Farm Boy — Restaurant in Toronto

3.5 stars ... if you treat this more as a true grocery store and not the Trader Joe's the media have been pushing, it's a great spot.

The media truly hyped this spot with it's phrase of "Canadian Trader Joe's". For all those who know about Trader Joe's, you know thats the awesome spot in the USA to find super affordable and great house brand snacks, cheeses, drinks, alcohol (2 buck chuck anyone? ugh), and did I mention snacks??

With that in mind, I came to Farm Boy and realized it's not a Trader's Joe. Rather it's a step up from a regular grocery store but certainly not in the same pantheon as Trader Joe's. The size is similar to a Longo's. So you can do all your shopping here if you wanted and it has enough variety. With a focus on local and organic, I can appreciate the enthusiasm from other reviews. If I were very focused on only sourcing organic, this would be a great spot as the organic is not a 2 ft by 2 ft spot in a corner somewhere. There is a lot of fruit and vegetable offerings in addition to a decent butcher area. Looking at the prices, it sits somewhere in the Loblaws price range for normal organic ... I do have to admit one thing, the items here look better than some of the wilted items at Loblaws.

One thing that Farm Boy takes on that other places don't do very well... the ready made items. Nearly a quarter of the floor space is dedicated to their pre-made salads, sandwiches, sushi, deli, pasta, soup, and pizza area. Looking at the condition of everything, nothing looks gross but some things were looking at little aged. I guess you can't expect too much when it's 2 hour before close. Judging the weight of some items, your take out meal can easily hit over $15. For just take out, it does give me pause but if it's made with only organic items... maybe it's worth it. Though I never saw signage that spelled that out.

As for the organization of the store... full kudos. It's clean, it's bright, it's well spaced, and at 7 pm in the evening, there's enough parking that it feels like a regular suburbia store.

Lastly... the snacks. This is what brought me here to Farm Boy originally. It's safe to say the small area is definitely a smaller footprint than a Trader Joe's. Sure they had some interesting few items like the Farm Boy maple chocolate covered nuts but it was really a few shelves. Definitely not the eye catching and hunger inducing offering of the Trader Joe's.

So if you're looking for a locally focused grocery store, this would be a good spot to check out. Seeing how the parking lot is small and the other reviews say it's mayhem during the day, perhaps check out during the evening. Just leave your media commentary off to the side and you'll...

Farm Boy Alderwood used to be our go-to supermarket. We are now officially done with them.

We would go every Sunday morning when it opens (8am), and up until about a year ago, everything was perfect. We ended up complaining to head office and the manager of the location because a) they would open doors 5mins late, b) we couldn't reach some places in the store because that's when they decide to have the floors cleaned, and c) we wouldn't be able to get any meat from the shelves as they were continually stocking them once they open...with skids of raw meat sitting in front of the shelves for who knows how long. The manager listened to our concerns and it appeared to resonate as things improved (though slightly) for a few months.

Of course, because of the high turnover rate of management, the manager we spoke with is no longer there so the bad habits are back. Sunday, August 6, 2023 was the final straw.

Doors opened 5 mins late Couldn't even get through the front door because of the amount of produce carts blocking the entrance as employees were just starting to stock the berry shelves at the front door. the amount of raw meat sitting in skids around the meat section was disgusting (please refer to the photos)

We begrudgingly purchased some corn on the cob and some cookies, but we refused to go through the store outside of getting those two items.

The cashiers have ALWAYS been amazing and that has not changed one bit. But this has gone from our favourite supermarket to one we are going to avoid especially as they do not seem to value food safety or customer feedback.

UPDATE Aug 23 2023: They still haven't bothered to respond to our feedback, and we have sent a complaint to Toronto...

LOADED WITH HIDDEN GEMS

It’s the only grocery store I shop in where the staff say “hello”, and “how are you”. They don’t know me, a few might recognize me by now, perhaps. They’re just pleasant and friendly.

It’s a small store, so you’re not necessarily going to find everything you’re looking for here. And after a couple visits, I wondered if I’d keep coming back.

But then something happened. I discovered all these hidden gems throughout the store. And now I shop Farm Boy weekly.

There are a lot of store branded goods here. I haven’t come close to trying them all, but those I have, have all been winners.

Some of the things you’ll find include Farm Boy strip bacon. Not all bacon is created the same, as some people think. This bacon cooks up uniform and the same every time. Super tasty and reliably outstanding. It even comes in a convenient 2-pack so you can easily freeze half, or defrost half.

There’s the home baked potato chips in several flavours. So good. So decadent. And the baked goods including a sweet range of cookies. There’s an excellent line of breads and even a pretzel bun that makes for a nice crostini if that’s your jam. Among the breads is their walnut bread, which makes for a great stuffing.

They do an excellent job with the produce section, amongst which are the colourful carrots, always available.

And, if prepared food is your thing, they really have you covered. Fresh pizza, sushi, stir fry, salad and soup bars are all here and fresh.

All in all, I look forward to my weekly Farm Boy visits.

HIGHLY...