Leslieville Pumps

Does anyone else notice that there pastries and cinnamon buns are always harder then they should be. Has anyone seen them stock fresh items. Disappointed so far. Sandwiches were good during lunch hour rush but very slow service, due to small kitchen

I don’t quite understand some of the harsh reviews. I’ve always had a good experience at Leslieville Pumps. Fun atmosphere, pleasant staff, and the food is actually good. On my last visit I had the butter chicken sandwich and an order of fries, both of which were delicious. Not exactly sure what people are expecting. I’ve always been pleasantly surprised by the food and service.

Fantastic sandwiches for a solid price. The brisket was spot on. Great fries. I love the look and concept of the establishment as well. Next time I need to stop in for breakfast!
There’s a patio for the warm times, but it would be nice if there was more seating inside. Not sure how they could do that.

Excellent food. BBQ is a must try. We had the hickory smoked chicken sandwich with chipotle aioli. Delish! And the side coleslaw was amazing. Can’t wait to try more.
Chill atmosphere. Takeout style. Lots of benches outside. It’s just so cute!!!

3.5 Stars:
Stopped by for a bite around 6pm on a Friday night. It was pretty busy, but eventually got a table. There’s only like 4 tables there so best to grab and go. It took 30 mins to get our food because they had forgotten to put the order in and we had to ask twice before they realized. It seemed like an uncommon mistake because the server gave us two brownies on the house and apologized for it. Great sandwiches and fries though. Would come back, but definitely get take out. I wanna try everything else.

Leslieville pumps is a gas station that also double at sandwich shop. This was my third stop through my crawl of Lesliville/​east york
I had beef brisket sandwich which was pretty tastey, their bbq sauce was amazing I felt the sandwich could been bigger but it’s what it is. I have to try more they have pretty wide menu
There are about 3 table inside and 3 outside for seating but I won’t count on it

This was not my choice to come here. I was part of a group (see my previous reviews). Finally things have changed here! I didn’t think it would be possible but it has actually got worse. I ordered a sandwich and poutine to share and what a disappointment. I think they count the pieces of cheese they put on your poutine and when I asked was there a mistake I got nothing but attitude. They should call this «sandwiches lite», barely any meat. The brisket chilli looked more like a liquid than real chilli. We all left very unsatisfied and much lighter wallets. Very over priced for what it is. I’m surprised this place is still here after years of poor service.

This place is INCREDIBLE! Mouth-​watering deliciousness! It is by far the BEST Poutine in the city! And I love my poutine! I don’t write this with an easy pleasing palette. I will make the mission to this place. Don’t let the exterior aesthetic of the place deceive you. It’s a Gem! I usually order the braised beef poutine. It’s amazing. As well as their deep fried pickles. I’ve had the pulled pork too, also an excellent choice. A must check out. They have few tables inside, so probably best to plan for takeout.

Huge let down! For the wee bit of cheese on the supposed poutine is a joke! When I said how disappointed I was, I was told its portioned out. Please see my pic.
The server made a point of saying it’s not her, I told her I know that, it’s the kitchen. She asked if I wanted to lodge a complaint to the owner. I said not to bother. I’ll write a review. Then some guy came over, he didn’t identify himself by name or position. He gave me the speech about it being portioned out because of the costs of cheese. Like seriously?!
Then he goes on about how such and such magazine rated them the best in the city! I said it was hard to believe after what I was served. He sarcastically asks me if I know how the restaurant and food business operate. Ya I do!
I said: this is my first impression of this business after reading what I’ve read. This isn’t poutine, this is a order of fries. And your charging $ 5 and change for it! Poutine is suppose to be oozing with cheese. There’s barely any cheese. He said I could pay for extra cheese. He did offer to get me more cheese and I said not to bother as I had asked for well done fries and these aren’t well done. He offered me a deep fried pickle and something else. Then says: well I tried to offer you something.
I asked him if he’s ever been excited about a meal then been let down. He just looked at me. I said there’s nothing that you can do to make up for a bad first impression. And if that is their standard for poutine I know to NOT come back here. And cheddar is not listed on the menu board. Whether it’s Quebec or Ontario curds, traditional poutine does not have cheddar. List that so I can make an educated choice.
He then asked about the Butter Chicken sandwich I had. It was different but alright. Well I tried he says. (Passive aggressive sarcasm much?!)
Try this: offer a $ 5 or $ 10 voucher to the customer to get them to come back. Maybe the second impression will be better. Like when you decide to add more cheese to your poutine!
All this because a client asked me where the best poutine is! Wait until I tell him the magazine was way off!

Good but not great. 3.5 stars.
Deep fried pickles are very good. Brisket chilli is watery, lacks depth of flavour and pretty lacklustre. Brisket sandwich is good but pretty sweet. Fries are great.
It’s also a bit pricey for what you get, but I go there a lot so it can’t be so bad.
Baked goods are fantastic, especially the apple turnover.

This place is so unassuming! I’ve walked and driven by a million times and thought «looks cool, but I’m not eating at a gas station». I feel like I’ve wasted precious moments of my life because of that.
When you go inside, it’s like an old school (and very well maintained & clean) smokehouse/​BBQ joint with cool stuff for kids too (candy, etc). The menu was larger and more varied than I ever would have assumed.
We had the weekend special and the brisket chili. The special was chicken and waffles with poached pear. It was served with an extra side of hot sauce and the waffles were made fresh to order. Honestly, this dish made me believe in God. It was so good! The waffles were so puffy and sweet. The chili was great too! These guys do breakfast (all day), lunch, dinner, and they even have late night items.
I feel bad for ignoring this place for so long. I will absolutely be back soon.

This place is a hidden gem. Who would think you can get very good southern food from a gas station in downtown Toronto?
Corn fritters are moist and delicate on the inside, crispy and golden on the outside, and served with a cilantro dip bursting with freshness. Smoked brisket sandwiches are juicy and offer complex flavours. Baked beans taste delightfully simple and bright. The Caesar salad is not remarkable, but the dressing is better than you find at most places. Did not try the chicken and waffles but certainly will on my next visit!
The interior has a charming old-​fashioned convenience store vibe. Grab a glass bottle of Pepsi from the fridge while you wait for your order. Plenty of seating indoors, and outside on shaded picnic tables.

One of my favourite restaurants. I’ve actually only ever had the pulled pork, but I keep ordering it because it’s so good. I can’t go to this place and not order it. The fries are also really good.
I only go to this place in warm weather when we can sit outside, but every time I’m in the area in the summer, we have to stop by.

Bread was stale, found pieces of chunky cartilage in my chicken and the blonde chick at the counter was not pleasant in the least. Waste of time.

updated Review:
so i haven’t been going to The Pumps all that much since i reviewed back in 2013. My work scheduled changed, and I didn’t need to each lunch in the area that much anymore… and when i did, i chose to go to Jim’s diner because i love their club sandwich.
Sadly because of Jim’s holiday schedule, today i decided to go to the Pumps. Such a disappointment.
I ordered the Oak Smoked Turkey Club. I pulled up their website to be able to tell you all the specifications, but it’s not listed on there… so i’ll go by memory.
On this sandwich there is the turkey and bacon which is smothered in a sauce, then there is a pesto aioli, kale, and thyme tomatoes.
It’s TOO MANY flavours to combine, and it all gets lost. Whatever the sauce is on the turkey, it over powers the entire sandwich. You cannot taste the thyme of the tomatoes or the pesto aioli at all. The sauce on the turkey does not taste that good either. It’s generic blah-​ness.
After eating half the sandwich i had to take the meat off and just eat the bun with the tomato and aioli, and that was actually pretty good. They are really great flavours, but they have zero clue how to combine these flavours to make really unique mind blowing sandwiches. There is potential! Why do they have to put sooo much sauce on everything. Not everything has to be like a pulled pork sandwich. This sandwich would have been amazing with just regularly turkey, the pesto aioli, thyme tomatoes and regular bacon. Maybe i’m too simple? However, i’m confident that sometimes a simplified menu is better.
Then there was the price. The sandwich is 8 something. I also got fries and gravy. The total was almost $ 17. WTF!!! How much do fries and gravy cost!!! It wasn’t like it’s a big order of fries. I can’t imagine what the mark up must be on those products, because that is ridiculous. I can get a massive Turkey Club, fries and a pop from Jim’s for $ 12. A meal that totally fills me up (my pumps lunch did not at all), and doesn’t leave me having to pull the sandwich apart to be able to enjoy it.
This place is always busy and I’m convinced it’s because of the novelty and a very select few of their menu items, like the Morning Classic breakfast sandwich and the pulled pork. All their other sandwiches are disappointing.
Stop trying to create a menu that looks impressive when you read the descriptions, and start making quality products. You’ve got the quality ingredients (except that one sauce), you just have to figure out how to not over power everything. The flavours should dance together, not be smothered and beat down.

I come here at least twice a month for the Healthy Morning breakfast sandwich. It’s easily the best healthy breakfast option in the area. Multigrain bread, avocado-​tomatillo sauce, sprouts, egg whites and roasted peppers.
I’ve tried most of the lunch offerings as well and they’re also excellent. Especially the pulled pork, the brisket and sides, including the fried pickles and the corn fritters.
The service is always very friendly, and if you call ahead, your food will be waiting for you.

Leslieville Pumps doesn’t just set the precedent of what a gentrified gas station is like, it is literally the fuel stop where everyone knows your name – cue in the Cheers theme song here. Unless of course you’re literally like that awkward guy in that Chevy Cruze ‘Gas Station’ telly commercial, who nobody knows. Feel free to stop the soundtrack anytime now.
Bought by a couple of young guys from my understanding, this gas station has been done up to conform to a more hipster-​esque taste, with its affinity towards vintage materialist nostalgia. On the surface, Leslieville Pumps is made to look like one of those kitschy roadside small town fuel stop/​general stores you come across after a long drive (Young’s General Store in Wawa, Ontario, comes to mind). If anything else, it gives my ‘hood more of a charming village feeling rather than it being just another annexed (and gentrifying) Toronto community. Regardless, the Pumps attracts a varied clientele of all walks of life, from well-​heeled neighbourhood foodies to late-​night cabbies.
In terms of it being a «general store,» I’ve been to truck stops and small town gas station/​general stores stocked with way more provisions than this middle-​of-​Toronto business. You’ll find they have the basic variety store varieties that every gas station in town has: soda, chips, and the like.
Most folks who go here however, aren’t here to fuel their cars nor stock up on nonexistent fishing gear. They come for their fresh cooked foods.
Unlike most other gas stations in the GTA, Leslieville Pumps is equipped with a kitchen (it used to be a Country Style coffee kiosk). They sell baked goods, but the kitchen is really there to pump out elevated gourmet comfort fuel for human stomachs that wouldn’t be that much different from the stuff you’d find served at a truck stop. There are some tables inside for those who want to eat in, as well as a recently installed patio area, spruced up with shrubs and umbrellas to disguise the view otherwise of their fueling station and Queen East.
The kitchen is known to surprise many who don’t expect much of gas station food. They have a reputation for pumping out some mean sandwiches. Their pulled pork sandwich is a screaming juicy monster to die for, I’ll give’r that.
By contrast, they recently started offering fried chicken and waffles. And that turned out to be a boring disappointment, as I stared and ate away a uninspiring slab of flat chicken and flabby waffles, accompanied by a pear-​infused syrup that is heavy in spicy heat and pear flavours – probably the only gastronomic fun I got out of that order.
For what is basically glorified takeout fuel stop food, i find it quite pricey; you’ll find yourself spending at least $ 10 per entrée. The service… meh. Yeah, you might get a hello and a smile, but you’ll find the world-​famous chattiness tend to be reserved for the recognised regulars, whom apparently are very numerous. Everyone else, including myself who rarely has a reason to stop here, may feel like the awkward guy in that Chevy ad. Yeah… and I live and grew up here?
Leslieville Pumps is for what it’s worth, a very novel only-​in-​Leslieville business concept. Enjoy the stuff they post on the pumps though. East side, yo.
{Who needs a car when you got the TTC: the 72 or any 501−2−3 streetcar to Carlaw Avenue.}

I had read about the brisket sandwich and was looking forward to visiting this spot on Queen… Parking out front was a bonus and service was very courteous. The price for a single sandwich came up to over 9 dollars, and although tasty with a nice Dijon, the overall weight of the sandwich really left me wanting more.
This seems to happen all to often with hot spots that cater to a hipster crowd… Once a reputation is established, the accounting takes over and owners lose what got them to the top in the first place — satisfying customers. The cloud of profits and expansion takes over…
Not enough meat on the sandwich for 9 dollars. That is my review. I would give more stars if the sandwich had more meat or was cheaper…

holy charming yumminess, batman!
Get everything on the menu. Like EVERYTHING. especially the pulled pork. But ESPECIALLY the cod fritters.
This is possibly the most charming setup for takeout ever. It’s the perfect place to recreate a small town gas-​stop diner experience and a much better gas station stop than 100% of the gas stations I’ve been to.
A+

We come here sometimes. It’s interesting to have a take out place in a gas station, but I guess it adds to the charm. My bf will often order the breakfast sandwich and the beef brisket and we share.
They’re both tasty. Runour has it their corn fritter or corn slaw is to die for!