Toronto has unleashed a tidal wave of eight new food carts onto hungry citizens. Now, if you can find one of the toronto a la cart vendors, you can get a selection of non-hot dog snacks.
Along Queen Street in front of City Hall you can find lunch cart alley, full of hot dog carts along the sidewalk and larger trucks parked on the street with hot dogs, hamburgers, fries and gravy and even the occasional ice cream truck. You can also get a variety of sausages along with your hot dog but I find that the sausage snack lives on all day and into the night so I tend to avoid the sausages now.
The new carts are more open and colourful than the traditional hot dog cart. The hot dog cart usually looks like a small plastic shed with the vendor located inside, protected from the elements.
The new vendor was the first vendor at the corner of Queen Street and Bay Street, a primo spot as they say, and the crowds were lined up to taste the Biryani and Salsa each selling for $5. The adjacent hot dog carts had far fewer customers, while the closest truck selling hamburgers and fries had a line up that rivalled the newcomer.
The simple hot dog stand will continue to live on in Toronto because there is almost nothing that beats the economy and speed of the tasty hot dog which now sells for $3 (although, unlike gas, bargains are still to be found with $2.50 hot dogs if you keep your eyes open). Now we can have a little choice when you take me out to the ball game.
