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.

Super chance to get out and enjoy the day!…read more Sampling different food options...so many choice with many in the $10-15 range at the Toronto Food Truck Festival. Today's event is being held at Woodbine Park @ 1695 Queen St E. P parking available onsite or private event parking for $20.

A little over rated to be honest…read more Variety was so so but plentiful nonetheless. We ordered a pulled pork mac and cheese from The Cheesery - what a name for liquid processed cheese. Charged up the arse for a pulled pork with ketchup. No imagination and it tasted like sadness. It was fairly busy and the usual line ups but I wasn't entirely impressed.

This was a great spot to go with a large group where we could all order different things and sit…read moretogether outside. Not a lot of healthy options but I did manage to find a salad at the Italian spot that was actually quite delicious despite being pre-packaged. A place to go for convenience and ambiance vs the food.

Union summer it is great place to attend during hot days the atmosphere is great afternoon or…read moreevening,delicious food nice professional customer service Mr Will service was excellent at bar Malibu

I was very glad to get introduced to this Scarborough hub. This stretch of Lawrence is blessed with…read moremany options for Middle Eastern (Hallal) and Caribbean cuisine. The Taste of Lawrence festival featured some of the local delicacies. I had some skewers of Hawaiian style chicken, slowly grilled over charcoal flame and lightly basted in semi-sweet sauce. A pineapple garnish tied the skewer together. A taco truck was serving better-than-average, authentic tacos. I got a duo of succulent carnita (pulled pork) tacos with fresh corn tortillas, some pico de gallo salsa and a wedge of lime for the perfect citrusy finish. The festival has two stages. We saw a Brazilian drum ensemble accompanied by a dancer looking straight out the festival in Rio. There was a capoeira demonstration afterwards. There are also a handful of rides and concession stands fitting for a street fair.

Lots of fun for kids and food vendors. Variety of food from juice to BBQ's. I ended up buying…read morehalo-halo in FV Foods.

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)

Perfect afternoon to head to the park. Better yet, we headed to the King City Craft Beer Festival…read moreand Food Truck Festival. This is an annual event that's hosted on one Saturday at the start of summer. The entire town seemed to have shown up as the small festival ground was packed with families & groups of all ages (many with pets) to make for a lively atmosphere. Once inside we briefly roamed around the festival ground and craft beer tents, before settling on ordering Urban Smoke's $10 brisket poutine based on the healthy lineup. Fries were crisp but the gravy sort of overwhelmed the flavour of the BBQ brisket slices. Slabtown Cider quenched our thirst well, so we tried both their legendary cherry and founder's dry cider. However another craft beer (aptly named Psychedelic Sunday) tasted like watered down perfume so I'd chalk that as a recipe gone awry. The other food truck that peaked my interest was Buster's Sea Cove. Figured I'd save a trip to Boston by ordering their $15 Lobster Roll! Their roll turned out to be about the size of the accompanying pickle slice, though filled with decent portion of lobster. For dessert, my wife had to try Funnel Cake Express to reminisce of CNE. Their funnel cake was a solid option: crunchy and not overly sweet from the light chocolate, caramel and maple syrup dressings. Admission started at $10. Gate fare was $20 to sample drinks, with 3 tokens that redeemed basically half a cup each (additional tokens were $2). Since we came with family, the festival was not perhaps the best value for the limited itinerary plus live music. We were in-and-out within 1.5 hours before heading to the nearby playground to enjoy the beautiful day.

As of late, I have been entering contests and have had good luck on my side. Here's hoping that I…read morehave not jinxed it. On Instagram, I saw that Yelp GTA was giving away tickets to the King City Craft Beer and Food Truck Festival. I decided to give it a try, which required reposting Yelp GTA's pic, tagging a couple of sponsors, and declaring that you want to go. My dearest friend saw my post and sent me a direct message saying, "I was hoping that we could hang out on June 9. Were you really thinking of going to this festival or just going if you win tickets? If you aren't a winner, we can still hang out." We have known each other since grade 7. I like that she still will be my dear friend, whether I am a winner or loser. Guess what? I got the nod that I have won a pair of tickets. Go, me! I tagged my friend, saying that we're going. The plan was for her to drop by my place, park, and we'd go in my car. Perfect! Thanks to Amanda, Kris, and King City Parks and Recreation for having us at this festival. The catch was figuring out whether we wanted to pick up the tickets through a quick Yelp get-together, or simply pick up tickets at Memorial Park just before the festival starts. We went with the latter. My friend and I got to venue at around noon. I didn't know where to park and ask what seemed to be a volunteer in a purple shirt. She said that parking on the residential street that we were on was fine. The downside was that she was talking to us facing the park. We were looking at her back in my car. Weird. Anyway, I parked and we walked in. I was to look for Kris and a Yelp sign. I saw nothing. My friend needed a washroom and she left to investigate. I seem to be an easy target for Kris to find me. He yelled my name out, which is now customary, and walked over. He told me that he loves this festival and hoped that I would, too. He gave me my tickets. We chatted some more. He pointed out to stop by the Yelp stand to vote for the best beer and food, and we wished each other a great day. You also get free wifi to vote, which lasts for fifteen minutes. The volunteers were not all that prepared, which is the main reason why I am not giving a five-star review. First, we asked whether we were going to drink beer at the front makeshift gate. Um, yes. My guess was that the tickets come with drink tokens. You get a green-coloured wrist band. Second, we had to show ID. No one looked at our ID. Did we look like senile old women that we didn't need to flash our IDs chiselled on rocks? Third, we didn't know which lineup to go to. We chose the one on the left. The fourth point needs a new paragraph. I approached the table. There were two volunteers. One asked for my name. I gave mine to her. She looked at her list and then realized that I wouldn't be on it, as I was holding tickets. She proceeded to give me three drink tokens. I said that I have two tickets. I should be getting six tokens in total. Her sidekick agreed with me. She didn't give my friend three tokens. Um, I'm waiting. I literally had to tell her to provide three tokens into the palm of my friend's hand. OMG, kill me! Anyway, my friend had to use the portable potty. We walked over. We were the first folks to use them, so they were clean. There was a handwashing area to the right. Perfect! We sampled some beer and cider. We ended up chatting with a number of vendors. The two beers and cider that I tried were fantastic. The folks selling them were enthusiastic and nice. Everyone was nice. My friend took a photo of the BMO folks working the stand for them. We enjoyed the various musical bands and acts that were playing. We got food. I had to get a tornado potato with sea salt. It is essentially a spiralized potato on a stick that is deep fried and salted. So good! My friend and I liked it. I have such a weakness for empanadas. We raided the Chacha Churros truck. I got beef and my friend got vegan empanadas. They were so delicious and packed full of fresh, flavourful ingredients. We loved them so much that we came back to get churros. Both folks working the truck remember us. I told them that their food was amazing. The churros had the best cinnamon flavour I have had in a long time. Wow! We visited every stand. I liked visiting the York Region one. You answered trivia questions and you end up winning a cup made of recycled materials that comes with a straw and a lid. We both got one. You could also fill up your water bottles and even these cups at the free water fountain next door. Nice! Naturally, I stopped by the Yelp booth to get some swag and vote for my favourite beer and food vendors. I liked that one person there said that she has seen me around. I suppose that I have been to more Yelp-sponsored events this year than my four years being a Yelper combined that I am fairly easy to spot! I had a fabulous time at this event. I got to experience so much wonderful food and chat with friendly people. I would definitely give it a go again. (227)

I have attended four different ribfests this summer. This one in Woodbridge was my least favourite…read moreout of the batch. All ribfests that I have attended this year have been in drive-thru format, including this one. I headed over here a couple of Sundays ago. This year, it was held at the highways 7-400 Power Centre. I pulled into the entrance where the Leon's is. You couldn't access the ribfest from there, so I had to pull out and around to the only entrance available. There were a few things that put a damper on my experience. The first was getting a QR code presented to me by a volunteer. I am growing to dislike QR codes. This one was circular with the Rotary Club of Woodbridge logo smack in the middle of it. My guess is that my phone is sensitive to any QR code. If this QR code is tweaked or customized in some way, it won't work. Frankly, I would like to see both the QR code and URL to the site presented. Instead, I got a paper menu. I'd rather have that than any QR code! I am all for donating to a worthy cause. The minimum donation was $2. All donations went to Mackenzie Health. I did not have any cash and hoped that I could do debit. The alternative was to text a number and donate $10. I didn't like the lack of flexibility in donation amount. The Scarborough ribfest had a $5 denomination using your debit card if you didn't have cash. I was not pleased, especially when we are in a pandemic and cash is often not high on the acceptable payment list. The next aspect that was odd was getting dessert vendors in my face during this ribfest. The other three had dessert, drinks, and corn at the end of the drive-thru experience. I had one woman present dessert items that she was offering. It turned me off. I was here for the ribs. I want to order my ribs first! The pylons marking the lanes to the three vendors weren't clearly placed. I actually had to ask a volunteer where to go. If I need to ask for that sort of help with where the lanes are, it says a lot. I typically don't pose that question. There were three rib vendors. I decided to go with Uncle Sam's. The man taking my order was great. I got a full rack dinner that comes with coleslaw and beans. I paid using a credit card. I wish that there were an option to tip, but it didn't appear on the machine. I got my food in a paper bag fairly quickly. I thanked the man and drove over to Home Depot to have a late lunch in the comfort of my car. The baked beans were delicious. They were rich and so flavourful. They were gone immediately. I appreciated getting plastic cutlery. The three other places didn't give me many. Luckily, I always have some in my car. The coleslaw was one of the better ones that I have had. It had flavour and a crunch that I thoroughly enjoyed. Yum! The ribs were amazing. They had a generous amount of sauce that was smokey and amazing. The ribs were meaty and done perfectly. They were by far the best ribs that I have had out of all four ribfests, which made up for the horrible start that I got here. I'm not sure if I'd come back. If it ends up being a walk-in ribfest next year, I may give it a try so I don't get dessert shoved in my face before I get some ribs. (366)

Rain Rain goes away…read more.. All these rain made the 6th Annual Woodbridge Ribfest such a muddy one. I should have wore my rain boots! This is one of the smallest Ribfest I been to with only 5 ribbers. But what makes this ribfest different from others are the local craft beers from smaller breweries, a pizza vendors that make wood oven pizza on site and a taco vendor that roasting a pig on site for pork taco! Tons of other vendors promoting their services from photography studio, insurances and home improvement. Woodbridge Ribfest is A-OK if you are in the area and want to have some ribs, but definitely not worth a special trip for the event!

What can you say? Even without the World Cup and weather that would dampen any spirits, ITALFEST…read morejust kept moving on. Nice! The Yelpers were treated to a break in the weather with a few spots of sprinkles. After a little wait, our festival guide arrived. It was a pleasure to have Mr. Anthony Petrucci - President of Palma Pasta, be our festival representative. Anthony took us around the grounds and introduced us to several places. Let's list them off shall we? First stop...Mario San Francescos Catering. A full service catering service that is 30 years young and still going strong. Anthony introduced us to one of the owners (I believe she was Mrs. Fiore) and she provided us with Veal and Chicken on a bun. Which was greatly appreciated by all. It's always difficult to have hot and fresh food at a venue like this, however, as caterers they obviously have that talent mastered. https://mariosanfran.com/ Then off to Palma Pasta (est. 1985). Anthony is President of Palma Pasta and he is passionate about the food and his people. They cater, have retail products, and operate hot tables and kitchens. Had a sampling of the penne and meatballs. Delicious! https://palmapasta.com/ Ciao from Pizza Nova! Our tour continued to take out pizza. Who doesn't love pizza? I've been going to Pizza Nova since I was "single digit" years old. Not going to tell you how long ago that was! Anthony calls them the best franchise operations, because they really do use the best ingredients. A true testimonial is that his Family Nights have pizza from Pizza Nova. I have to agree. Between the big franchises, Pizza Nova is my favourite. https://pizzanova.com/ Ahhhh...Lemon Heaven! Who hasn't seen some kind of large fruit POS? After having some good food, we need to wash it down. There is something about a nice lemonade. Lemon Heaven uses freshly squeezed lemons. You can have it classic or you can flavour it as well. We all had a serving of their classic lemonade, and I for one was extremely grateful as I was really thirsty! http://www.lemonheaven.com/ Last stop on our food tour...FIRED UP! Fired Up is what they call a backyard grilling company. They operate out of Port Credit/Mississauga. I've seen them a few times when I have done the Stagger of Fame up and down Lakeshore Road. A sampling today was their Ribs and Mac'n'Cheese. The MnC was "Ri-don-culous"-(Guy Fieri) and the Ribs were better than Ribfest. http://www.firedupbbq.com/ Now for some history. I did not know that Mississauga had such deep roots with the Italian community. Being a Toronto boy, it was college street and then up to Woodbridge. That is all I knew. At the heritage part of the tour, we got a lesson on Pier 21. The pier in Halifax that immigrants, coming in by ship, landed in Canada. Anthony's grandfather and father (I believe) came via Pier 21. We had two ladies from Pier 21, now a historical museum, introduce us to their fascinating work. https://pier21.ca/ More information about the Brickyards and the Italian spirit was presented by Heritage Mississauga. Again, the information that they were able to gather about the shaping of the community was wonderful. https://www.heritagemississauga.com/ Thank you very much Yelp for getting me to go on a grey soaking day to get some culture. Personally want to thank Mr. Anthony Petrucci for his time, passion, and great insight into the lives of his community. Well colour me Green/White/Red and let's go again next year! CHEERS!

It was an amazing event despite the heavy rain and T-storm before the start of the food tour…read more Special thanks for Aisa being patient with all of us coming from afar and our tour guide, Anthony, who was the organizer. We started off near the VIP area and headed to On A Bun where we were treated to veal and chicken sandwiches. They were excellent and the owner told her story of her business. Next, we had some awesome pasta with meatballs. We stopped off for some pizza from Pizza Nova for some samples. In the middle, we had some lemonade from a franchise owner that operates during the summer months at festivals. Last, we had some mac n cheese with some ribs. To finish our tour, we heard some history about immigrants coming to Pier 21 in Halifax and also stories of families who settled in Mississauga. It was definitely a good experience.