What to know
- Toronto creators are using Facebook Marketplace to discover homemade meals sold by home cooks across the GTA.
- Listings feature everything from cinnamon rolls and lasagna to pupusas and dishes from cultures across the city.
- Yoyo Soba and Shoshana Rose say the appeal includes affordability, personal stories and the feeling of eating home-cooked food.
- The trend has raised questions about food safety, prompting both creators to research sellers and examine listings before ordering.
Facebook Marketplace is becoming more than a place to find used furniture and household items. For some Toronto creators, it is now an unofficial menu for discovering homemade food across the GTA.
A new wave of Toronto TikTok creators is scrolling through the platform for homemade meals, messaging strangers and driving across the GTA to find out whether the food is actually worth the trip.
From cinnamon rolls and lasagna to pupusas and dishes representing cultures across the city, creators Yoyo Soba and Shoshana Rose are introducing their audiences to a hidden food scene operating outside of everyday restaurants.
For both creators, it goes beyond finding something good to eat. The videos also offer a glimpse into the people using their kitchens, recipes, and cultural traditions to build small businesses worthy of support.
Looking beyond the food
Yoyo Soba, a North York creator known online as YoYo Yummy, began creating food content seven months ago after Toronto creator Tiff Eats encouraged him to combine his love of food, humour and content creation.
Roughly two months ago, he began reviewing food sold through Facebook Marketplace. While Soba had seen creators in the United States produce similar videos, he felt one key element was missing.
“Every time that they would go to the creator’s house or the creator’s place of pickup, there was no story,” Soba told Now Toronto.
For him, speaking with the person behind the listing is just as important as reviewing the meal.
“I always wanted to understand the why behind why people are making food for people,” he said. “Maybe it’s their passion for food. A lot of the time, people are making food to make ends meet.”
His first Marketplace review featured cinnamon rolls from a baker called Bake It by Kristen. Soba found the listing while craving cinnamon rolls and said its presentation immediately caught his attention. The video took off, turning the idea into what has now become his main social media series.
One of his most memorable visits was to Entrees by Jay, a home cook who turned his focus toward food while on house arrest.
“To see him make a full 360 and focus on his love for cooking, that hit me a lot,” Soba said.
The review helped introduce Jay to a much larger audience, which is exactly what Soba hopes the series can accomplish for home cooks from many different backgrounds.
“Just being able to bring visibility to all of these home-cooked chefs, that’s what goes a long way to me,” he said.
Shoshana Rose, meanwhile, has been creating content for a decade and has watched plenty of food trends come and go. As a self-described foodie, she has built videos around cooking and restaurant reviews, but Marketplace opened the door to something different.
“On Facebook Marketplace, you’ll find Jamaican food, Indian food, Filipino food, all different types of cultural food,” Rose told Now Toronto.
She says Toronto’s multicultural food scene is part of what makes the trend so appealing.
“To me, it’s home-cooked food,” she said. “I feel like it’s cooked with love, and you can actually taste it.”
Her Marketplace finds have included lasagna, pupusas, Indian food and other comfort foods. Rose initially searched for dishes she already knew before deciding she wanted to explore more cultural cuisines she had never tried.
In one case, she was craving lasagna but did not want to purchase all the ingredients and cook it herself. She found a homemade portion listed for $15 and decided to give it a try.
“It looked good, and I just pulled up,” she said. “It was actually worth the money, and I will be a returning customer.”
Trusting food made by strangers
Not everyone watching the videos is ready to place an order. Both creators have received comments from people questioning the cleanliness of home kitchens and whether buying food from a stranger is safe.
Rose does not see the concept as drastically different from ordering from a small catering business, but she says customers should still do their research. She examines the listing photos and looks for an Instagram account or other online presence connected to the seller.
Soba has another immediate deal-breaker: artificial intelligence.
“My main criteria is no AI,” he said. “If you’re using AI to enhance your pictures, I won’t go. I think that takes away from the beauty of food.”
His girlfriend and younger brother help him search Marketplace for listings. There is no particular cuisine they prioritize; if something looks appetizing and the photos appear authentic, Soba is willing to make the trip.
He believes home cooks may also put more care into individual orders because they are serving fewer customers and trying to build their reputation.
“The chef only has one opportunity to make this taste good,” Soba said. “All it takes is one bad review to blow your whole business down.”
Although the creators’ experiences have been positive, their videos cannot independently verify everything that happens inside a seller’s kitchen. Their reviews centre on the ordering experience, interaction, presentation, taste and overall value.
Affordable meals with a personal story
Rose believes Marketplace meals could eventually become more than a social media trend, particularly as Toronto residents deal with high grocery and restaurant prices.
Many sellers offer larger trays that can be divided into several meals, giving customers another option when they do not have the time or energy to cook.
“You can actually eat for a reasonable price for a week if you don’t want to do groceries,” Rose said. “Especially now with the grocery prices being so high in Toronto and people being busy, I definitely see it as a good alternative.”
The exposure can also have a noticeable impact on sellers. Soba says several businesses he reviewed, including Bake It by Kristen, Entrees by Jay and Bake It Toronto, received a surge of orders and followers after appearing in his videos.
He says those results are a major reason he continues the series while working full-time in software sales.
“I do love entertaining people, but I was always raised to help other people out,” he said.
The visits have also reminded him that many sellers are carrying personal experiences viewers may never see in a simple Marketplace listing.
“Everyone has a story, and you just never know what people are going through,” Soba said. “It’s very important to be kind to people.”
Rose plans to continue making the videos after being pleasantly surprised by both the food and the audience response. Soba also intends to keep developing the series, which still does not have an official series name.
What began as two creators looking for something different to eat is now helping Toronto residents discover a food scene that was sitting in their feeds all along.
