Location: 645 Yonge Street, Toronto
Website: http://www.capitano.ca/

Burgers and gelato don’t sound like the most obvious of bedfellows. Burgers and milkshakes, sure, but gelato? I mean, Gelato Pizza is a thing, but then those are both Italian, so… I’m over-thinking this, aren’t I?

Anyway, I’m not going to lie: my expectations weren’t super high. Aside from the fact that hamburgers and gelato may or may not be an appropriate combination, the place gives off a bit of a dank, sketchy vibe. It doesn’t have the most welcoming ambiance.  I’ll put it this way: If you heard that someone got murdered there, it wouldn’t seem all that far-fetched.

Imagine my surprise, then, when the burger actually turned out to be pretty good.

I ordered the Capilano Burger, which comes topped with lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, and Capitano sauce.

Pretty much everything about the burger is solid. The beef is obviously of a decent quality — it doesn’t hit you in the face with beefy flavour, but it’s good. It’s nicely griddled, with a decent amount of crust from the grill. It’s reasonably juicy despite being cooked to well done. And the texture is great — the grind is nice and coarse, and the patty hasn’t been overhandled.

It was a pleasant surprise, no doubt about it.

The biggest issue? It’s ostensibly a cheeseburger, but the slice of cheddar was obviously added after the patty had been cooked, resulting in a cold, unmelted slice of cheese resting atop the patty. If the cheese is completely unmelted and hasn’t mingled with the beef, is it even a cheeseburger? I submit that it is not. It’s merely a burger with a slice of cheese on top: a small but essential distinction.

The toppings were otherwise pretty good, though the Capilano sauce was a little bit sweet for my taste. The bun was a tad on the dense side, but was fresh and mostly suited the burger quite well.

As for the fries, they were another low point. They looked pretty good, but they were soggy, undercooked, and absolutely suffused with oil.