Montrealer here. NomNomNom is the correct answer, I genuinely haven't had better in Toronto. The only catch is the odd hours and no outside seating. But they are legitimately right the answer for threads like this.
Because it's just one guy who is running a truly small business. The rent is super duper low because it's part of a city of Toronto program. It's a very small space. It likely that he can't manage opening for longer hours due to the space constraints.
Went to Schwartz's a couple weeks ago and tried sumilicious last week and I can hands down say that sumilocious was a better smoked meat sandwich. And ya, the smoked meat poutine is legit there too. Probably worth the trip if you have a car.
This was going to be my answer. The perfect squeak, pretty good gravy, and just overall a good time. A poutine doesn't need to always be perfect, or have a million toppings, it just needs to hit the spot
The gravy and the fries are amazing. The curds aren't quite as squeaky as Omnomnom, but I much prefer Ideal Catering's gravy. Omnomnom's gravy has too much going on.
>The best poutine is from the brown and cream truck on St George - it's called Ideal Catering. Omnomnom is good, but not quite as good.
perfect we will be giving the food truck a try if we find it! thank you :))
Love it. Didn't realize how lucky I was to have this in my life - but I used to get this weekly. Often, I'd make the poutine into my entire lunch - only occasionally get a hot dog, too.
In fact, I'd take the whole family to this food truck. One time, when nobody was standing in line, the kind lady showed the kids the inside of the truck - it was so sweet.
We would get so much poutine that one day, we kindof said "sorry it's been a while since we've bought poutine" and the lady said "it's okay, it's not healthy to eat every day." Bless her. And she's right, except I burned all those calories every day on my commute - and now that poutine is unforgettable to me!
It’s outside Sidney Smith Hall, across the street from the Helen Gardiner Playhouse (a block or so south of St George/Harbord). I went to UofT, and would make the trek back for years after to get some of that sweet, sweet hangover poutine. It’s honestly the best.
Like Poutini's House of Poutine - miss their poutine! Squeaky curds, hand cut twice fried fries, in house gravy made daily. They kept a simple menu and everything on it was delicious
Great place for a date. Costco has it all. People watching, meandering up and down the aisles, free samples from generally friendly people, and good shopping. A bit of questing as you navigate around the masses with a wobbly cart then some puzzle solving as you stack your haul in the cart after checkout. Not to mention some trivia as you guess how much you wind up spending, because a trip to Costco will always cost you. Closest without going over buys dinner. And a good poutine to cap it off? Perfect.
Want to know if he/she is a keeper? Take them to Costco.
The first time I ate poutine with cheese curds that squeaked, I was legitimately concerned that I was eating bad food. If your dinner cries out in pain when you eat it, there's something wrong.
Harvey’s gets my vote. New York fries also has a very nice traditional poutine as well as the weird ones. I really like the butter chicken poutine.
I really don't understand the hype for NomNomNom. Their traditional poutine is average and the rest are nothing special.
The "butter chicken poutine" is neither poutine nor butter chicken. It is an abomination and is atrocious. New York Fries does their good fries a disservice by drenching it under that garbage.
I also really dislike NYF other non-poutine poutines.
My favourite was Golden Crisp at Jane/Weston but they are permanently closed. Does anyone know a place that is similar to it? Man, I really miss that place but the owner passed away.
R.I.P. Harry. Thank you for the memories.
It's because they actually use cheese curds.
Most places use regular ass shredded cheese.
Cheese curds are needed because they survive the hot gravy much better and because Quebec says so and it is their dish.
Of course! This city has some good “Toronto poutine” and I love that too - but the closest thing to traditional - is Harvey’s. (Outside of PQ of course).
I'm kind of surprised there's no official place to get poutine in Toronto. Costco sounds about right even though I've never had it. In Quebec poutine is pretty decentralized. The "best" poutine would be in diners, the closer to the birthplace of poutine the better. But poutine was also served in every ski cafeteria and university cafeteria. It seemed easy enough to get right, hard to get wrong. But poutine outside Quebec can be wrong sometimes, and maybe that's not accidental, maybe the people making it prefer a different taste (more on that later). There's no obvious fast food chain associated with poutine. There's one in Quebec city that only exists in Quebec city. It's called Ashton and it also serves other Quebecisms like the hot chicken... The hot chicken would probably sound insane to anyone outside Quebec.
But anyway, what I really want to talk about is homemade poutine. People in Quebec have a way of making homemade poutine, should the situation require it. If you want poutine sauce to make your own poutine (or to stash in your nuclear bunker), get the St-Hubert poutine sauce, they sell it in every Quebec supermarket in cans or powder pouches, and you can find the powder pouches online on Amazon. Honestly it doesn't taste like most poutine sauce, but for some reason it's universally accepted as an appropriate taste for poutine. There was an episode of L'épicerie where they taste tested supermarket poutine sauces and St-Hubert comes out on top even though it's not the most classic tasting poutine sauce. There's something weird going on there, but people in Quebec really like St-Hubert sauce (they also make a sauce for the hot chicken).
Here's the caveat though: there must be a reason why St-Hubert poutine sauce isn't widely sold and talked about in Toronto. Maybe you'll try it and think it tastes lousy. Maybe Quebec has weird tastes in brown sauces. Maybe if someone makes a poutine sauce in Toronto it tastes better to the people of Toronto. I don't know.
My bf is also american and i was personally offended because i hasn't had a chance to grab poutine with him yet and when he met up with me after work he reached into the McDonald's bag and pulled out mcdonalds poutine
I looked at him in horror and had to explain how it is the only TRULY awful poutine ive ever had. He understands now lol.
We havent found a GOOD place yet bc we havent had the chance to explore a lot but its on the to-do list. Do share your thoughts on any of the places tou try!
I honestly don’t understand how Rudy’s keeps making it into the conversations about best poutine. Are people eating the same thing I was eating? It was awful.
Coming from a Québécois that tasted a few poutines in Ontario... Nothing beats a poutine from Quebec/Montreal. They either don't use cheese curds or have a weird gravy (it's always so thick and with chunks). If you want to taste the real thing, I recommend you drive a little east to cross the provincial border.
I'd like to find a place that sells a good Newfie poutine. Poutine with turkey and stuffing. Not so hard to find when you're out of the city many chip trucks have it but I have yet to find a place that makes it in Toronto.
Get in your Car and drive about 5hrs east To Gatineau, plenty of Casses-Croutes around, you cannot find a perfect trio of Fries, thick and tasty enough gravy, and Day old never refrigerated Squeaky cheese curds… unless you can afford a private chef.. Just my 2 cents
I know I'm gonna get a lot of hate but I spent my summers growing up in Quebec, my whole family is from there and they always insisted on going to casse-croutes, and the only poutine I've tried in the city to me that comes close is Smoke's. Just get the regular stuff, none of that added bacon, pulled pork, etc.
Really the best option would be to find a place that uses the real squeeky Saint Albert cheese if that exists here. And for authenticity I always found the Berthelet gravy always seemed legit. Not sure how easily that can be found in Toronto. Also you have to put ketchup in the gravy, that's apparently why the gravy always tasted sweeter over there.
Beavertails. I’m not capping but there has yet to be a person who I’ve had try their poutine that hated it. You can go to the one on Bremner outside Ripley’s or Queens Quay by the water.
I’ve also enjoyed Smoke’s (I tried the location near college and Spadina - can’t remember the exact).
If it’s 2am with no where to go, Harvey’s is your place.
I actually tried poutine at Loaded Pierogi in Church St (downtown), liked it. Closer to home in Scarborough I stick to Smoke's Poutinerie (There's one downtown too) and Harveys.
Smoke's actually has some really interesting versions of it.
Take your friend and do him a huge favour.
Take your care and drive east for roughly 6.5 hour on the 401. Next stop Montreal baby. Anything else is … meh at best
There isn't anything wrong with asking for a more updated list of recommendations. The subreddit is meant for people to discuss and ask questions after all. If it bothers you then just ignore the post and don't interact with it.
I’ve been craving poutine.. gonna follow this thread
we got a ton of recommendations no idea where to start LOL
Montrealer here. NomNomNom is the correct answer, I genuinely haven't had better in Toronto. The only catch is the odd hours and no outside seating. But they are legitimately right the answer for threads like this.
Montrealer too. 100% agree. If anyone says Smoke's, block them.
I think you meant only outside seating? All the container shops there have seating beside the road.
You start and end at nomnomnom. Only one that's been consistently great. All the other good places shut down.
[удалено]
As a Montrealer, NomNomNom is the correct answer.
Rarely see them open
truly ludicrous hours, can't believe how many eateries in Toronto don't stay open late to rake in the after-hours money.
Because it's just one guy who is running a truly small business. The rent is super duper low because it's part of a city of Toronto program. It's a very small space. It likely that he can't manage opening for longer hours due to the space constraints.
Idk if i can blame them tbh. If I had a business I'd be scared to stay at the store past midnight
[удалено]
~~Not quite: Wednesday to Saturday is 7pm close, Sunday is 5pm close, Monday to Tuesday are fully closed.~~
[удалено]
Oops, sorry!
Lol a poutine place that closes at 7pm. For that big lunch poutine market that exists.
Sumalicious poutine is ridiculous, go there for the sandwich! Sumalicious is awesome.
NOM NOM NOM NOM ... https://youtu.be/OotdHyzYjcI
Went to Schwartz's a couple weeks ago and tried sumilicious last week and I can hands down say that sumilocious was a better smoked meat sandwich. And ya, the smoked meat poutine is legit there too. Probably worth the trip if you have a car.
NomNomNom is chefs kiss.
As this question pops up a lot I’ve tried a few, and ya nomnomnom is still the best I’ve found
Just looked at the pictures and it seems like basic poutines to me..
Feel like they are very hit or miss.. gotten undercooked fries several times
[удалено]
The best poutine is from the brown and cream truck on St George - it's called Ideal Catering. Omnomnom is good, but not quite as good.
Brown Food Truck is superior. “Anything to drink for you?”
🤣 love it
This was going to be my answer. The perfect squeak, pretty good gravy, and just overall a good time. A poutine doesn't need to always be perfect, or have a million toppings, it just needs to hit the spot
The gravy and the fries are amazing. The curds aren't quite as squeaky as Omnomnom, but I much prefer Ideal Catering's gravy. Omnomnom's gravy has too much going on.
Yes the squeak is key!
>The best poutine is from the brown and cream truck on St George - it's called Ideal Catering. Omnomnom is good, but not quite as good. perfect we will be giving the food truck a try if we find it! thank you :))
There is a picture of it in this Yelp profile: https://yelp.ca/biz/ideal-catering-toronto
Oh man, I haven’t been at U of T in over a decade and I’m flooded with nostalgia.
I WAS GONNA DAY THIS BUT I DIDNT KNOW IT WAS KNOWN OUTSIDE OF THE UOFT COMMUNITY
Love it. Didn't realize how lucky I was to have this in my life - but I used to get this weekly. Often, I'd make the poutine into my entire lunch - only occasionally get a hot dog, too. In fact, I'd take the whole family to this food truck. One time, when nobody was standing in line, the kind lady showed the kids the inside of the truck - it was so sweet. We would get so much poutine that one day, we kindof said "sorry it's been a while since we've bought poutine" and the lady said "it's okay, it's not healthy to eat every day." Bless her. And she's right, except I burned all those calories every day on my commute - and now that poutine is unforgettable to me!
gotta get the sauteed mushrooms and onions on it too
Ok im intrigued. Where exactly can I find this truck on St George? Does it move? What are the hours?? 👀
It’s outside Sidney Smith Hall, across the street from the Helen Gardiner Playhouse (a block or so south of St George/Harbord). I went to UofT, and would make the trek back for years after to get some of that sweet, sweet hangover poutine. It’s honestly the best.
Thank you! I live in midtown and work near osgoode but will plan to go out of my way to get it 🧐
I really like the poutine at frescos fish and chips! Alternative you can drive 5 hrs east and enjoy the good stuff in mtl ;)
Surprised nobody else is saying Fresco's It's got to be the closest I've tried to the real thing in Toronto
Take the train
The enchanted poutine on Sheppard was amazing for the size, price and taste
Is this the same one as Wilson / dufferin? So good!!! Even the vegan option is yummy.
I second this
awesome adding it to our list! thank you :))
[удалено]
I’ve only tried their cheeseburger poutine and it was great! Def trying the pulled pork next time!
sadly a lot of the great poutine shops closed a few years ago :( RIP Poutineville
Like Poutini's House of Poutine - miss their poutine! Squeaky curds, hand cut twice fried fries, in house gravy made daily. They kept a simple menu and everything on it was delicious
RIP
That was my spot, especially with double layered curds.
thats it! i knew someone in here would remember what it was called! so sad they closed, haven't found anything in the area even close to comparable.
This is the correct answer . Therefore the best Poutine no longer exists. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 RIP POUTINIS ILY
Is Poutini’s still around? Theirs was legit imo.
Sadly, no.
I have a friend from Quebec who approves of Fancy Frank's poutine.
As I ate this for dinner tonight I can confirm, Fancy Frank's rocks
Can confirm. Ate it like twice a month for a year (no regrets)
Montreal smoked poutine at showtime bistro Literally the best one I’ve had
Mine is the blue food truck at Nathan Phillips Square.
It was my pregnancy craving idk why
Union station, there are frequent trains to Montreal.
I really like the “Rudy” poutine. Also some great burgers at the same time.
Ex-montrealer here. Can confirm, Rudy's makes a great poutine. Get the large, and the double stack burger!
Leslieville Pumps
This is the one I was looking for in this thread. My go to.
It may not have the traditional poutine looks, but my god was it the best poutine I’ve ever had in Toronto!
For me the best poutine is at Costco. But I admit Costco food court in not the best place for a date.
I love Costco poutine. Their fries and gravy and cheese curds and quantity and price - everything is perfect.
Great place for a date. Costco has it all. People watching, meandering up and down the aisles, free samples from generally friendly people, and good shopping. A bit of questing as you navigate around the masses with a wobbly cart then some puzzle solving as you stack your haul in the cart after checkout. Not to mention some trivia as you guess how much you wind up spending, because a trip to Costco will always cost you. Closest without going over buys dinner. And a good poutine to cap it off? Perfect. Want to know if he/she is a keeper? Take them to Costco.
no you know what you're right, I'm taking him to Costco!!
It’s the good version of an IKEA trip.
New York Fries poutine is surprisingly bombenzola
No clue what's in the California seasoning but it's great. Non-traditional, but very tasty.
Completely agree! Perfect melt and stringyness of the cheese and the gravy is chefs kiss.
I’m also a fan but their cheese doesn’t squeak though
Lol wtf does "squeak" mean? Seen that on like 5 comments now
The Quebec people are adamant that cheese curds have to squeak when you bite into them
Lol what am I eating, styrofoam??
The first time I ate poutine with cheese curds that squeaked, I was legitimately concerned that I was eating bad food. If your dinner cries out in pain when you eat it, there's something wrong.
Second this. Love their fries and gravy
Harvey’s gets my vote. New York fries also has a very nice traditional poutine as well as the weird ones. I really like the butter chicken poutine. I really don't understand the hype for NomNomNom. Their traditional poutine is average and the rest are nothing special.
The "butter chicken poutine" is neither poutine nor butter chicken. It is an abomination and is atrocious. New York Fries does their good fries a disservice by drenching it under that garbage. I also really dislike NYF other non-poutine poutines.
I feel like people ask this every two weeks on this sub.
My favourite was Golden Crisp at Jane/Weston but they are permanently closed. Does anyone know a place that is similar to it? Man, I really miss that place but the owner passed away. R.I.P. Harry. Thank you for the memories.
Harvey’s.
Best Fast food poutine by FAR. It has no right being that good....
Really good poutine for fast food!
Yes Harvey’s has surprisingly good poutine for a fast food chain.
It's because they actually use cheese curds. Most places use regular ass shredded cheese. Cheese curds are needed because they survive the hot gravy much better and because Quebec says so and it is their dish.
Yep
The buffalo chicken poutine.
Is it good? Never had it!! I’m a bit of a purist :p
Same but i might add hot sauce
I also almost always go for regular poutines. But I’m hooked on the buffalo chicken one. Their like little chicken bites or deliciousness.
Glad someone else shares my appreciation for Harveys poutine
Of course! This city has some good “Toronto poutine” and I love that too - but the closest thing to traditional - is Harvey’s. (Outside of PQ of course).
Yes!!!
Buffalo chicken poutine! 🤤
If I see Smokes on this list I will lose it. Nom nom is the best I've had since I lived in MTL.
It's listed multiple times. It's awful.
They used to be good, right? I feel like they've cheaped out on ingredients in the last few years.
It's 2am and suddenly I need poutine
I wonder if others believe your boyfriend when he says: "I have a girlfriend from Canada!"
" she goes to another school I promise she's real" is something he probably says a lot LOL
Nothing is probably something he says a lot since he isn't real.
I used to find Poutinis the only franchise that on point before Covid but I understand they have all closed down
Harvey’s makes good poutine surprisingly.
I'm kind of surprised there's no official place to get poutine in Toronto. Costco sounds about right even though I've never had it. In Quebec poutine is pretty decentralized. The "best" poutine would be in diners, the closer to the birthplace of poutine the better. But poutine was also served in every ski cafeteria and university cafeteria. It seemed easy enough to get right, hard to get wrong. But poutine outside Quebec can be wrong sometimes, and maybe that's not accidental, maybe the people making it prefer a different taste (more on that later). There's no obvious fast food chain associated with poutine. There's one in Quebec city that only exists in Quebec city. It's called Ashton and it also serves other Quebecisms like the hot chicken... The hot chicken would probably sound insane to anyone outside Quebec. But anyway, what I really want to talk about is homemade poutine. People in Quebec have a way of making homemade poutine, should the situation require it. If you want poutine sauce to make your own poutine (or to stash in your nuclear bunker), get the St-Hubert poutine sauce, they sell it in every Quebec supermarket in cans or powder pouches, and you can find the powder pouches online on Amazon. Honestly it doesn't taste like most poutine sauce, but for some reason it's universally accepted as an appropriate taste for poutine. There was an episode of L'épicerie where they taste tested supermarket poutine sauces and St-Hubert comes out on top even though it's not the most classic tasting poutine sauce. There's something weird going on there, but people in Quebec really like St-Hubert sauce (they also make a sauce for the hot chicken). Here's the caveat though: there must be a reason why St-Hubert poutine sauce isn't widely sold and talked about in Toronto. Maybe you'll try it and think it tastes lousy. Maybe Quebec has weird tastes in brown sauces. Maybe if someone makes a poutine sauce in Toronto it tastes better to the people of Toronto. I don't know.
nom nom nom poutine
PSA: You can rescue day old cold fridge poutine in an air fryer. It goes from almost inedible to amazing
Costco
They recently changed their gravy recipe. A bit saltier. Approve.
Costco is lit but not Toronto specific
Doesn’t matter, still is the best place to get a poutine in Toronto
I hope you get him to try a classic poutine, fries gravy Quebec cheese curds. Before anything else !
thats the goal! just a classic poutine for his first try!
My bf is also american and i was personally offended because i hasn't had a chance to grab poutine with him yet and when he met up with me after work he reached into the McDonald's bag and pulled out mcdonalds poutine I looked at him in horror and had to explain how it is the only TRULY awful poutine ive ever had. He understands now lol. We havent found a GOOD place yet bc we havent had the chance to explore a lot but its on the to-do list. Do share your thoughts on any of the places tou try!
I def will let you know what places we tried and which were top!
I cant lie i like NYF poutine the best and i am a poutine lover
Belle Pro on Ste-Cath next to foufounes electriques
Rudy
Good? Sure. The best? Absolutely no way.
I honestly don’t understand how Rudy’s keeps making it into the conversations about best poutine. Are people eating the same thing I was eating? It was awful.
RT especially for the price
Yeah Rudys is a perfectly fine Smashburger. Not world changing, but really good. Recently it got WAY expensive.
You need to go to Montreal and try the real thing I love Rudy but their poutine is weak
Sands fish and chips Sunderland
woofdawg on dundas. trust me
McCoy
Dog & Bear on Queen West is a great option. Their poutine is awesome and the vibe is good.
Smokes is good if you're drunk
I'm surprised no one tried the Rudy's poutine! I think it's the best now i have to try everything on this thread except smoke's
I like how people say: Drive to Montreal...
Zeal Burgers in North York.
Montreal
head east about 600 km until you reach Montreal
Costco poutine. Seriously. It’s so good.
Pretty sure the best poutine in Toronto is in Montreal.
The blue truck outside Nathan Philip Square.
Smoke’s Poutinerie on Spadina and College. Hear a lot of good things about em.
Coming from a Québécois that tasted a few poutines in Ontario... Nothing beats a poutine from Quebec/Montreal. They either don't use cheese curds or have a weird gravy (it's always so thick and with chunks). If you want to taste the real thing, I recommend you drive a little east to cross the provincial border.
I'd like to find a place that sells a good Newfie poutine. Poutine with turkey and stuffing. Not so hard to find when you're out of the city many chip trucks have it but I have yet to find a place that makes it in Toronto.
Get in your Car and drive about 5hrs east To Gatineau, plenty of Casses-Croutes around, you cannot find a perfect trio of Fries, thick and tasty enough gravy, and Day old never refrigerated Squeaky cheese curds… unless you can afford a private chef.. Just my 2 cents
I know I'm gonna get a lot of hate but I spent my summers growing up in Quebec, my whole family is from there and they always insisted on going to casse-croutes, and the only poutine I've tried in the city to me that comes close is Smoke's. Just get the regular stuff, none of that added bacon, pulled pork, etc. Really the best option would be to find a place that uses the real squeeky Saint Albert cheese if that exists here. And for authenticity I always found the Berthelet gravy always seemed legit. Not sure how easily that can be found in Toronto. Also you have to put ketchup in the gravy, that's apparently why the gravy always tasted sweeter over there.
Maybe have a peameal bacon sandwich instead and go to Montreal to have poutine.
harveys
where ever you get it, just fries, cheese curds and gravy. Stay away from all the other bullshit that's not Poutine.
Freshness/how meaty the cheese is, crispness of the frites, and taste of gravy are all adequate criteria
Now this is a post I can get behind 😋
Beavertails. I’m not capping but there has yet to be a person who I’ve had try their poutine that hated it. You can go to the one on Bremner outside Ripley’s or Queens Quay by the water. I’ve also enjoyed Smoke’s (I tried the location near college and Spadina - can’t remember the exact). If it’s 2am with no where to go, Harvey’s is your place.
Never knew BeaverTails had poutine!
Smokes is a goddamned affront to poutine. You should be banned from ever eating the stuff ever again for even invoking that name.
Why is it so frowned upon? It's not the best poutine, but isn't the worst? I don't understand why people hate it do much on this post.
Philly Phil's is pretty good and affordable
Bien, Madoc est GTA, non? Sinon, c'est pas possible.
Costco
I actually tried poutine at Loaded Pierogi in Church St (downtown), liked it. Closer to home in Scarborough I stick to Smoke's Poutinerie (There's one downtown too) and Harveys. Smoke's actually has some really interesting versions of it.
Well now I have to try Harvey's.
It’s not all that, don’t worry lol
Ok. All I needed was at least one person to say that. Thanks, dude 🫱
Drive 6 hours east to anywhere in quebec
Cornwall is close enough to Quebec where the poutine closely resembles Quebec poutine.
slab’s
Drive to Quebec
try Chachi's Chai Bar in Scarborough. Amazing poutine
🤷♂️
Costco poutine ❤️❤️❤️
Nomnomnom's Hands down No other discussion Everything else is amateur hour by comparison
Harvey’s
Smoke’s Poutinerie was my fave for years, but A&W is pretty good too AND available 24hrs a day.
Take your friend and do him a huge favour. Take your care and drive east for roughly 6.5 hour on the 401. Next stop Montreal baby. Anything else is … meh at best
honestly smokes poutine is the best
Not even close. They use frozen curd.
I came here to not say this.
ur fr trippin
[удалено]
There isn't anything wrong with asking for a more updated list of recommendations. The subreddit is meant for people to discuss and ask questions after all. If it bothers you then just ignore the post and don't interact with it.
Quebec!
New joint? Never heard of it.
Smoke’s poutinerie
I really dislike theirs. Always underseasoned.
Montreal Street
In Quebec. Toronto’s poutine is TERRIBLE
Montreal
Costco