Toronto Food Tour: St. Lawrence Market & Distillery District

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.85 (822 reviews) 91% rated it 5 stars

Free cancellationTravelers' pickLikely to sell out

1/25

Duration2h–3h

GroupUp to 12

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Taste your way through Toronto's oldest market and a Victorian-era distillery village

This guided food tour explores two of Toronto's most storied neighborhoods—St. Lawrence Market, established in 1803, and the Distillery District—with tastings of local and international dishes including peameal bacon, poutine, and butter tarts. The tour runs just over three hours and includes a live English-speaking guide; choose between a 2-hour Kensington Market option or a 3-hour tour covering St. Lawrence and the Distillery, or upgrade to a private version. Comfortable walking shoes are essential, and dietary restrictions require advance notice.

2h–3h

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore Toronto's iconic food neighborhoods

Visit St. Lawrence Market
Taste local culinary offerings
Explore Distillery District
Discover galleries and artisan shops
Sample Toronto's local delicacies

The Experience

St. Lawrence Market has been Toronto's culinary heart since 1803, and walking its halls with a guide who knows where to stop changes what you taste. Over 120 vendors pack the space with farm-fresh cheeses, meats, seafood and international goods, but the peameal bacon sandwich—a Toronto rite of passage—is the one most visitors come for. You'll move through the market tasting dishes that show what the city actually eats, not what a menu promises, and the guide points out the vendors and the stories behind them.

From there, the tour moves to the Distillery District, a pedestrian-only neighborhood of cobblestone streets and Victorian industrial buildings that once housed the world's largest distillery. The district has been restored into a hub for galleries, boutiques, craft breweries and restaurants, and you'll taste your way through it—sampling poutine, butter tarts, and the tour's secret dish alongside the architecture and the independent shops. The contrast between the market's chaos and the Distillery's restored calm is part of what makes the day work.

If you choose the Kensington Market option instead, you get a different kind of food chaos: a vibrant maze of vintage shops, street food and global flavors compressed into a few blocks. Jerk chicken, Brazilian pastries, fresh cheese and craft beer sit side by side, and the 2-hour pace is built around the neighborhood's energy rather than its history. Public transportation runs near the tour start, and you'll need comfortable walking shoes for whichever route you pick—some sections are outdoors and the ground changes as you move between neighborhoods.

What’s included

A live English-speaking guide.
tastings including peameal bacon sandwich, poutine, butter tarts, pasta, momo dumplings, and the tour's secret dish.
access to St. Lawrence Market's 120+ vendors and the Distillery District's galleries, boutiques and restaurants (or Kensington Market's street food scene on the shorter option).

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearbyNot for heart conditionsInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Secret Food Tours

Is this one for you?Book this 3-hour tour if you want to see both St. Lawrence Market's historic food stalls and the Distillery District's architecture; choose the 2-hour Kensington Market option if you'd rather stay in one neighborhood focused on street food.