Tag Archives: A&W

Burger Heavyweights Go Greens

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McDonald’s enters the veggie burger party

The Globe and Mail ran an interesting article (November 12, subscription required) on the evolution of  Veggie Burgers  at Canadian fast-food outlets. 

Pretty much gone are the faux-beef burgers—think Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods—customers just didn’t like them. In their place are unabashedly veggie burgers, featuring grilled patties of peas, carrots, corn and other standard vegetables.

Industry heavyweights like McDonald’s, A&W and even Burger King are hoping South Asian descendants and local vegetarians will step up to the plate. And the pitches seem to be working, with different iterations of veggie burgers selling out in test markets across Canada.

The Spicy McVeggie Burger

McDonald’s recently unveiled its McVeggie Burger, a crispy, vegetable-dense patty that also comes in a spicy version (preferred). Joining the party is A&W’s longer roster of plant-based burgers, including the Masala Veggie Burger.

A&W’s Masala Veggie Burger

Both burger joints have outlets near me—indeed across the street from each other—making it easy to do a quick taste test. 

My first impression: McDonald’s Spicy McVeggie Burger is bigger, better and cheaper ($6.29), than A&W’s Masala Veggie Burger ($7.29). Neither is going to fill you up, unless you go for the combo meal deal. So no bargains here, other than McDonald’s decent Americano ($2.19). A&W, however, wins the convivial space award, judging by the much larger crowd of mostly seniors.

Verdict: Both burgers are pretty good, but not enough to pull me away from a juicy, real beef burger.

The real deal champion is stilly beefy

A&W: Best Fast-Food Burger

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A&W: Canada’s original and best burger chain

Fast-food chains violate everything Marathon Mouth stands for, principally independently owned and operated places to eat and drink.

But my sister has been relentlessly championing the burgers at A&W, a nearly 70-year-old Canadian chain. So when she proclaimed the new Steakhouse Teen Burger the “best burger around,” I had to check it out.

First, a bit of history. When I was growing up, many decades ago, the A&W Teen Burger was a highly sought-after treat, usually chased with a frosty mug of root beer. But as I grew more sophisticated (snobbish), I graduated to gourmet burgers, preferably from fresh-ground beef.

It’s a clean, efficient operation

Fast forward to today, when I darkened the door of a sparkling A&W outlet for the first time in many, many years and ordered the seasonal Teen Steakhouse Burger and russet-potato fries. Here’s the scorecard:

Steakhouse Teen Burger and fries

  • A&W is Canada’s original burger chain, predating McDonald’s by some 15 years.
  • The chain has embarked, in recent years, on a healthy kick, such as grass-fed, hormone-free beef for burgers. The only packaging for my meal was a compostable burger sleeve.
  • The Steakhouse Burger, in a toasted sesame bun, was indeed first rate, with avant-garde toppings such as arugula lettuce, bacon jam and peppercorn aioli.
  • The excellent fries were straight-from-the fryer hot. Not sure if the burger was cooked to order, but not surprising everything was ready in scant minutes.
  • The price: $8.49 for the steakhouse burger and $4.09 for a metal basket of fries.
  • The verdict: Pretty damn good for a chain.

Is it as good as the iconic American chain In-N-Out? No, but that’s a high hurdle to clear. Still, it’s definitely worth checking out.