fried – Michael Eats

An Amazing Fried Chicken Sandwich at DownLow Chicken

Published on June 2, 2026June 2, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 538 Manning Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.dlchicken.com/

DownLow Chicken is a Vancouver fried chicken chain (well, maybe “chain” is overstating it — they have three locations there, and now, one here) that specializes in Nashville hot chicken.

They’ve only been open in Toronto for a few months, but just based on this visit? Strong contender for the best fried chicken sandwich in the city. Absolutely stellar.

They have a variety of tenders and chicken pieces on the menu, but the specialty seems to be the sandwiches. I went with the OG: “Nashville Dusted Chicken, Pickled onions, Cole slaw, Pickles, DL Sauce.”

You can pick from seven spice levels; I went with hot, which is right in the middle. They also asked if I wanted dark meat or white, which I don’t think I’ve ever been asked when ordering a fried chicken sandwich. I went with dark.

Wow, it’s good. It actually reminds me a lot of how Chica’s Chicken was a few years ago, before the quality went downhill.

Every element here is on point: it’s got a perfect level of exterior crunch, the meat is super juicy, it’s perfectly seasoned, the ultra-fluffy and slightly sweet bun has just enough heft to stand up to the substantial sandwich, and the toppings are all great.

There’s a great balance between the zippy slaw, the sweet pickles, and the creamy sauce. And the Nashville spices are right where you want them to be (though “hot” is a bit mild for me — it’s still got a decent amount of heat, but I’ll probably go one or two notches higher next time).

And I can’t say enough about how perfect the chicken itself is — it’s just so tender, juicy, and satisfying.

I also got an order of the slaw, and it has a nice vinegary bite and is pleasant enough, but it’s not on the level of the chicken. That sandwich, though.

Delicious Empanadas at La Morena

Published on April 30, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1175A Saint Clair Avenue West, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/lamorenastclair/

If you’re looking for some very tasty empanadas, I think La Morena is where it’s at. The tiny place was doing very brisk business when I visited on a Saturday afternoon, and it’s easy enough to see why.

I tried a couple of empanadas: Colombian beef (“shredded beef and potato”) and Colombian chorizo (“homemade chorizo and potato”).

Both feature pastry made with corn flour, with a nice crispy exterior and just enough substance to hold up to the tasty fillings.

I was a bit surprised that both fillings tasted basically the same, and were a bit more muted in the flavour department than I was expecting.

But the optional hot sauce — a zingy, vibrant yellow concoction that I want to take home in a jug — brings some serious flavour. I would have enjoyed the empanadas without it, but that sauce really puts them over the top.

Tasty Fried Chicken Sandwiches at Mad Bird Hot Chicken

Published on April 28, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 154 Queen Street South, Mississauga
Website: https://www.instagram.com/madbird.ca/

There’s certainly no shortage of solid fried chicken sandwiches in Toronto, but Mississauga? That’s a bit more rare. So I was excited to check out Mad Bird Hot Chicken in Streetsville.

They have a variety of sandwiches, wings, and “bird bites” (chicken strips, basically). I went with the Nashville Napalm Sando: “This sando brings serious heat and Southern swagger. Our 48-hour marinated crispy chicken thigh gets baptized in fiery Nashville chili-oil, then stacked with cool Bird’s ranch, crunchy southern slaw, and tangy pickles — all hugged by a buttery brioche bun.”

You can pick your spice level from one to five; the guy behind the counter recommended three, so that’s what I went with.

It’s a tasty sandwich. Nothing about it blew my mind, but it’s nice and crunchy, the chicken is tender, and the slaw and the pickles give it a nice zippiness that cuts through the richness. I’d probably bump up the spice level to four next time, though. The spice level was pronounced, but I want a sandwich like this to really put some sweat on my brow, and this one didn’t quite take me there.

Spicy Avocado Bacon Chicken Sandwich from Jollibee

Published on April 27, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

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

I’ll give the Spicy Avocado Bacon Chicken Sandwich one thing: they’re not stingy with the avocado. Typically with a fast food sandwich featuring avocado, you need to pull out a magnifying glass to spot the stuff, but there’s actually a generous amount of it here.

As for the rest of the sandwich? Uh…

Here’s how Jollibee describes it: “Our New Spicy Avocado Bacon Chicken Sandwich starts with a crispy, juicy, hand-breaded chicken breast fillet, topped with hickory-smoked bacon, creamy Hass avocado, fresh jalapeños, crisp lettuce, and spicy sriracha mayo, served on a toasted brioche bun.”

It’s fine, mostly, but it’s a bit of a salt bomb. Between the salty chicken and the salty bacon, and with nothing sweet to balance things out, it’s a lot. The chicken was pretty dry, which somehow made the saltiness issue seem more pronounced (the fact that I had to wait 15 minutes in a mostly empty restaurant for this thing, only for it to be clearly not fresh, just added insult to injury).

The sandwich is also not particularly spicy, which is a shame. The spice level is there, but it’s quite mild.

Otherwise, it was okay. The chicken had a nice exterior crunchiness, the combo of bacon and avocado is certainly a tasty one, and the bun was nice and fresh. It’s fine, but I can’t say I’m particularly keen to run out and buy another one.

Also: the sandwich cost $13.99 before tax (!!), which might make it the most expensive fried chicken sandwich in the GTA (at least outside of restaurants with waiter service). Even local joints like PG Clucks and the Michelin-noted Chica’s Chicken are cheaper by a buck or two.

Shake Shack x Pizzeria Badiali

Published on April 13, 2026April 13, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3401 Dufferin Street, North York (inside Yorkdale)
Website: https://shakeshack.ca/

I guess Shake Shack collaborating with a local restaurant is becoming a yearly tradition, because they did it with Mimi Chinese at around this time last year, and now they’re doing it again with Badiali.

(Badiali, in case you’ve been living under a rock, is maybe the best pizza place in the city? Clearly, this is a collaboration I can get behind.)

Up first, the Spicy Vodka Chicken Parm: “Crispy, white-meat chicken breast layered over a Badiali and Shake Shack hot pepper mix, topped with Badiali’s spicy vodka rosé sauce, aged parmesan cheese, sliced mozzarella, and fresh basil on a toasted potato bun.”

This was mostly quite tasty — I mean, you can put Badiali’s rich, creamy vodka sauce on pretty much anything and it’ll taste good, so yeah, of course. The combo of that, the slightly gooey cheese, and the zippy pepper mix is a clear winner.

But the fried chicken itself was overcooked and quite dry — I was honestly having a tough time even biting through it in spots. So that was a shame.

There’s also the Pizza Fries: “Crispy crinkle cut fries dusted with Badiali pizza seasoning and aged parmesan cheese, served with Badiali’s signature housemade pepperoncini dip.”

I’m not sure if the “pizza seasoning” adds a whole lot here (and the teeny-tiny bit of parmesan definitely doesn’t add anything), but the fries are tasty and the pepperoncini dip is zippy and creamy (if a bit more muted in flavour than the version I had at Badiali a couple of years ago).

Finally, there’s the Brio Chinotto Shake: “Vanilla frozen custard blended with Brio’s classic bittersweet Chinotto flavour.”

This was a bit thin (the texture was more like very rich chocolate milk), but the taste was really nice; it has an interesting, almost gingerbread-like flavour and a mild bitterness that helps to round out the sweetness.