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| - Two months into a friendly weigh loss competition, I leave the confines of "The Parkdale" and venture into the enemy territory of "The Danforth".
I know the area well, as my competition and good friends are well-established "Forthers". The plan is to weigh in, compare results and then enjoy some well-deserved pints and grub as a reward.
Normally, snob that I am, I would avoid a franchise joint like Gabby's. However, it's close by and something of a 'local' for my competitors. As "Forthers" in good standing, the two of them are both family men and usually have limited windows of opportunity for aimless beer drinking.
Having been told several times the burgers here are good; I give the Danforth Burger a try. It's made on site, with beef ground fresh for them by Mister Greek Butcher just a few doors down the road. The menu specifies they grill it medium well, which is usually a signpost on the road to dried out beef puck, but I forge ahead.
While a cool creemore tastes like nectar of the gods, I can only attest that is nothing compared to the gorgeous burger that arrives. I have mine with bacon, cheddar, tomato, lettuce, chipotle mayo. From the side order of onion rings, I slap several on the burger as well.
It's clear they know what they are doing in the kitchen. The burger is medium well, but still moist. The beef has a beautiful, gentle chew, with none of the rubbery and tough qualities you tend to get in burgers around town. Nor is it a meatloaf masquerading as a burger. It's a beefy wonder.
This is surely a result of fresh ground meat that has not been overworked and with the correct fat ratio of around 20% fat to 80% meat. I'm a little astounded that I'm having a burger this good at a Gabby's. All around town, there are "gourmet" burger places that aren't anywhere near this good.
Other than the burger, the fries are frozen shoestrings and just ok. The onion rings are also quite good. I can't tell if they are frozen (I think they are fresh), but they are crispy and addictive. I've had the wings on a previous visit and they are good, but not great.
So, score one for Gabby's, which apparently allows individual franchises to stray from the mandated menu. A big shout out must go to the manager (or owner?) of the Danforth location for making the effort and maintaining the quality. It's a sad state of affairs in Toronto that some business casually doing a burger correctly should be such a surprise and oddity.
Burger rates a 4, rest of the menu is more of a 3. Without out the ability to half star, I am forced to round down to a 3.
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