American chain Five Guys wades into Toronto’s burger wars
Subway may have just surpassed McDonald’s as the world’s largest food chain, but that doesn’t mean the burger craze is dead. Patty pushers like M:Brgr and The Burger’s Priest have been going gangbusters since opening (the same can’t be said for Oh Boy! Burger Market; RIP), and now there’s a new kid on the block: Five Guys Burgers and Fries, a Virginia-based restaurant chain whose business is sizzling stateside (pun intended). There are already two outposts just outside the city, in Vaughan and Mississauga, and a new location is set to open at 800 Warden Avenue in Scarborough in either June or July.
More akin to The Burger’s Priest’s stripped-down approach than M:Brgr’s upscale effort (their $100 burger is already the stuff of legend), Five Guys offers a bare-bones menu and a wide assortment of toppings for their flat-top grilled patties. Apparently, Shaquille O’Neal and Barack Obama are fans. Curious carnivores unwilling to make the trek to Scarborough can simply wait: a Five Guys spokesman confirmed that locations will open in the downtown core in the near future.
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[caption id="attachment_60840" align="alignleft" width="320" caption="Five Guys Burger and Fries in New York’s West Village (Image: Angela N.)"][/caption]
Subway may have just surpassed McDonald’s as the world’s largest food chain, but that doesn’t mean the burger craze is dead. Patty pushers like M:Brgr and The Burger’s Priest have been going gangbusters since opening (the same can’t be said for Oh Boy! Burger Market; RIP), and now there’s a new kid on the block: Five Guys Burgers and Fries, a Virginia-based restaurant chain whose business is sizzling stateside (pun intended). There are already two outposts just outside the city, in Vaughan and Mississauga, and a new location is set to open at 800 Warden Avenue in Scarborough in either June or July.
More akin to The Burger’s Priest’s stripped-down approach than M:Brgr’s upscale effort (their $100 burger is already the stuff of legend), Five Guys offers a bare-bones menu and a wide assortment of toppings for their flat-top grilled patties. Apparently, Shaquille O’Neal and Barack Obama are fans. Curious carnivores unwilling to make the trek to Scarborough can simply wait: a Five Guys spokesman confirmed that locations will open in the downtown core in the near future.
• Five Guys coming to Toronto [Toronto Star]){kind=link}
Well, Five Guys has been open in Kingston Ontario for awhile!
Good to know, since we live in Gan and haven’t found a good burger spot yet!
Hopefully they can make rare burgers, instead of the dry, over-cooked ones?
In Forest Hills Village a restaurant has on it’s menu, a note that states “We recommend burgers well done, but you can have them any way you want!” Seems this gets around the liability legal issue!
@Willard – The burgers are, sadly, well done… BUT, unlike most burger joints in the city, they seem to have a beef blend that isn’t absurdly lean — resulting in a burger that remains juicy even at well done.
I personally like the BQM on Ossington’s approach where they grind in house their sirloin burger so it can be served medium-rare. I am not a fan of the have your burger burnt to a crisp approach that most joints in this city take.
I am happy for those people who have to be trendy but great juicy burgers (homeburgers)have been available for decades from Mom’Pop (Greek)restaurants spawned by SNL…my current one is in the Keele/Lawrence mall next to the bank and steps from the LCBO.
How about a veggie burger war. No soy allowed?
Burgers Priest hands down the best no-frills burger in the city. They have nailed it!
Five Guys is the In-N-Out of the east coast…burgers aren’t supposed to be cute, and these guys do it well. Toronto will get what we know already here in the States. You arent eating a burger to watch your weight…and vegans will gladly avoid this place.;D
Good lord (pun intended). Do you think you’re going to heaven by giving Burger’s Priest so much free publicity?