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a good burger joint in Toronto

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-eight years and a million words

Today I decided to try the burger joint across the street from the office for the first time. I regret ignoring it for six months.

One of the weird things about Toronto, all these years, is that there are damn few good burger places. I can't explain it: this is a city where you can find plenty of great places for just about any other cuisine.

Wandering in to "Grindhouse" (I think it was the similarity in name to the stupid Tarantino movies that put me off) on Queen Street west I was pleasantly surprised to find that they'd made an interesting and attractive place without the usual burger joint awfulness or cheesiness about it. A brick interior, good music, a decent bar to sit at - great!

But it's the food that matters, and I can state without hesitation that I had the finest hamburger I've had anywhere in Toronto. I ordered a "wild boar" burger and had with it the gluten-free bun that - along with everything else on the menu - they make in-house. It was simply delicious.

There's one caveat, and that's the price. I'd only brought a twenty with me for lunch ($6-$10 being the norm in Tokyo for lunch, I still haven't adjusted!) and I couldn't afford to have the burger (including the $1 surcharge for a bun that I could eat) plus any side dish (fries came in at $6!).

I strongly recommend the place for the occasional treat.