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From Military Trail to Burger Mile: The History of Yonge Street and Five Decades of Flipping Patties

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If Toronto had a central nervous system, it would be Yonge Street. Dividing the city into east and west, this legendary thoroughfare has spent over two centuries evolving from a rugged colonial footpath into a canyon of neon, condos, commerce and culture.

While urban historians often measure Yonge Street’s evolution through its transit lines, retail giants, or architectural landmarks, there is another, far more delicious way to track the street’s history: through its hamburgers. Over the last 50 years, the burger joints of Yonge Street have acted as a culinary barometer for the city itself, reflecting Toronto’s shift from a gritty, late night rock and roll town to a sprawling, globally influenced food capital.

Part I: A Brief History of Yonge Street, the Spine of Ontario

Before the neon signs and sizzling flat tops, Yonge Street was a forest trail used by Indigenous peoples as part of the Toronto Carrying Place Trail. In 1793, John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, arrived in the settlement of York (now Toronto) with a mandate to secure the colony against potential American invasion. He named a planned northward military road after his friend Sir George Yonge, the British Secretary at War.

Between 1794 and 1796, the Queen’s Rangers and German settlers under William Berczy hacked a rough path from the shores of Lake Ontario north to Lake Simcoe. What began as a strategic military supply route quickly transformed into Upper Canada’s primary commercial artery. Farmers hauled timber and wheat down the muddy road into the burgeoning city of Toronto, and inns and taverns sprang up every few miles to feed the weary travelers.

By the late 19th and 20th centuries, Yonge Street was the undeniable “Main Street” of Ontario:

  • 1861: Streetcars pulled by horses began ferrying passengers up and down the avenue, followed by electric cars in 1892.
  • 1869: Timothy Eaton opened a dry goods store at 178 Yonge Street, laying the foundation for a retail empire that would anchor downtown for over a century.
  • 1954: Canada’s first underground subway line opened directly beneath Yonge Street, cementing its status as the city’s primary commuter corridor.
  • The Myth of the “Longest Street”: For decades, the Guinness Book of World Records listed Yonge Street as the longest street in the world at 1,896 kilometres (1,178 miles). This was later debunked in the late 1990s as a geographical conflation of Yonge Street and Ontario’s Highway 11, which stretches all the way to Rainy River at the Minnesota border. Even stripped of its technical record, Yonge remains iconic.

Part II: 50 Years of Burgers on Yonge Street, 1976 to 2026

By the middle of the 1970s, Yonge Street was entering a turbulent, fascinating era. The opening of the massive Toronto Eaton Centre in 1977 forever altered the downtown retail landscape, while the street’s “Sin Strip” of adult parlors, arcades, and music venues gave way to cleanup campaigns. Through every decade of urban renewal, the humble burger joint adapted to feed the street’s millions of pedestrians.

1. The Late 1970s: Neon, Vinyl, and the “Banquet Burger”

Fifty years ago, grabbing a burger on Yonge Street was largely a matter of sitting down in a diner or making a quick stop at a counter service institution.

No discussion of Yonge Street burger lore can begin without Fran’s Restaurant. Founded by Francis “Fran” Deck near Yonge and St. Clair in 1940 (with its flagship later anchoring Yonge and College at 20 College St.), Fran’s is widely credited with inventing the “Banquet Burger,” Canada’s distinct contribution to the burger lexicon, denoting a hamburger topped specifically with bacon and cheddar cheese. In the late 1970s, after the bars emptied out on the Yonge strip, Fran’s booths, open around the clock, were the ultimate equalizer for clubgoers, shift workers, and students.

Further north near Bloor, chains like Winco Steak N’ Burger (at 772 Yonge Street) drew moviegoers pouring out of the historic Loew’s Uptown Theatre. With chandeliers made from wagon wheels and waitresses in Stetson hats, it offered affordable comfort food in an era when family dining out was booming. Meanwhile, Canadian icon Harvey’s, which launched its very first location at Yonge Street and Observatory Lane in Richmond Hill on April 1, 1959, had become a staple all along the corridor, mesmerizing customers by charbroiling patties over open flames and letting them choose their own toppings.

2. The 1980s: Charcoal Broilers and Singing Cashiers

As Toronto’s population swelled and Yonge Street’s commercial nodes (like Yonge & Eglinton and North York) densified in the 1980s, independent charbroilers and exuberant local chains defined the decade.

At the northern edge of the city, just past Steeles Avenue in Thornhill (7123 Yonge St.), Golden Star (opened in 1964 by the Doria family) hit its stride in the ’70s and ’80s as the undisputed king of northern Yonge Street. Its towering yellow star sign became a beacon for lovers of “All Star” burgers grilled over charcoal, backyard style, and homemade fries. In Midtown, near Yonge and Eglinton (on Oriole Parkway), The Burger Shack opened its doors in the 1980s, establishing a cash only, retro Formica haven for charbroiled Banquet Burgers and souvlaki that has stubbornly held its ground against the surrounding towers for over four decades.

The 1980s also introduced Torontonians to two beloved homegrown chains that left a massive mark on Yonge Street:

  • Toby’s Good Eats: Founded in 1984 and expanding across the GTA with prime locations on Yonge (including near St. Clair and at the Eaton Centre area), Toby’s was the quintessential ’80s hangout, famous for gourmet burgers, bowls of cheddar cheese sauce for dipping fries, and quirky interiors stuffed with memorabilia.
  • Lick’s Homeburgers & Ice Cream: Founded in Toronto in the 1980s, Lick’s expanded onto Yonge Street (most memorably in the Eaton Centre, Yonge & Dundas, and Yonge & Eglinton). Ordering a “Homeburger” slathered in garlic “Guk” mayo meant being serenaded by teenage staff belting out parodies of pop songs at the top of their lungs while flipping thick patties over a smoky grill.

3. The 1990s: Fast Food Wars and the Mall Era

The 1990s brought recessionary headwinds to downtown Yonge Street, leading to a proliferation of discount stores and fast food megachains.

During this decade, the burger scene on lower Yonge was dominated by the titans of American fast food. McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s battled for supremacy at major intersections from Queen up to Bloor. The McDonald’s locations at Yonge and Dundas and inside the Eaton Centre became chaotic, crowded landmarks for suburban teens taking the subway downtown on weekends. While culinary innovation took a brief backseat to value menus and 99 cent specials, the old guard, diners like Golden Star and Burger Shack, held the line further up the street.

4. The 2000s & 2010s: The Gourmet and “Better Burger” Revolution

At the turn of the millennium, the city revitalized the intersection of Yonge and Dundas with the creation of a massive public square (now Sankofa Square). Rising rents began pushing out the discount shops, and by the late 2000s and early 2010s, Toronto was in the grip of a “Gourmet Burger Revolution.”

Torontonians suddenly demanded freshly ground chuck, brioche or potato buns, and artisanal toppings.

  • Holy Chuck Burgers: Opening in 2011 at 1450 Yonge Street (just south of St. Clair), Holy Chuck became the poster child for Yonge Street’s gourmet burger boom. Famous for freshly ground, aged beef smashed on a flat top, decadent milkshakes, and towering, outrageous creations (including the “Go Chuck Yourself,” the star of its six minute eating challenge), it turned a quiet stretch of Midtown Yonge into a culinary destination.
  • The Priest & The Chains: The Burger’s Priest, the trailblazer of Toronto’s classic American smash burger movement (founded in 2010), expanded onto Yonge Street north of Lawrence Avenue, preaching “beef purity” on Martin’s potato rolls toasted on the griddle. Simultaneously, major American “better burger” chains like Five Guys (opening at 329 Yonge St.) brought fries cooked in peanut oil and custom burgers wrapped in foil to the downtown student crowd.

5. The 2020s: Global Giants, Smash Burgers, and Cultural Diversity

The burger landscape along Yonge Street has become a fascinating hybrid of ultramodern smash burger culture, international culinary imports, and fiercely protected nostalgia.

In June 2024, the corner of Yonge and Dundas became ground zero for international burger hype when New York’s iconic Shake Shack chose the intersection (10 Dundas St. E, anchoring the square) for its very first Canadian flagship location, later expanding across the city.

Further north in North York (the “Empress Walk” and Mel Lastman Square corridor), the burger scene reflects the changing demographics of the street. Establishments like Yonge Burger cater to a diverse community with 100% Halal gourmet patties, sitting alongside Korean bulgogi burger joints and Middle Eastern charcoal grills. Meanwhile, west of Yonge at Spadina and Richmond, Aloette, the sister restaurant to Alo (which holds a Michelin star), is styled like a diner and serves one of the city’s most celebrated upscale burgers, topped with Beaufort cheese and charred onion.

The Verdict on the Grill

Walk down Yonge Street today, and you are walking through layers of Toronto’s history. The military trail of 1796 is now buried beneath asphalt and subway tunnels, and the steakhouses of the 1970s, with their wagon wheel chandeliers, have mostly vanished into the archives.

Yet, whether you are grabbing a modern ShackBurger under the blinding digital billboards of Yonge and Dundas, biting into a decadent double at Holy Chuck in Midtown, or stepping into a 1960s time capsule at Golden Star in Thornhill, one thing remains constant: for half a century, Yonge Street has kept its grills hot and its patties sizzling.

Our own chapter on the street is a recent one. In the 1970s, the Steak N’ Burger at 772 Yonge fed moviegoers from the Uptown Theatre. A few doors south, at 762A Yonge Street, Oklahoma Burgers now presses thin patties into heaps of sliced onions on a hot griddle, the way El Reno, Oklahoma has done it since 1922. Directions and ordering are on our Yonge Street location page.