Toronto may be the best city in Canada to buy meat. Few places anywhere let you choose between a chef run whole animal butcher in Kensington Market, a family Italian shop on Bloor that has barely changed in decades, a counter at St. Lawrence Market selling venison and wild boar, a Portuguese meat market with Brazilian picanha, a halal butcher in Scarborough cutting goat to order, and an African and Caribbean meat shop on Jane Street with whole goats and cow feet.
This guide profiles 14 of the best butcher shops in Toronto, grouped by what each does best, then closes with a buyer's guide built for Toronto shoppers: how to shop the markets, how to read a farm label, and when to order for the city's many holidays.
How we chose
Every shop here is an independent Toronto butcher with a real cutting counter, a strong reputation and something distinctive to offer, and we tried to cover every part of the city and its many food cultures. No shop paid to be included. Histories and specialties link to their sources. Hours change, so call before a special trip.
The 14 best butcher shops in Toronto at a glance
Shop | Neighbourhood | Address | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
Sanagan's Meat Locker | Kensington Market | 176 Baldwin St (plus Gerrard St E and Annette St) | Ontario farm meat, whole animal butchery, charcuterie |
Cumbrae's | Queen West and Bayview | 714 Queen St W; 1589 Bayview Ave | Dry aged beef, heritage pork, prepared foods |
Olliffe | Summerhill | 1097A Yonge St | Hand cut heritage meats, game birds, venison |
Stock in Trade | Riverdale and Little India | 307 Danforth Ave; 1324A Gerrard St E | Butcher's cuts, aged grass fed beef, classes |
The Butcher's Son | Davisville | 2055 Yonge St | Local meat plus restaurant quality prepared meals |
Russell's Butcher and Deli | Roncesvalles | 401 Roncesvalles Ave | Heritage breeds, sausages, porchetta |
Whitehouse Meats | St. Lawrence Market | 93 Front St E | The widest selection, including exotic and game |
Vince Gasparro's Meat Market | Bloorcourt | 857 Bloor St W | Old school Italian family butcher, holiday turkeys |
Nosso Talho | Bloor West and Dundas West | 1042 Bloor St W; 1326 Dundas St W | Portuguese and Brazilian cuts, picanha, sausages |
Lauri Meat Market | Jane and Lawrence | 1696 Jane St | Whole goats and sheep, burnt cow feet, African groceries |
African King Meat Shop | Jane and Wilson area | 2223 Jane St | African and Caribbean meats and groceries |
Al Walaa Halal Meat and Grocery | Scarborough | 1728 Lawrence Ave E | Halal goat, lamb and Middle Eastern groceries |
Alzahraa Halal Meat | Scarborough | 2032 Lawrence Ave E | Halal meat with a Middle Eastern market |
Master Butchers Shop | Scarborough | 2155 Lawrence Ave E, Unit 1 | Halal butcher with marinated barbecue meats |
Whole Animal and Premium Butchers
Toronto's top end butchers share one idea: buy whole animals from small Ontario farms, use every part, and tell the customer exactly where the meat came from.
1. Sanagan's Meat Locker (Kensington Market, 176 Baldwin St)
Best for: traceable Ontario farm meat, nose to tail cuts and house charcuterie.
Chef Peter Sanagan cooked in Toronto restaurants such as Auberge du Pommier and Mistura and at the Falls Inn in Grey County, where he worked directly with small farmers, before opening a tiny shop in Kensington Market in 2009. By 2012 the business had outgrown it and moved into the much larger former European Quality Meats and Sausages space a few steps east on Baldwin Street. Sanagan's now also has shops on Gerrard Street East in Little India and on Annette Street at Runnymede, and Peter has spent more than fifteen years championing whole animal butchery with humanely raised, pastured animals from small Ontario family farms.
Transparency is the hallmark: cuts from lamb neck to beef cheek are labelled with the farm they came from, and the counter carries heritage Tamworth pork and grass fed beef from Northumberland County.
What to buy: dry aged burger patties, heritage pork, beef cheeks and tongue, meat pies and Scotch eggs.
2. Cumbrae's (Queen West, 714 Queen St W; Bayview, 1589 Bayview Ave)
Best for: dry aged beef and restaurant calibre prepared foods.
Third generation butcher Stephen Alexander built Cumbrae's on relationships with small Ontario family farms, and even runs a few farms of his own. Known as a dry ageing pioneer, Cumbrae's sells beef aged up to eight weeks, alongside Berkshire pork, Dorset lamb racks and 24 hour brined chickens. The shops, finished in wood and marble, feel like showrooms for butchery, and the business has also run a location in Dundas, Ontario.
What to buy: long aged T bones and striploins for a special dinner, and a brined chicken for an easy weeknight.
3. Olliffe (Summerhill, 1097A Yonge St)
Best for: game birds, venison and hand cut heritage meats.
Olliffe opened in 1975 and has been a Summerhill institution ever since. In 2021 the shop passed to the Van Groningen family's VG Meats, a family farm in Fisherville with its own abattoir in Simcoe. Hand cut meats and heritage breeds remain the focus, and the shop is one of the best in the city for pheasant, partridge, quail, several kinds of duck, venison, elk and bison.
What to buy: a duck or game bird for a holiday table, venison or elk for something different.
4. Stock in Trade (Riverdale, 307 Danforth Ave; Little India, 1324A Gerrard St E)
Best for: adventurous cooks and anyone who wants to learn.
Three chefs, Tony Marinuzzi, BJ Verano and Jason Becker, opened Stock in Trade in 2014. The shop specializes in underappreciated butcher's cuts and international favourites such as presa and picanha, sources aged grass fed heritage beef, sells sampler packs that let you taste how farming methods change flavour, and runs butchery classes in store.
What to buy: a sampler pack, a merlot or bavette steak, and a spot in a butchery class.
5. The Butcher's Son (Davisville, 2055 Yonge St)
Best for: midtown shoppers who want great meat and dinner sorted.
Matthew Kumprey, the son of a butcher, opened this shop with chef Vito Rizzuto in 2011, pairing naturally raised local meats with restaurant quality prepared foods. Marinated Ancaster raised chickens and a lamb shepherd's pie are long standing favourites.
What to buy: a marinated chicken and a heat and eat shepherd's pie.
6. Russell's Butcher and Deli (Roncesvalles, 401 Roncesvalles Ave)
Best for: sausages, heritage pork and Tuscan style porchetta.
From Christopher and Sarah Terpstra, the couple behind the Italian shop Alimentari, Russell's showcases free roaming heritage breeds from small Ontario farms. Expect dry aged striploins, bone in ribeyes, marinated meats, close to two dozen kinds of sausage and a porchetta that Christopher learned to make while studying under Tuscan butcher Dario Cecchini.
What to buy: porchetta and a mixed bag of sausages for the grill.
Market Butchers and West End Classics
1. Shopping St. Lawrence Market
St. Lawrence Market has been part of Toronto's food life since the early 1800s, and in 2012 National Geographic named it the world's best food market. The South Market at 93 Front Street East holds more butcher counters under one roof than anywhere else in the city, which makes it the best place in Toronto to compare prices and quality side by side. The market is closed on Mondays, opens early on Saturdays, and is calmest on weekday mornings.
Market tip: walk the whole floor before you buy. Prices and specials vary from counter to counter, and the busiest stalls near the entrances are not always the best value. Check the posted price per pound against your receipt.
2. Whitehouse Meats (St. Lawrence Market, 93 Front St E)
Best for: the widest selection in the city, from milk fed veal to kangaroo.
Set at the centre of the market behind a sprawling wraparound counter, Whitehouse Meats offers a range few butchers anywhere can match. Owner Leila Batten stocks rarities such as kangaroo and ostrich, domestic game including venison, wild boar, pheasant and rabbit, and premium standards like milk fed veal, bacon wrapped filets and butterflied legs of lamb (Toronto Life).
What to buy: wild boar or venison for a special occasion, and a butterflied leg of lamb for an easy roast.
3. Vince Gasparro's Meat Market (Bloorcourt, 857 Bloor St W)
Best for: an old school Italian family butcher and holiday birds.
The Gasparro family has worked as butchers for generations. Brothers Pat and Nick grew up in their father's Bloorcourt shop and took it over after he passed away in 2015, deliberately changing almost nothing. The narrow shop feels pleasantly frozen in time, ordering is done the old fashioned way, and the family was sourcing from small Ontario farms long before "local" became a trend. For generations of Torontonians it has been the place for Christmas turkeys, capons and hams (Toronto Life).
What to buy: a holiday turkey or capon ordered well ahead, thick cut pork chops, and Italian sausage.
4. Nosso Talho (Bloor West, 1042 Bloor St W; Dundas West, 1326 Dundas St W)
Best for: Portuguese and Brazilian cuts and groceries.
Nosso Talho, Portuguese for "our butcher shop," serves the Portuguese and Brazilian communities of Toronto's west end from two locations. Alongside a full butcher counter, it carries deli meats, cheeses, bread and imported Portuguese groceries. It is a go to for picanha, the prized Brazilian top sirloin cap with its thick layer of fat, cut and trimmed for churrasco.
What to buy: picanha for the grill, Portuguese sausages, and deli meats and cheese sliced to order.
Good to know: Toronto's Little Portugal and the Dundas West strip are home to several other Portuguese meat markets and delis; it is worth exploring the neighbourhood on foot.
Halal, African and Caribbean Butcher Shops in Toronto
Toronto is one of the most diverse cities on earth, and some of its most useful butcher shops serve communities whose cooking depends on cuts that mainstream supermarkets rarely stock: bone in goat, whole lambs, oxtail, tripe, cow feet and goat head. These shops cluster in a few corridors, which makes them easy to find once you know where to look.
1. The Lawrence Avenue East halal corridor (Scarborough)
A short stretch of Lawrence Avenue East in Scarborough is home to several halal butchers with Middle Eastern groceries. It is one of the best places in the city to compare halal goat and lamb.
2. Al Walaa Halal Meat and Grocery (1728 Lawrence Ave E).
A halal butcher counter paired with a Middle Eastern grocery, bakery items and pantry staples. Ask for goat or lamb cut to your recipe.
3. Alzahraa Halal Meat (2032 Lawrence Ave E).
A halal meat shop with Middle Eastern and Mediterranean products, open seven days a week.
4. Master Butchers Shop (2155 Lawrence Ave E, Unit 1).
A butcher and grocery offering seasoned barbecue meats and custom cuts, open seven days with evening hours.
Before you buy: ask each shop who certifies its halal meat and whether chicken is hand or machine slaughtered. Canadian law requires any halal claim to name its certifier. Our guide to halal vs non halal explains what to look for.
5. Jane Street: African and Caribbean meat shops
The Jane Street corridor in Toronto's northwest serves large African and Caribbean communities, and its meat shops carry what West African, East African and Caribbean cooks need.
6. Lauri Meat Market (1696 Jane St).
One of the most complete African meat shops in the city. Its listed products include whole sheep and whole goats, full cows for bulk buyers, burnt cow feet, burnt goat feet and goat head, goat tripe and soup chickens, along with African groceries such as yams, fufu and egusi (Yellow Pages).
7. African King Meat Shop (2223 Jane St).
An African and Caribbean food market with a meat counter, convenient for shoppers in the Jane and Wilson area (Tripadvisor).
What to buy on Jane Street: burnt (skin on) goat and tripe for pepper soup, cow feet and oxtail for stews, hard chicken for soups, and bone in goat for curry goat. For a classic Jamaican dish, see our Jamaican goat curry recipe.
8. Little Jamaica on Eglinton West
Eglinton Avenue West, known as Little Jamaica, became the heart of Toronto's Jamaican community as tens of thousands of Jamaicans settled in the area in the 1970s and 1980s. Construction on the Eglinton Crosstown line hit many of the strip's small businesses hard, but it remains a destination for Caribbean groceries, patties and meat, and is worth a visit when you are shopping for oxtail, goat and saltfish.
A note on goat and mutton
In many Caribbean, South Asian and African households, mutton means goat. When ordering at any Toronto butcher, say clearly whether you want sheep or goat. Our guide to the difference between lamb and sheep explains why.
A Buyer's Guide for Toronto Shoppers
Read the farm label
Toronto's best butchers label meat with the farm, region or breed. A few terms worth knowing:
Label | What it means |
|---|---|
Grass fed | The animal ate grass and forage. Ask whether it was also grass finished, since some cattle are finished on grain. |
Grass finished | Grass and forage right through to slaughter; usually leaner, with a more pronounced flavour. |
Heritage breed | Traditional breeds such as Tamworth or Berkshire pork, raised for flavour rather than speed of growth. |
Dry aged | Hung in a cold room for weeks to tenderize and concentrate flavour; priced higher because of weight loss and trim. |
Canada Prime, AAA, AA, A | Canadian beef grades based mainly on marbling. AAA is the best value premium grade for most steaks. |
Halal | Must name its certifier on the label or certificate under Canadian law. |
Shop smarter in Toronto
Shop on MamiMarkets. MamiMarkets is a convenient option to order meat products from your favourite neighbourhood butcher stores in Toronto. Whether you are looking for a same-day delivery, pre-order for a future delivery date, or looking to bulk in bulk/wholesale, we've got you covered.
Go early or midweek. Weekend mornings at St. Lawrence and Kensington are packed; Tuesday to Thursday is calmer, and counters have more time to cut to order.
Use transit for the markets. Parking near St. Lawrence and Kensington is limited and costly; bring an insulated bag and take the TTC.
Ask for the cheaper cut. A good butcher will often suggest a bavette, flat iron or chuck eye that eats like a pricier steak.
Buy whole and have it cut. A whole chicken or a whole lamb shoulder cut to your instructions is usually cheaper than prepackaged parts.
Explore by neighbourhood. Toronto's food cultures cluster: Portuguese shops in the west end, halal butchers in Scarborough and the east end, African and Caribbean shops on Jane Street and Eglinton West.
Toronto's busiest weeks: when to order
Occasion | What to order | Order ahead |
|---|---|---|
Thanksgiving (October) | Fresh turkeys, roasts | 1 to 2 weeks |
Diwali (October or November) | Goat and lamb for celebration meals | 1 week |
Christmas and New Year | Turkeys, capons, prime rib, hams, goat for curry goat | 2 to 3 weeks |
Lunar New Year | Whole ducks, pork belly, hot pot cuts | 1 week |
Easter | Lamb, hams, Portuguese and Italian specialties | 1 to 2 weeks |
Ramadan and Eid al Fitr | Ground meat, chicken, lamb and goat | 1 week |
Eid al Adha | Whole lambs and goats for qurbani | 2 to 4 weeks |
Caribana and summer long weekends | Jerk chicken, ribs, steak and burger boxes | Order before the weekend |
Bulk buying
Many Toronto butchers offer freezer packs and whole or half animals. Before you buy in bulk, measure your freezer (about 1 cubic foot per 30 to 35 lb of packaged meat) and ask whether prices are quoted on hanging weight or take home weight.
Butcher Shops Toronto FAQs
What is the best butcher shop in Toronto?
It depends on what you want. For traceable Ontario farm meat and whole animal butchery, Sanagan's Meat Locker is the benchmark. For dry aged beef, Cumbrae's. For game birds and venison, Olliffe or Whitehouse Meats. For an old school Italian family shop, Vince Gasparro's. For halal goat and lamb, the shops along Lawrence Avenue East in Scarborough, and for African and Caribbean cuts, Lauri Meat Market on Jane Street.
Where can I buy dry aged beef in Toronto?
Cumbrae's is known as a dry ageing pioneer, with beef aged up to eight weeks. Sanagan's sells dry aged burger patties and steaks, and Russell's carries dry aged striploins.
Which Toronto butchers sell game meat?
Whitehouse Meats at St. Lawrence Market carries venison, wild boar, pheasant, rabbit and exotic meats such as kangaroo and ostrich. Olliffe is strong on game birds, venison, elk and bison.
Where can I buy goat meat in Toronto?
Halal butchers in Scarborough and African and Caribbean meat shops on Jane Street are the best places for fresh goat, including whole goats, burnt (skin on) goat and goat tripe. Ask whether "mutton" means sheep or goat before buying.
Where can I buy halal meat in Toronto?
Scarborough's Lawrence Avenue East has several halal butchers, including Al Walaa, Alzahraa and Master Butchers Shop. Always ask who certifies the meat; Canadian law requires halal claims to name the certifier.
Is St. Lawrence Market good for meat?
Yes. The South Market has more butcher counters under one roof than anywhere else in Toronto, which makes it easy to compare. Walk the whole floor before buying, and check posted prices against your receipt.
Do Toronto butchers offer butchery classes?
Yes. Stock in Trade runs butchery classes in store, and Sanagan's has hosted whole hog butchery masterclasses.
Are Toronto butcher shops more expensive than supermarkets?
Premium shops cost more for premium products such as dry aged and heritage meat. But neighbourhood, market and community butchers are often competitive or cheaper, especially for whole chickens, goat, lamb and less popular cuts, and you get custom cutting and advice for free.
