Caplansky’s Delicatessen

So nice to have this at the airport. Got a Reuben, or a Reubenesque as they call it. Grilled cheese for the kiddies. And blintzes with blueberry compote. Yummy! The ricotta filling is the best. Makes us wanna go to the downtown Toronto location next time we’re out here. Go Caplansky’s!

The smoked meat was awesome, so good I went on line and read about your business, you definitely found your passion, thanks for making the airport a better place :)

You know the drill… get to the airport 3 hours before an International flight and there’s no line up at the airline counter or security, so you’re through very fast and then have over two hours to kill. You don’t want to nap as the flight is long and you hope to hell you get to sleep on the plane.
Facing that daunting scenario, we wandered aimlessly looking for a place to eat. Settled on this place.
I’ve never been to a Caplansky’s so I didn’t know what to expect. The waitress was over fairly quickly (the place wasn’t that busy) and she was fantastic. Friendly, animated, and bubbly. We ordered our food (Montréal Smoked Meat).
Food arrived after about 10 – 15 minutes, within the time frame one would expect. One of us loved it, me… I was meh (I didn’t hate it, but didn’t love it). It was, IMO, overpriced, but it’s an airport so it’s to be expected.
Would I go back… there’s not a lot of options in this area of the airport, but I think I’d try somewhere else.

pretty stoked to see this place in the airport!
I got potato latkes with sour cream & applesauce, & a side Caesar salad (I’m going through a Caesar salad phase) and Jimmy got a burger. everything was great, including the service.
one star off because service was a bit slow and unattentive — I had to flag the waitress down twice (once because they forgot my applesauce) and again because we had finished eating and needed our bill.

Looking at older reviews it seems like this place has really stepped up their game. I had the Bagel + Lox. Loaded with lox and capers. Bagel was fresh and delicious. Coleslaw on the side was excellent. My companion had the all day breakfast, which was also fantastic. Service was quick and friendly. For regular food this was great, for airport food it’s fantastic.

I’m sure you can find better delis at better prices in the city, but as someone from outside Toronto, from a country who doesn’t have good delis, it was all good. And it was the precious last chance to get Montréal smoked meats and poutine before leaving Canada.

Not sure about all the low reviews but my experience was great. There were only two waitresses and the place was packed so I expected service to be a bit slower. Ordered the smoked meat hash with eggs and toast for $ 14. Price is way up there but this is what to expect when you want convenience.
On the menu, this dish is one of the recommended dishes so I just went with it. The smoked meat hash was great and the rye toast was excellent. My only complaint is that I wish I had more. Our server was amazing and she even had time to check on us and refill our coffee without asking even though it was so busy.

One of the few spots to eat at terminal 3 in the Toronto airport and the only one that we saw with table service so we stopped in for lunch on our layover.
SERVICE: friendly and warm, food came out pretty quick
FOOD: I had the shredded brisket sandwich which was was hearty and big although a little chewy, fries were crispy and hot but we’re a separate side for $ 5
OVERALL: decent place and better than standing at a counter or hovering on a bar stool.

Meh. Overpriced half-​decent food, but can’t expect much from Pearson. We got the all-​day breakfast for $ 12, which was just two eggs, toast, potatoes and beef bacon (interesting, but I prefer pork bacon). Definitely not worth the $ 12; I could’ve gotten a similar better-​tasting breakfast for half the price. Probably won’t be back.

There was a hardened old lump of cheese on top of my poutine, obviously not fresh, unmelted. Horrible customer service. Eight ladies working there are none of them knows what’s going on or how to work the machines, greet the customer, keep the kitchen area clean or make food.
They have a corned beef sandwich for 10 bucks, or a smoked meat sandwich. I asked her what kind of smoked meat it was. She said beef. I asked her pastrami? She said… Blank stare.
Got a poutine. Was tiny. The most disgusting poutine I’ve ever tasted. Salted mass of old ingredients and carelessly thrown into the crappy old plastic bowl.
Don’t. Waste. Your time. Or calories. After a long day of traveling… And you’re so hungry… Such a disappointment.

Definitely not as good the one on college but definitely the best food at the airport. Price is right and it’s quality deli meats. Quick service for food food before a long flight. U can’t ask for more!

I have to say I had high hopes having heard so much about this place.
In unfortunately was expensive and had very small portion, was greasy and the omelette was wafer thin
This is a Pearson so granted it probably was never going to be very good but unfortunately I doubt I will try the college street location

Not as good as the one on College but it’s Pearson, whaddya expect. They also don’t have the entire menu — just sandwiches, soup, and some drinks.
They didn’t have the beef brisket so I got the corned beef — pretty legit. BF loved his bagel lox. Split pea soup was undersalted.
Overall, fave place to eat in Pearson so far.

This place gets a star because the food was decent.
We sat down just before 11am and it took 20 mins for our drinks to arrive and another 15 for food. We were sharing a Montréal smoked meat sandwich and fries, so we were done pretty fast. No coffee or water refills were offered, and we asked for our bill 10 mins ago and we are still waiting.
Avoid this place if possible.

I feel like I’ve been lied to with the Caplansky’s name attached to this ‘restaurant’ in Terminal 3. I arrived way too early for a 7 am flight and after dealing with security, I was desperate for food and coffee. I wasn’t as familiar with T3 as most the time I fly out of T1. The name Caplansky’s is the first restaurant in the hallway as I walk towards my gate and I figure it couldn’t be that far off from the real deal. WRONG.
I’m not even sure how to describe adequately my experience without being very negative. If the food was remotely close to the Toronto restaurant, I’d be willing to overlook the service blunders but I just… can’t. We ordered a simple egg breakfast. The first issue was the wait staff wouldn’t look anyone in the eye or acknowledge the order. We had no clue if he heard us at all. The 2^nd issue was that the person at the cashier had a lot of problems with the till and basic math. I’m not sure if he was missing a coffee to jump start the thinking process but it was so painful to correct him that I didn’t get the right change to make $ 5. He insisted that 1 toonie and 2 loonie is $ 5.
The food was just as bad as my memories of liquid eggs in high school breakfast. It was rubbery and tasteless… it also cost me the same amount as 2 breakfasts at a Tim Hortens.
Next time I’m in T3, I’m just heading 5 minutes further towards the end of the hallway where they have the new restaurants opened up. They dont have a branding like Caplansky’s but they at least look like they’re serving real food.

We LOVE caplanskys on college st, we go all the time and never have anything but amazing things to say about it. So you have to understand our excitement and expectations when we saw it in the airport!
Total let down.
I’m not sure if they were understaffed or if the staff just didn’t give a shit — although I feel it’s the latter.
We were sat at the bar and waited 15 minutes to be greeted, after my husband had to ask a server if anyone was assigned to the bar. Another 15 minutes later and my husbands pop got to him… I was handed an empty coffee mug as my tea with nothing to accompany it. Ordered our food and watched two groups of 4 sit at the bar as well, one of which left after waiting 20 minutes to be talked to.
My food was okay I guess, cold, but edible. My husbands on the other hand, looked like cat food and tasted worse. We left to look for something for him to eat after still having to pay for his meal.
Watched a woman seated at a table behind us get her own coffee and get scolded by a server because «that’s dangerous and she could have killed herself» meanwhile the girl tried to explain that she had asked for a coffee 30 minutes ago and had already eaten her food without it.
Pretty sad and not the impression that caplanskys deserves as their downtown location is so great.

I think it’s pretty sad that this is how we represent our city to travellers. New york has a shake shack in their airport, austin has a salt lick, Toronto’s airport should have a Libretto/​Terroni, La Carnita, Phở or Thai. Not this.
When we went it was empty and our food came out looking ok. It was worse than the downtown location and cost more. I’m not saying there’s any better options in the airport, but that’s why you just shouldn’t rat in airports.

Not a lot to add to what others said about pricing or food, it is in an airport after all.
We had a short layover at the airport and Caplansky’s was next to our gate. The smell of it as we walked by was enough to get our attention and get us in the door. There is a seating area and a takeaway/​ordering area, but I think both sections are still self serve. You order your sandwich and pay, then are given a number which is called out when your order is ready. We chose to split a turkey sandwich, the meat on these babies is generous and splitting it was probably the smart way to go to avoid subsequent meatmares on the last leg of our journey. After ordering, the waiting area for orders is a bit chaotic and there seemed to be some confusion to customers as to where to find their order numbers on their receipts or some not even having their receipt anymore. Pro tip: keep your receipt until you have your food.
All in all, the food came out fast, it was a generous portion and the bread was toasted just right — not to much to cut up your mouth. If the lines not to long, this is a good choice to grab and go.

Four stars considering it’s located in an airport. Yes the prices are higher, the service a bit off and the atmosphere is a little bland, but everything was decent considering what this terminal and most airports offer for dining options.
Tried the meatloaf, it was alright, came with nice sautéed seasonal veg and fries that were nothing special. Also tried the matzo ball soup and borscht, go with the borscht not your typical Russian or Ukrainian style but pretty good. Also tried the Rubenesque Rueben sandwich and it was good. My recommendation would be to stick with soup and sandwich, it all seemed freshly prepared and of slightly better quality than your typical airport fare.
Before boarding your next flight be sure to try a pint of their house tap which comes with a pickle on it.
They also have a take out counter, you would be the envy of your flight if you unwrapped one of their sandwiches at 35,000 feet.

The epitome of airport price gouging, Caplansky’s offers a limited, but interesting menu. I had the smoked meat hash for $ 14. Four small pieces of toast, two cubes of cantaloupe, four slices of mandarin oranges, two eggs and a salty mishmash of smoked meat and potatoes later, I’m left thirsty and unsatisfied, but not surprised.
To start off with the good, the eggs (over easy) were cooked perfectly. The toast was also nicely toasted and buttered. The smoked meat hash was very salty, which really took away from its taste — salt isn’t supposed to be a flavour! The quantity was adequate.
The non-​alcoholic drinks are very pricey. $ 5 for water and $ 4 for soft drinks is what you can expect there. Do yourself a favour and go to the Starbucks to the right of the restaurant if you want to spend that much money on a drink.
The service was unmemorable. I asked for hot sauce once I got my food and I was given an unopened bottle of Tabasco. The cashier just stood and watched me while I had to tear the plastic wrap off the bottle’s lid.
I much prefer the Molson Pub in Terminal 1, which offers a similar breakfast dish with a lot less salt, crispy potatoes on the side and jam for the toast. The price is also a few dollars cheaper. Unfortunately, there’s no way to eat at a different terminal!