the city the nickname Hogtown. Originally rolled in dried yellow pea meal as a preservative, the coating shifted to cornmeal in the 20th century. The peameal bacon sandwich at Carousel Bakery in St Lawrence Market has been the city's signature counter since 1977 under the Biancolin family, awarded the Toronto Signature Sandwich in 2016.
Where to try it: Carousel Bakery
Watch out for: Gluten
Jamaican beef patty in Toronto is a turmeric-yellow flaky pastry turnover filled with spiced ground beef, often served in coco bread. The Toronto-style buttery crust differs from the Jamaican original.
History: The Jamaican patty arrived in Toronto with Caribbean migration through the 1970s and 1980s. Patty King opened in 1981 in Kensington Market, supplying convenience stores citywide; Caribbean Queen of Patties followed in 1995. The patty-in-coco-bread sandwich, a soft white roll wrapping a hot patty, is Toronto's distinct contribution to the dish and the most-eaten street food after the peameal bacon sandwich.
Where to try it: Patty King Bakery, Caribbean Queen of Patties
Watch out for: Gluten
The butter tart is the Ontario gooey-runny pastry filled with butter, brown sugar, eggs and corn syrup, sometimes raisins or pecans. The crust is short and flaky; the filling pours when you bite.
History: The butter tart is a Canadian invention from early-1900s Ontario, with the first published recipe appearing in the 1900 Royal Victoria Cookbook from Barrie, Ontario. The Ontario Best Butter Tart Festival in Midland draws judging in June; Toronto's reference baker is Wanda's Pie in the Sky in Kensington Market since 1989, the runny-centre style the city standard.
Where to try it: Wanda's Pie in the Sky
Watch out for: Gluten, Eggs, Dairy
The Caesar is Canada's tomato-and-clam-juice cocktail, vodka with Clamato, hot sauce, Worcestershire and celery salt rim. It is Canada's national cocktail and ordered hourly at Toronto bars.
History: The Caesar was invented in 1969 by Walter Chell at the Calgary Inn, who blended fresh-mashed clams, tomato and spices to create a Canadian version of the Bloody Mary. Mott's launched the Clamato clam-tomato juice base shortly after, locking the recipe into industrial production. By the 1980s the Caesar had become Canada's national cocktail; Toronto bars including Allen's on the Danforth pour it as a brunch and aperitif standard alongside variations with smoked-salt rims and pickled-bean garnishes.
Where to try it: Bar Raval, Bymark
Watch out for: Shellfish
Hawaiian pizza is the contentious pineapple-and-ham pizza invented in Chatham, Ontario in 1962. Toronto chains like Pizzaiolo and the city's pizzerias claim it as a Canadian original.
History: Hawaiian pizza was invented in 1962 by Sam Panopoulos at the Satellite Restaurant in Chatham, Ontario, two hours west of Toronto. Panopoulos, a Greek immigrant who emigrated to Canada in 1954, added canned Dole pineapple to a ham-and-cheese pizza on a whim and named it Hawaiian after the brand on the can. The combination remains divisive; Toronto's reference Italian-Canadian pizzerias still carry it as a hat tip to the Canadian original.
Where to try it: Pizzeria Libretto, Pizzeria Libretto University, Bitondo Pizzeria
Watch out for: Gluten, Dairy
Khao soi is northern Thai egg noodle curry, the coconut-curry broth ladled over boiled noodles with crispy fried noodles, chicken or beef, pickled mustard greens, lime and shallot.
History: Khao soi originated in northern Thailand among the Tai Yai and Burmese communities along the Mae Hong Son border. The dish reached Toronto in 2014 when chef Nuit Regular and her husband Jeff opened Pai Northern Thai Kitchen on Duncan Street, the first restaurant to serve the Chiang Mai style in Canada. Pai's khao soi has since defined the dish in Toronto, with imitations across King West and Bloor.
Where to try it: Pai Northern Thai Kitchen, Khao San Road
Watch out for: Gluten, Eggs, Shellfish
The Double Down is Patois's signature Jamaican-Chinese fusion sandwich, jerk chicken between two whole Jamaican beef patties, melted Swiss cheese fondue and a Sriracha hit. The patty is the bread.
History: Chef Craig Wong opened Patois on Dundas West in 2015 to reflect his Jamaican-Chinese heritage and French fine-dining training. The Double Down emerged on the menu in the first year, inspired by KFC's bunless burger and the Toronto patty-in-coco-bread sandwich. It uses two whole beef patties as the bun, filled with Wong's signature jerk chicken; the dish has since become Toronto's reference fusion sandwich and was featured in Bon Appetit's 2016 best new restaurants coverage.
Where to try it: Patois
Watch out for: Gluten, Dairy
King's Crown Nachos at Sneaky Dee's are a triple-stacked Tex-Mex platter of corn chips with refried beans, melted cheese, salsa, sour cream, guacamole, jalapenos and your choice of meat.
History: Sneaky Dee's opened at Bloor and Bathurst in 1987 before moving to College and Bathurst in 1990. The King's Crown Nachos emerged through the 1990s as the city's signature late-night post-bar order, the platter sized for a table of four and the staple weekend ritual for the College Street crowd. Sneaky Dee's stays open until 04:30 on weekends to serve the nacho-and-beer post-bar demand.
Where to try it: Sneaky Dee's
Watch out for: Dairy, Gluten
The smoked meat sandwich is Ashkenazi cured brisket steamed and sliced thick, piled on rye bread with mustard. Toronto's Jewish-deli canon at Centre Street Deli and United Bakers anchors the city standard.
History: Smoked meat reached Toronto from Montreal's Eastern European Jewish community in the early 1900s. Toronto's Jewish-deli scene developed through the 1910s on Spadina and shifted to Bathurst as the community moved north. United Bakers Dairy Restaurant on Lawrence (1912) is the city's longest-running deli; Centre Street Deli from Thornhill carries the Montreal-style canon since 1988. The Toronto-style sandwich runs thinner than Montreal's, on lighter rye with a stronger mustard hit.
Where to try it: Centre Street Deli, United Bakers Dairy Restaurant
Watch out for: Gluten
The Nanaimo bar is the three-layer no-bake Canadian dessert square: a coconut-graham-cracker chocolate base, custard buttercream middle and chocolate ganache top. Toronto bakeries carry it year-round.
History: The Nanaimo bar originated in Nanaimo, British Columbia in the 1950s, the first published recipe appearing in the 1953 Edith Adams cookbook. Through the 1960s the bar travelled east across Canada and became a staple in Toronto bakeries and Jewish delis. Wanda's Pie in the Sky in Kensington has carried it since 1989; the runny-custard middle layer the city's reference style.
Where to try it: Wanda's Pie in the Sky
Watch out for: Gluten, Dairy, Eggs, Tree Nuts
Toronto dim sum is the Cantonese morning tea ritual: bamboo steamers of har gow, siu mai, pork buns and rice rolls served lunchtime in Chinatown rooms and weekend banquet halls.
History: Cantonese dim sum reached Toronto in the 1890s with the first Chinatown along Elizabeth Street, then expanded to Spadina from the 1950s. Hong Kong immigration in the 1970s and 1980s established the modern dim sum canon; Lai Wah Heen (1995) introduced cartless reservation-only dim sum at the Metropolitan Hotel, called the best in North America by the NYT. Pearl Harbourfront's waterfront view and Rol San's late-night menu are the city's other reference rooms.
Where to try it: Lai Wah Heen, Pearl Harbourfront, Rol San
Watch out for: Gluten, Shellfish, Soy
Souvlaki in Toronto is grilled skewered pork, chicken or lamb served on a plate with tzatziki, lemon potatoes and Greek salad. The Danforth's Greektown runs the city's reference plates.
History: Greek souvlaki reached Toronto with Greek immigration through the 1950s and 1960s. The Danforth's Greektown became Toronto's reference Greek-Canadian neighbourhood by the 1970s, with Mezes and Astoria Shish Kebob House the longest-running. The Taste of the Danforth festival in August closes the avenue for Greek-Canadian food and music, drawing more than a million visitors during peak years.
Where to try it: Mamakas Taverna
Watch out for: Dairy
Toronto's signature dishes include Peameal bacon sandwich, Jamaican beef patty, Butter tart, Caesar cocktail, Hawaiian pizza. See our signature dishes chapter for where to eat each.