The best grab-and-go lunch spots in the Path

The food court fare in Toronto’s underground labyrinth now has some serious competition from much fancier stalls. Here, eight of the Path’s best fry-free spots to snag snacks and lunch

By Rebecca Fleming | February 23, 2016

By Rebecca Fleming | 02/23/2016

Nadège

Richmond Adelaide Centre,
120 Adelaide St. W., 416-350-2014

Mid-afternoon pick-me-ups don’t get better than Nadège Nourian’s Instagrammable macarons, cannelés and almond croissants.

Sam James Coffee Bar

Sun Life Financial Tower,
150 King St. W., no phone

The Path isn’t lacking for coffee shops, but Sam James—and its tattooed, plaid-clad baristas and customized La Marzocco Linea machines—is the best.

Greenhouse Juice Co.

Commerce Court, 199 Bay
St., 647-350-5513.

Here’s where busy PATH people get their daily dose of vitamins and
nutrients quickly and efficiently. Greenhouse’s twee bottles of
cold-pressed juice deliver a day’s worth of veggies in a few gulps. The
green doesn’t stop there: the space, decked out in foliage by Parkdale’s Crown Flora, is an urban underground oasis.

Belmonte Raw

The Exchange Tower,
130 King St. W., 647-343-6169

The outpost of Leslieville’s no-cook kitchen offers organic plant-based meals—like a burrito made with spiced sunflower-walnut “meat” and cashew-chipotle nacho sauce.

Maman

First Canadian Place,
100 King St. W., 416-216-6767

The second location of this SoHo-based café offers savoury tarts, like the Angele, made with mushrooms and blue cheese, and house-baked-baguette sandwiches.

Kupfert and Kim

First Canadian Place,
100 King St. W., 416-504-1233

It’s vegan, it’s gluten-free and it’s good—for real. Think salads full of nutty brown rice, za’atar salsa, sunflower-and-hemp protein balls and sauerkraut.

Astarté

Sun Life Financial Tower,
150 King St. W., no phone.

At this yogurt bar, the obsession with the Greek stuff is still going strong. And why shouldn’t it be? Yogurt jazzed up with Ontario honey, crunchy PB or wild blueberry–lavender preserves rides the line between healthy snack and indulgent treat.

McEwan

TD Centre,
66 Wellington St. W., 416-444-6262

Across from Bymark is Mark McEwan’s supermarket—6,500 square feet of gourmet groceries and prepared meals like curries (many of them vegetarian), tacos and banh mi.