6458 WELLINGTON RD 7 · ELORA ON
Dar’s Country Market is Darlene and James Dunn’s store. Most people just call her Dar. It’s been family-run on Wellington Road 7 in Elora since 2011.
Before there was a Dar’s, Darlene worked as an assistant manager at a national grocery chain. She kept seeing, in her words, “an incredible desire for a market-style grocery store here in Elora.” So she built one.
Dar’s Country Market opened in the summer of 2011 in the Home Hardware plaza on Wellington Road 7, beside The Beer Store. It had a butcher counter, seafood and a deli, with local produce and baking on pine shelves. For a few years it also ran a stall at the St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market, until June 2017.
It’s still family-run. Dar is in the store and answers her own Google reviews, usually signed “Cheers, Dar.” Papa Jim works the smoker Thursday to Sunday. A granddaughter edits the Instagram reels, with more special effects than strictly necessary.
The shelves are fuller than ever: meat cut in-house, the Off the Smoker menu, scallops and shrimp, Dar’s own soups and gravy, pies and butter tarts, and a pantry of Ontario makers. In 2025, EloraFergusToday readers voted Dar’s the winner for Butchers & Meat Shops in their Reader Favourites.
If something’s missing, tell us. Dar’s standing offer to one reviewer was “if we are missing something let us know we will do our best to source it out for you.” That still goes.
A few of her replies on Google, word for word.
S. A. wrote: “The biker rides there every week for Caesar salad dressing.”
J. B. wrote: “if you see a loaf of banana bread at the checkout, buy it! Trust me!”
Shane P. wrote: “We usually get about 20 of those every time we go lol.”
6458 Wellington Road 7, Elora. Park out front. Ask for Dar.
