Quick answer: Vietnamese food in Toronto has several centres, not one. The older city clusters are Chinatown around Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street West and East Chinatown on Gerrard Street East from Broadview Avenue, where Chinese-Vietnamese families shaped the neighbourhood. Beyond downtown, pho shops are spread through Weston Road, Scarborough (Kennedy Road and beyond), North York (Sheppard) and Etobicoke. In 2026, banh mi shops are spreading quickly across the city and into Markham. Below is what each area is known for and what to order there.
The Greater Toronto Area is home to Canada’s largest Vietnamese community: 82,225 people of Vietnamese ethnic origin in the 2021 Census. Families settled first around downtown Chinatown, then spread to the inner suburbs of North York, York, Scarborough and Etobicoke, and to Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan and Markham. That’s why many good Vietnamese meals in Toronto happen in suburban plazas rather than on downtown main streets.
Best for: a first pho, late lunches, grocery shopping in the same trip.
This is where Toronto’s Vietnamese community first settled in large numbers, and it’s still the easiest place for a visitor to find a bowl of pho on foot from downtown. The streets around Spadina mix Chinese, Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian businesses, so you can pair lunch with a stop at an Asian grocer for rice paper, fish sauce and herbs.
What to order: rare-beef pho (phở tái), vermicelli bowls with grilled pork and a fried roll, Vietnamese iced coffee.
Best for: family-run spots, northern Vietnamese dishes.
Toronto’s second Chinatown begins around Gerrard and Broadview. Wikipedia describes the area as dominated by Chinese-Vietnamese and mainland Chinese immigrants. As you move through it, restaurants shift toward Southeast Asian cooking, Vietnamese included. Some of its family-run restaurants have been here for decades, and this is one of the places in Toronto where you’ll find bánh cuốn, the steamed rice rolls that CBC food columnist Suresh Doss calls a popular northern Vietnamese breakfast that is “incredibly hard to make”.
What to order: bánh cuốn with Vietnamese sausage and nước chấm, pho with a slow-cooked broth, Vietnamese drip coffee.
Best for: pho that’s walkable from Trinity Bellwoods and the west-end bars.
Toronto food media regularly include west-end spots around Ossington and Brockton Village in their Vietnamese round-ups. With several pho spots close together, it’s a good area to compare broths.
What to order: pho, bún chả, bánh xèo (crispy pancake) where it’s on the menu.
Best for: no-frills pho in the inner suburbs.
The stretch around Jane Street and Weston Road appears in local pho round-ups as one of the city’s inner-suburban clusters. It’s a reminder that many of Toronto’s Vietnamese families settled in the former City of York and North York, not downtown.
What to order: large-format pho, cơm tấm (broken rice with grilled pork chop), bò kho (beef stew) with baguette.
Best for: families, big menus, rice plates.
Scarborough is one of the inner suburbs where Toronto’s Vietnamese community settled, and local Vietnamese restaurant lists include spots on and around Kennedy Road. Look for menus that go beyond pho, with rice plates, vermicelli, stews and porridge.
What to order: cơm tấm, cháo (rice porridge), bún bò Huế if it’s listed, grilled meat platters for a group. → Vietnamese restaurants in Scarborough (if Scarborough is a separate location term)
Best for: a bowl near home if you live in the north or west suburbs.
Both appear in neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood pho lists. In North York, look along major arteries such as Sheppard Avenue. In Etobicoke, local lists point to Browns Line.
What to order: pho and vermicelli bowls.
Best for: a fast, affordable lunch.
BlogTO reported in May 2026 that banh mi shops were opening “at a staggering rate” in Toronto, from new spots around Parliament Street and Elm Street to several openings in Markham since January. A small Cabbagetown shop was expanding to a larger location on Eglinton West. Mom-and-pop shops still dominate, alongside newer, sleeker places. Toronto’s press has used the nickname “Saigon sub” for banh mi in the past, but you’ll see “banh mi” on almost every menu today.
What to order: the classic cold-cut and pâté banh mi (bánh mì đặc biệt), lemongrass pork or chicken, and a Vietnamese iced coffee on the side.
| If you have… | Do this |
|---|---|
| One lunch downtown | Spadina–Dundas Chinatown for pho, then an Asian grocer for supplies |
| A weekend morning | East Chinatown for bánh cuốn and coffee |
| A car and an appetite | Scarborough or Weston Road for rice plates and big menus |
| 20 minutes | A banh mi from one of the new shops near your office |
Getting around: Spadina Chinatown is on the 510 Spadina streetcar, and East Chinatown is on the 506 Carlton streetcar along Gerrard. The suburban clusters are easiest by car or a TTC bus connection from the subway.
Shopping for ingredients: the Toronto area has a long-established network of Vietnamese- and Asian-owned supermarkets, plus T&T Supermarket locations across the GTA. Rice noodles are sold by weight in grams, and fish sauce by the millilitre.
Where is the Vietnamese neighbourhood in Toronto? There isn’t just one. The main clusters are Chinatown around Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street West, East Chinatown on Gerrard Street East from Broadview Avenue, and the inner suburbs of Scarborough, North York, York and Etobicoke.
Is East Chinatown Vietnamese? Partly. Toronto’s East Chinatown, on Gerrard Street East, is home to many Chinese-Vietnamese families, and its restaurant mix shifts toward Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian cooking as you walk through it.
Where can I find northern Vietnamese food like bánh cuốn in Toronto? East Chinatown is a good place to start. Bánh cuốn, steamed rice rolls traditionally eaten for breakfast in northern Vietnam, appears on menus there.
Is banh mi popular in Toronto? Yes. In May 2026 BlogTO reported banh mi shops opening at a fast pace across Toronto and in Markham, with family-run shops still dominating the scene.
How many Vietnamese people live in Toronto? The Greater Toronto Area had 82,225 people of Vietnamese ethnic origin in the 2021 Census, the largest Vietnamese community in Canada.
