Yellowing press clippings are posted to one wall ; one , dated 2003 , positions this place second-best in the city , out-shined only by Lick ’ s ( ha , how Toronto ’ s burger landscape has changed ). Another clipping ( 2006 ) ranks Johnny ’ s ahead of Apache Burger in the west end . Amusingly , the most recent thing on the wall is a stark white pest control certificate . . The familiar takeout counter is remarkably well-preserved . The backlit menu board bills hamburgers , cheeseburgers , cheese dogs ; steak , veal or fish on a kaiser ; milkshakes , fountain sodas and sides of fries and onion rings .
It smells good inside - meat on a charcoal grill always does . The counter is well-manned and service is efficient . I order up one burger and fries , one veal on a kaiser and onion rings . Toppings are applied to order and include a line-up of standards ; relish , mustard , ketchup , tomatoes , pickles and onions , both raw and sautĂŠed . There ’ s no lettuce , but that ’ s always been their thing . The whole order is packed into a bag . The cute cardboard boxes are gone , and since seating is scarce and it ’ s too cold to sit on the curb ( the picnic tables are long gone ), we take the whole thing to go , as everyone else must do , too . The steam rising out of the bag smells awesome , and everything
about this burger experience is promising - rght up until the first bite .
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