The Burger’s Priest expands northward
The Burger’s Priest expands northward
The Burger’s Priest, Shant Mardirosian’s homage to classic California roadhouses, has had a cult following since it opened last year, so it’s no surprise that he’s already set to expand. The Grid is reporting that Mardirosian will open a new location at 3397 Yonge St., between York Mills and Lawrence, as early as this December. The northerly outpost will fit about 16 seats into its 1,200-square-foot space and will be adding milkshakes and possibly onion rings to the short menu. Should this location prove as successful as the original, Mardirosian apparently has his eye on potential expansion into the west end. Read the whole story [The Grid] »
The Burger’s Priest was quite possibly the worst burger I have eaten, EVER! There was so much hype to live up to, and it came nowhere near my expectations.
I rounded up a group of eager friends this week to try out the place. We received prompt, friendly service, however the price of dinner ($11.50 for a single patty and fries!) was outrageous for the quality. The patty was greasier than any burger I have eaten before (soaked through my bun!), however it was loosely compacted, providing a great texture. The french fries were disappointing, at $3.50 a crack.
I’m not quite sure what the ongoing lineup and hype is all about at this place….
Owner getting loud and arrogant in here. Burgers, like the ones we had at White Castle in Chicago, In and Out in LA. I live around the corner and called in an order for my son at 5:00, cheeseburger and fries. The cashier says they are busy so pick it up at 5:30. I arrive at said time, line up outside to pay and pick up, only to find out when I finally get to the front, that she’s not even put my order in the lineup. She’s sitting with it at the cash for 1/2 an hour all ready, and now my order goes to the BACK of a very long line. Hello, that’s why I called for take out 45 minutes ago!! The owner comes out when I question this, and yells in a condescending tone “yeah! You have a GREAT day!” and runs and hides behind their curtain. The man behind me after hearing all this says “what a dumb ass. He could have just said, I’m sorry miss, our mistake.” You get a little press, think you’re a burger God and I guess you can be rude to customers. K, I feel better now that I shared.
just go to Woody’s …healthier , grilled with wood ,every topping know to man ,and the staff are simply down home amazing
Thanks for the cautionary tales. Wasn’t the owner considering a priestly vocation? His interpersonal skills are obviously not appropriate nor do they address customer satisfaction. Three Hail Mary’s and an Act of Contrition for penance.
Agree with the above. Lots of attitude and even more grease. I liked it the first time we went but after that the grease was overloading and the attitude got worse. The goth girl at the cash is useless and borderline rude. Thought I would try this secret burger that was hyped up in Now magazine but when you order it, they say you need to recite the ingredients/ condiments. OK, well then I’ll order a last-burger-ever-from-this-joint instead!
I didn’t know that Toronto Life even knew that part of the city existed.
If you want something from the secret menu. Take the time while you are waiting in line to figure or the name and what it is that you would like. If you feel that you are treated rudely by the BP not tellin you what is on the secret menu, whats on the secrest menu burger consist of owhereof to order the big Mac burger or asking whats on the cheeseburger then well yea you will get a blunt and mildly rude response. For your info Dloo the hight priest, low priest and the double low priest are the only burgers that come dressed you get to pick what you would like on any other burger on or off the secret menu. I will write them here for you. Ketchup mustard, mayo, lettuce, onion, tomato and pickle. Extra for baco ot fried onions No not onion rings caramelized onions. Do it right Dloo and you will have a good experience. I have been waiting behind people in line asking stupid question and they get stupid resonses. Fair is fair. They are not getting rated friendist burger place in the city or most timely nor are the promoting call in orders( that’s a privilege ) they are getting rated top burgers in the city. Quit your complaining.
MD, you mention “nor are the promoting call in orders(that’s a privilege)”.
That’s funny, because right at the top of their website http://theburgerspriest.com I see “FOR PICKUP ORDERS, CALL” with a phone number that is larger then the restaurant’s name.
Oh hey – and look at the Banner Ad at the bottom of their site!
everyone that has written a negative comments are the so called competition burger joints in Toronto whom will never understand why they did not come up with such simple yet delicious idea.
Hey eli. No, I’m just Susan. Stay at home mom Susan. I occasionally cook burgers on my BBQ, but I wouldn’t call my home a “Burger Joint”, nor am I in “competition” with Burger’s Priest, or any restaurant for that matter (although I’m a pretty good cook!). I simply posted my negative experience above to let others know how they treated me, and I see that I am not alone in finding the owners less than polite. How suspicious of you. So there, Ha ha!
Hey Susan, I’ve eaten at the priest many times and I have only ever been treated well. I know that at times it seems like people have attitude but I assure you that anyone I have ever talked to there are very normal down to earth people. Possibly it was just an off day?
Because the burgers aren’t dry or filled with breadcrumbs they are bound to be juicy. They don’t cook the burgers in anything so I wouldn’t call it greasy just juicy! And because of this calling in your order only makes sense if you are placing a huge order cause otherwise the burgers sit there waiting for you and get cold and your bun will get soggy.
I’d give it another try.
To each his/her own opinion, as they say, BUT I have a very difficult time understanding how anyone cannot ABSOLUTELY LOVE the burger’s at BP. I have travelled all over N.America & tried cheeseburgers everywhere I’ve been. BP makes the absolute best burger going & we Torontonians are fortunate to have this gem (soon to be two- second location opening N of Lawrence on Yonge).
As to multiple comments of rude service here & on other food sites, I have had nothing but polite service on every single occasion. My first trip, having read all sorts of online reviews, I expected rudeness. Instead I got a smile & a thank-you from the “goth” girl at the cash (she wears a beret- how the heck is that “goth”????). The cook who handed me my burger wished me a good afternoon… Where’s the rudeness in this picture????
Are there any negatives at BP? Yes; crappy fries & long lines at most times. I simply don’t order the fries & make an attempt to stop-by between lunch & dinner rushes. I read an interview with the owner somewhere online where he acknowledges his fries have been sub-par- he actually acknowledges a shortcoming! He goes on to say he is working on improving the fries.
“Hey Hey” yourself. You missed the point. I had a sick kid at home and called in the order so I could pick up and go. I arrived at 5:30, as instructed. Lined up to pay. Got to cashier 10 minutes later only to find my order on a pad next to her (she totally ignored my order, get it?). Then, instead of saying “oops sorry”, she put the order in the BACK of all of the other orders. Couldn’t she just fast track it?? Ad insult to injury so to speak, the owner decides to yell at me, the customer, in an attempt to humiliate, embarrass… whatever. This however made him look like a jerk in front of all the customers in earshot. Awkward! I’m all for supporting local biz, I live in the neighbourhood and usually hope for success of new entrepreneurs. Once you get somewhat successful, don’t be an idiot.
Went in the check out the new location on Yonge above Lawrence. Asked about the meat, where it came from, was it special in any way, and was told by the fellow in charge”Sorry, we can’t talk about our meat because our contract prevents us from doing so.” Have you ever heard anything as crazy as this?
Went in today to check out the new location on Yonge n. of Lawrence. Asked about the meat, was there anything special about it, etc. Was told by the fellow in charge that they couldn’t talk about the meat because of “contractual obligations”. How crazy is that? I said thank you, then I won’t be coming back. He said, that’s fine.
I just heard on Canada AM that Burgers Priest was rated as the 3rd best restaurant in T.O. So I just had to check out what others had to say before I headed out from my High Park apartment to go to their Young & Lawerence location.
After reading all the negative reviews on this site and one other site, I think I’ll stay home and save the time and expense.
Haha… what you all don’t realize is that the negative comments are planted here to discourage new people from discovering BP and making the line even LONGER! Success!
No seriously though, I don’t even like burgers and I LOVE BP. I lived in Southern California for most of my life so I had White Castle AND In&Out many many times. Hated them. I tolerated the occasional freshly BBQ’d burger but one was more than enough for me. I will easily and happily eat 2 cheeseburgers at a time from BP.
I like the girl at the cash. She reminds me of the people I used to work with in a retail store in college (in a nostalgic good way). And she is always there trying the best she can to be the middle person between a never-ending lineup of hungry people and a rushing crew of burger makers in a space the size of my pantry. I don’t know how she tolerates the temperature fluctuations from the scalding grill to the constantly opening door letting in gusts of freezing winter air. Give the girl a break people. And yeah, she doesn’t strike me as goth. But even if she was, what difference does it make?
As to the arrogance of the owner: I have never seen him so I have no idea. My knowledge of him consists of the picture of what I presume to be him holding a coconut on top of the counter and an interview I read (in which he does in fact admit that his fries are a shortcoming due to the variable sugar content of potatoes and that he has had competitors pay off delivery boys to find out where his meat comes from – hence the tight-lippedness). Seems acceptable to me.
The rest of the staff seems pleasant enough and always responds promptly (albeit maybe not super-warmly) to all requests I have seen. They verbally confirm EACH AND EVERY order as they pass it over to avoid mistakes. And I have yet to see a mistake. And they never get my name wrong (I have one of those names that people like to add letters to for some odd reason. And no, my name is not “beacher). So I am happy.
Are they expensive? Yes. Are the lines psycho-long sometimes? Yes. Is there menu mostly in code and it can be a bit intimidating to order for the first time? Yes but just ask, no will bite you. Is it worth it? It is to me. Hype or not, suit yourselves. Meanwhile, I will enjoy my burger with or without the “option”.
Just to clarify: I am not in any way affiliated with Burgers’ Priest. I moved to TO 6 months ago. I have a lack of Canadian residency to prove it.