Burger Run?

I went downtown to do a Sandwich Run with some of my friends from Richmond Hill Christian Community Church yesterday. They call me every now and then to lead them.

Since I don't work Fridays I can take an easy during the day. In the afternoon I finished reading a book I took out from the library, then I walked downtown.

I left a bit early so I could grab dinner. I had bought a $20 voucher from Groupon for Big Moe's, a burger joint. It was the second one I used. The first time I went the fellow there said I had to spend at least $20. I didn't know why, but that's what he said.

Regular burgers are $4.79 there. Cheese burgers are $5.79. So to make it to the minimum $20 charge I bought three regular burgers and one cheese burger for four burgers in total.

Now, I know I can generally eat quite a bit. But four burgers might be stretching it. So as I walked out I was trying to figure out what I should do with all the burgers.

Since we were going to hand out bag lunches to people we saw on the street I figured I could do the same with the burgers.

The first place I went to was the Tim Hortons near Ryerson University. It was close to where I was going to meet the group from RHCCC and I knew there was a fellow there, Jason, who quite often hangs out opening the door for people for spare change.

Jason's from the east coast. I don't remember exactly how long he's been in Toronto. Perhaps 14 years or so. I can't remember too many other details about him. But, he's a nice guy, so, whenever I'm in the area, I try to go by to chat and see how he's doing.

This time I had a burger to offer him which he gladly accepted. We had a good chat and caught up with each other. I told him about my recent camping trips to Tobermory and the Thousand Islands from earlier in the summer.

One of his friends came by and I offered him a burger too. He was happy to get it. He tried to sell me the bike he had. I'm not sure where he got it from. I hope it wasn't stolen. That would suck for the person who lost it if it was.

A few people gave Jason change as they entered or exited Timmies. One young fellow gave him a donut in a small, brown Timmies bag. Jason didn't want it because he said it was a bit too sweet for his tastes. So when the young guys were out of sight he offered it to me. I like donuts so I took it.

I figured I'd better go up the street a bit to eat it just in case. That's when I saw a scruffy, older gentleman. I asked him if he wanted a donut and he graciously accepted.

I thought I'd start a conversation with him. Sometimes people who live on the streets don't have a lot of people to chat with. He seemed eager to talk.

Turns out his name is Bill. I believe he said he was 56. He grew up in Lindsay, Ontario. I think he was a ward of the Province. I don't believe I asked him how he ended up like that.

Anyway, we had a nice little talk. He was quite chatty. I guess not too many people ask him about his life or anything like that.

I had one more burger left (I had already eaten one while chatting with Jason). But, I was still a bit hungry, so I didn't offer it to Bill. I felt a bit guilty about that. After we parted I ate it, then went to meet the RHCCC gang at our regular meeting place at 10 Dundas East to go on the Sandwich Run.

The Grid - Burger Week

My friend Gabe and his foodie friends went out on Friday night for a burger run downtown along Ossington. It was The Grid's (entertainment paper) Burger Week. 67 restaurant locations around the city offered $5 burger deals for people to try. Peter and Emily were the main organizers. Four others; Gabe, me, Fiona and Justin tagged along.

We met in the Queen and Ossington Avenue area. Peter was there first. Gabe drove Emily, Fiona and myself. Justin came on his own from work out in Mississauga.

Our plan was to go to certain restaurants on the list and order take out. We would halve the burgers and share one between two people. Then we would head to the next restaurant and repeat until we were full.

The first snag we hit was that many of the restaurants didn't offer take out; you had to dine in. So we had to skip a few until we found one, The Lakeview (on Dundas, just east of Ossington), that did. Their burger was a beef patty with maple caramelized onions, lemon-chive mayo, onion fritters, fries, and salad with honey-balsamic vinaigrette.

It was quite busy (as were most restaurants involved with the promotion), so we had to wait awhile for our order to come. When it did we headed outside and ate it on the sidewalk before heading to our next destination. I have to say the burger was a bit dry.

The next restaurant was literally around the corner on Ossington. It was the Dakota Tavern. They offered a brisket/hanger steak/chuck blend with grilled Vidalia onion, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, house-made pickle, and chipotle mayo. It was fine.

We headed up to College Street next where we tried to get into a few restaurants. A lot of them were too busy so we couldn't get in. We finally managed to get into Hadley's which served a ground chuck and bacon with pineapple relish, smoked provolone, and wasabi mayo burger. I'm guessing it was fine. I can't quite remember. I guess it didn't make much of an impression on me.

Next we pretty much went on a wild goose chase. We headed back east along College and walked into The Caledonian. The seated us on the back patio (where it was still sprinkling rain on and off outside). We inquired about the $5 special and they said they were sold out, so we decided to take a pass and walked out.

We headed back south on Ossington to try to get the lobster burger (ground chuck, Old Bay seasoning, Nova Scotia lobster, lettuce, and garlic-and-lemon mayo on an egg-washed bun) at Rock Lobster. The line to get in was 1-1/2 to 2 hours. I think some of the guys actually considered waiting. Thankfully cooler heads prevailed and we decided to move on.

I'm not sure which place was next on the list. But, it was supposed to be way out east along Queen near Bathurst. Justin mentioned it would be at least a 15-minute walk each way from where we were. We hesitantly decided to go anyway. Thankfully Emily called them because we found out the place closed early. We would have walked there for nothing more than the exercise and fresh air.

So we turned back and headed west on Queen, up Ossington (past the Rock Lobster again) to BQM (just south of Dundas). This time we decided to go into eat. It would be our last stop. We had gone in earlier in the evening, but decided to pass because they didn't do take out.

Their burger was ground chuck with grilled pineapple, jalapeño, curry aioli, lettuce, and tomato. It was really good. I even ate the jalapeño peppers (which I normally avoid). With these particular condiments it suited the burger really well. Having a beer with the burger possibly helped too.

All in all it was a decent evening. The rain held off for the most part. It didn't go exactly as planned. I don't think we anticipated how busy the restaurants would be. But, we had a chance to sample a few good burgers (and, in my opinion, one great burger). So I'd call that a successful outing.