Homemade Eastern European · Village by the Grange · Toronto

Helena's Magic Kitchen.

A twelve-foot counter in the old Village by the Grange food court, quietly turning out quiches, latkes, perogies, cabbage rolls and fruit tarts — all baked in the back, all before noon, all rotating with whatever Helena felt like making today.

See today's counter Get directions

Open Mon–Fri · 11 to 7

Address 109 McCaul St, Toronto

Full lunch Under $10

Everything on this counter I made this morning. Come hungry. — Helena

“H”

Traditional recipes, a small back kitchen, and a stubborn refusal to let the counter go empty.

Helena's is one of the beloved holdouts inside Village by the Grange — the sprawling international food court on McCaul that OCAD students, downtown healthcare workers and quiet regulars have leaned on since the 1970s.

The menu shifts by the day and the whim of the kitchen. What stays constant: everything is baked from scratch that morning, portions are unreasonably generous, and the whole plate — main plus two or three sides — lands under ten dollars.

Popular for Lunch · Dinner · Solo dining · Quick bite · Vegetarian options

The counter · No 01

What's baking today.

The lineup rotates, but these are the regulars — pulled from the oven fresh every morning and sold until they're gone.

Dish · 01

Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast

Chicken pounded thin, wrapped around a spinach-and-cheese filling, roasted, then finished with a proper mushroom sauce. A regular's regular.

Signature

Dish · 02

Potato Latkes

Grated russets, onion, egg and enough salt. Fried till the edges shatter and the middle stays chewy. Reviews call them the must-order.

Must-order

Dish · 03

Fresh-Baked Quiches

Spinach & feta, mushroom & onion, or classic egg & bacon — sold by the wedge in a proper flaky pastry, every one baked in the back kitchen at dawn.

Baked at dawn

Dish · 04

Cabbage Rolls

Slow-braised in tomato until the leaves soften into the rice-and-meat filling. Old-country comfort, plated for a Toronto lunch.

Slow-braised

Dish · 05

Perogies

Potato-cheese, sometimes sauerkraut — pan-crisped to order, served with a little sour cream. As many as you want on the side.

Pan-crisped

Dish · 06

Meat Pie · Fruit Tart

Flaky pastry, savoury rice-and-meat one day, caramelized pears and apples the next. What's in the case is what she felt like baking.

Daily rotation

+ two or three sides on the plate — beets, green beans, chickpeas, salads.

$10 Full lunch, most days

A whole plate, still under ten.

Main plus two or three sides, huge portion, cash-or-tap. It's why the counter's got regulars going back decades, and why every review starts with the same line: best under-$10 food in Toronto.

— And she wraps it to go, too.

“Best under-$10 food I've had in Toronto — huge portion, and the food is delicious.”

★ From a 4.7-star Google review · 256 and counting

Find her · No 02

Come visit the counter.

The Village by the Grange food court runs from Dundas to St. Patrick to McCaul. Helena's is one of the stalls inside — walk in through 109 McCaul.

Address

Village by the Grange food court
109 McCaul St, Toronto, ON M5T 3K5

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Phone

(647) 348-2348

Hours

Mon–Fri11:00 – 19:00 SatClosed SunClosed

Good to know

Dine-in · Takeout · Solo dining friendly · Vegetarian & healthy options · Debit, credit and tap all fine.

Come find me at the counter. If you can't decide, I'll put a little of everything on your plate.

Helena xo