Grillies (Dundas & Jarvis) — Restaurant in Toronto

First time coming to the place, wasn't too bad. Ordered a bacon cheeseburger and poutine.

Interior is dark, kind of depressing to dine in after entering when its dark out. Decided to take my food to go.

The bacon cheeseburger. The meat was flavourful, but its unfortunately as thin, if not thinner, than a patty you'd get from McDonald's. Big flavour, not much sustenance - just a lot of bun and toppings. The bacon was similar to the Maple Leaf bacon in a box, that's already cooked and ready in a few minutes. The cheese seemed like I was only given half a slice. Despite these, the burger was still flavourful, just wish there was more to it. Being my first time here, I didn't realize the burger was built/ordered to your liking - choosing sauce for the patty, type of bun, type of cheese, toppings and condiments. It was interesting. Side note about the burgers, the onions (red) have a strong flavor and can overpower everything else, so ask them to go light on the onions. Burgers aren't really the place for red onions unless its a specialty burger like a greek burger or something, but the flavor is just too strong.

The poutine. Disappointing. The portion and price are fair, but the quality wasn't there. Either the fries were old, or the oil was - but the flavor and texture of the fries were off. There was no crunch to them, and as much as I would like to say it was from the gravy, there wasn't really too much gravy on the poutine. Being a pretty cheap sauce to make, you'd think a place that serves poutine would be a little more liberal with what it gives.

The person that took my order was pretty nice, welcoming and patient taking my order.

Overall, there could definitely be changes made to the quality of the fries, and maybe a bit more gravy for the poutine... it was basically just fries with melted cheese. Will definitely give it another try in a month or so and if there are any changes, will definitely update my review and rating. For the time being, nearby alternatives would be Fran's or Chew Chew's (although my last experience there wasn't all that great, it's typically been pretty good...

May 2024: Three fish tacos, fries and a lemonade. Always good.

Note: I don't know how Mr. Guhathakurata can rate a place 5 stars a month before it opens but hey, it's a crazy world out there.

Opening day Sept/26/2019: Opening day for Grillies where Sky Stars used to be located on the south east side of Dundas Street East and Mutual Street. Gone is the long bar on the west wall but beer may still be gotten along with fresh lemon juice that has the perfect amount of tang without being filled with the evil sugar. Also gone are those nasty, super thin front windows that kept you frozen to your seat in winter. These have been replaced with heavy duty garage door type windows that provide fresh air in fair weather. Well as fresh as Toronto can offer anyway.

Tacos, burgers, salads, dogs and the rest are ordered at the back of the restaurant and once your order is ready will be brought to your table. A lack of tipping option on the debit terminal needs to be addressed. And speaking of tacos, what is one to do on opening day? Order one of each of course. Pork, chicken and beef with the appropriate add-ons will leave you quite satisfied. They are fresh and delicious!

Restrooms are still located in the basement along with the payphone. Yes, a payphone. A few steps up from the sidewalk so not fully accessible. Super friendly staff. Booth style seating...

I ordered a cheeseburger fry and beer and when I was served my fries... half of them were cold. I brought them right back to the lady who took my order and told her they were half cold. Than the guy who cooked them came over and told me that was not possible and I'm lying but yet, either of them didnt even try to touch a fry to see if they were cold or not. I ate the hot ones cuz I just finished work and was starving and it was my first time here... I put the cold ones aside... another lady came out, so I asked her... who was in charge.. she replied i am... so again I brought up the fact the my fries were cold and she aswell said how could this be possible.. I will tell u how... since I was a cook for a long time aswell... the lazy cook added my cooked fries to fries from previous order that was left over in the fry bin and served them to me with my batch of fries he cooked.... so therefore half are cold and half are hot... this is not proper customer service. I work hard for my money and when I order something I expect it to be hot... which I think is not to much to ask since they are in the business of serving and feeding the public... I will never go to another grillies again because of this...and I will never reccomend it to anyone else ever! If I could give no starts I would!! How hard is it to make sure a customer's...