Heritage Toronto

Shops along Queen Street West, looking west from Simcoe Street. August 23, 1931. Courtesy of the City of Toronto Archives.

Sarah Harris standing inside Harris' Deli, 178 Queen St. W. near Simcoe Street. c. 1913. Courtesy of the Ontario Jewish Archives.

Yiddish and Hebrew sign advertising a butcher shop. The Ward. c. 1910. Courtesy of the City of Toronto Archives.

The Harris Delicatessen

Toronto’s first home for smoked meat

At the turn of the twentieth century, Toronto experienced a wave of immigration, largely from Eastern European Jewish communities. Arriving in Toronto, a large Jewish community established itself in the St. John’s Ward area (often known simply as “The Ward”), approximately where City Hall stands today. By 1910, the ward was approximately 80% Jewish, with an estimated 15,000 Jewish residents. Two of those residents were Sam and Sarah Harris. Both born in Eastern Europe, the Harrises arrived in Toronto at the end of the nineteenth century. By 1900, they had opened their first business, a delicatessen, at 233 Queen Street West, just west of the ward’s boundary. The Harris Delicatessen specialised in smoked meat and imported foods from their European homeland. The delicatessen was among the first of its kind in Toronto and appealed to the large Jewish community living and working in the area.

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The Harris Delicatessen

A family business

The success of the Harrises business depended on their access to kosher smoked meat: a specialty item the Harrises initially imported from as far away as Chicago, Illinois. Despite the significant Jewish population living in Toronto in the early 1900s, the city lacked a kosher butcher who could prepare smoked meat according to Jewish dietary laws. The Harrises paid top dollar to import their meat across the border, often serving it on bread from the nearby Ruben Bakery on York Street, owned by Sarah Harris’ relatives, Ruth and Harris Ruben. The delicatessen was a family business, with the eldest Harris child spending his afternoons delivering smoked meat sandwiches to local customers via bicycle.

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The Harris Delicatessen

A deli success story

As one of the earliest delicatessens to open in Toronto, Sam and Sarah Harris’ delicatessen was a financial success. By 1910, they had opened a second deli at 178 Queen Street West, just across the street from their original location. The new location focused on offering additional indoor seating space as well as a downstairs preparation area, where the Harrises could cure their own meat in house. The Harris family lived above their new deli, in what would have been considered a luxurious apartment for 1910 with an indoor washroom and marble floors. The Harrises became dedicated supporters of Toronto’s Jewish communities: Sam Harris supported the Toronto Jewish Old Folks Home and the Brunswick Avenue Hebrew Free School.

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Toronto Delis

From first to many

The Harris Delicatessen may have been among the first of its kind in Toronto, but by 1921, there were over 20 delicatessens listed in the city directory. Many were located in or near the centre of the city’s first Jewish neighbourhoods in The Ward. However, during the 1920s and 1930s, the community began to move to a new location, near today’s Kensington Market. New restaurants, bakeries, butchers, and delis opened in this area, contributing to a vibrant new neighbourhood. By 1930, there were over 40 delis in the city.

Sources

Ellen Scheinberg, “The Spicy Story of Toronto’s First Jewish Delicatessen”, Torontoist, August 26, 2017.

The Ward: The Life and Loss of Toronto’s First Immigrant Neighbourhood. eds., John Lorinc, Michael McClelland, Ellen Scheinberg, Tatum Taylor. Toronto: Coach House Books, 2015.

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The Harris Delicatessen

Toronto’s first home for smoked meat

The Harris Delicatessen

A family business

The Harris Delicatessen

A deli success story

Toronto Delis

From first to many

Sources

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