Specialty food stores in Toronto can be found in a neighbourhood near you. Toronto is home to almost every type of international delicacy imaginable and while plenty of stores and restaurants like to showcase diversity, it's always fun to discover singularly focused specialty food stores and importers.

Here are my picks for the top specialty food stores in Toronto by neighbourhood.

Annex

Schmaltz Appetizing on Dupont is the nieghbourhood's source for brunch staples like cream cheese, bagels and smoked fish. 

Avenue and Lawrence

Goodbye Gluten eliminates any risk of cross contamination by ensure their entire inventory is gluten-free. The retail shop on Avenue Road south of Wilson sells everything from baked goods, breakfast cereals, frozen foods, pastas, and prepared foods.

Beaches

The Nutty Chocolatier is best known for its chocolates. However, the store is not limited just to handmade truffles, offering lots of hard candies, jars of specialty licorice, and a decent selection of no-sugar-added sweets. The store also boasts a number of imported treats.

Bloordale Village

Devoted to all things honey and apitherapy (which means bee products for healing purposes), The Bee Shop is owned and operated by beekeeper who promotes urban beekeeping and distributes all types of honey, royal jelly, propolis, beeswax candles and more.

Speducci Mercatto knows a thing or two about cured meats. Photo by Natta Summerky.

Cabbagetown

Ambal Trading on Parliament might not be the prettiest store but they're the best in the area for hard-to-find east and west Indian products including root vegetables, fresh okra and eggplant.

Castlefield Design District

Tucked away in the industrial area near Keele and Lawrence, Speducci Mercatto is an Italian butcher and fine foods purveyor. Find imported goods from the motherland, along with prepared foods, and cured and raw meats at the counter.

Corso Italia

Looking for Latin American goodies? Look no further. El Eden Ecuatoriano is a small grocery store selling snacks, sodas, and all the Latin American necessities you'll need. 

Danforth

Desta Market is an Ethiopian shop just steps away from Donlands stations. Coffee beans, awazie, and berbere are all for sale here, as well as Ethiopian ready-to-eat meals.

Danforth East

bare market is a grocery store totally free of packaging and plastic. Here you'll find everything you would at a conventional supermarket from makeup and detergent to baked goods and produce.

Distillery District

Wildly Delicious is a specialty food store and cafe located on Tank House Lane. The store features their own products of savoury jams, oils, mustards and much more. 

It's cheese heaven at Good Cheese. Photo by Hector Vasquez.

Don Mills

Galleria Supermarket is one of the best known Korean grocers in the Toronto area. This store, found near York Mills and Leslie, is jam packed with fresh vegetables, prepared foods, fresh fish and sushi, rice and imported Korean products.

Dovercourt Village

Famiglia Baldassarre on Geary is Toronto's ultimate destination for fresh pasta. Each day on their Instagram they showcase their menu for the day so you can plan all your shopping needs ahead of time. 

Dundas West

Near Dundas and Brock is where you'll discover  Toronto's 100 per cent all-vegan grocery store, Good Rebel. Not only are they vegan, but a lot of products are local too.

East Chinatown

Good Cheese is an adorable cheese shop on Gerrard. The shops serves up a thrilling array of international and Canadian cheeses, paired with Lambic beers and wines you'll want to spend days trying. 

East York

Fresh from the Farm on Donlands is all about hormone and drug free meat from Amish and Mennonite farms and in addition to turkey has duck, goose, lamb and ham available.

Eglinton West

Meats are the specialty at Nortown Foods, the Jewish butcher and grocer has been in business since 1960 and has become a trusted source for briskets to burgers and prepared foods and deli meats.

Mrakovic Deli stocks hard-to-find Eastern European food. Photo by Hector Vasquez.

Etobicoke

Mrakovic Deli went from a small European butcher shop into a combination grocer, bakery, and meat production plant. 

Junction

Looking for fresh cheese that haven't traveled an ocean to get to your table? Try International Cheese in the Keele and St. Clair area where fresh cheeses made with Canadian dairy include ricotta, buffala mozzarella, and fior di latte sold straight from the source.

Junction Triangle

In the main room of seafood market Osler Fish Warehouse you'll find a vast inventory of fresh fish and frozen seafood along with select Portuguese groceries, while there's a whole other room devoted to salted cod and another that carries rare and unusual finds.

Keelesdale

Emeye's Injera is a local mini mart selling Ethiopian groceries such as injera bread, spices, flour and coffee.

Kensington Market

On Augusta is where you'll find Perola Supermarket. The store stocks a number of hard-to-find fresh, canned, jarred and frozen Latin American products. 

Koreatown

PAT Central is a popular Korean grocery store supplying locals fresh vegetables, tofu, kimchi, frozen foods and many other imported products. 

Stock up on spices and nuts at Khorak Supermarket. Photo by Jesse Milns.

Leslieville

Family owned and operated since 1953, Kristapsons is a specialist in cold-smoking salmon. The result is a supple fish that goes best on bagels or bilinis.

Little India

Kohinoor Foods is Toronto's source for East Indian and Pakistani groceries. The shop sells a number of spices, vegetables, fruits, and teas.

Little Italy

Yam Chops is Toronto's first vegan butcher offering meat-free alternatives to burgers, sausage links, and even lox. The shop is stocked with plant-based prepared foods, pantry items, and frozen items.

Mount Pleasant

Mason's Fine Foods is a boutique grocery store operated by Peer to Peer Hospitality  who also operate restaurants Chabrol and Tanto. In addition to selling ingredients used in dishes at their restaurants, they also serve prepared foods for takeout. 

North York

Middle Eastern grocer Khorak Supermarket stocks a range of imported products and offers the holy grail of hot tables stocked with braised lamb shanks and bejewelled rice dishes.

Ossington

Cote de Beouf is a Parisian-style butcher shop devoted to showcasing local Ontario and Quebec product. Aside from groceries, find fresh and frozen take-away foods.

Pape Village

Hanamaru Market and Bento is a Korean and Japanese market offering bento boxes, onigiri, maki platters while stocking shelves with Kewpie mayo, instant ramen, and containers of gochujang.

Parkdale

Bernard's Pilipino Specialties is an unassuming grocery store that stocks an abundance of Southeast Asian snack foods and dry goods. Stop in for Filipino specialties ranging from ube-infused cakes to delicious lechon, the country's unique version of barbecued pork.

Newport Fish Importers is Toronto's desintation for all things seafood. Photo by Victoria Franstev. 

Roncesvalles Village

Benna's Bakery and Deli is a family-owned store supplying the area a selection of Polish specialty foods and groceries.

Scarborough

Motherland Foods on Kennedy is a South Indian grocer selling snacks, sweets, masala, and staples like dairy, eggs, grains and veggies. 

St. Clair West

Urban Fare Catering and Food Shop does exactly what its name says. It's a store that sells various food items ranging from frozen meats to dry goods. 

St. Lawrence Market

Rube's Rice takes rice very seriously, offering an abundance of grains ranging from popular options like brown basmati, sushi rice and arborio, to rare (and pricier) finds like jade pearl with bamboo extract.

Stockyards District

Newport Fish Importers wholesaler that also sells to the public. Here you'll find a range of products from Europe spanning fresh options like Spanish mackerel to frozen selections such as sea bream and sea bass.

Thorncliffe Park

Trupti imports, grinds, roasts, and blends spices at its retail location on Thorncliffe Park. The shop carries a rainbow of bulk spices along with stone-ground flours, nuts and Indian specialty products and snack foods.

Weston-Mount Dennis

Starfish Caribbean Market is a retail and wholesale Caribbean grocery store offering fresh meat and fish, baked goods, and local and imported pantry items.

West Queen West

Sanko has been a mainstay at Queen and Claremont. Aisles are stocked with housewares, kitchen knives and giftware along with imported Pocky and ramen, ready-to-eat onigiri and mochi, and elusive ingredients like fresh wasabi and yuzu juice.

Yonge & Bloor

H Mart is an Asian grocer selling prepared products, produce and other specialty ingredients. Here you'll find soy sauce eggs and triangle sushi for cheap here.

Yonge & Eglinton

Uptown Brie, as its name suggests, is a quaint little cheese shop on Castlefield. The small store boasts a collection of cheeses as well as a small selection of groceries.