The street food scene in Toronto is unlike anywhere else, and perhaps one of the only places in the world you can grab a traditional Hungarian spiral cake, Indian boondi laddu milkshake and a Hong Kong style waffle all in the same day. The fact that most of this hawker fare is exceptionally photogenic is a bonus. These top ten shops offer up the most Instagrammable street eats in Toronto.
Bake Code
The master bakers behind Bake Code are always trying to come up with modern twists on classic favorites, with a heavy dose of East Asian influence. Whipping up everything from black sesame macarons to bubble tea cakes has won this bake shop legions of fans. Pictured above is the 'Taro Cruffin', an unheard of cross between a croissant and a muffin, with a dash of purple taro, a type of root vegetable common in African, Oceanic and South Asian cuisine.
Dipped Donuts
This born and bred Canadian company with the American spelling standard name recently opened their first bricks and mortar in Toronto's hip Kensington Market. With more doughnut shops per capita than any other country in the world, competition among Canadian doughnut hawkers is fierce. But with constantly updated monthly menus and unique flavors like carrot and London Fog on offer, Dipped Donuts is poised to become one of the city's favorites.
Taiyaki NYC Toronto
Calling themselves the most Instagrammable ice cream in New York, Taiyaki NYC opened their Toronto shop in 2018 to roaring applause. The success of the adorable, sea bream-shaped ice cream cones has even spawned a few copycats. Taiyaki NYC takes its name from a similar street food hailing from Japan, taiyaki, which is a filled pancake shaped like a fish, specifically 'tai' meaning sea bream.
The Fix Ice Cream Bar
The Fix Ice Cream Bar opened as the after dinner accompaniment to Joe Bird, the neighboring casual eatery. Their inventive flavors and over-the-top fixings have given the shop a reputation as the place to get your scoops, no matter what the season. The shop's location on the waterfront doesn't hurt either, and as any Torontonian will tell you, it's never too cold for ice cream.
Eva's Original Chimneys
Chimeys, so-called because of their resemblance to smoke-toting stovepipes, are a baked snack made of spiraled sweet bread hailing from Hungary. Served hot or cold, plain or filled, the versatile snack quickly caught on among Torontonians and Eva's Original Chimneys now has three locations in the Greater Toronto Area. The woman who helped to create the recipe, Eva, came to Canada during the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, and celebrated her 89th birthday with one of her chimneys in 2019.
Holy Shakes
Holy Shakes is a mashup of classic American milkshakes, nostalgic glass milk bottles and a dash of Canadian-Indian culture. Hailing from Brampton, the shop serves up a huge variety of milkshake flavors, from coffee-inspired morning shakes to classic fruit flavors, guilty pleasures with real New York cheesecake thrown in and another with Indian coconut burfi. Holy Shakes's main shop is in Brampton, but they often make appearances in downtown Toronto for special events and markets.
Golden Bubbles
Golden Bubbles is the go-to place to get your Hong Kong style bubble waffles in the GTA. The brand originally started in Ottawa before moving to Scarborough, a borough of Toronto, along with Richmond Hill, a satellite city in the Greater Toronto Area. Golden Bubbles waffles are made to order and come in a variety of customizable batters, fillings and toppings.
Little Nicky's Coffee
At just four dollars a dozen, its difficult not to pick up a bag (or two) of Little Nicky's mini doughnuts to give that coffee something to wash down with. The doughnuts are freshly fried on an antique-looking contraption whose only job is to pop out the piping hot treats, which are then powdered with your topping of choice. Little Nicky's Coffee gets its name from the owner's beloved pet chihuahua, Nikita, who is also the inspiration for the shop's canine logo.
Hot Star
It may not be as photogenic as a unicorn ice cream cone or a s'mores sundae over Lake Ontario, but Hot Star's XL fried chicken gets extra points for being, as the vendor puts it, 'bigger than your face'. Hot Star sold their first chicken cutlet over twenty years ago in 1992, at Taipei's Shilin Night Market in Taiwan. It was an instant success and eventually became so famous that it featured in the Taiwanese hit movie 'Night Market Hero' in 2011. The brand's beloved over-sized chicken cutlets have since taken over the savory street snack niche in Canada by storm.
Butter Baker
Butter Baker serves simply delicious, beautifully decorated cakes and pastries as well as ice creams made from scratch using locally-grown fresh fruit and herbs. They are particularly proud of their croissants made in the traditional French method, which are baked fresh daily. Butter Baker offers their soft serve ice creams and drinks to-go for some of the most Instagrammable desserts in the city.
In Conclusion
The heart of Ontario's Golden Horseshoe and the most populous municipality in Canada, Toronto has one of the fastest growing and most exciting street food scenes in the country. These top ten most photogenic foodie spots in Toronto are the perfect place to begin your tour of the city.