The Unvegan

It’s easy to make a sandwich special by putting unique items into it. I still applaud places like that, but it something even more special to take a pretty basic sandwich and make it exceptional. I always loved Bay Cities for doing this in LA (in no small part because of the bread), and while it is nothing at all like Bay Cities, I have found a place that follows the same mold in Buffalo. It is called John & Mary’s Subs, and while it seems like your average Buffalo subs and tacos spot, I found my sub to be much more.

The Chipotle model has been followed by many other fast casual Mexican spots since its inception. And why not? It’s nice to customize burritos and even nicer when you get to mix things up here and there. That’s where Asada Mexican Grill in Wynchwood, Toronto comes in. Like Chipotle, it has all the customization you’d want, with extra options like al pastor, refried beans, and a salsa bar. I was excited about the prospects and picked out my order.

To some it is easy to write Japanese food off as sushi and stuff. Yet, I love Japanese food and have no need for sushi, which means I love places like Toronto. Why? Because Toronto has a diversity of Japanese food to offer, like ramen and curry. One of these places is Gyugyuya, specializing in Japanese curry. Situated right next to a popular ramen spot, it was strangely empty inside and waiting for my wife and I to eat.

While Toronto is a couple borders north of the border, it is an incredibly diverse city with food from just about everywhere. One of the foods we wanted to check out was tacos, and this led us to Grand Electric. Now, going into this we knew that Grand Electric wasn’t going to be serving up traditional Mexican fare, but the menu seemed good enough that it didn’t matter.

As a man who loves his burgers, I often try to find the best burger I can when I go to a new city. In Toronto, this meant a trip to Allen’s. Allen’s charges a hefty price for their burgers, but they come from a local farm, without hormones or antibiotics and all the other stuff that means great meat. Moreover, the butchering and grinding is done in-house, guaranteeing each burger comes from just one cow.

Over in Lewiston for a nice little night of music in the Artpark, I found my way to a food truck called Macarollin’. Interestingly enough, this truck wasn’t some old school taco truck, but more of a U-Haul truck, which I’m guessing had to go through some sort of crazing zoning board before getting to sell food. But I digress, Macarollin’ served only four things on their menu and they were all varieties of mac and cheese. This was a good thing, because I hate it when food trucks try to do to much.