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Best grocery stores in downtown Toronto?

rsgnl

rsgnl

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Hi everyone. I will be moving into a condo at the Tridel Icon on Wellington St. W. at Blue Jays Way next month and I am wondering if there are any good grocery stores in the downtown area?

I pretty much only know there is a smaller Sobey's in the Fort York area. I will have to break my suburban drive-and-park ways, but any good grocery stores with a parking lot within a 10-15 minute drive? Thanks.
 
rsgnl said:
Hi everyone. I will be moving into a condo at the Tridel Icon on Wellington St. W. at Blue Jays Way next month and I am wondering if there are any good grocery stores in the downtown area?

I pretty much only know there is a smaller Sobey's in the Fort York area. I will have to break my suburban drive-and-park ways, but any good grocery stores with a parking lot within a 10-15 minute drive? Thanks.
Click to expand...
The Maple Leaf Gardens Loblaws is probably within 15 minutes driving on a good traffic day. Awesome experience and underground parking
 
rsgnl said:
Hi everyone. I will be moving into a condo at the Tridel Icon on Wellington St. W. at Blue Jays Way next month and I am wondering if there are any good grocery stores in the downtown area?

I pretty much only know there is a smaller Sobey's in the Fort York area. I will have to break my suburban drive-and-park ways, but any good grocery stores with a parking lot within a 10-15 minute drive? Thanks.
Click to expand...

I find this a rather odd question as I would have thought that living downtown you would really not want a 'good grocery store" but would be able to divide up your grocery shopping. A local store (the Sobeys at City Place, the Metro on Front, the Loblaws on Queen's Quay or at MLG?) that you can (ideally) walk to for 'standard stuff' like canned or bottled goods, toilet paper and a series of smaller stores that specialise. You can find these kinds of store all over the place downtown but the St Lawrence Market (both the regular South Market and the Saturday farmers' market) is certainly a place to investigate. (It's quite easy to get to from the Icon by using the TTC, 504 King and, soon, the 121 Front bus that is supposed to start running on Front & The Esplanade in June.)
 
The Loblaws at Queen and Portland would not be too far for you, and has parking. Plus it has the benefit of being close to a number of great food specialty shops along Queen W. But, honestly, if you're living downtown why would you be a slave to your car? Other than perhaps when the weather is nasty or you need to buy lots of bulk items, get yourself a good cart and enjoy walking to stock up on food.
 
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rsgnl said:
Hi everyone. I will be moving into a condo at the Tridel Icon on Wellington St. W. at Blue Jays Way next month and I am wondering if there are any good grocery stores in the downtown area?

I pretty much only know there is a smaller Sobey's in the Fort York area. I will have to break my suburban drive-and-park ways, but any good grocery stores with a parking lot within a 10-15 minute drive? Thanks.
Click to expand...
LONGOS @ Maple Leaf Square is next door to you and a great store.
 
I think the Loblaws at Queen & Portland is your best bet. It puts you in a much nicer neighbourhood with better amenities. For example, one advantage of this location over Longos at Maple Leaf Square is that it's close to a Healthy Butcher location on Queen West. There are also much better options than any major grocery chain store in Kensington Market for pretty much any need you might have. Definitely worth checking out.

If you're willing to travel as far as Longos, you might as well make the hike over to the St Lawrence Market, which blows away every other grocer in nearly every aspect except for business hours.

Edit: there's also a Fresh & Wild grocery store at King & Spadina, a short walk from you. Expensive, but handy in a pinch. Also, LCBO is there.
 
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Car is very convenient. We shop bigger loads with the car and pick up smaller items throughout the week. OP has the best of both worlds.
 
I'm a Zipcar member and use it to shop maybe five times a year. To do otherwise breaks my rule of "never leave the city under any circumstances".

Wellington/Blue Jays Way area has loads of autoshare options if you actually find yourself needing a car on the reg. Something to think about as you will inevitably contemplate the quite possibly unnecessary expense/hassle of vehicle ownership.
 
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No need to sell one's car.* But I suspect when the weather is nice, and given stuff like the Healthy Butcher, etc., rsgnl will find it just as easy food shopping with a good cart and (s)he would trying to do it by car, if not easier and more pleasant.

*(But I agree with Grey that if you don't need your car for work, autoshare might be a better and cheaper option when it comes to trips to the grocery store for big loads, etc.)
 
Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I do plan on keeping my car @Skeezix, but I will definitely be walking mostly everywhere. I was really only curious about ones with parking lots because it doesn't hurt to know.

Loblaws at Queen/Portland and Longos at Maple Leaf Square both seem like great options for the grocery essentials. I'll keep an eye out for smaller speciality stores too.

St. Lawrence Market also sounds cool. It seems like a weekend thing to do?
 
are you all crazy telling him to sell his car without knowing anything about his life except for the major intersection of his house? that's so narcissistic. bordering on "should-be-in-CAMH" insane.
 
yin_yang said:
are you all crazy telling him to sell his car without knowing anything about his life except for the major intersection of his house? that's so narcissistic. bordering on "should-be-in-CAMH" insane.
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Seriously? One person told him to sell his car, and you realize that was tongue in cheek right? Your comments about mental health are rude.
 
St. Lawrence market has the farmers' market on the weekend, so that is worthwhile. It also makes the market very busy. The weekdays are far less crowded.

I do a big shop there on Saturday, and drop in a couple more times during the week. Because I like it, the food is great, it's on my ride home.

I had a car the first few years I lived in Toronto, and then realized I wasn't using it much, despite paying for it all the time. Now I shop for a family of four, managing just fine with either a touring bike or a backpack. The car might be important for other parts of your life, but you certainly don't need it for groceries.

Check out Bike Share. For $100 you can ride all year, and the St. Lawrence market is less than ten minutes from you by bike. The ride across Front Street is pretty easy, once you get the rhythm of the traffic.
 
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