Disclaimer: I won 2 complimentary tickets from Yelp Toronto Giveaway. So we ended up just paying…read morefor the food. Love the set up and location of Taste of Toronto. This is the first time I ever been to Fort York. Getting there was easy as Streetcar 509 get me right to the entrance. The ground is spacious and I like the white tent like set up giving it an English Garden gallery vibe. I was expecting the worse since I attended the Saturday Evening Session but was pleasantly surprised that the event was well organized and it was not too crowded. Maximum wait for me was less than 10 minutes for anything. Most of the restaurant vendors did have good time management and kudos for all the kitchen staff working so hard keeping us all fed and wait time to the minimum. We ended up trying Little Sister's Pork Belly ($8), Morimoto Toronto's Uni Carbonara with a bottle of S.Pellegrino ($8) and THR's Lobster Grits ($10). Each dish was well presented with good flavours. There are also a lot of free sampling and tasting in various food vendors, For wine tasting, they are going for $1 each or so. Love the different demo. Getting into Master Cooking Classes were impossible with the limited first come first serve openings but watching the cooking class was just as fun. American Express Lounge was a nice touch from AMEX as it has free samples and free bottle water to keep you hydrated. I would come back next year on a nice day to spend a few hours to wander around and sample some food. The longest line being Richmond Station and Drake. I would suggest to skip those as it really was no point spending your time lining up for food.

Contrary to a lot of reviews below, I absolutely loved Taste of Toronto…read more Our group wanted to try a variety of options, so we pooled our money and loaded it on 1 card. Surprisingly, the wait time to try top restaurants were not bad at all. We pretty much got a taste of every dish at every place. By the end of the night, I was holding my magnum ice cream with a big smile on my face. My friends were all struggling to walk and wanting to roll home instead. The main dish that made my night was: Splendido - "True North Atlantic Salmon Sashimi from Atlantic Canada - Avocado, sesame, race cakes." This dish had the "Wow factor." After having a slice, I was in shock. I honestly could not stop talking about how delicious this dish was that night. I had to get a second order immediately. The sauce had the perfect amount of flavor without being too strong to cover the taste of the freshly sliced Salmon Sashimi. The texture from the avocado compliments the tenderness and chewiness of the Sashimi perfectly. Amazing! What I really like about this festival is that you get a taste of the food from top restaurants around Toronto. I will definitely be trying Splendido shortly in the future. I look forward to Taste of Toronto next year and I highly recommend others to join me as well!

The ribs at Gator bbq were awesome! Games too pricy!! 3 games of Skeeball, $10!!! C'mon, now. 3…read moredarts to burst balloons, $10!!! 3 basketballs, $10!!! Etc., etc. Rides decent, except ferris wheel not working on Civic Monday.

My rating is 4.5 stars. Despite some tough ribs that I got, I'll round up for organization and…read morefriendliness. For years, I'd drive by Thomson Memorial Park when Scarborough Ribfest was on and I'd continue driving. It looked amazing, but the parking looked insane that it was too much for me to handle. I was doing some research on my phone that had nothing to do with food. I saw an ad for Scarborough Ribfest being in drive-thru format at Centennial College's Ashtonbee Campus and it piqued my interest. I decided to head over here to grab some dinner on a rare Sunday outing. I knew where the campus was. I had no idea where the main entrance was, though. Luckily, signs saved me and guided me over to the venue without a hitch. There were lot of staff from The Rotary Club of Scarborough helping out. One asked whether I was here for the ribfest and pointed me over to another section where donations were being taken. Oddly, I was prepared with change and placed it in the bucket. Another woman handed me a menu. I took a slow drive over to the ribbers, mesmerized by the various food trucks out on my drive over there. The menu had four rib vendors. I went with the one that offered mac and cheese, which was Sticky Fingers. I had food from this place at the Mississauga Ribfest a few years ago. I loved their food there and needed to revisit it. The woman at Sticky Fingers was great. I wanted the full rack dinner and asked if I could get a side order of mac and cheese. She checked with her advisor, came back, and said yes. I said yes, too, as if I were getting married to said mac and cheese. I didn't want to get a tub of it, but you could for $10. I paid using my debit card. I tipped and tapped. Done! The folks at Sticky Fingers were so nice. I got my food, thanked the woman, and headed out. I passed by the food trucks, which ranged from funnel cakes, to my favourite, Tiny Tom's Donuts. I knew that my dinner would be way too much food for one meal, so I decided to bypass the trucks and head home. I chowed down when I got home. I was disappointed with how dry the ribs were. Perhaps it was the luck of the rib rack draw. The ribs weren't meaty, except for a handful of them in the centre. As a result, they were tough and I felt like I was gnawing on leather. My poor tired jaw! Bummer. They weren't like that at Mississauga Ribfest. The sauce was delicious, though. The baked beans and coleslaw, however, were excellent. The baked beans were flavourful, savoury, and yummy. The coleslaw was crunchy and had lots of flavour. I could so order more sides. The mac and cheese was so creamy. It was excellent, too. I know that I'd be okay getting a tub of it next time. What stands out is how organized and friendly folks from the Rotary were. It was my first drive-thru ribfest and this one provided the best introduction to this format. (312)

I am averaging a ribfest each weekend so far this summer. My fourth ribfest of 2021 brought me to…read moreOakville. The ninth annual Oakville Family Ribfest is in a drive-thru format. It was held on the Trafalgar campus of Sheridan College. This ribfest was extremely well-organized. There were signs everywhere as I approached the campus. Turn right at the next light. I love clear instructions. The number of volunteers seemed almost overkill. There were two people at the front entrance waving folks in. I then spoke to a young man who gave me a free reusable bag with perks in it and a program. Program? Yes, it had eight pages of menus and coupons. There was a lovely woman letting me know that I could buy bottled water and raffle tickets a few feet ahead. You truly cannot get lost! I got to another woman who was selling raffle tickets and their proceeds go to the Oakville Rotary Club. You can either pay in cash, or use the machine for debit and credit cards. I had enough change with me. I bought a ticket and got a free bottled water. Luckily, I had looked at the menu online before coming here. I'm glad that I did. Reading the menu and driving simultaneously doesn't sound like a safe activity. I approached another man who asked which ribber I wanted. I went with the one that offered mac and cheese, which was Route 55 BBQ. He let me know which lane to take to get there. The lineup was pretty short. You basically pull up next to the where the barbequing magic is happening and place your order. I had a cheerful woman take my order. I got a full rack of ribs. I like that you can pick your sides here. I went with baked beans and cornbread. I felt weird not having coleslaw! I also got a small tub of mac and cheese. I paid using a credit card without a chip. I inserted it into their Square device and it would not work on three attempts. The woman had to ask her boss for help. She came back and said that it was my card. Um, no. My card worked well when I used it for a work event two days before. It's the Square device that is finicky. Her boss came over and rattled off what acceptable credit cards the place accepts. I was using a MasterCard, which was not the issue. He wanted to give it a try and asked for my card. During a pandemic, I'm not crazy about handing over my card or anything to someone. It means more sanitizing on my end. Well, being a barbeque place, he didn't have the cleanest hands. He did manage to get my card to work. I entered my pin on the iPad, added a tip, and I was done. Perhaps it was his touch with charcoal-tinged fingers that did the trick. I was thankful. Moments later, I got my food in a paper bag. I thanked both the woman handing me my order and the one who took it, and I drove away. This ribfest had Tiny Tom Donuts, corn, and lemonade just before you hit the exit. I saw one guy wave me over for lemonade. I wasn't feeling it and headed to the exit. One man by the exit unenthusiastically said, "Turn right to exit." I don't know if he has a naturally monotonous voice or was exhausted thanks to the hot, hazy, humid weather. I thanked him, turned right, and ended up in a parking lot to have lunch at around 3 pm. There was barbeque sauce at the bottom of the box containing my meal. I definitely couldn't place it on my lap, so I wiped it down with a napkin. There was also sauce on my paper bag. Cleanliness does matter. Thank goodness I wasn't wearing white! The rib sauce was yummy. It had a bit of spicy heat to it. The less meaty ribs were borderline pork jerky. It wasn't horrible, as I love jerky, but if you don't, you may be turned off by it. The meaty ribs were fabulous. Two messy thumbs up. The baked beans were okay. I got spoiled last weekend by getting a medley of beans. This one tasted like the ones you get from a can. Not horrible, but my tastebuds were not wowed. The cornbread was good. It was fluffy and moist. It didn't have any crispy edges on them, though. The mac and cheese was weird. The cheese sauce was clumpy. It was like the macaroni wanted nothing to do with the sauce and didn't adhere well. It tasted creamy and normal, but it was like the mac and cheese didn't want to hold hands after a fight. I like that I didn't recognize any of the rib vendors at this ribfest. The perks dished out to each customer were generous. I ended up with a face mask, a temporary tattoo (can't wait to apply it, as it makes me feel like a kid again), wallet tissues, and informational leaflets. They were a lovely gesture, which makes this ribfest the fanciest one that I have attended to date. I'm glad that I hit this ribfest. I hope to do it again next year. (335)

Are you tired of swimming through sticky people to get to some skewers? Do hour long waits for…read moreoverpriced, mediocre foods make you sad? Well, come on down to TO Food Fest! Actually, you can't. It's over. But maybe next year! On a gorgeous Sunday morning, friends and I headed down to experience some exotic treats. Getting there early enough meant we got to park in the lot in front of the community centre. So refreshing to have room to move around and to actually try all the things we wanted to try. I'll try to keep my descriptions short and sweet: DaanGo (aka. Masterchef Baker Siu): Asian inspired macarons (delicious), tarts, and the most Instagramable dessert ever: agar fruit marbles in syrup. $15 for 6 macarons and $6 for a cup of the cool fruit bubbles. Fish'D (by EDO): Salmon sushi burrito is exactly what you'd expect. Pretty delicious but also tastes exactly as you'd think a big sushi roll would taste like. $12 for a full one and $7 for half. Yakikuza: They did one thing and one thing only: bacon and shrimp okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake). And they did it so well. Deliciously fried batter with sauces and two strips of bacon + small shrimps. Oko-NOM-iyaki indeed. ($8) Teppan Ice Cream: Cute guys with nice arms rolling ice cream? Uhhh yes, please. I thought these rolled ice cream things would be kinda gimmicky but that was actually delicious. I got the lychee (real lychee pieces chopped up into the cream), with condensed milk and peanuts. $7 for some creamy, creamy goodness. There were a ton of other fantastic stalls/food trucks that I didn't get to try like Chocollata Gourmet (beautiful Brazilian truffles), the pork belly bao, and the liquid nitrogen frozen popcorn. Great variety, fantastic quality, and I was pretty stuffed after 2.5 hours there. As a note, yes there is a donation amount of $2 requested. Yes, it's voluntary. Yes, there are some lovely ladies that sit at the entrance and ask you, in a very polite way, to donate. If the setup makes you uncomfortable because you feel like you're being "forced" to donate, that's your stingy attitude making you feel that way, not the people there (*cough* other review..). (68/100) - 2016

Omnomnomnomnomnomnom. I specifically skipped breakfast just so I can try out as many different…read morekinds of food cuisines as possible. TO Food Fest happened this past weekend. While the location isn't the best, attendance was phenomenal. The best part was that it wasn't just Asians that were here, but a whole mix of different ethnic groups all converging into a church building and a parking lot. Multiculturalism at its best! Some of the foods I've tried included mochi from Mochi King, calamari from Baha Tacos, milk tea from Marathon Cafe, cheesesteak from Lamesa Filipino Kitchen, Hawaiian skewers, and finally a mango slush to call it a day. While it is amateur hour for many vendors, you can sense the creativity and effort they put into making their food, and with that I was quite happy with most of the food I received. I was lucky to arrive right at the opening bell at 1pm. By the time I left around 3:30pm, many of the vendors were already sold out of their foods! Perhaps they underestimated the demand of this event, but it was certainly a well attended one, especially given the scorching heat for the outdoor vendors. Man, I wonder how they survive cooking with all that heat and (in some cases) charcoal blowing right at their faces. Hopefully Night It Up lives up to this, cause this event took food cuisines to the next level.

After being cooped up with illnesses all week, I decided to take my kids to this drive-thru exhibit…read moreafter seeing a promo code online. It seems bigger than the one in Mississauga we went to last year. There were also some really creative displays! Given it was so early in the season, we were able to go thru once, do the walk thru and then if there wasn't a lineup, we could drive thru a second time. It was much more immersive and there were some extra touches for the kids that my son loved. Highly recommend: grabbing a hot chocolate at a nearby Tim Horton's, grabbing some snacks, and enjoying some festive fun. Entry price is per car. They pace entry times so it's not overly crowded. Staff are very helpful and visible (although, like last year, they all hide in nearby cars when there's a break in traffic). It has become a fun Christmas tradition.

We visited each rib station in order from left to right. The first one we went to was Billy Bones…read moreBBQ. They boasted "best sauce runner up" in 2015 and "best ribs runner" in 2014. It was really nice that one of the guys there gave us a short spiel on how their pork ribs are simply the best. Out of the ribs I tried that day, I really enjoyed the ones from Billy Bones BBQ the most.

Great event and especially since I went first night it was nice and cool and the lines weren't that…read morebad at all

It seems this place is more popular than anywhere else based on being there yesterday. Their Gyros…read moretaste good.

Taste of the Danforth is arguably Toronto's best known food festival. It celebrates Toronto's…read morefantastic Greek Town. Over the years the restaurant scene diversified and now boasts not only Greek restaurants, but also Asian food, Middle Eastern food, Caribbean food, Mexican food, etc. Taste of the Danforth is a great way to sample some delicious greek offerings like lamb skewers, calamari, spanakopita, Greek pastries etc. It's also a chance to try some other ethnic eats. We had tasty Tibetan dumplings from Momo Hut and excellent tacos from El Charros. There are also lots of tasty drinks like bubble teas. In addition, there is a festival stage which plays live music, and also a few rides for kids. Do be forewarned. The festival is very busy, so expect lots of crowds. This also means long lineups for food. Moreover, the food is not cheap. Expect to pay $5-$15 for a small sample of food.

Finally an uptown food festival worth attending by the populous. Ribfests are always popular! At…read morethe annual Thornhill Ribfest (July 26-28), they seem to know how to give people a good time by combining a handful of huge BBQ rib stands with a slew of food/shop vendors, ad booths, live stage and a kids zone too. One of the perks is the free admission, so I guess the economics do work when aligned with sponsors. We arrived at 11am Saturday to the festival ground with plenty of parking. Truth be told we were an hour early! No matter, the BBQ stands were ready and being early is good for scouting without a crowd. I kind of missed seeing the ribbers' trophies on display, as this was apparently not a BBQ competition. Multiple BBQ variations were offered by Oak & Barrel, Louisiana BBQ, Texas Jack's, Kentucky Smokehouse, Big Hank's Nashville-style and Memphis Blazin' BBQ. The grill master at the first one had a jolly time chiming away and putting on a fire show for the cameras. We noticed selection was the same at all of the impressive stands: BBQ ribs, chicken, pulled pork, coleslaw and beans. We opted for the Memphis combo of 1/3 rack of ribs, 1/4 chicken and pulled pork. Firm ribs didn't have much dry rub but spicy & sweet BBQ sauces were decent. Chicken was flavourful on the skin but meat was bland and firm. Lesson learned, stick to saucy ribs & pulled pork! Roaming the grass area, there were plenty of food options such as craft beer, fried chocolate bars, blooming onions, and funnel cake. The Filipino BBQ pork skewers were memorable, with drizzled sweet sauce, crispy skin and fat. We happily left the Thornhill Ribfest with a full lunch and a smooth fun experience.

Thornhill hosts a ribfest every year and this was my first time attending it! I love events that…read morehave zero admission fee. The Thornhill Rib & Craft Beer Fest was held at 1441 Clark Avenue West (on Dufferin north of Steeles) and right next to Vaughan Secondary School. It was a three-day ribfest from July 27 to 29. We attended on the first day and arrived there just after 6 p.m. and before the weekend crowds started coming in. It was a very well put together event with a quick security checkpoint at the entrance (and free ample parking at the lot of the secondary school). Upon entering, we received free popcorn to taste! It was warm and a bit sweet. Right away, we lined up for the first ribber that we saw, which was the New York BBQ one. We were hungry and it really didn't matter too much which one we lined up at. There were five ribbers in total: New York BBQ, Oak & Barrel, Kentucky Smokehouse, Louisiana BBQ, and Memphis Blazin' BBQ. We ordered the 1/2 rack with 1/4 chicken since I was curious about the chicken. It actually started raining halfway into the line-up and I'm so glad that we had brought umbrellas to shield us from the sudden downpour. Luckily, after we ordered and found a seat to eat the ribs underneath one of the tents, the rain and rain clouds went away. The rack of ribs were fall-off-the-bone and the meat was quite 'shredded' and it was good for the most part. The chicken was overly burnt but the meat underneath the skin was somewhat moist. Next, we got a beer from the craft beer stalls. Each drink ticket was $7. There were quite a lot of them and I chose the cute-sounding "Bear Hug IPA" beer from Market Brewing Co. It had a fusion of tangerine, pineapple, and evergreen notes. We took a stroll around the other food trucks and food vendors, which was quite varied! There were a lot of people lining up for the Blooming Onions stroll and if it weren't for the fact that it was just the two of us, we would have wanted to try it too. We settled for a buttered corn on the cob from one of the stalls which my mom enjoyed very much. We returned to the ribbers and this time lined up for the Louisiana BBQ. We also got a 1/2 rack from here. The line-up was just as long as the first one. My mom actually wanted to try the beef ribs, but we ended up just getting the pork ribs. After this, we lined up at the Memphis Blazin' BBQ stall. This line-up was a lot longer than the other ones, but we saw how the ribbers really took time to make sure the ribs were cooked well. We still ended up with pork ribs (since the beef ribs didn't look as popular), but this time we got a full rack of pork ribs instead. We sat down with the two sets of pork ribs and chowed down. I really liked the Memphis Blazin' BBQ as the meat on the ribs was so firm! The Louisiana BBQ one was good too and had a sweeter sauce. We really had a large ribs feast that night (and the next few days too for lunch).