Lunch Tuesday: Dangerous Dan’s
Posted June 4, 2010 3:18 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Sure, it’s not much to look it.
And there’s no hint of innovation or artisan toppings or sugarcane-only soda.
What there is, inside those glass doors at the northeast corner of Queen and Broadview, is my favourite burger in Toronto.
I’m not making the argument that Dangerous Dan’s (714 Queen St. E) is the best – I still haven’t tried C & Dubbs, W Burger Bar, or Johnny’s in Scarborough – but it’s the one I’ve eaten the most.
If there’s someone visiting from out of town, or if it’s a slightly rainy fall day, it’s where I like to go. The menu’s written on a chalkboard, the chairs are old car seats and everyone who works there looks like they eat burgers on a daily – if not twice-daily – basis.
Liz Lemmon, Tina Fey’s alter-ego on 30 Rock, once pined for a man with “beefy forearms like a Disney prince.” She should check behind the counter.
Those pipes are necessary for balancing the massive plates of food, from the thick and juicy onion rings ($3.25-$.4.75) to the infamous Coronary Burger Special – that’s two eight-ounce patties, four slices of bacon, two slices of cheddar, and a fried egg, plus fries and gravy, pop, and a side of mayo ($14.95).
The menu jokes that it’s recommended for medical cannabis users.
Usually, I get the peameal and cheddar ($5.85) and a side each of onion rings and fries. (Usually, I’m there with someone else.)
Every time I visit, I think, this time, I’m going to try one of the sandwiches. The De Niro, breaded chicken with marinated peppers, onions, balsamic vinegar, mozzarella and tomato ($6.49), looks particularly tempting.
There are shakes, too, and deep-fried Mars bars, but it’s those burgers that draw me back in.
Here at CityNews, we spend a lot of our day thinking about lunch.
Editor Nav Sharma, who introduced me to cross-section photos of sandwiches, thinks that Craft and W Burger Bar have the best burgers.
But fellow CityNews.ca writer Marcia Chen disagrees:
“With all the lettuces available now, I wish Craft would use something other than iceberg,” she said.
So that’s my favourite burger. What’s yours?
