A smash burger spot inspired by In-N-Out is coming to Mississauga

Everyone tired of waiting for In-N-Out Burger to open this side of the border will soon be able to find smash patties and fully loaded fries inspired by the California chain in Mississauga.

Shakir Al-Qanbar, the owner of East Tea Can, is opening Soul Smash Burgers at Dundas and Winston Churchill, in the space next to his Middle Eastern restaurant.

The concept was born from Al-Qanbar’s desire to return to a classic burger—to the “soul” of what makes a burger good at a time when trends come and go. While Toronto has no shortage of smash burgers, Mississauga has relatively fewer options. “It’s a simple product,” says Al-Qanbar. “We just wanted to bring a quality version of it to the community we already know.”

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Soul’s no-fuss approach begins with its Canadian Prime beef, sustainably sourced from Ontario. The team went through almost 50 versions of the recipe, tweaking it and experimenting with sauces, pickles, bun styles and types of cheese until they landed on what they deemed the perfect burger.

The Standard is made with a couple of smashed 2.5-ounce patties, American cheese, caramelized onions, dill pickles and Soul Sauce (somewhere between Big Mac sauce and In-N-Out’s signature stuff) on a brioche bun.

The menu’s other staple burger is called the Core, and it’s Soul’s take on a Big Mac—two patties, American cheese, raw onions, pickles and shredded lettuce with house-made tomato relish and Soul aïoli. And a rotating limited-edition burger will always be an option. The first track on Soul’s ever-changing burger playlist is the No. 1, an Oklahoma-style burger with two patties, sautéed onions, American cheese and a truffle aïoli. Not big on beef? Vegetarians can swap in Impossible Burger patties.

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Now for the fries. Much like with In-N-Out’s “animal-style” ones, visitors can upgrade their order to Soul Fries, salty shoestrings zhuzhed up with melted cheese, caramelized onion, chopped pickles, Soul Sauce and aïoli. But we know what you’re thinking: Where am I getting my protein? For a bit extra, they’ll throw on a chopped-up burger patty.

And like at any good smash burger place, there’s a short but indulgent selection of desserts. Bucking the banana pudding trend, Soul has decided to go all-in on sundaes with two options: Lotus Biscoff and triple chocolate.

Soul Smash Burgers opens at 3115 Winston Churchill Boulevard in Mississauga on December 12.