I just love toronto street vendors and their food. Friendly and fast. Go back again and againread more

Fantastic dog, I went with the Italian saucisse. Grilled perfectly by the grillmaster, toppings…read moregalore, sauerkraut perfect, onions very fresh. This is a good stand. I'll be back.

My fiancé has been RAVING about Big Boy's for years and literally tells everyone we meet who…read morementions Toronto. WE LOVE Big Boy's hotdogs, specifically the sausages, and go out of our way to grab one every time we're downtown. The stand is located near the Metro Toronto Convention Center and not hard to spot. We order the spicy Italian sausage. So many delicious toppings including hot peppers, honey mustard and MORE. I love how Big Boy's slices the sausage open and grills it's for nice char marks. 100% recommend you try this spot before a sports game or even if you're just looking to satisfy your sausage cravings. Significantly cheaper than other stalls and the Roger's Center too! Photo taken by @CheatEatsTO on Instagram

I went to Toronto 6/1/2013…read more..... This was a cool experience, getting a veggie dog at downtown Toronto. Street vendor was very friendly and entertaining, very cool!!

To say that we were blown away would be an understatement- the only place that compares to this is…read morethe Granville Island market, but imagine that place on steroids. The number of vendors is enormous and the choice of meats - beef, chicken, pork, fish, lamb, you name it they have it. They had food stalls that had 50 person line ups. Lots of great reviews on the web for a number of these places and it didn't matter what you were looking for - fruits, veggies, bread, seafood, sandwiches, soups, homemade pasta..... if it isn't here it hasn't been invented or you don't need it. We loved this place. I wish Ottawa could support something like this.

It's fun to walk around the St Lawrence Market, all two floors of it, just taking it all in. Heads…read moreup that, despite Toronto being a huge immigrant city (50% of its population not born in Canada), ethnic foods are not well represented at the market. But still, this is an exciting place to explore. One of my favorite shops was Mike's Fish Market, which had an incredible variety of smoked fish on display. I was especially attracted to the smoked artic char, but at $50/pound? Even in Canadian dollars, that was intimidating. Oh well, I thought, I will just content myself with a bagel and lox from St Urbain - all the reviews I had read raved about it. So I got in the very long line, and waited and waited and despaired. If you are like me, after a while you start to feel the indignity. Then I had a brilliant idea. I went back to Mike's and asked for four slices of artic char. The price: $8 and change. Then I went to one of the bakeries and bought a Montreal bagel for 0.98c. I found a place at one of the group tables, and made my own bagel and lox! It came to about the same price as I would have paid at St Urbain's, and, although it did not come with the fixings, I had the premium fish I had been lusting after. I am a bit of a purist when it comes to smoked fish - who would want to murder its taste with cream cheese anyway?

Finally something interesting happening down at Front Street!…read more I love the set up! The Popup vendors! Just the whole idea and concept and it is well executed! Here you can get a snack, a drink, a full meals from some of Toronto's most popular business/restaurants and some of them don't even have a store front! Price might be a little more than getting from the original store but you can get everything here! Tacos from Mad Mexician, Burger from Holy Chuck and especially the over hyped Uncle Tetsu Cheesecake was served as individual portion and no line up when I arrived around 10:30 am. There is also a nice seating area with entertainment. This is better than any food trucks or any of the gimmicky events I been to that required an admission fee and it will be here till end of September! Too bad Toronto's summer is so short! Enjoy the experience while you can and hopefully this would be a constant yearly event from now on!

You know Union station used to be the worst area for anyone traveling. By that I mean on foot, by…read moresubway and even worse, in a car. Well you can put all those things behind you (for now) because for the most part the area is all cleaned up and fully functional. On top of this, they added some real street cred by dropping a food market right smack in front of front (get it!). Front Street Foods, offers a vast selection of treats for travelers looking to grab some food in a pinch or locals just looking to try something different. Before I sound like a travel brochure, just know that most of the options prior were either McDonald's, or Mmmm Muffins. Not gunna hate, but sometimes a guy needs to treat himself knowmsayin? Anyway, I got it started with a Fried Oyster Bao from Yolo. Yes, YOLO the acronym designed and made famous by our very own Drake. You know, Drake, the type of guy who cries when cutting carrots so that the onions won't feel alone. Yeah that's the one! This place has nothing to do with him besides the horrible name of the food stand, but yeah that Fried Oyster was aight. Next up was Uncle Tetsu for dessert. Now this is where things get even better. Not only was there NO LINE UP for the cheesecake, we were also able to purchase the new Matcha Green Tea for the first time. I was great, really it was, but that's not the end of it. Uncle Tetsu, was actually there in the flesh, dancing with fans and openly taking selfies with people. What a great guy, I wish we all had an Uncle Tetsu in our family. Check out this joint, before the summer is over and it turns into a mound of snow obstructing your walk in December, YOLO. Toronto needs more of this and less of Drake. You know, the type of guy whose eyes roll back in his head when he eats chocolate.

I had my second taste of Fidel Gastro's last Friday while attending the Canadian National…read moreExhibition and it didn't do much to improve upon my original tasting last year at BMO Field. Since service isn't always a huge thing when it comes to food trucks (basic service for a busy truck, can't really expect much during such a busy time) I figured I would get straight to the food (the part I actually care about). I ended up ordering the spicy chicken sandwich and it just didn't do what I was hoping it would do. The sandwich came out in about 5 minutes and looked delicious. The problem is that when you have to chew chicken like it's some kind of rubber, well, it's just not a good experience. The sandwich did not hit the spot and between the sandwich and the $4 ginger ale I was left wishing I ordered something from another truck.

The phenomenon that is the pop up resto has taken on the Big Smoke by storm. Right now the big…read morechatter on the street is La Carnita who basically tweet out their popup location only to inundated with throngs of mad food gobblers who have gone fish taco crazy. Well there is a new kid on the block and he goes by the name of Fidel Gastro and his tagline is "Rebel Without A Kitchen" and in his world it is all about slamming sammies! In real time his name is Matt Basile who was a former ad man who just couldn't stand life in a cubicle anymore and has been honing his food skills under some fairly prominent city chefs. He was part of his own first pop up event last Thursday night down at The Bunky (135 Tecumseth Street) from 7:00 - 10:00 p.m. at pop up called "Opposites Attract". FG's was featuring four signature sammies and The Feel Good Guru was offering up vegan eats. So I figured now was as good a time as any to check him out. By 7:30 p.m. The Bunky was hopping. Who ever lined up the tunes had the place rocking and you got a complimentary glass of wine upon entry, which eased the wait of the lineups. FG's four signature sammies included The Havana Club: Steam Whistle pulled pork, havarti cheese and a douse of something with some kind of attitude; The Virginia Ham, onions and chili aioli; The El Paisano, egg fried spaghetti with Wagyu beef and veal meatballs; The Cuban Mac with Chorizo sausage, 3 cheese baked macaroni (yes, you read that right, a mac & cheese sammie!) and finally The Toronto Cheese Steak featuring sliced rib eye, Havarti cheese, hash browns, onions, Dijon aioli and a fried egg. All the sammies are served on a custom made bun (by Cobb's Bakery) and are in my opinion, just the perfect size. All sammies were priced at a decent five bucks. Being with friends we just bought up a batch of the sammies and passed them around. Surprisingly for me, my personal fave, was the Cuban Mac & Cheese. At first I thought, mac & cheese on a bun? No way, this is a gonna be a carbo blow out. Two bites into this Mac & Cheese bliss and I was a convert. The chorizo really tempers out the cheese and the pasta was cooked perfectly to be used in this way. If you are on Twitter at all you can follow this up and coming street food maverick at @fidelgastros Matt is definitely a guy to keep your eye on for some really fun street eats and as he would yell out after selling each sammie.....Ole! Funnily enough FG's table is anchored by a really funny, over the top cheap bust of Elvis Presley. On my way out the door that evening I tweeted...."Elvis has left the building with a Mac & Cheese sammie!". I'm quite certain had Elvis still been alive this particular sammie would have been a staple in his diet. I await the next Fidel Gastro's pop up. These are definitely slamming sammies.

Marianne's is THE BEST place to get hotdogs / street meat in the city!…read more Located right in front of Mount Sinai Hospital, this vendor's been here for years and is really an institution here on Hospital Row. And in the last couple of years, Marianne's expanded to feature a wider range of food - it's not just hotdogs, people! She offers baked potato and sweet potato, which you can order on their own OR for those who eat gluten-free: the potato is a GREAT option to swap in place of a bun. You can have any of the meats topping a potato! Marianne's is also in partnership with another Toronto institution, The Barberians Steakhouse, has produced sandwiches that use their spices and meats. Such as roast beef, pulled pork, and soups when in season! Featuring affordable wild game meats like: Bison, Elk, and Wild Boar. These are very tasty and perfect for those who want a little bit more sophistication. All these meats come from local Ontario farms! It's no wonder she's been featured in publications like The Toronto Star and Edible Toronto Magazine! If you get to meet Marianne herself - you'll find that she is the sweetest person and so, so, so passionate about what she does. She knows the people who live and work in the area. She advocates on behalf of food vendors like herself and is actively involved in working towards better policies in the city. Read more about her philosophy at peacetogetherforever.com

Marianne is hands down the best street vendor in the city. I just finished a two year stint of…read moreworking in Mount Sinai hospital, and despite eating there an average of probably three or four times a week, the selection never got tired. While it's easy to dismiss as just another street meat cart, Marianne is constantly updating her menu and trying out new items to make the menu as diverse as possible. Obviously there is a selection of hot dogs and sausages, then add wild meats, pulled pork, ribs, savory muffins, potatoes, soups, grilled peaches, etc. etc. All of which are delicious. Trust me. I've tried everything. In terms of price, I've had someone mention "You know the one up the street is cheaper right?" To which I responded, "Yeah." Marianne's is definitely worth the extra dollar or whatever slight difference it might be. Plus when Barbarian upped the cost of their meats, Marianne still offered good value by creating the Love Plate (consisting of a wild meat and jerk chicken with a baked potato for $6 or so) All around really amazing innovative stuff. Then the most important point of all - Marianne herself. She is possibly one of the nicest people I've met in the city who has a natural sense of warmth and familiarity the second that you meet her. Every transaction is very personal, and it's wonderful to see how she interacts with such a wide array of people be they doctors or patients or construction workers, homeless, children finishing school, Marianne constantly has good rapport with everyone. In a core area of the big city, I find it amazing how someone could create such a small town neighborhood feel - A la Mr. Rogers. Marianne is a huge proponent of community which you can see with her Peace Together Forever movement as well as her heavy involvement in the Street Food Vendors Association. All around amazing lady. Also should mention that everyone else she's brought on to work the stand are also extremely friendly and seem to cater the same attitude. Apologies if you bothered to read this whole thing and found it rambly, but I'm soon to be leaving the city, and I wanted to shed some light on one of my favorite spots, I'm definitely gonna miss it!

If you have an afternoon to spare and want to explore a neighborhood on foot, then Kensington…read moreMarket is your place. It is the most walkable neighborhood, full of independent shops, nearly dilapidated houses being still lived in, and brightly colored alleyways. The 'backstreet' vibe shifts to thrift-store/flee market vibe into food street within minutes. There is always more to discover and explore when you are done exploring. An afternoon is well-spent at Kensington market.

Ok, so I was not entirely sure what to expect here, I pictured in my head a marketplace with a…read morebunch of trinkets and shiny things to peddle to tourists. What it actually is, is a small neighborhood of fantastic little boho shops, restaurants and cafe's. There is artwork all over the place, on buildings, for sale in yards, featured in most of the shops. It is just so relaxing, and a great way to destress, just walking around this area, talking to people, popping into shops and enjoying some coffee. I highly recommend adding this stop when visiting the city, public transportation has stops all close enough to easily get here and enjoy your day!