Toronto's street food scene

April 12, 2012

When I think about street food I immediately think of hot dog stands. Gourmet food just isn’t something you expect to be able to purchase from the back of a truck. However, as I discovered today, that is simply not the case.

I made my way to Toronto’s Bay Adelaide Centre to find Food Truck Eats, a series of food truck events which provide people with delicious gourmet food, from the convenience of a truck. Brilliant.

And just like you can’t really go wrong with food on a stick, think lollipops, fairy floss, and dagwood dogs, there is something much more appealing about gourmet street food than the traditional sit-down restaurant experience.

Street food and pop-up restaurants are growing in popularity across North America, and in fact Toronto is beginning to stand out as a hub for this new trend. In the city’s downtown districts many foodies are taking to the streets to feed the masses and showcase their tasty creations. Although there have been some issues surrounding the legality of the street food vendors, the street food scene in Toronto remains strong.

Today many people flocked to Toronto’s financial district, some standing in lines for up to an hour to get a taste of the food offered by vendors

Many people line up for food truck offerings in Toronto's financial district.

I’m a newcomer to this city, and although I am now living and working in downtown Toronto I still consider myself to be more of a traveller than a local. As a traveller, one of the best and delicious ways to truly experience the culture of a city is through its food.

As mentioned above, the continued improvement and diversity of street food in Canada, and in Toronto in particular has been a topic of conversation. The variety of street food continues to grow in cities such as Vancouver and Calgary, and there is now a movement to diversify and strengthen the street food culture in Toronto with a push to change bylaws that place restrictions on food cart vendors.

If today is anything to go by it looks like the street food scene is here to stay in Toronto. As its appeal continues to grow, fingers-crossed we can look forward to more and more diversity from food trucks. I’ll be looking forward to the next Food Truck Eats event in this city, I’ll be there eagerly waiting in line.

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