Location: 1706 Dundas Street East, Mississauga
Website: None
I knew it was a bad sign when, while taking my order, the rotund man behind the register grabbed a handful of his apron, brought it to his mouth and let loose a hacky cough. To be fair, I do not believe that this man was handling any food (though he did pour the soft drinks). Still, that’s not something that you want to see.
It was another bad sign when my dining companion asked for mayonnaise on the side and was informed that this would cost him fifty cents. Really? You’re going to charge fifty cents to pour mayonnaise into a tiny cup instead of onto a burger?
Neither of these points have much to do with the quality of the food, but they do illustrate a certain attitude that I think is reflected in the lack of care that C & Dubbs puts into their menu.
The restaurant offers a hamburger and an eight ounce homeburger. I ordered the latter item, thinking that this might just be the better of the two. I sat down, waited about five minutes for the burgers to be ready, then picked out my toppings from behind the glass. As usual, I went with pickles, tomato and mayo.
Though the burger, labeled a “homeburger,” is presumably homemade (or at least they’d like you to think that it is by sticking the word “home” in the name), it sure doesn’t taste that way. If this is a homemade burger, then they have done an absolutely superb job at mimicking the taste and texture of a frozen patty.
I strongly suspect that it is frozen.
It’s not even a particularly good frozen burger, even by the dubious standards of an industrially-produced patty. The taste is devoid of anything even remotely resembling beefiness, with a nebulous, vaguely unpleasant flavour that I’m honestly having a hard time describing. It’s not very strongly spiced, which is normally a good thing, but here it just means that there’s not much else to hide the off-putting mystery-meat flavour.
It also has that spongy, sausagey texture that you associate with frozen burgers — but worse than usual, if you can believe it. The texture is strongly analogous to that of a hot dog; in fact, the whole thing bore more than a passing resemblance to a less salty version of a hot dog, which is just as unappealing as it sounds.
Based solely on the taste and texture, this could have been emu meat and I don’t think it would have made much of a difference. Any taste or texture that this beef once had has long since been pulverized out of it.
The bun was fresh and complimented the burger well, and the toppings were fine. But even the best bun and the highest-quality toppings cannot overcome such a horrible patty.
The fries, though unsalted and a bit on the soggy side, were reasonably crispy, with a really creamy interior and a nice flavour. They were quite greasy, but not overwhelmingly so. I think it goes without saying that they were the highlight of the meal.
UPDATE: To satisfy my curiosity, I decided to call up the restaurant and find out if they actually make any of their burgers in-house. “We don’t do that,” the man replied. “They’re frozen.” Can’t say I’m surprised.
Tasty Burgers 
Youre a sort of person that will complain on everything, Ive been going to this place for years and always been satisfied with their food. You’re questioning their item name Homeburger and insist that the name means that the burger must be made on site, must be taking things too literally. You want a burger thats home made, make it at home.
It’s a mediocre industrially-produced burger. There are just too many good or even great burger joints in Toronto to waste time on a place that sells cafeteria-style frozen patties.You’ve got a nostalgic connection to the place; I can respect that. That’s how a place like this stays in business. But for those of us who didn’t grow up with the joint, we can see it for what it is.
1:36 am reply Michael… Wow you really have lots of time on your hands. Don’t like their food? Eat elsewhere. Guess the throngs that line up there on any given Friday and Saturday nights are all wrong or just love “cafeteria burgers”. They are a far cry from that though.
@Realistic guy: Oh, trust me — I will be eating elsewhere. The folks at C & Dubbs come right out and admit that they use frozen, industrially produced burgers (i.e. the same patties they serve in cafeterias). This is an indisputable fact, and not my opinion.
The fries, however, are pretty good.
You’re certainly entitled to your opinion on the quality of the food and where you decide to dine. The reality is that the MAJORITY of burgers from fast food joints (Regardless of their “label” i.e. frozen, cafeteria-style, “homemade” or otherwise) are made with processed meats, fillers, preservatives and the cattle have come in contact with or been fed hormones. That too is an “indisputable fact”. The fact that the folks at C and Dubbs admitted it to you is just a reflection of their honesty. Do you really believe that other establishments use “homemade” products (i.e. 100% beef and only beef made at home)? Would other restaurants admit using commercial patties to you if they did too? Again, think what you like, eat where you choose. No disrespect intended Michael, but yours is still all opinion and you are entitled to it. There is nothing left to say but we must agree to disagree and I will continue to frequent this fine establishment while you won’t.
My issue with the use of frozen burgers is really not about the provenance of the beef or the use of preservatives or any of that stuff. My issue is with taste. Frozen burgers, like the ones used at C & Dubbs, have a chewy, hot dog-like texture and a gamy, off flavour that I personally find unappealing. Burgers made from fresh beef, at the very least, have a completely different (and preferable) texture and generally speaking have a much better flavour. If you can go to a place like Holy Chuck or Burger’s Priest and tell me that you can’t taste an ENORMOUS difference, then… well, I really don’t know what to say to that.
If you like frozen burgers, cool. Keep going to C & Dubbs. It’s been around for a while, so people obviously agree with you. But don’t be offended when people call it out for what it is. I like Twinkies, but I’m not going to try to convince anybody that they’re anything but junk.
You should stop writing blogs about hamburger joints. Reason: if you didn’t know, after your first bite, that the burgers at C&DUBBS are frozen and you had to confirm it by calling in…….you dont know anything about burgers! Get a job and stop polluting the web with your crap!
Well, I was fairly certain, but I didn’t want to conclusively say that it was a frozen burger without absolute proof. That is a pretty damning accusation, and one you don’t want to make without hard evidence.
Thanks for the comment, though. I love all my readers… even the douchebags.
I’ve lived in Mississauga my whole life and been to this place perhaps five times. Anyway, after todays visit I decided to check out reviews because while it has been around for as long as I can remember and I’m really not sure how it has survived.
The staff is hardly welcoming or endearing. People seem to have this misconception that bigger is better. While the FROZEN patty is big it isn’t remotely unique. The fries; again; a huge portion were soggy. The price is no bargain either. I also noticed that a squirt of extra mayo will cost you extra as does a number of other extras and when I asked for tzatziki sauce instead of mayo I was told that they didn’t have enough!
Not worth another visit