Small Town Food

My girlfriend and I came to Small Town Food Co. on a whim – this was not a good decision at all. You pay $ 8 for some «tater tots» i.e. pieces of potato with lukewarm gravy and cheap ground beef with scattered peas. The pork belly was mediocre (again not hot enough), the white bean dip was actually cool to the touch and tasteless. The venison tartare was a lone warm spot in this otherwise cold menu. I do not recommend at all.

I really enjoyed this little restaurant! The service was great, the server went out of her way to help us with the wine and food selection. We got the smoked duck, toast with mushrooms/​kale/​spinach, pork belly, beef carpaccio and lamb ribs. I would say the pork belly was my least favourite because it wasn’t as tender as I would have liked, but everything else was incredibly tasty. My favourites were the smoked duck and beef carpaccio. The price was really great for the quality of food as well. I will definitely come back and would recommend this restaurant.

I would love to rate the food but too bad I didn’t get any. We were here for friends bday, a group of 12. I only received an appetizer the pork belly. After 40 mins I realise everybody got their main and the waitress forgot me and my girls order. No apologies nothing she simply says the kitchen is still open very none chalant. Service was very bad. She forgot my drinks too like she was high or some shit. The appetizer was very tasty wish I had more.

What a thorough disappointment. Friends chose this place for a special holiday dinner. Frankly I had never heard of it. It’s claim to fame is having been featured on the Million dollar critic TV show. And the fame stops there. To be fair the service was okay. Not great not bad. The food is another story. They have jumped on the «sharing» plate bandwagon, full disclosure I’m not a fan. We ordered various meals for our group of six — two per person is the recommendation. I tried the scotch egg — random and tasteless. The «fish and chips» is a cross between sashimi and Miss Vickie’s crisps — weird. The iron steak with salt and vinegar mash was cold and chewy. The daily chefs offering was meatballs — which frankly was the best taste of the night. Ordered one bottle of Pino Grigio wanted a second — none to be had. Overall not great. It’s a hipster place riding on a moment of fame. I’d give it a pass.

So so good! After reading a few of the reviews here I was hesitant to try this restaurant. Good thing I didn’t listen to them!
The service is great and the food is tasty! Pork belly is amazing and so is the duck. Last night they also had a pasta special — butternut squash sauce with fried kale. It was so good we ordered another (and asked when it would be added to their menu).
Small little place with big flavours. Definitely coming back and would recommend!

What a find… the pork belly is one of my favorites on the menu. Can’t go wrong with the fish and chips as well as the duck. All the items have such good mixes of flavour, and the drinks here are exceptionally tasty. This is the place I go to when I feel like rewarding myself :)

I agree with some reviews about this place being overpriced for what you get. I ordered the scallop ceviche ($ 10) and it looks more like they «thin shaved» two scallops and put some very thin tortilla stripes to make it fancy. Instead of callint it Small Town Food Co they should call it Small Food Town. For the location, I expected a more serious gastropub experience, but it looks more like a small town experiment in the middle of giants like Grand Electric, Electric Mud and P&L.
The fish and chips is more like a cut-​tempura btw.
Service was OK, hence I added a third star.

Small cozy resto. Really creative dishes. Fish and chips were incredible. And the bread pudding to die for. Also fantastic value

Amazing menus, and speciality cocktails — staff is super friendly, one of Parkdale’s gems for sure.

Some of my favorite jaunts are located in Parkdale — Bestellen, Grand Electric, Parts & Labour to name a few. So when I started hearing some pretty rave reviews about Small Town Food Co., I decided to venture out to the west side to give it a try.
The restaurant itself is cute and kitschy. A long bar stretches along the right side of the restaurant and I liked the splash of color that the red chairs gave to the space. Antique lamp posts also stood erect at the front of the restaurant which gave it a really nostalgic look — sort of like walking through Old Towne Toronto.
True to its name, the menu is small and divided by proteins and vegetables as opposed to appetizers, mains and sides. It’s kind of baffling when the drinks menu and the food offerings amount to almost the same, which technically makes Small Town more of a bar than a restaurant.
I don’t have a problem with small menus, as long as you aren’t out of 2 of the major staples (that night being the beer can hen and the lobster board). Sure, they subbed in duck corn dogs and another dish which eludes me at the moment but already the night was off to a disappointing start.
The cocktails here are a hit and miss as I have to send my Small Town Sour ($ 11) back and swap it for the Born and Raised ($ 12), a tequila-​based drink with fresh lime, mango, guava and bitters, which is only marginally better. My dinner companion opts for the John Deere ($ 14), a concoction of Espolon Blanco, St. Germain, Chartreuse, lime, basil and bitters which was fantastic. Many layers of flavors and not overly sweet.
Service here is pretty lacklustre as our hipster-​clad waitress seems aloof and rather inattentive throughout the evening. If serving tables has been reduced to purely the mechanics of bringing your food to the table, then she for sure gets top marks.
We start with the Beef Tataki ($ 7), which was beautifully plated but overwhelming on the sesame oil and soy sauce as the sodium levels overwhelm any real beef flavor. The textural contrasts were a hit, but the flavors weren’t.
We then opt for the Crispy Cauliflower ($ 6), which were fried to a nice golden brown and the aioli was delicious. However, I found that the batter was too oily. Normally that problem can be mitigated if you double-​fry them. Still, of the entire evening this was probably the highlight. The cauliflower was soft and piping hot on the inside.
While none of the «mains» really appealed to us, we finally decide on the Honey BBQ Ribs ($ 21) which is served with a cold potato salad with double smoked bacon. The ribs had great flavor, but were quite bony and dry. This little piggy clearly led quite the opposite of a relaxed life as I bit into its skeletal ribs. The potato salad was rather bland despite the bacon.
At this point of the evening we’ve decided to call it quits. The two most interesting items (for us) weren’t available, and the dishes we end up ordering leave us unsatiated to the point where I don’t even care to look at the dessert menu.
The portion sizes are small relative to their price tag. Small Town is definitely a far cry from what I’d consider to be a «gastropub» and its definitely not ready for the big city.

I am operating by a presiding theory that the more expensive the drink, the slower I will drink it. A lot of my theories have flaws. I soldier on.
Anyhoo, I met a gf here for drinks and had the Checkered Past and John Deere drinks — I’m pretty sure I like the CP more. My friend had the Small Town sour and I had a sip — again two thumbs up
We ordered two small plates as we were rolling down the street (equal opportunity drinkers) Beef tataki and scallops ceviche. For sure, they were tiny, like we each had two mouthfuls but they’re supposed to be sharing and $ 7. It was more than balanced out by the taste for me. If we were staying longer I would have been delighted to try more things. I guess that’s what the Queen Drinking tour 2.0 is for.
The bartender was super accommodating as I mentioned that I had seen a drink I wanted to try but didn’t see it on the menu. He tried to figure out what my shoddy memory was trying to recall (good luck on that one) and was pretty chatty about what was coming up since drinks are changed seasonally which I appreciated since that is an incentive for me to return.
All in all, high fives all around.

Four of us dropped in for dinner. Our bill came to about $ 150 and we left starving. The food was meh. I don’t get what all the hype is about. The service was great though. Nice folks.
Don’t waste your money!

Went with my GF for some drinks. Really enjoyed my time. Tried every cocktail and loved them all my fav was the Born & Raised. Had some kangaroo meatballs and the fish and chips. Both were excellent. Neat fusion of exotic and nostalgic. The owners explained the concept and gave us VIP attention. Service, food, and drinks all exceeded expectations. One critique just so the review is authentic: no coffee. Big ups to the Small Town Food Co. I think they have a winning formula!

I went here with my boyfriend on a Thursday night for a small celebratory dinner.
The vibe of the place was great and casual, with nice décor and great music.
We had the fried cauliflower and scallop appetizers. Both were okay, lacking some heat or acid or something.
For main courses, we ordered a rabbit ragout which was delicious, but such a small portion to be one of their mains. I ordered the clam dish, which was pretty good but came almost ten minutes after the rabbit. Nothing like watching each other eat when on a date.
We had two glasses of wine and a cocktail, which were great. Our bill at the end was $ 120 plus tip. (He had to get a slice after because the ragout was small.)
We both wanted to like it SO much as we live just around the corner and its so cute. Unfortunately, I don’t know if we’ll give them another chance…

Honestly… beef, chicken and pork doesn’t appeal to my taste buds anymore. So much that i’ve been turning to veggies and my bestfriend carbs!
But wait! Small town food co. satisfied my craving for variety, they serve alligator, deer, rabbit meat and not your average fish and chips either! I hope they will start a trend of dishes that are not served regularly. Now a days, where can you even find a good’ol bread pudding?! (yes, they serve that too!)
Here’s my little review,
cute cozy little establishment. I went on a friday night around 6:30, i would say it was about a third occupied. i assume it would be packed later on at night.
My friend and i shared alligator popcorn, beef tataki, deer tartar, and their fish and chips (literally chips… not fries LOL), homemade bread pudding. Not sure if the chips were homemade but I hope they were and they should flaunt it if it’s true. Their sauce really hit the spot which complimented the dishes very well. The portions of the items were tapas style regardless of being «entrée or shareable.» Quality of food was good, wish the tuna they used for the fish and chips was more rare on the inside (personal preference). Deer/​venison meat was not gamy as i was expecting it to be and texture was not tough at all.
Total: 2 apps, 2 entrees, 2 glasses of wine, a dessert +T&G = $ 80
Service was good, waitresses and bartenders were all attentive and helpful.
décor was cute and had a warm feeling to it. although it would be better if they didn’t dim the lights so much. It was hard enough to read the menu, let alone taking photos of the awesome food that I devoured.
I hope they would add some lighting fixtures outside their store so it would be visible to the people passing by at night. I almost couldn’t find the restaurant myself and it would be a shame if others couldn’t find this delectable little restaurant.
RECOMMENDATION: YES! try it all! :)
PS. they don’t take debit.