Pepper’s Food & Drink

This west-end gem is the closest thing Toronto has to an American roadside stop—and we mean that in the best way. It’s a variety store that sells hard-to- find snacks like Dunkaroos. It’s a bottle shop stocked with local beer, VQA wine and sake. But it’s also a lunch counter cooking up Hawaiian, Filipino and Japanese comfort food: chili cheese dogs, fried chicken with mac salad, and daily specials—beef kaldereta with lumpia, picadillo with tostones—that highlight the chefs’ backgrounds and specialities. 189 Wallace Ave., @peppers.189