Church Street's attractions have never been primarily
culinary, but at least, for most of its recent history, you could get a decent
burger. Once the home of formerly iconic Toronto chain Toby's Good Eats,
Zelda's filled the gap nicely with their trailer-trash meets drag-queen take on
some very sloppy burgers.
But when rent, rumoured to have been in the $35,000 a month
range, finally did them in last year (they moved to a smaller space at 692 Yonge, replacing Arrabiata in the old Living Well space), the boys in the band and the young in one
another's arms were burger bereft.
Hero Certified Burgers, Toronto-based cafe chain Lettieri's fast-food
brand, is opening up its 21st GTA location in the old Lettieri space
(formerly The Body Shop) on the southeast corner of Church and Wellesley.
According to Jeanine McLaughlin, VP of franchising, the
father and two sons who bought the franchise, though not gay, are familiar with
the gaybourhood (one son lives nearby).
"It'll be predominantly takeout," says McLaughlin of the
1,300 square foot space, which she estimated will have cost about $225,000 to renovate,
mostly due to special ventilation requirements to suit the apartment building
above, by the time it opens in mid-February.
It will also employ about double the number of people the
Lettieri did, or about four during rushes, and two during the slow periods.
"The rent," McLaughlin says, "is reasonable enough to make
this a very successful venture."
Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Jeanine McLaughlin