Toronto – Page 20 – Michael Eats

Spicy Chicken Sandwich at Aloette Go

Published on November 13, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 171 East Liberty Street, Toronto
Website: https://aloettego.com/

I’ve had a couple of things from Aloette and thought they were both pretty great. Well I just tried the Spicy Chicken Sandwich (“Crispy buttermilk fried chicken, Aloette hot sauce, Go sauce, & shredded lettuce”), and hey, what do you know? It’s great as well.

It’s a really, really good fried chicken sandwich. The chicken itself is ultra-tender thigh meat, and the crispy exterior? Perfection. It’s got a great level of crunch without being overly substantial, and it’s nicely seasoned.

It’s topped with hot sauce and “Go sauce” — it doesn’t look all that saucy from the photo (sadly, I wasn’t able to cut it in half), so you’ll just have to take my word for it that it was saucy and delicious. The hot sauce / Go sauce combo is basically Aloette’s version of Buffalo sauce and ranch, which is a classic combo.

The heat level is somewhere between medium and hot — it’s certainly not the spiciest thing you’ll ever eat, but it’s satisfying.

And the bun was soft and fresh, and held up to the saucy chicken quite well (again, you can’t tell, but I assure you that it was saucy). It’s a stellar fried chicken sandwich.

Triple Pickle McCrispy from McDonald’s

Published on November 12, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1001 Islington Avenue, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

Pickle-heavy fried chicken sandwiches are officially a thing at fast food joints. There was the Pickle Glaze Chicken Sandwich at Popeyes, the Pickle Sandwich at KFC, and now, the Triple Pickle McCrispy at McDonald’s.

I was a bit baffled as to what the hell is going on, so I Googled it, and apparently the pickle mania is a Gen Z thing. Sure, why not? I guess pickles have rizz. Am I using that right? They’re full of rizz? That seems right.

Here’s how the McDonald’s website describes the Triple Pickle McCrispy: “A crispy chicken patty – made with 100% Canadian-raised seasoned chicken – and shredded lettuce on a soft potato bun. But that’s only the beginning. Crispy dill pickle-seasoned cucumbers, our classic pickles and a generous spread of our all-new creamy dill pickle sauce. All together in a bold collision of pickle pickle pickle flavour.”

I enjoyed this. It is, indeed, very pickley, with a noticeable punch of pickle flavour. The sauce is slightly sweet and thoroughly zesty, and the fried pickles are basically like the crispy onions that McDonald’s occasionally uses, only… pickley. They’re tasty.

Between those two things and the standard McDonald’s pickle slices, it’s a lot of pickle — but in a satisfying way. This doesn’t just feel like a novelty. I’d get it again.

Solid BBQ at Golden Horseshoe Barbecue

Published on November 10, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 657 Dupont Street, Toronto
Website: https://goldenhorseshoebbq.com/

Golden Horseshoe BBQ started life as a pop-up, and opened their permanent location a couple of months ago to immediate hype.

I sort of figured things would have died down by now, but when I showed up just before the place opened at 11:30 on a Saturday, there was already a line waiting to get in. It took about half an hour before I was sitting in front of my food, and the line was even longer by the time I left. So yeah: popular place. Be prepared to wait a bit.

Like most barbecue joints in the GTA over the last few years, they specialize in Texas-style BBQ, and more specifically: brisket.

In fact, when I sidled over to the guy carving the meats so I could order, his first question was “how much brisket do you want?” They just assume you’re ordering brisket, because of course you are. You can try some of the other meats if you want, but the brisket is clearly the specialty.

I got brisket and a sausage link, along with a side of charro beans and coleslaw.

The brisket is nicely seasoned and unctuously tender — I quite enjoyed it. But like pretty much every Toronto-area BBQ joint, the smoky flavour is just barely there (you really have to close your eyes and use your imagination to detect it).

I don’t get it. What’s everyone in this city doing wrong? Is it the local wood? Not enough time on the smoker? The place smelled pleasantly smoky and the brisket had a visible smoke ring, so I’m a bit flummoxed.

Either way, it was very tender and very tasty, but smoky flavour is a big part of the appeal of this type of BBQ, so it’s a shame.

The sausage, oddly enough, was the highlight. It was packed with flavour, pleasantly greasy, and had some nice pops of flavour and creaminess from the cheese interspersed throughout. Again, not particularly smoky, but hugely delicious.

As for the sides, the vinegary coleslaw was crunchy and zippy, and does a great job of cutting through the richness of the meats. And the charro beans (which are basically like a more savoury, less sweet version of baked beans) featured creamy beans and a nice depth of flavour.

Tasty Sandwiches at The Carbon Snack Bar

Published on November 8, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 460 King Street West, Toronto
Website: https://thecarbonsnackbar.ca/

I’ll admit that when I walked into The Carbon Snack Bar — a casual, take-out version of The Carbon Bar around King and Spadina — I almost walked out. All the sandwiches are pre-made and sitting behind glass looking sad and clammy, and I thought, well, nuts to this.

But hey, I’m here, so… sure, why not? I went with the pastrami on rye (“Thin-sliced pastrami, pommery aioli, pickles, sauerkraut, rye”) which the woman behind the counter popped into an oven of some sort to heat up.

I don’t know what kind of magic that oven was doing; it couldn’t have been in there for longer than a couple of minutes or so, and yet it came out fully warmed through and toasty on its exterior.

It’s a quality sandwich. It’s a bit more heavily-topped than I normally prefer for pastrami (with good quality smoked meat like this, all you really need is a bit of mustard), but I can’t deny that it’s tasty. It’s got a nice richness from the meat and the cheese that’s cut nicely by the pickles and sauerkraut, with an extra punch of flavour from the zingy, garlicky aioli.

As for the pastrami, it’s tender, well-spiced, and has a noticeable smoky flavour. I wish that they served a simpler sandwich with the stuff, but this one is tasty enough that I can’t complain (too much, at least).

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.