Taste of the Danforth - A Celebration of Toronto's Greek Community

As Canada’s largest city, Toronto is a melting pot of different cultures and nationalities from around the world.  One of the largest ethnic communities that you cannot miss here is Greektown, which is located just East of the Don Valley Parkway along Danforth Avenue.  Every year in early August, Greektown celebrates its heritage by shutting down the avenue for three days to host one of Toronto’s largest street festivals – the Taste of the Danforth.

Welcome to Toronto's Greektown!

The Taste of the Danforth originated in 1994 when a number of Greek businesses pooled their resources together to offer tasting tables outside their restaurants.  They thought that this would be more effective than advertising to draw more business to their restaurants.  During that first year, about 23 restaurants participated in the event while about 5,000 attendees showed up.  Today, over 1.5 million people attend the annual 3 day/2-night event.

Chicken souvlaki being prepared at the Taste of the Danforth

As one of Toronto’s largest annual street festivals, the Taste of the Danforth offers a little bit of everything for everyone – from a Midway for families to a “Greek Zone” where anyone can learn how to Zorba or smash plates while shouting out “Opa.”  There is even a beer garden for adults to take in some suds – albeit of the non-Greek variety – while listening to musical acts on stage.

Midway games at the Taste of the Danforth

Kooks and I have only been to the Taste of the Danforth once before, which was on a Saturday.  For the 23rd Annual event, we opted to go right after work on Opening Night.  What a difference did that make as it was far less crowded and we were able to see and do more this second time around.

Ortikia - BBQ Quail

We started off grabbing some Turkish pizza at Mr. Pide.  Yes, I know we were at a Greek Festival, and I really encouraged Kooks to stick to just Greek food here as some of the vendors were offering BBQ corn or Jerk pierogies, but this Turkish pizza was too good to pass up.  It’s basically a reverse pizza – dough on the outside with the toppings inside.

Turkish Pide - a reverse style pizza with the toppings in the middle

My pide – or Turkish pizza – of choice was the Sucuklu Kasarli, which included Turkish sausage and mozzarella cheese.  Kooks opted for the Ispanakli Kiymali, which included spinach and ground beef.  Because we bought outside at Mr. Pide’s street booth, it cost us $5 CDN each.  Turkey is on our bucket list of countries that we want to visit together, so I am really looking forward to eating more Turkish food in the food after this experience.

Enjoying our spinach swirl and baklava with pistachios

Next on the Taste of the Danforth list was Akropolis Pastries.  The baklava with pistachio caught my eye while Kooks opted for the spinach swirl.  Baklava is a pastry dessert made with layers of filo filled with chopped nuts – pistachio in this case – and sweetened and held together with syrup or honey.  Mine tasted like it had syrup.  We paid $3 CDN each this time for our food.

Krinos Taste of the Danforth 2016

Following our baklava and spinach swirl, we spent some time in the Beer Garden near the Celebrity Stage where we caught the tail end of the Opening Ceremonies.  My only complaint here is that the beer choices are limited – Stella Artois, Corona, and Shock Top.  You would think that a Greek street festival would allow for Greek beers to be sold at their official Beer Garden, but I digress.

Greek Poutine - Fries served with Gravy & Feta

For our final tasting of the night, Kooks saw Greek poutine for sale at the Pantheon Restaurant.  It cost $5 CDN a serving.  For those not familiar with poutine, it is a Canadian delicacy originating from Quebec where you are served a side of fries with gravy and cheese curds.  The only thing “Greek” about this poutine was the Feta cheese curds that replaced the traditional mozzarella.  Still good, nevertheless!

Taste of the Danforth as seen from the Ferris Wheel

By this point of the night, our stomachs were full as we headed back towards our car.  Before we left, I wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel to get a great vantage point of the entire Taste of the Danforth festival.  Rides cost about $3.50 CDN and last for up to two minutes.  It was a gorgeous night and a great way to cap off our visit to the latest Taste of the Danforth event.

Taste of the Danforth

Dates:  First weekend of August following Civic Day/Simcoe Day

Where:  Danforth Avenue – between Broadview Avenue & Jones Avenue

What:  A street festival showcasing Hellenic food and drinks by the Danforth BIA

Admission:  Free – Cash only for the Midway, Beer Garden or Food Tents

Official Website:  www.tasteofthedanforth.com