On the Town: The Stockyards Smokehouse & Larder

The Stockyards Smokehouse & Larder
699 St. Clair Avenue West
Toronto, ON
416-658-9666

(Photo from Blog TO)

I’ve been hearing about Stockyards and their delicious BBQ for what feels like months.  Pretty much every person I’ve spoken to or review I read has had great things to say about it.  As a lover of BBQ I finally got my act together to make a mini-pilgrimage!  I was out and about after an appointment and was craving a sandwich and was deciding between a smoked meat sandwich from Caplansky’s OR the pulled pork sandwich from the Stockyards.  Caplansky’s was closed so Stockyards it was!

Stockyards is located at St. Clair and Christie which used to be my old stomping grounds.  Back when I lived/went to school in that ‘hood the food choices were limited.  Now you can legitimately eat your way across St. Clair.  Go figure.  Sure the construction on St. Clair is horrendous but put on your patience and check out Stockyards.

It’s a small storefront along the south side of St. Clair.  If you’re not careful you’ll walk right by.  It’s primarily a take-out spot with a few eat-in spots in the back.  I considered staying in but a.) most of the seats were taken and b.) no one needed to witness the damage I would leave behind.

When I got to Stockyards I thought I knew what I wanted: pulled pork.  But when I got in there I was a mess!  Did I want fried chicken? A Porchetta sandwich? A burger? AHHHH too many delish choices.  I settled on having a pulled pork sandwich until the cashier asked if I wanted fries.  I hadn’t even CONSIDERED fries!  I said yes without hesitation.  (If you’re wondering why ribs weren’t one of my options it’s because they aren’t available on Saturday afternoons).

The wait wasn’t bad.  I waited about 5-10 minutes for my sandwich and fries since they were made to order.  The woman who was taking the orders was totally sweet but seemed new.  No harm no foul, I was ready for pulled pork!

I tortured myself on a combination of bus, streetcar and subway for 30 mins to get home.  My food smelled really good.  So good in fact that an elderly lady at Eglinton station asked me what was in the bag because it smelled delicious.  Yes, it smelled THAT good.

The verdict: My sandwich was AMAZING.  The right combination of pork and saucy goodness.  The bun was light and fluffy and really soaked up the excess sauce making a bit of a soggy mess out of the bottom bun in my sandwich.  Props to Stockyards for keeping it grimy with the Wonder-bread style bun.  A pulled pork sandwich should really be on something similar.  I won’t hold the sogginess against Stockyards because I’m sure their sandwiches weren’t designed to withstand 30 mins on the TTC.  The fries were also stellar and still had some crisp to them despite the time spent in travel.

Now that I can confirm that Stockyards is in fact “the business” I can’t wait to go back and eat my way through the menu.  I have my eyes on the ribs and the fried chicken.  Is it excessive to have both at the same time?  No? Okay, let’s do it.

Stockyards has been heavily reviewed in the Toronto restaurant review circuit.  Check out some reviews below:

Eye Weekly
The Toronto Star
Blog TO
Plato Putas
Taste T.O.