Where's The Beef

[renart]

South St Burgers in the Home Depot/Best Buy box plaza in Leaside makes a surprisingly good burger.  Its another brand of a chain (NY Fries). 

Limited menu shows attention to burgers.  Wide variety of standard and "gourmet" toppings. 

After 2 visits, I will return.

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This is good to know. The crowds there seem to support your view as well.

I was there to get something from Best Buy, but couldn't wait as I was with a cranky 3 year old and the lineups were almost out the door.

Will definitely give it a try...

Thanks,

d.

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Went to South Street today with the same 3 year old who was very well behaved after a nap.

Burgers are nothing to write home about. Not bad but not great. Toppings were good though. If you go, definitely get the cheese with it.

Seriously though, I thought the fries were better than the burger.

d.

[embee]

Something is missing here. Do all of you like your burgers cooked to death?

Thanks to our Public Health police, restaurants have been convinced that it is illegal to cook a burger to less than 160 degrees F. While I got the impression that this is merely a "recommendation" (please correct me if anyone knows for sure that I am wrong), I've heard the word "illegal" over and over again. Most places are so paranoid that they are cooking all burgers beyond well done - to 185 or even more..

While a McDonalds "burger" tastes better to me when cooked until crispy (which they can't do any more with their cook-to-order system), a real burger is something that is seared outside; pink and juicy within.

Licks once had the distinction of being the only fast food place that would serve a rare burger. Now they cook them until gray and dry, hack them up, flip them around, and cook them even more. Yecch. And they do this with Pasteurized beef cooked directly from frozen. Please tell me where lies the dastardly risk?

My impression is that our "hamburger disease" is coming from raspberries, spinach, lettuce, bean sprouts, water, and food handlers who don't wash their hands. So I assume we'll soon be required to eat our salad veggies cooked until well done...

To me, Allen's wins the restaurant prize. I had one last week, medium rare, and it was delicious. The top quality beef doesn't hurt. I can get RAW beef at any Ethiopian resto, and I haven't been poisoned yet. I'd love to hear about other possibilities.

Many places that served delicious burgers in the past now serve wizened pucks that once resembled beef. Lots of condiments can make them edible but, truly, what is the point. The condiment sandwich tastes like a burger - NOT...

Someone mentioned South St, which displays a prominent sign that their burgers will be pink and to ask for them well done if desired. Sure. I tried them several times and got the same gray disk every time. I managed a pink burger once, at an off hour, when I complained to the manager and he personally cooked me a burger that wasn't dried out. I'm not going back to be tantilized and disappointed again.

Dangerous Dan may successfully give you the promised coronary, but the huge creations aren't edible to me.

It's interesting that New York City public health allows rare burgers but has banned sous vide. We can get sous vide, but not a decent burger. Egad.

I could go on and on, but end of rant for now.

[brendan mc aleer]

the beer bistro on king east and fionn mac cool's on yonge and st clair. great burgers.

[SarahB]

Okay Okay (1128 Queen East at Bertmount) puts together a very tasty burger.

[phoenikia]

I bumping this old thread, to ask egulleters which burgers they consider the best in TO right now. I realize this topic has gotten a lot of coverage on another board, but there's so much noise over there, that I'd like to hear what egulleters have to say.

I've had a good burger at the Harbord Room, but afterwards I had to drink litres of water, so the meal was a salt bomb. But maybe the fries were to blame.

I've also enjoyed the Stilton Burger at Caren's Wine Bar, and a Blue Cheese & Avocado burger from Craft Burger.

Where are your favourite burgers (lowbrow, midbrow or high brow) these days?