St. Lawrence Market Toronto: What to Buy, Eat & Know

National Geographic called St. Lawrence Market the world’s best food market in 2012, and Toronto has never let the rest of the world forget it. That superlative is subjective, of course, but it is not absurd. In the South Market building at Front and Jarvis Streets, 120 vendors occupy a Victorian market hall that has been feeding Toronto since 1803 — longer than most Canadian cities have existed. On any given weekday morning, you can buy dry-aged beef from a third-generation butcher, sliced smoked salmon from a dedicated fishmonger, handmade pasta from an Italian family business, and the most important sandwich in Toronto — the peameal bacon — before 10am.

The market’s longevity is not merely a tourism story. St. Lawrence is a functioning food market that real Torontonians use for real shopping, which gives it an energy that purpose-built food halls never quite achieve. The vendors are often the artisans, the farmers, or their immediate families. The relationship between seller and regular customer is genuine and visible. This is what a great market feels like.

The South Market building

The South Market is the primary market building, open Tuesday to Saturday. The structure that stands today dates to 1977 — a replacement of earlier buildings on the same site — but it faithfully continues the Victorian market hall character with its high vaulted ceiling, the organized chaos of stalls, and the collision of cooking smells that hits you at the entrance.

Layout: The ground floor is the main market — the majority of the 120 vendors, including the butchers, fishmongers, produce sellers, cheese vendors, and prepared food counters. The lower level has additional vendors, the market’s original jail cells (now used as storage — the building’s predecessor served as the original City Hall and jail), and a dining area.

The South Market is open Tuesday through Thursday (8am–6pm), Friday (8am–7pm), and Saturday (5am–5pm). Closed Sunday and Monday.

What to buy

Meat: The market has several exceptional butchers. Alex Farms is the landmark deli counter, famous for dry-aged beef, house-made sausages, and a prepared foods counter that does high-volume business at lunch. The butcher stalls along the east wall specialise in everything from fresh poultry to halal meats to specialty cuts unavailable in supermarkets.

Fish: Mike’s Fish Market is the South Market’s premier fishmonger — fresh, never-frozen fish in an extraordinary range of species, sourced daily. The smoked fish selection is excellent.

Cheese: Multiple cheese vendors operate in the market. Alex Farms and Domino’s Fine Foods both carry extensive selections of imported and domestic artisan cheeses.

Produce: Several produce stalls offer fresh Ontario fruit and vegetables (seasonal), imported specialties, and the kind of variety that supermarkets rarely achieve for fresh herbs and unusual vegetables.

Bakeries: St. Urban Bagels does classic Montreal-style bagels, a significant statement in a city with a bagel culture debate. Several other bakers bring handmade bread and pastries daily.

Prepared food: Beyond the peameal bacon sandwich (see below), the market has counters doing fresh pasta, prepared salads, quiches, rotisserie chicken, and a broad range of take-home and eat-in food.

The peameal bacon sandwich

The peameal bacon sandwich from St. Lawrence Market is Toronto’s single most iconic food experience and arguably the best claim the city has to a unique local dish. Peameal bacon — back bacon (Canadian bacon) rolled in ground yellow peas — is a uniquely Toronto creation, developed in the late 19th century as a preservative measure. It is cured, not smoked, and has a clean, slightly salty flavour without the smokiness of standard bacon.

Carousel Bakery in the South Market has made the market’s definitive peameal bacon sandwich since 1945. The sandwich is simple: peameal bacon, sliced hot from the griddle, on a fresh Kaiser roll. No condiments required, though mustard is available. The queue at Carousel Bakery is always worth it — budget 10–15 minutes at peak times. The price is modest by any standard.

The Carousel Bakery peameal bacon sandwich is one of those travel food experiences — like a bánh mì in Hội An or a prawn roll in Maine — where the simplicity and the quality of the single main ingredient make the whole thing transcendent.

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The Saturday Farmers’ Market

The North Market building across Front Street hosts the Saturday Farmers’ Market — one of the most important direct-from-farmer markets in Ontario, running year-round but at its peak from June through October.

The Farmers’ Market offers what the South Market cannot: direct producer relationships and the seasonal rhythm of Ontario agriculture. In summer, the market explodes with stone fruit from Niagara, heirloom tomatoes from farm families, fresh corn from the Holland Marsh, herbs and flowers from market gardeners, and artisan producers of jam, honey, pickles, maple syrup, and preserves.

In winter, the market contracts to root vegetables, cold storage produce, greenhouse crops, and the year-round artisan producers. It is still worth visiting even in February — the quality of Ontario winter produce from serious market farmers is significantly better than supermarket alternatives.

The best time for the Saturday Farmers’ Market is between 7am and 10am — the farmers arrive with their full selection and the market is busy but not overwhelmed. By 11am on a summer Saturday, the market is at peak crowd and the most popular vendors are running low on the best items.

The Antique Market (Sunday)

The South Market transforms on Sundays for the Sunday Antique Market — an entirely different experience from the weekday food market. Antique dealers, vintage collectible sellers, book vendors, and art print sellers take over the building. The quality ranges from genuine antiques to interesting curiosities to garage sale overflow, but serious antique collectors find the market worth the browse.

The Sunday Antique Market runs approximately 5am–5pm.

The market building’s history

The site of St. Lawrence Market has been at the centre of Toronto life since the city’s founding. The first market opened in 1803 on this block; a more permanent structure followed in 1820; and subsequent buildings through the 19th century housed not only the market but Toronto’s first City Hall and the city’s original jail. The current South Market building (1977) preserves the original 1844 City Hall facade as the market’s south entrance — a elegant Georgian portico that anchors the building architecturally.

The Market Gallery on the second floor of the South Market is a small museum of Toronto history, operated by the City of Toronto Archives, that is worth 20 minutes for context on the market’s and the city’s history. It is free.

Where to eat near St. Lawrence Market

The market’s location in the St. Lawrence neighbourhood and Old Town puts it within walking distance of several excellent restaurants.

Nearby dining: The St. Lawrence neighbourhood along King Street East has a growing dining scene. Parcheggio on the Esplanade offers Italian food in a bustling room. The market’s own prepared food counters are genuinely excellent for lunch — buying a peameal bacon sandwich, some cheese, and fresh bread and eating in the market’s seating area is one of the best informal lunches in Toronto.

The Esplanade — the pedestrian street running parallel to Front Street south of the market — has several casual restaurants and bars that are well-positioned for lunch after a morning market visit.

Combining with nearby attractions

St. Lawrence Market’s position in Old Town Toronto puts it at the centre of a cluster of worthwhile stops.

The Distillery District is a 10–15 minute walk east along Mill Street — combining a Saturday morning market visit with an afternoon in the Distillery is a well-established Toronto day out. See the Distillery District guide.

The Hockey Hall of Fame at Brookfield Place is a 5-minute walk west of the market on Front Street.

Union Station — Toronto’s magnificent Beaux-Arts rail hub — is a 5-minute walk west and is worth stepping inside even for visitors not taking a train. The Great Hall of Union Station is one of the finest public spaces in Canada.

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Practical information

Hours:

• South Market: Tue–Thu 8am–6pm; Fri 8am–7pm; Sat 5am–5pm; closed Sun–Mon
• Saturday Farmers’ Market (North Market): Sat 5am–3pm
• Sunday Antique Market (South Market): Sun 5am–5pm

Getting there: The market is at 93 Front Street East, Toronto. Union Station on the Yonge-University subway line is a 5-minute walk west. The 503 and 504 King streetcars stop at Jarvis Street, one block east. The market is very walkable from most downtown hotels.

What to expect on Saturdays: Saturday morning (especially 8–11am) is the busiest time. The queue at Carousel Bakery can be 15–20 minutes. The rest of the market flows well but is animated and busy. Weekday mornings (Tuesday to Friday) are much quieter.

Budget: Eating in the market is excellent value. A peameal bacon sandwich costs approximately CAD $6–8. A substantial lunch assembled from various vendors (sandwich, cheese, fruit, pastry) costs CAD $20–30. Grocery shopping at the market is on par with or slightly above specialty grocery prices.

The Old Town Toronto context

St. Lawrence Market sits in the heart of Old Town Toronto — the area bounded roughly by Yonge Street to the west, Parliament Street to the east, the Esplanade to the south, and King Street East to the north. This is the oldest settled part of Toronto, and the architectural and historical density of the surrounding blocks makes the market the centrepiece of a much larger exploration.

The Flatiron Building at Wellington and Front Streets (one block west of the market) is one of Toronto’s most photographed buildings — a narrow wedge-shaped structure built in 1892 that functions as the visual anchor of the Wellington-Front-Scott Streets intersection. The mural on the flat back wall depicting a second “ghost” version of the building is a favourite photography subject.

Berczy Park, at Church and Wellington Streets, has one of Toronto’s finest pieces of public art — a two-tiered fountain featuring 27 sculpted dogs (and one cat) in cast iron, installed in 2017 as part of a park redesign. The park is particularly animated on weekends when the farmers bringing dogs to the Saturday market gather here.

St. James Cathedral, at King Street East and Church Street, is one of the oldest and most architecturally distinguished churches in Canada. The Gothic Revival structure was completed in 1874; its spire (at 93 metres) was for many years the tallest in Canada. The interior is exceptional and open to visitors daily during daylight hours.

Corktown to the east of the market along King Street East and Sackville Street is one of Toronto’s oldest residential neighbourhoods, with some of the city’s best surviving Victorian rowhouse architecture. The neighbourhood is undergoing gradual gentrification and is interesting to explore on foot.

The Don River Valley to the east is accessible from the bottom of Sackville Street — a linear green valley with trail connections north toward Evergreen Brick Works and south to the lake.

The market as a winter destination

St. Lawrence Market is one of the few major Toronto attractions that is equally rewarding in winter as in the warmer months — and in some respects more so, because the winter visit is more purely local.

In January and February, when tourist traffic in Toronto drops sharply, the market returns to its roots as a genuine neighbourhood food market. The Saturday Farmers’ Market in winter carries root vegetables, cold-storage Ontario produce, greenhouse herbs, and a smaller but dedicated range of artisan producers. The indoor South Market provides warm refuge and a full range of vendors operating on their normal Tuesday-Saturday schedule.

Winter specialties: look for Ontario game meats (venison, bison, wild boar) at the specialist butcher stalls; seasonal preserves from summer’s harvest; and the maple syrup producers who are particularly present in late winter as the sap run season approaches (late February to April in Ontario).

The Distillery District Toronto Christmas Market runs through December and is a natural complement to the St. Lawrence Market in the holiday season — combining a Saturday morning market visit with an afternoon in the Distillery creates a full festive day in Toronto’s historic east end.

Toronto food tours and guided market experiences

For visitors who want context and curation alongside the market experience, several excellent food tour operators base tours on St. Lawrence Market and the surrounding Old Town neighbourhood.

Culinary Adventure Co. runs market tours that include vendor introductions, tastings, and a narrative about Toronto’s food history. These typically run 3–4 hours and cover St. Lawrence Market, the surrounding streets, and often extend to Kensington Market or Chinatown. Small groups of 6–10 participants. Worth the cost for visitors who want to go beyond browsing.

The market experience at its most effective is still a self-guided one — arriving early, exploring systematically, buying what looks good, and eating as you go. But a guided first visit can provide the context that makes independent future visits richer.

Frequently asked questions about St. Lawrence Market

Is St. Lawrence Market worth visiting?

Unequivocally yes, even for visitors with no intention of purchasing groceries. The experience of a great functioning market — the vendors, the food smells, the organised bustle — is one of the best things Toronto offers. The peameal bacon sandwich alone justifies the trip.

When is St. Lawrence Market open?

The South Market is open Tuesday to Saturday. The Farmers’ Market is Saturday only. Sunday is the Antique Market. The market is closed Monday.

What is peameal bacon?

Peameal bacon is back bacon (Canadian-style bacon — the loin of the pig, leaner than American strip bacon) rolled in ground yellow peas. It is cured but not smoked. The flavour is clean and slightly salty without smokiness. It is a Toronto creation and the Carousel Bakery’s version — griddled and served hot on a Kaiser roll — is the definitive version.

Is St. Lawrence Market expensive?

No — for a food market of this quality in a major city, prices are very reasonable. The peameal bacon sandwich is one of Toronto’s great food bargains. Artisan and specialty products are priced appropriately for their quality but not at premium tourist rates.