McPretenders: seven Toronto takes on the mighty Big Mac
McPretenders: seven Toronto takes on the mighty Big Mac
Toronto’s obsession with fancy fast food isn’t new, but it’s growing. As the city’s snack bars multiply, so too do the options for sloppy, greasy, delightfully trashy food—including multiple homages to the McDonald’s Big Mac. (Maybe they all got inspired back in 2011?) Once we started looking, they were everywhere: fancy faux Macs in burger, bao and even pizza form. Here, seven Toronto takes on the king of fast-food burgers.
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- At <b>Enzo Pizzabar</b> on Queen West, the Americano (an item on the restaurant's "secret menu") smashes all the Mac essentials onto one gluttonous pie. $14 (small), $25 (large)<br /><br /> <strong>True Mac Flavour:</strong> 5/10. A valiant effort to combine pizza and pickles<br /><br /> <em>646 Queen St. W., 416-366-0009</em>
- (Image: Caroline Aksich)
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- Henry's Lil Big Mac, the <b>County General'</b>s Mac-inspired slider, was renamed after a customer who flipped out when the pork-belly buns were temporarily removed from the restaurant's menu. $4<br /><br /> <strong>True Mac Flavour:</strong> 6/10. Taste-wise, the pork-belly "patty" is a departure from the original—but in a really strong way<br /><br /> <em>936 Queen St. W., 416-531-4447</em>
- (Image: Caroline Aksich)
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- <b>OddSeoul’</b>s aptly named “Loosey” is an architecturally unsound tower of beef short rib, onions, pickles, lettuce and kimchi hollandaise, all smushed between two slices of thick challah. $5<br /><br /> <strong>True Mac Flavour:</strong> 6.5/10. More Mac in spirit than in essential components<br /><br /> <em>90 Ossington Ave.</em>
- (Image: Caroline Aksich)
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- “You don’t mess too much with the classics,” says <b>Snakes and Lagers </b>chef <strong>Nicholas Morra.</strong> His Petit Mac shrinks the Big Mac down to slider size, so that you can eat with one hand while dealing a Cards Against Humanity win with the other. $6<br /><br /> <strong>True Mac Flavour:</strong> 8/10. The PM's special sauce is spiked with paprika, which adds an intriguing—if not entirely authentic—smokiness<br /><br /> <em>488 College St., 647-748-4004</em>
- (Image: Caroline Aksich)
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- <b>GwaiLo,</b> the long-awaited "Asian brasserie" from chef <strong>Nick Liu,</strong> is still undergoing renovations, but here's something to look forward to: the McLiu, a Chinese-style bao containing pork, beef, pickles and special sauce, all swaddled in yeasty dough with a morsel of homemade processed cheese. (That's right: Liu takes normal cheddar cheese and processes it himself, by hand.) $5<br /><br /> <strong>True Mac Flavour:</strong> 8/10. For something that bears zero resemblance to a hamburger, this doughy pocket captures a surprising amount of Mac essence
- (Image: Caroline Aksich)
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- While it won’t clog as many arteries as the Cowlorie (a six-patty behemoth book-ended by grilled cheeses), <strong>Holy Chuck'</strong>s Big Mac claimant—the aptly named Big Chuck—is still a formidable stack. It sticks pretty close to the original with two patties, leaf lettuce, pickles, American cheese and special sauce. You can also opt to "Big Chuck" your fries. $11<br /><br /> <strong>True Mac Flavour:</strong> 9/10. A good option for Mac aficianados who suspect their cholesterol may be too low<br /><br /> <em>1450 Yonge St., 416-962-4825</em>
- (Image: Caroline Aksich)
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- At <strong>This</strong><b> End Up</b> on Dundas West, The Better Mac is exactly what it sounds like: the Big Mac, only way better. Chef-owner <strong>Adam Urquhart</strong> grills two four-ounce patties to pink-centred perfection and then cloaks each one with cheese, sliced sweet onions, dill pickles and a tangy, apricot-hued special sauce. $11<br /><br /> <strong>True Mac Flavour:</strong> 9.5/10. The only thing missing is that indefinable, chemical-tinged flavour punch unique to highly processed foodstuffs<br /><br /> <em>1454 Dundas St. W., 647-347-8700</em>
- (Image: Caroline Aksich)
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Toronto’s obsession with fancy fast food isn’t new, but it's growing. As the city's snack bars multiply, so too do the options for sloppy, greasy, delightfully trashy food—including multiple homages to the McDonald's Big Mac. (Maybe they all got inspired back in 2011?) Once we started looking, they were everywhere: fancy faux Macs in burger, bao and even pizza form. Here, seven Toronto takes on the king of fast-food burgers.
See all 7 Macs »
[gallery columns="6" ids="279698,279697,279702,279703,279700,279701,279806"]){kind=link}
Missed 416 Snack Bar’s ‘mini-mac’ (I believe its only served on Sundays though)
They all look loathsome.
Tried the Oddseoul version, it was okay. Also tried the pizza at Enzo (Americano)…it was surprisingly really good! Cool write up!