The Beet
2945 Dundas Street West 
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Phone: 416.916.2368
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It would be an unfair to lump the The Beet together with the hefty entourage of organic shops appearing around the city. Instead, The Beet should be heralded as setting a new standard for fair-trade, organic cafes and shops.
The store embraces every shade of greenness, from 100% biodegradable take-away cutlery and packaging, to environmentally friendly furniture made from, among other materials, sunflower seed husks and recycled paper. The majority of the produce, including grains, cheese, butter and household cleaners, are sold in bulk in order to reduce packaging.
The store has only just opened and locals are already crowding the shop. I was tipped off by Rebas Cafe who told me that I had to check it out, because although I had seen the signs for The Beet before, the entrance is a little misleading.
The Beet shares its front entrance with a TD Canada Trust ATM. To get to the store, you have to walk into the tiny ATM foyer. Only then do you see the store through the glass doors to your left where the bank would normally be (and was) for years.
The Beet functions as both a cafe and a store. The cafe serves a wide variety of organic, fair-trade coffees and teas, juices and smoothies as well as organic and nutritious meals suitable for people "with a wide variety of dietary limitations, from vegans to those with gluten allergies," as explained on their website.
The store provides a wide variety of produce, breads, dairy, grains, tea... the list goes on and on. The Beet also makes shopping local easy with a massive island of local and seasonal produce featured in middle of the store.
Friendly staff I encountered were also more than happy to share their knowledge on nutrition and products sold throughout the store.
If all that wasn't enough, this summer, plans are underway to open a licensed patio serving organic beers and wine.
Comments (19)
People "with a wide variety of dietary limitations, from vegans to those with gluten allergies," not to mention those afflicted with the inability to digest anything but bison burgers.
The Cafe looks GREAT!! Can't wait to come check it out for myself. Congrats on the grand opening!
Amazing! I stopped by earlier today after reading this review, and I'm very pleased. They have a really intriguing selection of meals available - all look healthy and appetizing; in fact, I couldn't decide which I wanted most!! It was busy inside so obviously an in demand shop for the area. Nice work!
A much needed enterprise! Its a back to basics cafe where the food is great tasting and nutritious ~ a boon to young parents wanting to introduce children to good fast food! Their freshly baked low-fat muffins are the best I have tasted in a long while. Well worth a visit.
Come on Toronto we need your help to uncover the Tim Hortons unrban myth!
Come to http://www.rolluptherimto.com/ now.
I have many sanitary concerns about this place - mainly, if your idea of having jucie/cofee and sitting next to a box of dity potatoes and beets, among shelves that remind of a convenience store thhen sure go ahead. What a dissapointment.
The food at the Beet is bland, bland, bland, and the service is horrible. Hugely disappointing.
I had the chicken roti today, which comes with a side salad and it was delicious. My companion had the special which was a burrito which was also very good. I will be back for sure.
Dirty potatoes? sitting next to them? isn't this what it used to be years ago? isn't this the part of being organic? i think we're all brain washed into the germ epi!
absolutely one of the best meals I have had in years. I couldn't believe how fresh and tasty everything was. I was instantly converted to locally grown produce.
Odd place! I don't it knows what it wants to be be! There are other places in the neighbourhood that I would prefer.
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