Toronto's Best Burger?

June 4, 2007 9:17 AM

Where can I find Toronto's Best Hamburger?

I have a list of possible contenders:

Bymark
Golden Star
Rivoli
Hero Burgers
Johnny's Hamburgers
Apache Burger
Real McCoy
C & Dubbs
Magoo's
Lick's
The Magic Spot
The Rosedale Diner
The Yellow Griffin Pub
Mildred Pierce
Vesta Lunch
Bellwood Bar & Grill
Allen's
The Tulip
The Burger Shack
Dangerous Dan's
Wimpy's
People's
The Grillway
Patrician Grill

What's missing?

posted by Fuzzy Monster to food & drink (27 answers total)

The Beaconsfield has an awesome burger. M.R. Burger in Scarborough is pretty kick ass as well.
posted by chunking express at 9:31 AM on June 4, 2007

Hal Burgers makes a pretty good burger. It's right downtown, close to the Paramount Scotiabank theatre.
posted by tracert at 9:36 AM on June 4, 2007

Hmm, somehow Hal Burgers got cut from my list. Thanks, tracert. And I'll add The Beaconsfield. Keep 'em coming, folks!
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 9:42 AM on June 4, 2007

Hal's if fancy, but I honestly don't think their burgers are all that great. Meh.

My personal fave is Charlie's Char Broil... which has closed! OMG! I saw it wasn't open last week, but I had no idea it was closed for good! Noooooooooooooo! Cruel fate!

You can no longer get Toronto's best burger. Keep searching for the second best I suppose.
posted by GuyZero at 9:46 AM on June 4, 2007

Oh man, I can't believe forgot to mention this. In that same area is Shanghai Cowgirl, which also makes a pretty good burger (they'll even put a fried egg on it). But more importantly, they make kick ass sweet potato fries, with equally kick ass mayo-wasabi dipping sauce. Definitely recommended.
posted by tracert at 9:47 AM on June 4, 2007

I'm not sure if you're looking for votes on your current list or to make your list bigger.
Either way, my vote goes for Lick's, doubly so if you count a turkey burger; their Gobbler is amazing!
posted by Laura in Canada at 9:55 AM on June 4, 2007

Utopia.
posted by helvetica at 10:05 AM on June 4, 2007

Laura in Canada: I want to expand my list but I also would like to hear about others' experiences (pro or con) with the restaurants listed. Also, specific tips like yours (Lick's has a good turkey burger) are more than welcome.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 10:09 AM on June 4, 2007

Man! Somehow I forgot to include The Burger Shoppe.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 10:12 AM on June 4, 2007

Utopia's Utopia Burger. The place is on College in little Italy. It's awesome. And the fries are really good there too. Definitely put it on your list.
posted by maxpower at 10:50 AM on June 4, 2007

A friend of mine once spent a summer trying to find the Best Hamburger in Toronto. I think he settled on Allen's.

I personally second the Beaconsfield, and Vesta Lunch, whose counter I can see through my front window.

Do NOT patronise "The Burger Shoppe" on Queen by Broadview, a chi-chi new burger-only joint. Overpriced, overcooked, surly staff. I had one of those trademark Bad Experiences there. (Oops, just noticed you put it on there. My vote of malcontent still stands!)

A place called "Burger King" on Bloor near Bathurst makes something called a "Bacon Double Cheeseburger," which I always find quite appealing.
posted by bicyclefish at 10:51 AM on June 4, 2007

Freshwood Grill. It's sirloin, it's grilled over a fire, it's bloody good.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 11:03 AM on June 4, 2007

I'd add the burger from The Purple Onion in the Junction (moved from Keele and St. Clair to Dundas W. at Pacific).
posted by maudlin at 11:05 AM on June 4, 2007

The consensus on Chowhound's Toronto board is that Hero sucks, so you might want to leave that off your list.

At Golden Star, it's important to note that you have to order the homemade burger, rather than just any burger on their menu. Also, they're quite stingy with the cheese, so if you're a cheeseburger fan, you might want to order double/triple/sextuple cheese on yours.

Some of the burgers on your list are more fast food style and some are more restaurants style, though, so which style you like is going to have an impact on which of the entries you prefer.
posted by jacquilynne at 11:10 AM on June 4, 2007

Shut up! Snobs. Hero Burger is fine. The best? Maybe, maybe not. But sheesh - it sucks? No.
posted by GuyZero at 1:37 PM on June 4, 2007

Apache Burger makes the best veggie burger I've ever eaten. Not sure if that supremacy would extend to the meat version as well...
posted by Gortuk at 1:46 PM on June 4, 2007

Also, I'm from Scarborough and Johny's Burger just isn't as good as it used to be. Though the cooks are all still jerks, which is nice. I don't think I'd put the Real McCoy on the list either. (It was down the road from my grade schoool and high school. I didn't think it was anything special.)

And Hero is pretty good as fast food places go. I'm not sure its in the same league as other places on your list though.
posted by chunking express at 1:47 PM on June 4, 2007

The Lakeview Lunch. T and I had to go there after The Last Picture Show made us crazed for burgers. It's the only place to get The Burger in TO.
posted by Mrs Hilksom at 1:52 PM on June 4, 2007

If you are at all interested in veggie burgers, Lick's Nature Burger is the best one I have ever tasted (and I have had lots!). Their onion rings are pretty great too.
posted by AV at 1:52 PM on June 4, 2007

chowhound (a site for people who think of just about nothing else but topics like this on a daily basis) has a thread on this very topic back in January 2006:

Chowhound Burger Thread

Personally, I think my favourite burger is the one I make myself, on my own grill over mesquite wood chips... yum.
posted by elkerette at 2:13 PM on June 4, 2007

Thirding Utopia, on College. (around Clinton)
posted by olya at 2:40 PM on June 4, 2007

Thanks, everyone. Keep 'em coming! elkerette, thanks for that Chowhound link.

Mrs. Hilksom, I too have had a tasty burger at the Lakeview Lunch. I left it off the list because unfortunately I think that place closed down.

jacquilynne, thanks for the Golden Star tip. For my Burger Quest I'm leaving no burger unturned: chain restaurant burgers, gourmet burgers, burgers from the greasiest of the greasy spoons... I will try them all, hoping to catch a taste of my Texas Childhood. There's a line in the movie Barcelona about the "delicious hamburger of memory," and that's what I'm hoping to find somewhere out there on the streets of Toronto.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 3:44 PM on June 4, 2007

Shut up! Snobs. Hero Burger is fine. The best? Maybe, maybe not. But sheesh - it sucks? No.

Hero Burger in Yorkville is good, maybe even great. But the other Hero Burger franchises do, in fact, suck. So hard. They're almost on a McDonald's level of suck, that's how much that they suck. Also, they blow! They suck in a hard fashion, and then after they are finished sucking they start with the blowing. Sucking and blowing, all day long, that's what they do. How do they get any work done? I don't know. But they certainly do suck.
posted by tracert at 3:44 PM on June 4, 2007

I know it costs >$30, but the Bymark burger is amazing. I found it a very different burger experience though; it's so far from a "normal" burger that it belongs in a different category.

*Sigh*...almost makes me want to start eating meat again...
posted by ltdan at 3:54 PM on June 4, 2007

Lick's Nature Burger, or anything at the Yellow Griffin.
posted by purephase at 4:02 PM on June 4, 2007

Johnny G's. They have the sign in the window and everything.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 6:07 PM on June 4, 2007

Lick's Nature Burgers are great. I haven't been to any of the other places people have mentioned. I also like the fact that they have vegetarian poutine, which I got less than two hours ago. (Disclaimer: I am not a vegetarian.)
posted by oaf at 2:19 PM on June 7, 2007