I got swept up in a world so strange
One you'd never even recognize
Oh, but I slipped away
Now I'm a stranger and I don't know why
It's killin' me
but your words
They brought me out onto steady ground
Another Tuesday, another Taste! Pay no attention to that ketchup packet hiding on a napkin in the background there... I assure you all it was not used on this appealing looking meal. Such a crime would revoke my expert food reviewing credentials... yes. That's the one.
So while I am notoriously a Pizza Guy (hey, no complaints, there are many worse things to be associated with)... a damn good cheeseburger can be on the same level as a damn good pizza to me. It's that similarly simple combination of flavour, texture, satisfying aftertastes, secondary ingredients... what's not to like?
For me, a lot! Okay lets be specific: for me at seven years old it was a lot to not like. One night, a family member (I'll preserve honour by not mentioning who) fried me a burger that instantly made me extremely ill. Hey, when you're a kid... being sick to that degree is extremely memorable. You can bounce off walls and fall from twelve feet high swings like a rubber ball feeling totally fine, but when your stomach betrays you? It's like your entire world is collapsing in brutal slow motion.
Because of this incident, I didn't eat a hamburger from the ages of probably 7-12, maybe slightly before. No joke! Seriously... I had such a negative association with burgers that it became a hard 'no' from me anytime the possibility arose (this also possibly explains my disdain/lack of enthusiasm for anything McDonald's, dear therapist reader). The only exception was likely In-N-Out Burger when I'd visit family in California every summer... but that merely proves young me wasn't an idiot for refusing one of the greatest burgers ever conceived.
Obviously I came back around and once over the hump I used to love getting Whopper Jr's for like two bucks when in junior high at Jesse Ketchum (RIP both the old Burger King at Yonge/Charles and the two dollar Whopper Jr... it's probably like six now).
This is a (typically) roundabout way of me describing a strange history with cheeseburgers and hamburgers in general. Pizza truly holds the key to my heart and that love has never been in doubt, but even making up for lost time I still know a mighty damn fine cheeseburger when I see one.
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While very new to the east end of Toronto, Harry's Charbroiled is not whatsoever new to the Toronto burger scene, or being a restaurant in general. At first I knew of them just as a retro restaurant concept devised by renowned chef Grant van Gameren (famously of Black Hoof, Bar Isabel and Bar Raval), that was initially based out of Parkdale but had to vacate that spot because operating a restaurant anywhere in Toronto at anytime seems freaking impossible for infinity reasons.
Thankfully (when editing this) I dug slightly deeper to discover this presumed backstory was not correct! Or rather, slightly incorrect.
The original Harry's was indeed a diner/burger joint in west Parkdale but van Gameran bought it in 2016 from one of the founding owners Tommy Petropoulos... with both the intention of continuing to sling high quality diner burgers and the harsh realization this was a temporary venture considering the rapid development/gentrification of the area. Petropoulos and his brothers in fact first opened the place in that same location back in 1968(!). Under van Gameran's stewardship (he'd been a fan and local of the place previously) they ran strong for a few more years (with some modern hipster tweaks naturally) but the inevitable axe did finally fall in 2019. The Toronto Star wrote about it at the time (I am indeed paraphrasing much of that piece) and it's a good read if you're interested.
Anyhow... this was surely the end of Harry's, right? Not so! They remained alive as a food truck and limited pop-up in other restaurants during those rough COVID-19 times, which proved successful enough to eventually birth a Prince Edward County location in 2022. The public desire and interest persisted, and so last year (2023) Harry's expanded back into Toronto... only this time claiming an east end home at Coxwell and Eastwood where a grimy Coffee Time once was. Which is where I come in.
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I'll get to the burger in a second but this is a perfect excuse to mention just how goofy this area of east Toronto is. The easiest way to describe where Harry's is would be: "Coxwell and Gerrard", done. But that's not completely accurate because this is the exact point where the street named Gerrard turns into Eastwood for whatever reason, with the 505 streetcar also curving north to avoid Eastwood like it has lice (Eastwood, brief as such, is actually a nice street)... only for the 505 to turn east immediately on the next block: a quiet one way street called Fairford Avenue which then transforms into Gerrard East and expands into a major street. Follow me? A street suddenly stops, changes its name, only to begin again a block north as it steals the route of another street. Toronto is hilarious (just watch what Dundas West does) and hey since Harry's is on the north-east corner of this intersection... technically they're located at Coxwell and Eastwood, not Gerrard.
Confused? Welcome to my world. Thankfully, this was an area I frequently wandered through during the lonelier days of the pandemic (as in, 99.8 percent of them). Honestly, I saw they were opening there well before anything online alerted me. Go me?
Whatever. It's hard to miss exactly where they are, seeing as they're on the corner, have a memorably colourful exterior and a big "Harry's Charbroiled" facade that curves around the corner. Once inside (and the interior is very basic yellow and white, like a minimalist 50s diner without any neon lights) I was very tempted by the chorizo burgers they offer. Frankly I was curious what a chorizo burger in this fashion would taste like, especially the "green" one, but wanted a more straightforward introduction, and so I went with a 'Classic Jane' (no onions) with fries and a side of their 'Harry's Sauce'
Steak fries! Nice surprise, I speak no lies. Damn rhymes.
Dear reader you have no idea how much it pleased me to see such thick cut beauties alongside my burger. Potatoes sliced into such straight-line girth is itself a rarity, but the result being something truly amazingly delicious? Like, delicious to the point that the side dipping sauce I purchased was an unfair obstruction to the tastiness of these fries? Pardon my rhyme, but I speak no lies.
The notorious problem with thick cut/steak fries is how the slightest bit of sogginess ruins the whole show. The exterior crisp, seasoning, general texture to a thick fry is so crucial... you want that big fluffy soft potato inside but also that precious golden outer layer. Harry's nails this: the ends of these fries were delightfully crunchy, while those thicker middles firmly full of that fluffy goodness. Truly exceptional fries, even once cooled. Hell of an initial impression.
The dip was a side of 'Harry's Sauce' which while quite a nice sauce (like a chunky tartar sauce meets sweetness) was not really an ideal compliment for fries. As their version of a 'secret sauce' on a burger or sandwich? Absolutely. Besides, clearly I underestimated these fries going in. No dip required... almost... maybe a thick cheese sauce side like the old Toby's at Yonge and Bloor had with their steak fries way back in the day. Someone reading this must know what I'm talking about.
This was a precipitous photo to take, as you can see.
Smashed burgers of this nature tend to be fairly messy by their, um... nature. If done poorly, it would be overcooked and burnt crunchy around the edges, oozing with unpleasant grease.
This is very much the opposite of that: you taste nothing but the flavourful beef throughout, the outer texture is perfectly even with all that's within, it is seasoned perfectly (not too much but its there without a doubt) and there's a constant satisfying juiciness. In other words... flawless. Love at first sight, even.
In that same Toronto Star article Petropoulos mentions how he likes to keep burgers simple, the basics (tomato, lettuce, cheese, pickle) are classics for a reason (I still like mayo though). Indeed, I was greatly impressed by the simplicity of this burger revealing so much dynamic flavour on each bite. The tender, precisely salted tender beef dominates the taste (as it should) but each of the other elements get a turn as well. Plenty of pickles, crunchy lettuce, juicy tomato... what a wonderful messy, sloppy combo of decisive tastes... and they linger! I was still pleasantly enjoying the aftertaste of this in my mouth several minutes after that final bite... which was nothing lesser than the first or the middle. What a delight start to finish.
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Overall! Clearly they're terrible don't go. No seriously, they're great and do go.
Since it was my first time and the intention was for a review, I went for that simple cheeseburger to gauge their baseline of quality. Thing is, Harry's also have these red or green chorizo burgers (a leftover from the old Parkdale days, when there it was a breakfast option) with pineapple and or jalapeno on it... I am extremely intrigued. From what I experienced, just really fantastic, satisfying, and tasty all the way through.
The legendary Shake Shack is supposed to open a permanent Toronto location in the near future (I'm sure those lineups will be entirely reasonable and accessible) and while I have been fortunate enough to try the Shack in the US a couple of times... whenever they join the Toronto burger scene I'd be curious to measure them up against Harry's here, or Rudy. Harry's Charbroiled? Genuinely one of the best cheeseburgers I've enjoyed in a very long time. Shame I never made it to the original Parkdale spot. Again, worth a trip to check them out.
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April FoologTo
This is like punching down at this point (he says from a decade-old blog) but a general consensus would surely say the utility of BlogTo as anything resembling useful information has been long drowned out in corporate algorithm click-bait chasing. And if you're wondering: no I have never written for them nor would I want to without significant creative license. So yeah, not happening.
I do peek in occasionally on the site anyhow, curious if they're reviewed an interesting new restaurant I don't know or to see how many of their recent 'top 40 pizzas' I've tried (last list I was 36/40). If you're reading this on the publication date (Tuesday April 2nd) yesterday was of course April Fools Day. Hahaha a good day for silly pranks or to shake up a Duff beer so much it causes a catastrophic explosion.
BlogTo, or at least one particular writer (who penned all of this), decided to partake in this exercise with a catchy but obviously false positive story about Toronto designed to catch eyes... raise hopes about something awesome but just ultimately a "gotcha, April Fools you idiot". Lame work indeed (a better joke would be to write something absurdly but believably bad and then pull the rug that way... neither approach is good or remotely funny, but at least the punchline is relief instead of disappointment for those actually fooled).
Cringey stuff, but! It didn't stop at one joke story. No... BlogTo posted several of these, all at the same time... ranging from the SkyDome slashing food prices, to a second CN Tower being built, to whatever the hell because there were a literal handful of these and why the hell would you do this? What is the point of having eight straight articles on your site that are all the same pointless fake joke? And told in extensive detail and completely straight without any wink at the camera? Are you auditioning for The Beaverton or The Onion... because it's only kind of "haha I get it" funny the first time. Several articles that are equally stupid and pointless within the spirit of the same one-way joke? I don't understand how anybody thought this was clever so many times.
I'm only mentioning this not because as a reviewer of Toronto things it bothers me with its casual fraudulence (BlogTo wins any battle of casual fraudulence)... it offends my comedic sensibilities! One bad joke is an eye roller. If that same bad joke immediately repeats itself gets you groaning and shifting in your seat. Still doing it again and again? And again, and again, and again, and again... that's not a well timed running gag you laugh about and share with friends over some beers, it's an affront to the very notion of comedy.
So yeah. Stupid rant on an extremely stupid subject. Carry on.
Why I Love Baseball
Tao of Stieb, as he occasionally and poetically does, writes an ode to the game and fandom itself of the Toronto Blue Jays of 2024. I'm still not particularly all in on their chances myself, but bah humbug I'll change my tune when Joey Votto arrives.
His worthwhile piece is linked below. Even if you don't follow sports, it well describes the romanticism us fans and casual players feel building in our souls once April comes around. Maybe this is the year, maybe this is our summer.
Tuesday Tune
It's a War On Drugs! But the good kind, not the blindly punishing kind (quite the opposite). They're playing my summer job later this year, and they rule. Here's a wicked tune:
That's all for another week! Until another week from now, stay safe, stay cool or warm (whichever you prefer) and while you do so don't spill that mustard.
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