Plaza Latina — Attraction in Toronto

For a non-Latino, probably the most intriguing value proposition of Plaza Latina is its vaunted food court, a slightly chaotic, ramshackle, kind of dirty but also kind of great mishmash of different Latin American cuisines at the back of the building.

Prices are inexplicably not listed for the most part but assume that each thing will set you back at least $15-25. It's not a cheap food court that's for sure, so don't go in expecting cheap eats. Luckily, most restaurants have pictures, so that makes things easier there. Options range from Peruvian (the standards: lomo saltado, various ceviches) to Colombian (bandeja paisa, sancocho etc) to multiple Mexican places (including birria! But that's 5 for $25 vs 3 for $15 for pollo/carnitas/bistec and some others, no you can't order individual you have to get it in sets, and also no pescado or cochinita pibil or nopales as far as I could tell). There's also what looks to be an Argentinian sandwich/bakery stand alone store (alfajores!) and a Cuban, El Salvadorian, Ecuadorian (so much pechuga de pollo) and a general refreshments stand in the food court as well, plus a Jamaican and Mexican taco place outside of the food court facing the street entrance.

Communication is a bit of a challenge as most of the stall staff don't speak English so you'll have to break out your Google translate or get to practising your Duolingo like me. They'll give you a little table number stand thing which you take to whatever table you decide to sit at and they'll bring your food to you.

Hygiene and general maintenance wise, yes I can see some of the feedback by others definitely having merit. Having said that, both cleaning staff at the food court seemed to do a very thorough job with the surfaces that they did clean, they just might not necessarily notice the random salsa that's fallen on your chair, and there's certainly nothing they can do about the half finished construction throughout the plaza or the cracked concrete/asphalt outside. Mask adherence was also low/non existent this Easter 2022 weekend including by the workers there.

The plaza also has a general foods/convenience store where the proprietor speaks English (different types of dried chilis, achiote, frozen tortillas etc) and there's some other random stuff for the local community (barbershop/cell phone/electronics/jewelry etc). Photos below taken around 2pm on Easter Saturday. All in all, kind of a fun experience....

Plaza Latina has delicious food, with a large diversity of variety of culinaries from all over Latin America, but Brazil, which is missing :/..

Food is always tasty with great sized portions, fast and good service, although many workers don’t speak English, but if that’s the case, they will find someone to help for sure. The plaza is big with Colombian, Ecuadorian, Mexican and others..

The only thing I would change is the volume of the music.. Very very loud when the plaza doesn’t have many people in it.. We were there during busy times and it didn’t bother much.

Another thing to be attentive is that, sometimes when it rains considerably, the plaza gets flooded.. We drive about 34 minutes to get there (that’s how much we like it), but we have been there twice and it wasn’t open, so just make sure to call before going, specially if there was a downpour.

I recommend this place for its variety and tasty food. And there are other stores providing services (such as salon for nails), and selling goods as...

Tormex had the most wonderful tongue tacos (lengua). They are so juicy, tender, and delicious! I find $4/taco pretty steep but, if I had to pay that much, lengua would be it! The place that was a bit separated from the rest of the food court, with a giant Chilean flag on top, had really delicious sandwiches, empanadas, and superb churros with dulce de leche. Service was great on both visits we did (once in a weekend and once on a weekday evening.) mind you, you should bring a friend along who can speak Spanish, it’ll help you with the communication. This place isn’t glamorous but the food, definitely worth the trip.

Just a few tips: if you decide to go on a weekend, go early. There’s more parking in the back of the plaza. Bring cash, I believe they only take cash. Try a little from the different places... but you must have a taco dish from Tormex, across from the convenience store/gift shop, in the...