The Short Version: Markham is a suburb of Toronto, but it's…read moreno sleepy suburb, it has lots of great restaurants and fun places to shop. The Long Version: I'm thrilled that Markham has its own Yelp listing. Markham is about 30 km northeast of Toronto, and it has seen significant growth in the last few decades. When I was living in Toronto, I rarely ever went to Markham (except to go to Pacific Mall, more on that later) but after I left Toronto I discovered Markham more. This is mostly because when my parents and I would return to visit Toronto, we would stay in Markham as accommodations were more affordable there, and traffic was less congested than in Toronto. Also, my dad loves Chinese Food, and since there is a large Chinese population in Markham, he's in foodie paradise there. Haha. I soon discovered that Markham had plenty of restaurants and shops that I like. My first time to Markham was to visit Pacific Mall. When it opened in 1996 it was the cat's meow. I remember my parents taking my brother and I there and I was fascinated by all the Asian shops. I was interested in the hair accessories and my brother was interested in the videogames and figurines. And we were both interested in the food court, lol. These days Pacific Mall is no longer novel and it has lost its former glory. Now there are many shops that sell the same thing and they are items that you can get elsewhere. The food court is still cool though. Once upon a time they even had a Beard Papa's franchise at Pacific Mall, but alas it closed. Although these days, my favourite food court in Markham is at First Markham Place. It's fairly large with lots of vendors and prices are very reasonable. Most vendors are small independent businesses with only one location. I also like the Oomomo at First Markham Place. I also love J-Town, which is in Markham. You'll find all things Japanese here. Sasaki Fine Pastry has amazing daifuku! Kuo Hua Trading Co Ltd is also another favourite place of mine in Markham. They sell imported items from Taiwan. CF Markville is a great mainstream mall in Markham. And it has my favourites stores, Marshalls and Winners! Markham also has several restaurants that specialize in huge wonton soups, which I love, such as Big Trio Wonton Noodles and Wonton Hut. The wontons are the size of golf balls, lol. Markham also has lots of bubble tea shops and I love my boba. Haha. I'm a fan of Markham, although I feel like you need a car to get around. It's not all that walkable, everything is fairly spaced out, but this is expected since it's a suburb. Review #26 (2026)

A high school friend recently returned to the greater Toronto area (GTA). We met for dim sum in…read moreMarkham and she brought her childhood friend. We had this conversation just before we got the bill: Friend: What is Markham known for? Me: Horrible drivers in BMWs. I curse more at drivers here and their poor driving than any other place. We all laughed. It is also true. There are plenty of incompetent drivers in this city that I call home. Markham is north of Toronto. It's considered a suburb and is a part of the GTA. I've actually had two stints in Markham. My parents and I moved from the Beaches to Markham after I had graduated from high school. Back then, Markham was a town. I moved away for nine years. I returned to Markham and it has been my home ever since. I saw the population boom. Markham has been deemed a city since 2012. I have seen a lot of change in Markham over the years. Retail and urban areas used to be between Steeles Avenue East and Major Mackenzie Drive back in the day. Farmland dominated Markham above Major Mackenzie. Urban sprawl happened when housing became ridiculously expensive in Toronto. More folks wanted to live in Markham because housing used to be cheaper and affordable. More development happened here, which has caused a lot of farmland transformed into neighbourhoods and shopping centres. Case in point: downtown Markham. It used to be nothing but vacant, vast plots of land. It's now home to condominiums, retail stores and services, and a lot more. The city does have many high tech companies and is considered Canada's high tech capital. IBM, AMD, and General Motors are some of the bigger technology players. It's cool that York University is creating a Markham campus in the downtown core. I wish that it were there when I was an undergraduate student! I like living in Markham. There are a ton of good restaurants. It has everything that I need. There are pockets of this city that still feel like a town. Every time I visit my local post office to pick up a package or parcel, everyone there knows me. When I visit my go-to pharmacy, the pharmacist knows me. It's cool and nice. I will highlight the Markham Theatre. It's a lovely place to take in a concert or musical. It's affordable in a classy venue. I have seen Jann Arden there. It was also a nice venue for a Yelp event a few years back. Mary from Markham. I love the alliteration. It's also a cool city in which to live. (137)

Great vibe, lively atmosphere, friendly vendors, awesome hosts! This is event is truly memorable!…read moreLots of activities and good exposure for vendors as I've never heard some of the businesses that participated. Despite the gloomy and rainy weather, my plus one and I had an awesome time. Markham Museum is a nice place to visit and parts of it has this "romantic feel" which is great for first dates or if you'd like to try something new as a couple. The museum also caters to event spaces (if y'all are interested in renting it out). Thanks Kris and team for setting this up!

AMY!!! Congrats on hosting this awesome Yelp Event!!…read more Coming into Initium, we were welcomed right away by Amy and of course Kris! Initium is where my friend gets her hair done, so she knows a lot about the hair consultations here! I thought it was a really clever concept to have a cafe and a salon, because many hair appointments can go for 8 hours long, and food is readily available here. There were three options available for drinks; mocha, cappuccino and latte. Haha as a non-regular coffee drinker, I had no idea what the difference between each were, but decided to go with the mocha with a shot of latte. The latte art was rather impressive, I heard they can also make latte art from your selfies!! That's awesome!!!! Some of the foodie dishes served tonight are: 1) fish balls, siu mai, corn with butter 2) pineapple bun sandwich and I believe the fish tacos 3) Chocolate and matcha crepe cake 4) maple syrup cotton candy What was really impressive was that they had enough plates for almost everyone!! I thought the pineapple bun sandwich was really unique and very crispy on the outside (it might be better if it was a little softer). The maple syrup cotton candy was AWESOME!! I never had maple syrup flavoured cotton candy and I thought it was a little less sweet than regular cotton candy which I LOVE and it has a hint of maple syrup flavour which made it super duper tasty! Definitely will come back to try their signature cotton candy with a hot drink (hoping hot chocolate options are available for those like me who aren't SUPER into caffeinated drinks)! Shout out to the brave souls who sang karaoke! I had so much fun! Thanks Amy and Kris once again!!!

I think one of the best Italian restaurants I've been too so far…read more I had the calamari and bruschetta, the calamari was good well seasoned the bruschetta was my favourite, the tomatoes and the feta cheese worked perfectly together. I had the special very expensive 50 bucks wild mushroom ravioli, with rack of lamb, portion size is massive, the lamb was cooked perfectly and the mushroom ravioli was one of the best pasta I ever had. This once every ten years because it is very expensive. The dessert was really good a gelato really tasty and not too sweet. The service was excellent the server was really attentive and brought more bread, and the ambiance is really nice I can't believe I never heard of this for all the years I lived here

Came here on a Friday evening for birthday celebrations. The restaurant looks like it was…read morepreviously a house. Most of the restaurant is quite tight and close, but the bar area is probably the most snug. It wasn't too busy when we sat down, so service was fast; even when it got busy we had no problem getting the attention of a waiter/waitress to get what we needed. Calamari - One of the top calamari batter I've ever had. The batter was fluffy and still crispy, the perfect compliment to a nice chewy calamari. Wished the calamari was a little thicker to give it more of a chew and a bit more seasoned. Fried peppers were a nice touch! would get again. Sofia Mia Pizza - This was an absolutely amazing pizza. Crust was not the best but the toppings stole the show. Normally I don't like goat cheese, but that was balanced by the fruitiness of the fig and the balsamic reduction. The prosciutto brought on some meaty flavours while being balanced by the caramelized onion and arugula. Would come back again for this. Cheese wheel pasta - some mushroom pasta - A bit of a gimmick in my opinion, but it was a fun experience. The head chef comes by and does the final touches of the pasta in the cheese wheel. The pasta itself was a bit lacklustre for me. It lacked flavours compared to a saucier pasta, probably because they wanted the parmigiano cheese more forward. Nice to try, but would not get again.

I have been coming here since a few years now but somehow haven't posted a review before so here it…read moregoes! This place is located in Markham and serves halal Italian food. The service is always very warm and the interior is quite pretty for a small restaurant. Their prices are also reasonable - they have a pasta with steak option for only $23.99, isn't that a steal?! I also LOVE their fettucine alfredo - it's delicious! But what I keep going for is their incredibly creamy saffron sauce pasta! This is their classic saffron sauce penne pasta with chicken, mushroom and bell pepper and it's one of the creamiest pastas in town. You'll love this if you love a good creamy pasta.

My first time trying a halal italian spot and it was solid. Tried the saffron chicken with rice and…read moresalad and the salad was great but the chicken was just average. Portion size was good. Service was extremely friendly! My only qualm was that it wasn't really italian at all.

this place is soooo amazing. the environment is nice and the food is super tasty and the tiramisu…read morewas superb. the service is also good the servants are soo nice. definitely recommend

The food was quite good. I tried the fettuccine selvaggia and it was really good, not too heavy and…read morea good amount of mushrooms. The tiramisu was also quite good, not enough coffee for me personally but was still very enjoyable. The service was excellent, the food came out quickly and the server was also attentive. The owner even came around checking in on everyone, which was nice to see. The ambiance was also nice, a well furnished restaurant and ample seating. It'd be perfect for little get togethers as well as large parties. It wasn't too busy when I went so the noise level was fine but I can imagine it getting loud when the restaurant fills up. Overall a very enjoyable experience and worth a spot for anyone wanting a new Italian spot!

Small and intimate that's how I would describe Markham Home Show…read more $4 admission fee with partial of the proceeds towards charity (Habitat to Humanity GTA) which is quite reasonable. Of course it is nothing compares to Toronto Home Show which charges a $20 entry fee. Here you will find mostly local business that serves the area. Great if you are a homeowner and looking for home improvement services and products from local business. Vendors are all really helpful and ready to answer questions. Tons of free parking. Not a bad way to spend a few hour with your family as Children admission is free. They do have a child playing area with a bouncing castle.

I've now done two tours with Culinary Adventure Co. And couldn't recommend them more! Years ago we…read moredid the Kensington Market tour and couldn't wait to come back for another! I just did the Kensington Market tour with Kevin and it was incredible. Highly highly recommend. Go hungry!!

One of the best food tours ever. Come hungry for the Chinatown and Kensington tour. CJ and Oliver…read moreare the best guides ever

Seems I'm the first one to leave a review, very surprised because they did such a great job. I'm…read morevery pleased with the services provided by this company, I've had some very bad experiences with painters and handymen in the past that left a mess, didn't finish or over-charged at the end of the job, A.E. Contracting did none of those things, owner Emanuel and her team were a pleasure to work with, finished the painting, staining and water damage repairs on time and worked with our schedule. We also got them to do some handyman jobs and refinish some furniture later on to match our new decor, and we were very pleased with the results. Strongly recommend​

From the owner: Our team committed to providing impeccable artistic and trade services to fit your every need…read more Whether you are renovating, redesigning/redecorating or selling your property we pride ourselves on being a one stop shop for all your construction and design needs. We have been in business for 10 years and serving the GTA for 8 years. We look forward to hearing about your dream project big or small we take care of all!