Allen's

A busy pub on the Danforth for the older crowd with a more upscale menu – not the typical pub food.  They had a whole page on the menu dedicated to their burgers, including a history about their fresh organic hormone free cows or something along those lines.  Clearly I hadn’t read it – there was too much text and I was hungry and already had too much to read, choosing their non-complimentary toppings for my burger.  The most basic burger started at $10.25 without any sides – which is quite reasonable for a pub, until you realize that each piece of lettuce and slice of tomato costs $0.25. I also ordered what I thought was a side Caesar, to realize when I got the bill it was a $9.25 caesar salad, so I guess it was literally $0.25 per piece of lettuce plus charges for cheese and croutons.  

10 pieces of juicy romaine heart + chunky parmesan and homemade Caesar dressing

I ended up getting a burger with swiss cheese, bacon, and a piece of lettuce - $13.50, which isn't bad at all.  My server asked how I would like my burger done – I was totally caught off guard! I never knew that it was safe to eat a burger not well done.  So I got medium rare as per my steaks and it came like this:

singular $0.25 piece of lettuce beside my sexy burger

I took a bite, and this starts happening:

bloody awesome.

Definitely a juicy, succulent, burger with a nice flavour but not too overwhelming.  It’s also a thick, tender patty between nicely toasted buns, which should have met all my criteria; yet the more burgers I eat, the more demanding I'd inevitably get.  Sort of like when you woo a girl with Tiffany’s and her expectations increase overtime. I paid $1.50 for cheese, but it was nowhere to be seen.  Unlike Apache or Bamburger’s oozing cheese.  I also really care about sauce I suppose, cuz those garlic, chipotle, or horseradish mayos or homemade bbq sauces (which they didnt have) totally replace the typical ketchup, mustard, and relish.

thanks mayo, for making everything taste better

On another note, I got an iPhone, which should explain the photo quality difference if anyone noticed that it went from shitty to shittier. Despite the 5.0mp camera, I still think my Blackberry took better pictures. I thought that apps like instagram would help enhance the pictures, but even that wasn't helpful.  In fact, it just made the burgers look hipster.

see how hipsturr my caesar turned

In conclusion: the patty definitely met my standards for thickness and juiciness.  I personally think Allen's in the top spot but barely beating its competitors by a hair, all because of the lack of cheese. Highly recommended, but do make reservations if you plan to go around dinner time.