Andrea’s Gerrard Street Bakery

Best Mince Tarts! Large, tasty, flaky pastry.
Past Mince Tarts I have had must all have used too much sugar, but with these you can taste all the Mince flavours. Have to go back for more!

I’m writing this based on some kind of peanut butter blondie and their sugar tart. Both were quite good, and not overly sweet.

This is actually my first review, which I had to write cause the butter tarts are that good. Just want to help bring a little attention to this place, cause it’s a bit obscure, tucked away in east Chinatown. I’ve also had their sandwiches, which are very good as well, and reasonably priced compared to other places in Leslieville.

Andrea’s Gerrard Street Bakery is located in the middle of Chinatown, but they are not an Asian bakery. They have pies and meat pie. Their pastries are good and their price is reasonable. There are two seats, but I do not think people are really eating there. The shop is a little bit too small.

Haven’t tried anything else here but the butter tarts. The butter tarts are the best you’ll get in the city. So moist and delicious!

Mmmmm I love coming and getting fresh baked goods my fav is the chocolate fudge cake for $ 10. Tarts are so good to and the cookies this place never fails me. The only downside is that there closed on Mondays when I have my day off :(

I was so looking forward to trying this bakery because it is close by and much needed in the area. I was surprised at how small it was and there wasn’t a great selection of goodies but my friend and I ordered a ginger cookie and a «cheesecake» about the size of my palm. My friend said the cookie was «nothing special». The cheesecake was very good but not $ 12 worth of goodness. The man behind the counter didn’t bother to greet us and then seemed impatient with us even though we were the only customers there. Too bad.

first visit — was shocked at how unfriendly staff was. Butter tart had a great crust but too much like a Quebec sugar pie — won’t be rushing back even though I wanted to try the sandwiches and tourtierre. To greet customers in such a fashion is unacceptable given the plethora of pastry shops in the east end. Won’t be going back

It’s got that «douchbag» vibe. Which is fine, in the right neighborhood… like Brooklyn. This is Canada for heavens sake. Isn’t being courteous like a National thing here? Anyway, Gerrard isn’t even gentrified. So keep it sweet, humble, and neighborly or you won’t survive. I don’t care how good you are. (Unless most of your business is from catering and production, then you’re fine, be douchie.)
Fiancé and I popped in for coffee after dim sum. Your coffee just doesn’t cut it. Milk in latte wasn’t hot enough, espresso didn’t have that pow. Train your young staff on the basics, like make a decent cup of coffee, greet with a smile, say «thank you»…not rocket science here folks. Three stars rating is for the visual appeal of your pastries, which we will try next time.

If you look at my profile, I seldom write a bad review.
I like to frequent Pearl Court for dim sum on Sundays. One day, a little while back, I noticed a tucked-​away bakery next door. Great, I thought, a place to grab a coffee after dim sum.
I walk in and received such a cold reception it really surprised me. Excitedly, I asked them how long they had been there and she was annoyed to let me know it had been 2 years (I believe). My friend and I purchased a coffee and left. Thought maybe the person was having a bad day.
Second try. Thought I would pick something up for a snack later on. Walked in and same thing, NOT EVEN HELLO! It’s tiny btw. I asked about the best of the empanadas (which seemed to bother them). Purchased the chicken one and corn one and went home vowing to not ever return. They were OK, nothing spectacular.
Third try. Walked in just to give it one last ditch effort. No hello, nothing. No thanks Andrea’s, I’m happy to go out of my way to Bonjour Brioche for a coffee and pastry.

If I ever want to be ignored and appear to annoy the staff by wanting to spend my money I stop in this bakery. Been in this bakery a few times because they have a delicious coconut mouse cake but I’m going to ditch this treat from now on because the people who work in this establishment obviously don’t want any business. Hello is not in their vocabulary, thank you is deaf to their ears and goodbye is a foreign language. So, nope. Don’t shop here.

Not a place I would like to run into real quick to get something. Seems like idle chit chat while customers are waiting takes priority over customer service. Perhaps they are laid back and easy going but sometimes getting a customer in and out quickly is important. They do say on their business card «grab and go». I ran in to grab something and was kept waiting while the owner talk on and on and on with another customer. When I finally did get served I felt like I was an annoyance, let me apologize now for bothering you. Prices were high for what it is. With so many places in the area, I’m done, I won’t bother them again.

REAL hot chocolate. It’s rich and actually tastes like chocolate, not like that powered crap from the grocery store. It doesn’t taste like hot chocolate at all, actually. It tastes like liquid chocolate. This is Willy Wonka level alchemy. You’re gonna want to fall into a big vat of it and (almost) drown.
Cookies were ok too.

Today is really really cold, minus 15. I went there hoping something warm and sweet. Ordered Apple tart and chocolate chip cookie.
I had the cookie before, it was really good, kind of soft. But this time, the cookie is cold and stiff.
The apple tart is also cold and tasteless.
So disappointed.

So I trekked over to Andrea’s bakery from Milton, Ontario. Hahah, not really but I was spending a day in Toronto and took 3 transfers to get here after hearing how good it was. And let me tell you, it’s good. I got a cappuccino (standard price) a spiced ginger cookie, chocolate chip cookie, and their chocolate peanut butter tart. I reheated the ginger cookie this morning and it came out warm and gooey, so yummy. Their café is also staked with tons of other awesome looking goodies.
My only complaint is the staff. The girl helping me at the front was nice, although she couldn’t make any recommendations which left me standing there for 2 minutes trying to decide on what to get. All she could say was «everything is good», which might be true but doesn’t actually help me. Lastly, as I was leaving I yelled a nice goodbye and thanked all the employees for the wonderful treats in which they all stared and gawked at me without saying a word (weird …). Then as I was walking out the door I hear the one girl say «sorry, as I was saying before …» as if I interrupted them by telling them how awesome their stuff was before I left! A little personality would go a long way here considering their food is already on point.
Food=10/10
Atmosphere=8/10
Staff=6/10

IN… CRED…IBLE. This has to be the best bakery in Toronto. Everything looks and tastes amazing. You can ignore any review on here under 5 stars… either they don’t know what they’re talking about or are a competitor trying to sabotage the place. Just go here. It’s worth the trip to east Chinatown.

After three Gerrard streetcars short turned on Broadview, I walked to this little shop, ate a vegetarian quiche and felt much better.
And soon after my streetcar came along, and gave me the peace and quiet needed to properly relish dessert — a pear tart with almond filling and a crunchy, light crust.
Amazing freshly baked sweets (and caramel covered apples at the moment), and always fabulous quiche. They are tucked into Chinatown East, so you can pick up some groceries or go for a meal before or after.

I wandered along Gerrard while waiting for bill from his seafood shop to open up and stumbled upon this gem.
With the clapboard stating the best butter tarts in Toronto I figured this deserved a look-​see.
Well after my family devoured these huge and delicious and buttery sweet tarts they proclaimed BEST BUTTER TARTS EVER!!! They are naturally gooey and runny and there is no need to warm them up. They are that good.
I also grabbed a filone of bread or a french stick as they also say and it came from Black Bird Baking. This was one of the best french loaves I had because to me it needs to be crisp and crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.
Andrea brings her breads in as they are more of a pastry shop. I need to visit Black Bird myself when near Baldwin Street.
Too bad I am up in the suburbs because this place offers some really good stuff.
I also enjoyed a delicious organic fair trade coffee and they do sell some of the beans and artisinal products as well.
One thing i noticed on their business card that has some great food porn photography is that they also sell Streetcar Sandwiches… not sure what that is but I do plan to drop by next time I am downtown to check it out.
Needless to say they do offer the east chinatown citizens take out lunches, and pastries and the great bread in a cozy shop.
Andrea is a godsend in baking home made goods from local ingredients and organic ingredients as best possible in a world of food factory goods that have no taste.

Had this place bookmarked for a while as had tried some of their items in the past including a lemon tart that was very good. However if one is to go by today’s experience I would say some items are a miss.
I picked up two tarts one being the classic butter tart and the other one was a rhubarb. Both had good crusts but the filling was off with the butter being a sugar overload and rhubarb being under cooked.
I haven’t tried but have heard that their empanadas are quite good. I them guess I can always update review after I have experienced first hand.
So with a combined experience I have had here I would say 3 star.

Andrea is known for her scones, but she also makes great mini chocolate cakes, which has since replaced the quintessential «Chinese cake» as the birthday cake of choice in my family. It’s just perfect decadence, chocolatey without being overwhelmingly sweet.
The tiny bakery makes a variety of other stuff too, like the innovative «streetcar sandwiches.» I consider her butter tarts to be the best in the whole damn world – they are crispy without being crumbly, buttery without being runny, and with a milky hint. I am always a sucker for the butter tarts whenever I stop by.
It’s amazing to think this is not too far from home. Heck, its location in East Chinatown is a jarring choice, a one-​of-​a-​kind business in the area of mostly deeply Asian groceries, hairdressers and eateries… until you see that it is located in the same building as that hosting a (sketchy) Korean-​Filipino restaurant. Maybe it’s a testament to the ever-​changing urban fabric of Toronto.
{TTC: 504÷505÷506 streetcars to Gerrard/​Broadview, then fight your way through the annoyingly thick Chinatown supermarket crowds}