Review: The Burgers Priest, Toronto

Last night I truly gorged on the highest calorie meal I think I could possibly muster. I hopped in a car with my friend Attit and we drove out to Toronto’s Beaches hood in the East End and licked our chops in preparation for a proper binge. We started at the cities newest favourite Burger joint, The Burgers Priest and finished at Ed’s Real Scoop.

We parked right in front of this small little hole in the wall of a restaurant. We were astonished at the crowd standing outside (waiting for their orders to be called from inside) and a long line snaking down the street of people eager to bite into a burger. The menu is simply displayed on a board over the kitchen with typical offerings: burger, chilli fries, and cookie. The place was crammed with ecstatic carnivores but Burgers Priest offers up the best “veggie burger” I have ever had which they call The Option. The Option features a Portabello Mushroom stuffed with cheese and deep fried (my lord, I know) Gasp! They call their combo “What’s Right” which includes a burger, fries and pop.

I’m ever so glad I went with Attit as he is obsessed with the place. He runs with his cravings and knows the owner personally. What many first timers wouldn’t know just strolling into the place is that there are several secret menu items which you can order if you are in the know. Try asking for their Big Mac (they mimic the Big Mac recipe and it puts McDonald’s to shame!)

We both grabbed a pop and decided to share the chili cheese fries.

Attit ordered his usual, Double Double Jarz Style with Smoke. Which means a double patty cheeseburger. Jarz style indicates that the patties are fried on the griddle with mustard. Smoke is how they refer to their battered and deep fries sliced jalapenos!

I ordered The Priest with Smoke. The Priest is a cheese burger with Option (that deep fried cheese stuffed portobello mushroom) and I added the deep fried jalapenos as well.

Eating my burger was an experience I can’t really put into words. Their burger patties are not like what you would typically expect. They are cooked so thin they crumble and break apart in your mouth like perfection. The buns quickly sop up all of the various juices (note their burgers do not travel well so eat them quickly). I dare say that Burgers Priest truly does offer up one of the best burgers I have ever tasted. Their ingenious pairings and focus on quality ingredients makes their competitors look a bit lame. Speaking of competitors it is funny to note that their is a large Harvey’s Burger chain restaurant directly across the street. It probably has a dining space 5 times that of Burgers Priest yet was empty. The People Have Spoken.