Restaurant Comings & Goings

[Northern Light]

Frankly Popeye's is overrated - and overexpanded. The sides are particularly insipid - and coleslaw, gross.

AoD

Their growth here has really been a function of two things.

1) KFC mismanaging its way to irrelevancy, creating space in the market

2) Being owned by RBI, which gave them the Tim's team for franchising and real estate. We all rightly dump on Tim's for its many failings, but their folks know how to franchise and how to unlock good real estate for their type of business.

That's it. They do, do spicy a bit better than KFC, and have more condiments, but I don't think that's a huge driver and is almost certainly offset by the fact they are much slower to move an order (KFC has more stuff ready, that's been sitting in a warming tray for who know's how long, but it does mean you're less likely to stand there for ages waiting for 'fast food'.

****

Side note, I hadn't been in a KFC in months and went a few weeks back to @tstormers favourite one....... nostalgia for the batter/skin is my only excuse..........but I digress..........

I frankly would have just ordered 1 piece of chicken to satisfy that desire, but of course, the combo is almost the same price. KFC fries have been terrible my entire life........and the 'gravy' not much better.

But what used to save it for me, is that I would get a vinegar packet and pepper and add flavour to the gravy. When I was in this last time............ "we no longer carry vinegar".

Ok then.....odds on my having KFC more than once a year just declined.

 

[evandyk]

I’ve stopped going to KFC at all. The nostalgia just doesn’t do it for me any more. If i have a fried chicken craving I go to one of the newer places, like Cluck Cluck’s. I do love the shrimp at Popeye’s, though. I go at off times so it’s not busy, prepare to wait for a few minutes and enjoy the fact that it’s actually fresh from the fryer.

Given there’s no common control between Popeyes and A&W (the opposite actually), the extent to which they’re opening up near each other is just because they target similar demographics/traffic volumes.

 

[Richard White]

I’ve stopped going to KFC at all. The nostalgia just doesn’t do it for me any more. If i have a fried chicken craving I go to one of the newer places, like Cluck Cluck’s. I do love the shrimp at Popeye’s, though. I go at off times so it’s not busy, prepare to wait for a few minutes and enjoy the fact that it’s actually fresh from the fryer.

Given there’s no common control between Popeyes and A&W (the opposite actually), the extent to which they’re opening up near each other is just because they target similar demographics/traffic volumes.

I only go to KFC when I am constipated. It clears me out.

 

[tstormers]

Their growth here has really been a function of two things.

1) KFC mismanaging its way to irrelevancy, creating space in the market

2) Being owned by RBI, which gave them the Tim's team for franchising and real estate. We all rightly dump on Tim's for its many failings, but their folks know how to franchise and how to unlock good real estate for their type of business.

That's it. They do, do spicy a bit better than KFC, and have more condiments, but I don't think that's a huge driver and is almost certainly offset by the fact they are much slower to move an order (KFC has more stuff ready, that's been sitting in a warming tray for who know's how long, but it does mean you're less likely to stand there for ages waiting for 'fast food'.

****

Side note, I hadn't been in a KFC in months and went a few weeks back to @tstormers favourite one....... nostalgia for the batter/skin is my only excuse..........but I digress..........

I frankly would have just ordered 1 piece of chicken to satisfy that desire, but of course, the combo is almost the same price. KFC fries have been terrible my entire life........and the 'gravy' not much better.

But what used to save it for me, is that I would get a vinegar packet and pepper and add flavour to the gravy. When I was in this last time............ "we no longer carry vinegar".

Ok then.....odds on my having KFC more than once a year just declined.

I obviously have a liking to KFC hahaha. I do like their Carolina Honey Mustard dipping sauce for their tenders, enjoy the gravy or used too, depends on location tbh and the batter/skin is my fav of all the chicken places I have been too. Fries used to be better as well as the poutine (Current fry/gravy mix isn't like it used to be).

I only go to KFC when I am constipated. It clears me out.

Funny you say that as the opposite is true for Popeyes lol, but the fries are way better.

On the fries note, since it popped in my head, Burger Kings fries have to be the worst in the fast food space.

Thanks for the tag @Northern Light and the visit to my adopted KFC lol

 

[JasonParis]

presence in Ontario, many years after abandoning their only City location at Front/Simcoe.

I really liked the store-made tortilla chips, the salsa was ok, but needed a bit more kick; regrettably, the rest of the menu was pretty uninspired.

A funny anecdote about that Lonestar location... The night Barack Obama won the U.S. Presidency, the "GOP Supporters of Canada" party was held there. I suppose it wasn't much of one.

 

[RGB_11]

...but in all fairness, even though A&W is competition to Burger King, there is this illusion (?) that RBI & A&W are actually friends, doing friendly competition simply by having a Popeyes and A&W side by side instead of intentionally placing a Burger King next door to an A&W (or close enough to...)
& there's an awful high number of them (Popeyes and A&W) close together in Toronto.

 

[Northern Light]

...but in all fairness, even though A&W is competition to Burger King, there is this illusion (?) that RBI & A&W are actually friends, doing friendly competition simply by having a Popeyes and A&W side by side instead of intentionally placing a Burger King next door to an A&W (or close enough to...)
& there's an awful high number of them (Popeyes and A&W) close together in Toronto.

I wonder if Burger King has a single dominant franchisee in Canada.............hmmmm

Redberry Investments Corp. Acquires 94 BURGER KING® Restaurants in Canada; Becomes Master Franchisee in Canada

Burger King Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: BKW) today announced the sale of its Canadian subsidiary Burger King Restaurants of Canada (“BKRC”), including 94 c

www.businesswire.com

 

[artyboy123]

What's on the menu at Azura, a new Mediterranean restaurant on the Danforth serving blind tasting menus

No two menus are the same

torontolife.com

What's on the menu at Sounds Good, the newest addition to Toronto's burgeoning listening bar scene

Featuring a former Alo sous-chef in the kitchen

torontolife.com

 

[artyboy123]

Sort-of Secret: Comma, a Korean restaurant on Queen West serving raw marinated crab

And pairing it with scotch whisky

torontolife.com

 

[Jonny5]

I wonder if Burger King has a single dominant franchisee in Canada.............hmmmm

Redberry Investments Corp. Acquires 94 BURGER KING® Restaurants in Canada; Becomes Master Franchisee in Canada

Burger King Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: BKW) today announced the sale of its Canadian subsidiary Burger King Restaurants of Canada (“BKRC”), including 94 c

www.businesswire.com

Interesting that Redberry has itself since been acquired. However, I did see on their website they are dominant only regionally as they have no franchises for BK or their other big brand Taco Bell west of Winnipeg.

Apparently they used to have 27 Pizza Hut locations in Alberta but sold them all.

They show they have plans to open 300 Jersey Mikes franchises "across Canada", and already have the first two, though again both are in Ontario.

 

[AlbertC]

The Black Bull Tavern at Queen West & Soho is closing next week on April 3, 2024:

Toronto's oldest bar is closing this week after nearly 200 years

The oldest bar in the city is closing down for good after nearly 200 years serving brews and bar bites. Since 1838, The Black Bull Tavern has stood a…

www.blogto.com

 

[Towered]

The Black Bull Tavern at Queen West & Soho is closing next week on April 3, 2024:

Toronto's oldest bar is closing this week after nearly 200 years

The oldest bar in the city is closing down for good after nearly 200 years serving brews and bar bites. Since 1838, The Black Bull Tavern has stood a…

www.blogto.com

Controversial opinion, but the place was not great. Dated and unimpressive interior, utterly bland food, and very disappointing beer selection (there's no excuse for that these days). They made no effort to update a single thing over the decades. Only the epic patio kept this place appealing for so long. With any luck, a much cooler spot will take its place, but knowing Toronto, it'll probably be a freakin' corporate Firkin pub...

 

[Coolibop]

Controversial opinion, but the place was not great. Dated and unimpressive interior, utterly bland food, and very disappointing beer selection (there's no excuse for that these days). They made no effort to update a single thing over the decades. Only the epic patio kept this place appealing for so long. With any luck, a much cooler spot will take its place, but knowing Toronto, it'll probably be a freakin' corporate Firkin pub...

They also didn't accept any cards last time I was there... Cash only? Was taken aback.

 

[christiesplits]

Controversial opinion, but the place was not great. Dated and unimpressive interior, utterly bland food, and very disappointing beer selection (there's no excuse for that these days). They made no effort to update a single thing over the decades. Only the epic patio kept this place appealing for so long. With any luck, a much cooler spot will take its place, but knowing Toronto, it'll probably be a freakin' corporate Firkin pub...

It was definitely one of those places you only went to the for the patio.

 

[evandyk]

Controversial opinion, but the place was not great. Dated and unimpressive interior, utterly bland food, and very disappointing beer selection (there's no excuse for that these days). They made no effort to update a single thing over the decades. Only the epic patio kept this place appealing for so long. With any luck, a much cooler spot will take its place, but knowing Toronto, it'll probably be a freakin' corporate Firkin pub...

Or a King Taps/Earls type of place.