Good coffee, fresh baked goods, local produce and farm-direct food are all available in and around Stayner and Clearview Township. The options are not endless, but what exists tends to be genuinely good. This is farming country, and the food scene reflects that: local ingredients, seasonal availability, and a handful of dedicated shops and markets that take sourcing seriously.
Here is where to find the best cafes, bakeries, grocery stores and food shops in the area.
Cafes and Bakeries
Bank Cafe
179 Mill Street, Creemore. If you know one thing about Bank Cafe, it is the cinnamon buns. They are enormous, sticky, perfectly spiced and they sell out. Regularly. On weekends, people line up before opening to secure one, and that is not an exaggeration. The cafe is housed in a former bank building on Creemore's Mill Street, with the original vault still visible. Beyond the famous buns, they bake excellent scones, cookies, loaves and pastries. The coffee is good. Sandwiches and soups round out the lunch menu. Tip: arrive by 9 AM on a Saturday if the cinnamon buns matter to you. By 10:30, they are often gone.
Butternut Cafe
In Stayner. A friendly, no-fuss cafe for coffee, breakfast and lunch. Butternut keeps things simple and does them well. The coffee is consistently good, the baked goods are fresh, and the atmosphere is the kind of warm, quiet space where you can sit for an hour with a book or a laptop. This is the go-to morning spot for many Stayner locals. Not fancy, just reliable and pleasant.
Specialty Food Shops
The 100 Mile Store
176 Mill Street, Creemore. A specialty food shop built on a simple idea: everything comes from within 100 miles. The shelves are stocked with local honey, preserves, sauces, cheese, charcuterie, fresh bread, seasonal produce and pantry staples from farms and producers across Simcoe County and Grey County. The quality is high, the sourcing is transparent, and the staff can tell you exactly which farm your cheese came from. This is the best place in the area to put together a gift basket of local food, or to stock up on ingredients that actually taste like something. Inventory rotates with the seasons, so every visit is slightly different.
Grocery
Foodland Stayner
42-1057 County Road 42, Stayner. The main grocery store for Stayner and surrounding rural Clearview. Foodland Stayner is a full-service store with a proper butcher counter and in-house bakery. The meat department deserves special mention: the butchers cut to order, the quality is consistently good, and locals rely on it for everything from everyday ground beef to holiday roasts. The bakery turns out fresh bread, buns and seasonal items. Produce is standard grocery-store fare, though they do carry some local items in season. Prices are slightly higher than the big box stores in Collingwood or Barrie, but the convenience and quality make up for it.
Foodland Creemore
187 Mill Street, Creemore. A smaller Foodland at the north end of Mill Street. It covers the basics and stocks some local products. Creemore residents use it for everyday needs, and visitors can pick up snacks and drinks while exploring the village. Not a destination grocery store, but perfectly functional for a community this size.
Farm Markets and Local Producers
Fernwood Farms & Market
7865 Highway 26. A farm market along the highway east of Stayner, with a Saturday market during the growing season. Fernwood offers seasonal produce, baked goods, preserves and locally made products. The quality is fresh-from-the-field, and prices are competitive with grocery store equivalents. During peak summer months, this is where you come for tomatoes, corn, berries and whatever else is in season. The market has a loyal local following and is worth building into your Saturday routine. For more details, see our farmers markets guide.
Rural Roots Nursery
2674 County Road 42. Rural Roots operates a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program, which means you pay upfront for a season's worth of weekly produce boxes filled with whatever is growing. It is one of the best ways to eat locally and seasonally in Clearview. The nursery also sells plants, seedlings and garden supplies. If you are interested in growing your own food or supporting a hyper-local farm operation, Rural Roots is the place. CSA shares tend to sell out, so sign up early in the spring.
The Coffee Situation
Let's be direct: Stayner does not have a specialty third-wave coffee roaster. If you need single-origin pour-overs and latte art, you will be driving to Collingwood. What Stayner does have is good, reliable cafe coffee at Butternut and a couple of other spots. Bank Cafe in Creemore serves solid coffee. Tim Hortons exists, as it does in every Ontario town.
The gap here is real but not insurmountable. Several of the cafes use quality beans, and the coffee is better than you might expect. It just is not the scene you would find in a larger town. For most residents, this is a non-issue. For those who moved from Toronto and consider coffee a lifestyle, adjust accordingly.
Farm-to-Table Living
Clearview Township is surrounded by working farmland. This means seasonal access to fresh produce, meat, eggs and dairy that most urban dwellers can only dream about. Between the 100 Mile Store, Fernwood Farms, Rural Roots and the various seasonal markets, you can eat remarkably well from local sources for much of the year.
The flip side is winter. From November through April, local food options narrow significantly. The 100 Mile Store keeps stocking preserved and shelf-stable local products year-round, but fresh produce means grocery stores. This is the rhythm of rural Ontario food, and it is something to embrace rather than fight.
For sit-down dining options, see our restaurant guide. For more about daily life in the area, visit Live Clearview.
