Toronto Neighborhood Stroll in Queens West

7:13 am

My time in Toronto has been non stop client meetings, research, and writing. But once in a while, I get to take some time off, and if the weather also cooperates, I get to shoot. After thoroughly exploring Kensington Market on a photoshoot, I headed to Queen West.

The fashion district is full of boutiques and restaurants. I’m no stranger to the coffeeshops in the area. My favorites include Dark Horse and Aroma. But the trendy and cool polish of this area doesn’t interest me. I’m looking for an authentic real Toronto - I continue to head west.

Over at West Queen Street West, fashion boutiques turn into fabric shops and art galleries as I enter the Art & Design district. Here, I find what soon becomes 2 of my favorite businesses in the area:

Type Books
883 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON

http://www.typebooks.ca/

The Vivian Maier photography book in the window called out to me. It told me that Type Books was not your big box bookstore, it was a neighborhood hangout. I spent an hour at Type, leafing through the great selection of art and design books.

Chippy’s Fish & Chips

893 Queen Street West

Toronto, ON

http://chippys.ca/

After I visited The One that Got Away, Twitter recommended me to visit Chippy’s. By sheer accident, I stumbled upon this fish & chip place on West Queen West. To be honest, I love the experience of getting fish and chips even more than eating the food. Chippy’s reminded me of a being in a fish-side town, a moment there. I forgot that I was in big ol’ Toronto.

If you've never visited Toronto before, what are you waiting for? Book a flight to Toronto for the spring or summer. I'm drawn to this city even more every time I stroll around the different Toronto neighborhoods and local shops, and with my favorite season coming up - spring - I can't wait to spend more time exploring this city.