The top cheap eats in Scarborough according to Toronto residents

Cheap eats are everywhere in Toronto if you know where to look — or if you know the right people to ask. 

For plenty of Toronto residents, it's growing increasingly important to pinch our pennies, what with the steep cost of living and sky-high (albeit mercifully dropping) rents and all, but, luckily, lots of local restaurants have risen to meet our needs.

There's no shortage of cheap eats in and around the city, but it never hurts to discover some new favourites to add to the roster. That's why Dished Toronto took to the streets of Scarborough to ask residents to divulge their go-to cheap eats.

@dishedtoronto Scarborough’s full of cheap eats so we took to the streets to find out some favs 🔥 What’s your favourite spot in Scarborough? 👇🏼 🎙️ @olga🌟 🎥 @emz 🪽🫶🏻✨ ♬ original sound - Dished Toronto

Scarborough could very easily be heralded as the Toronto cheap eats capital, or one of them at the very least, and residents' responses only served to support that hypothesis.

Nette's Cafe, which boasts locations on Wilson and Victoria Park, got the first shout-out for its Filipino baked goods, like empanadas, ensaymada and ube everything.

Long-running global bakery chain, Saint Germain Bakery, also scored points from one Scarborough resident. The B.C.-based Hong Kong-style bakery boasts locations around the world, including one at Scarborough Town Centre.

For one local resident, it's a toss-up between Johnny's Hamburgers and Kathy's Grill. Both are absolute local institutions, and both serve juicy, impressively charred burgers for little more than the cost of TTC fare, so it's fair that she couldn't choose.

"You can't go wrong with a patty," one participant responds, shouting out Lawrence East and Brimley staple Patty Time.

Yonge and Wellesley Korean bakery Kream, famous for its cream-filled, cube-shaped croissants, opened a Scarborough location on Midland in September 2025, and it, too, earned points from fans in the neighbourhood.

Other shout-outs included Super Chicken, Midori Ramen and T&T Supermarket.

For one resident, it's all about the classics; simply responding, "Tim's."