St Lawrence Market

[SunriseChampion]

Not so different a story over at A & W; which again, makes a pretty lackluster product overall.



Now, if only their food tasted good............

Excuse you? Wtf did you just say?! Them's fighting words mate.

A Dub is my guilty pleasure in terms of food. My fast food choice (I mean other than shawarmas and burritos).

I can't believe you....thought you were cool.

You haven't lived until you've stopped in every town in the British Columbia Interior to grab two Swiss Veggie burgers from A Dub on a two week road trip. Which I may or may not have done.

 

[Northern Light]

Excuse you? Wtf did you just say?! Them's fighting words mate.

A Dub is my guilty pleasure in terms of food. My fast food choice (I mean other than shawarmas and burritos).

I can't believe you....thought you were cool.

You haven't lived until you've stopped in every town in the British Columbia Interior to grab two Swiss Veggie burgers from A Dub on a two week road trip. Which I may or may not have done.

The burgers really aren't special at all.

Burger's Priest, they ain't

South St. Burger they ain't.

The fries are forgettable.

The root beer is still good!

 

[Towered]

The burgers really aren't any special at all.

Burger's Priest, they ain't

South St. Burger they ain't.

The fries are forgettable.

The root beer is still good!

The root beer float is disappointing. My family looked on in horror as they watched the cashier extract a couple of pre-packaged "pucks" of ice cream wrapped in clear plastic from the freezer and unceremoniously plop them into the root beer. I was less than surprised, but it seems they were erroneously expecting someone to scoop some fresh, artisanal house-made ice cream from a tub like a proper 50's style malt shop. Tsk tsk.

 

[Northern Light]

The root beer float is disappointing. My family looked on in horror as they watched the cashier extract a couple of pre-packaged "pucks" of ice cream wrapped in clear plastic from the freezer and unceremoniously plop them into the root beer. I was less than surprised, but it seems they were erroneously expecting someone to scoop some fresh, artisanal house-made ice cream from a tub like a proper 50's style malt shop.

Clearly your family had reasonable expectations, based on those that you, an exacting culinary consumer had imbued them with.

Good job!

 

[Towered]

Nothing particularly weird about it.

They got bought by Restaurant Brands International; (aka Tim's and Burger King).

They have the capital to push expansion.

They also have market room because KFC has been backsliding for years.

They were an inconsequential chain in Canada, when a GTA frachchisor made a play by having them adopt halal meat.

That provided a modest, but material boost to the chain's fortunes here.

But then RBI annexed them.

The combination of relatively smart direct management at Popeyes, with vast sums of capital, in the form of RBI.

I'm not particularly amazed at Popeyes product offer, but I'm not a fast food person.

Their spicy fried chicken is decent'ish; and their new over-hyped sandwich is likewise good (but not great); but the combination of going after spaces KFC didn't
(the spicy segment; slightly better sides etc.) while putting capital and real estate savvy to work.........

****

Not so different a story over at A & W; which again, makes a pretty lackluster product overall.

But they found a clear niche, targeting customers concerned about animal welfare, and sustainability, they've marketed the hell out of it, with a pretty brilliant ad campaign too.

They also showed real estate savvy, and took on small spaces that bigger chains, typically fixated on large amounts of seating, ignored.

Now, if only their food tasted good............

Well that would certainly explain the sudden and rapid explosion.

As for KFC, some minor adjustments could potentially help them. Firstly, they need to ditch their horrific fries. They are easily the worst of any of the large fast food chains, bar none. Should be an easy fix. Next, their "extra crispy" breading should ALWAYS be available as an option, particular given how brilliantly that has worked for Popeye's. It makes no sense to me that KFC only offers it once in a blue moon for a limited time under no discernable schedule.

 

[SunriseChampion]

The burgers really aren't special at all.

Burger's Priest, they ain't

South St. Burger they ain't.

The fries are forgettable.

The root beer is still good!

Bruh.....caramelised onion.


South St is good, yeah. Never had Burger's Priest. They seem pretentious.

 

[evandyk]

Burger's Priest is not pretentious at all. It's just a good burger with decent fries. My last place was near a Burger's Priest, and my current place is near South Street. Both are really good, though very different. A&W is fine if you just need a burger for lunch, and their onion rings are pretty good.

I haven't had food from a big chain since March, though, since I'm trying to support more local places these days.

 

[Jonny5]

Burger's Priest is not pretentious at all. It's just a good burger with decent fries. My last place was near a Burger's Priest, and my current place is near South Street. Both are really good, though very different. A&W is fine if you just need a burger for lunch, and their onion rings are pretty good.

I haven't had food from a big chain since March, though, since I'm trying to support more local places these days.

There's some pretentiousness in all of them. A visit to the Burgers Priest website and I see first their burgers use "ultra-premium beef"
Ultra-premium beef? Umm... OK...
1. They obviously don't.
2. They obviously think there are enough very stupid people to think that they do.
3. They're probably right about that given how A&W does it too and even charges a premium on their very generic product.

 

[SunriseChampion]

2. They obviously think there are enough very stupid people to think that they do.

Everyone's a little dumb in their own little way.

I just reckon that anywhere that gets hype of any sort is going to be pretentious and I remember there being some manner of hype around Burger's Priest when they first kicked off so I've avoided it.

It's just burgers......I don't think I'm missing anything life-altering.

 

[Northern Light]

There's some pretentiousness in all of them. A visit to the Burgers Priest website and I see first their burgers use "ultra-premium beef"
Ultra-premium beef? Umm... OK...
1. They obviously don't.
2. They obviously think there are enough very stupid people to think that they do.
3. They're probably right about that given how A&W does it too and even charges a premium on their very generic product.

Assuming they haven't changed as they chain-ify.......

Burger's Priest does grind their own meat on premise in each location, fresh each day; and do fresh-cut fries.

Their condiments are ho-hum; their burgers are fried griddle-top.

Their price is a bit steep for what it is; through not extraordinarily so.

I have to say, when they started, (I haven't been to one in a while); I was quite taken by the juicyness of the burgers.

They cooked them enough for safety, but not 1 second longer, so they didn't dry out.

One more note, in respect of their beef, while premium is a fairly useless term; they do have a couple of statements:

Grass Fed, that one is clear, and I think aside from being preferable for the animals, does impart some added flavour vs typical feedlot.

Humanely Raised; apart from grass-fed, this would require third-party certification to establish what's meant.

Sustainable Beef; McDs is using this term now; requires third party certification to ascertain what's being committed to.

 

[slicecom]

Pretentious or not, Burger's Priest is on a whole 'nother level when compared to South Street in my opinion.

 

[Northern Light]

Pretentious or not, Burger's Priest is on a whole 'nother level when compared to South Street in my opinion.

I like the grilled taste on my burger; and feel South St. has better toppings (certainly a lot more).

But they do have a tendency to over cook the burgers. I'd rather that than get E.Coli; but I'd prefer quality meat, and proper training and equipment, so that the burgers are consistently juicy.

Their fries were never my preferred style.

 

[slicecom]

I like the grilled taste on my burger; and feel South St. has better toppings (certainly a lot more).

But they do have a tendency to over cook the burgers. I'd rather that than get E.Coli; but I'd prefer quality meat, and proper training and equipment, so that the burgers are consistently juicy.

Their fries were never my preferred style.

Yep, that's my problem with South Street, and many other burger joints. They overcook the hell out of their meat. Burger's Priest is always nice and juicy.

 

[DSC]

Hey guys: Time to get back to St Lawrence stuff.....

 

[SunriseChampion]

Hey guys: Time to get back to St Lawrence stuff.....

Ok, how about a combination theme then?

Where to get the best burger in St Lawrence?