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.