AlbertC
Superstar
A typical move out of a scumbag landlord's bag of tricks.
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Cabbagetown
- Thread starter Dilla
- Start date
A typical move out of a scumbag landlord's bag of tricks.
AlbertC
Superstar
Completed restoration of the former Winchester Hotel on Parliament:
Admiral Beez
Superstar
I'm surprised that A&W or a Cannabis store hasn't moved in yet.
Admiral Beez
Superstar
gabe
Senior Member
All these American fried chicken chains taking over Toronto. I'm not a fan of Churches, i found it a step up from KFC, but not as good as Popeyes or Chick-fil-A.
AlbertC
Superstar
There's a Church's Chicken location within relatively short 10 minute walking distance from me at Dufferin & St. Clair. I've never been fully compelled to go check it out. But yeah, the word on the street generally was that it's a mid-tier fried chicken chain.
Northern Light
Superstar
I have tried Church's exactly once, after they moved into my area.
I happen to like bold flavours and can quite appreciate heat...........so when they marketed some chicken tenders along that line, I thought why not?
I'll tell you why not..............they were the furthest thing from spicy! I get more heat from my pepper mill than anything they did to that chicken.
Other than that, it was more or less tasteless and didn't inspire a return visit.
****
As it pertains to major chains
- KFC, the original flavouring is good (except for being too salty), too bad its on mediocre chicken, that's undersized and dry, and available with sides that would compare with eating cardboard.........
- Popeyes, clearly the leader on chicken, particularly when ordering spicy; they actually cook fresh to order half the time, and at least at the locations I've been too, the spicy has some moderate kick (though the flavour of the heat
is a bit meh).....the chicken is usually well sized and juicy with a crispy exterior. Unfortunately, their sides are really not much better than KFC's.
- Chick Fil-A , haven't tried it. My best friend made that sacrifice before me. He tried their well known sandwich, and pronounced......"WTF was the fuss about..........bland, unoriginal, soggy bun, under-ripe tomato, wilted lettuce, not worth trying'
Edit to add:
Rules for would-be fast food franchisors in the chicken business.
1) Real chicken, consider feeding the chickens before dispatching them so they don't seem undersized; consider feeding them a natural diet so they have some flavour.
2) Buns for Sandwiches must be flavourful, fresh and always come toasted.
3) Chicken coatings must be crispy, AND flavourful. Heat is optional, but if marketing as such, and it doesn't make me reach for a tissue, that's a fail!
4) French Fries only come fresh, do not coat them in starch, do not put any sawdust near them, if I read the ingredients of 'plain' fries, I want to see only 3 ingredients, potato, oil, salt.
5) When making a chicken sandwich do not include tiny little pickles with no flavour that get all mushy and are overwhelmed by the rest of the sandwich. Do use either decently thick slices of pickle that
will hold up to the sandwich, made with a nice tangy brine; or use a bold vinegar-based coleslaw.
6) Gravy does not come from a powder, look up how to make it properly.
7) Cheese curds squeak when they are fresh; make sure they squeak.
8) Do not overcook any other vegetables.
9) Salt is a seasoning, not the ingredient being seasoned
I happen to like bold flavours and can quite appreciate heat...........so when they marketed some chicken tenders along that line, I thought why not?
I'll tell you why not..............they were the furthest thing from spicy! I get more heat from my pepper mill than anything they did to that chicken.
Other than that, it was more or less tasteless and didn't inspire a return visit.
****
As it pertains to major chains
- KFC, the original flavouring is good (except for being too salty), too bad its on mediocre chicken, that's undersized and dry, and available with sides that would compare with eating cardboard.........
- Popeyes, clearly the leader on chicken, particularly when ordering spicy; they actually cook fresh to order half the time, and at least at the locations I've been too, the spicy has some moderate kick (though the flavour of the heat
is a bit meh).....the chicken is usually well sized and juicy with a crispy exterior. Unfortunately, their sides are really not much better than KFC's.
- Chick Fil-A , haven't tried it. My best friend made that sacrifice before me. He tried their well known sandwich, and pronounced......"WTF was the fuss about..........bland, unoriginal, soggy bun, under-ripe tomato, wilted lettuce, not worth trying'
Edit to add:
Rules for would-be fast food franchisors in the chicken business.
1) Real chicken, consider feeding the chickens before dispatching them so they don't seem undersized; consider feeding them a natural diet so they have some flavour.
2) Buns for Sandwiches must be flavourful, fresh and always come toasted.
3) Chicken coatings must be crispy, AND flavourful. Heat is optional, but if marketing as such, and it doesn't make me reach for a tissue, that's a fail!
4) French Fries only come fresh, do not coat them in starch, do not put any sawdust near them, if I read the ingredients of 'plain' fries, I want to see only 3 ingredients, potato, oil, salt.
5) When making a chicken sandwich do not include tiny little pickles with no flavour that get all mushy and are overwhelmed by the rest of the sandwich. Do use either decently thick slices of pickle that
will hold up to the sandwich, made with a nice tangy brine; or use a bold vinegar-based coleslaw.
6) Gravy does not come from a powder, look up how to make it properly.
7) Cheese curds squeak when they are fresh; make sure they squeak.
8) Do not overcook any other vegetables.
9) Salt is a seasoning, not the ingredient being seasoned
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Admiral Beez
Superstar
I can’t see Cabbagetowners going to a fried chicken place. Clearly this is marketed to St. Jamestown folks, though POC may find this Texas chicken to be bland.
TwoDogs_39
Active Member
What a disappointment! Rumour had it that a McCafe was moving in which would have been a step up. I wish a nice restaurant was going into that gorgeous building, not some American fried chicken place.
Admiral Beez
Superstar
Agreed. This is just going to look terrible at street level.
I’m So tired of foreign restaurant chains taking over our public spaces. But I don’t see them lasting more than a few years since Cabbagetowners won’t really want their product, leaving the customer base as the St. Jamestown crowd and the pend-little loiterers and rollie crowd.
Jonny5
Senior Member
I'll date myself here to note I am old enough to remember when Church's Chicken was in Canada before; the late 80's or early 90's, I think. Instead of opening stand alone locations they partnered with Harvey's and you could order their fried chicken there. It was meh, though better than KFC of that era. It sounds like they've made little improvement since then.
Towered
Superstar
That grand building should host a hotel once again with a cozy restaurant/tavern/live music/event space at street level. These lousy corporate chains are such a waste for this historic place.
Admiral Beez
Superstar
Indeed. My disappointment is heightened by seeing what Streetcar accomplished at the Broadview Hotel. I suppose the issue is that Streetcar acquired the entire vacated Broadview Hotel, whilst the Winchester Hotel has apartments, maybe even condos?
Northern Light
Superstar
Ha! I just found this video on Youtube.........
Its top tier chef Susur Lee reviewing the Popeyes Chicken Sandwich, then trying to fix it to make it edible........ LOL
AlbertC
Superstar
I used to work with a guy who was friends with one of Susur's sons. I lost respect for them though, after the news broke out a few years ago about them withholding tips from their staff:
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