Big M Drive In — Restaurant in Pickering

Peterborough First Timer - Decided to try out the Big M on probably one of the hottest days ever, and Saturday night to boot!

First off, it was busy, and we expected that because the owner just launched a TikTok post, and my wife happened to see it, and decide to send me some small hints. I decided, what the hell, it’s roughly an hour away, and nice night for drive.

The staff were very appreciative that we drove from Peterborough and that we seen the TikTok! They took our order at about 6:45pm, and it took until 7:15 to get our food. (There was probably 10 people ahead of us.).

I ordered the Steak on a Bun Combo with Fries, while my wife ordered the Chicken souvlaki on a pita combo with onion rings. Add a couple waters and I decided to try their homemade Chocolate Shake. (Big mistake when it’s 30+ outside, you end up drinking the whole thing and your stuffed)

As for the food, it was great, and the portions were large. The food was very very hot, so we knew it was made to order. All the items tasted great! Fries were great, the onion rings were good, but if you like thin coating, not for you.

The waiting area (indoor seating area) I don’t think will ever be used to eat at unless it’s a very slow day. The place is clean, but with all the food that’s being cooked in there you may find it a little smoky. They have 6-8 picnic tables to eat outside, and turn over seems to be fairly quick. Parking is a little challenging but nearby business were closed, so you can get somewhere close. My only message would be to arrange a stop near the front for disability parking as the only one marked this way was behind the building and the garbage bins were actually placed on them.

I highly recommend going and trying them at least once. I would definitely stop there again on the way through Pickering. If I lived in the area, I would frequent here rather than the other “fast food stops” just much better tasting.

Now as for pricing…. To be honest, it’s a little more expensive than some “fast food”, but not buy much, and the quality and quantity more than justify...

I am so utterly discussed on how this restaurant handles the food. My boyfriend and i walked in for the first time last Friday night and ordered 2 burgers. The staff prepare the food right in front of you while you wait, and you can view how they cook and prepare the food behind an old 1950's style glass counter. To my discus, i see a girl with long white sparkly nails that are at least 2 inches long picking up our burger buns and handling them as if they were her cell phone. She literally groped the food 3 times or more and all i could think was what WHY THE HECK is she NOT wearing gloves? When i said something to a larger white gentlemen, i was rudely advised that Health Canada has removed restrictions on gloves and he snapped, "We will get FINED if we wear gloves!!" Wow, how rude and what a terrible first experience this was for us. So i looked up these so called Health Canada regulations and it is true, restaurants are no longer required to wear gloves and the rules go on to also include, "restaurants ARE required to use tongs and NOT handle the food with their bare hands". So you see BIG M, maybe i could make a suggestion so your future customers don't see your staff with 2 inch long fake nails handle your customers food directly in front of them without tongs. I have reported this restaurant to Health Canada for investigation and we will NEVER eat at this establishment again! All Big M had to do was offer us clean Hamburger buns to correct our concern, but instead they preached Health Canada regulations which they are clearly not...

I hate to give this place 3 stars just based off trying it only once and only trying one item on the menu. I'm pretty much just reviewing the onion rings. I always hear people rave and rave about how good the onion rings are so I decided to give them a try. We ordered a larger onion ring, they were ready very quickly. The outside batter was decent but for some horrible reason the onions on the inside had a very strong distinct vinegar flavour to them. Even when I bought the bag into the car and opened it up all I got was a big whiff of vinegar.  Such a disappointment.  It doesn't seem like anyone else has ever experienced this. I have friends that rave about it and never once said they were vinegar flavored. I think they either messed up or something, because they weren't good, and not right. Costed over $9 for the onion rings and basically just choked them down. I suppose I could have called the restaurant to see what was up, but figured whats the piont since ive already left, and I'm not going back. Not to mentioned I was a little ways away before I even tried one because they were very warm still. Also, they definitely would have smelt that they were off and vinegary I could smell it the second I got in the car with the bag. I hope it was just a mistake, but unfortunately I don't think I'll be trying the onion rings...