fast food – Page 2 – Michael Eats

Bull’s-Eye BBQ Cheeseburger at Wendy’s

Published on November 6, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 5250 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.wendys.com/en-ca

No, the Bull’s-Eye BBQ Cheeseburger isn’t the most interesting new item at a fast food joint; it’s a bacon cheeseburger with barbecue sauce and crispy onions. Is is boring? Yeah, absolutely. But is it tasty? Also yes.

Here’s how Wendy’s describes it: “Wendy’s new Bull’s-Eye BBQ Cheeseburger gets the combo of sweet and smoky exactly right. 100% fresh, never frozen Canadian beef topped with applewood smoked bacon, crispy onions, and a sweet twist on the bold taste of Barbecue sauce. It’s the freshest in the west.”

Yeah, it’s good. The barbecue sauce is sweet, tangy, and a bit smoky, and the generous amount of crispy onions adds a noticeable crunch. The description doesn’t mention it, but there’s also mayo in there, which brings the burger some creaminess and mellows out the sweet barbecue sauce a bit.

That’s not to mention the bacon and the cheese, which are both quite welcome on a burger, for obvious reasons.

The only other fast food item I can think of that features barbecue sauce this prominently is the McRib, and you know what? This is better. It’s a top-tier fast food hamburger.

Hot Ones Darin’ Dab Ghost Wings from Popeyes

Published on October 1, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 7080 Saint Barbara Boulevard, Mississauga
Website: https://www.popeyeschicken.ca/

Things have gotten a bit better over the last few years, but generally speaking, if a fast food joint claims that they’re serving something spicy, it’s probably mild at best. But given that this is a collaboration with Hot Ones, I was excited that this would be a bit spicier than the norm.

They have a couple of Hot Ones items on the menu, but the spiciest is supposedly the Darin’ Dab Ghost Wings: “Classic wings (bone-in) dusted with a bold ghost pepper dry rub, served with a Hot Ones Last Dab Ranch dip cup.”

(You can also supposedly buy a little packet of the notoriously fiery Last Dab hot sauce, though I think this might not be available in Canada — I tried a couple of locations, and no one seemed to even know what I was talking about.)

The wings themselves are only mildly spicy, but the Last Dab Ranch dip actually does have a nice kick (and otherwise tastes like pretty standard ranch). I was kinda hoping for it to blow my face off, and it wasn’t even remotely that hot, but it was almost certainly the spiciest thing I’ve ever had from a fast food chain.

Otherwise, the wings were fine. They were maybe the teeny-tiniest wings I’ve ever had, but they were hot and fresh and had a nice crispy exterior.

KATSYE Special KBBQ Chicken Sandwich from Jollibee

Published on September 28, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 800 Boyer Boulevard, Mississauga (inside Seafood City Supermarket)
Website: http://jollibeecanada.com/

I’m going to admit that I’ve never heard of KATSYE, which is apparently a Kpop-influenced “global girl group” that was formed through a reality show (every word of that sentence makes me feel like an old man who is about to crumble into dust).

So I can’t say I particularly care that KATSYE had something to do with this sandwich (or at least agreed to put their name on it), but Korean fried chicken? Yeah, that I can get on board with.

Here’s how Jollibee describes this sandwich: “Our crispy, juicy, hand-breaded chicken breast fillet hand-dipped in a sweet soy glaze with a bold kick of heat, topped with fresh cilantro, red onion, and cucumber slices, served on a toasted brioche bun.”

This was… fine? The sweet, savoury, and slightly spicy Korean-style sauce was certainly tasty enough, and the sandwich has a nice exterior crunch that’s satisfying. I don’t think I’ve ever had cilantro on a fried chicken sandwich (certainly not at a fast food joint); it’s a nice touch, though it’s mostly overwhelmed by the flavourful sauce.

The biggest issues here were that the piece of fried chicken breast wasn’t particularly fresh, with the chicken itself being pretty dry, and more pressingly: that enormous, cold, dry brioche bun. I’m not sure if it was too dense by design or was just stale (or both), but it overwhelmed the chicken and was a bit of a bummer to eat.

I like the fried chicken pieces at Jollibee, but this was my first time trying a sandwich. I’ll stick with the pieces.

Thanksgiving Stack from Tim Hortons

Published on September 19, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1084 Islington Avenue, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.timhortons.ca/

I’ll admit that I tend to ignore Tim Hortons. I know they’re beloved (and pretty much always busy), but I’m not a coffee drinker, and I don’t know if I’ve ever had a savoury item from them that I thought was much better than okay.

But a Thanksgiving sandwich with turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce? Yeah, I’m all over that; I don’t care who’s serving it.

Here’s how Tim Hortons describes it: “The Thanksgiving Stack is prepared to order, served hot out of the oven, and features thick slices of seasoned 100 per cent Canadian carved turkey breast, homestyle stuffing, cranberry sauce made with 100% real cranberries, crispy onions and mayonnaise, and is served on a toasted potato bun.”

I will say that I saw the woman behind the counter prepare this, and yeah — it’s literally hot out of the oven. The whole sandwich goes in the oven for something like 30 seconds, and it is noticeably hot and toasty.

It’s totally fine. It’s kinda one-note salty and nothing really stands out (the turkey is vaguely dry and the stuffing is standard boxed fare), but the bread is soft and fresh and the flavours all work well together (unsurprisingly).

The biggest issue here is that the crispy onions are on the bottom of the sandwich, between the cranberry sauce and the turkey, and by the time it was served to me, they had almost entirely sogged up. They should probably be applied to the sandwich last.

Spicy McVeggie at McDonald’s

Published on September 18, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 30 Courtneypark Drive East, Mississauga
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

I tried — and enjoyed! — the McVeggie a few months ago, when McDonald’s was testing it at a few locations in Ontario. Now that it’s on the menu for realsies, I figured I may as well try the spicy version.

The Spicy McVeggie, per the McDonald’s website: “A breaded veggie patty made with a blend of vegetables (including carrots, green beans, zucchini, peas, soybeans, broccoli and corn) and seasoning, topped with shredded lettuce and creamy Habanero sauce, served on a toasted sesame bun.”

It’s the exact same sandwich, just with a spicy sauce. And it’s pretty much as I remember it: it’s not super flavourful, but there’s a nice contrast between the crunchy exterior and softer interior. It’s satisfying.

I think the spicy version is the way to go, with the habanero sauce adding some nice zippiness and a mild kick. It’s nothing too mind-blowing, but I could see myself ordering this again.