re Hero:
"For me, it's not that the quality has declined - I don't think it has - but that the novelty has worn off. When a combo + condiments can cost over $10, it better be a pretty damn good burger...without the novelty, it's just not always worth it anymore."
Fair enough. However, my assessments were made with an almost complete disregard for price ($7 vs. $10, big deal - I'm happy to pay for what I like, and I say that as a non-wealthy individual who isn't usually careless with $, and who really values value, so to speak). I ate there maybe a bit less often than once a month or so pretty regularly for about a year, at various locations. It certainly seemed to me that there was an abrupt change in basic ingredients, as I mentioned, something like 6 months ago, or a bit after the Queen West location opened, whenever that was (fuzzy memory on this point). I'm pretty sure that both the potatoes used for fries and the beef used for burgers simply changed, and clearly not for the better, imo. I can't prove this, of course, and you may be correct, but the change was so noticeable to me that I then visited other locations (Yonge/St.Clair, Hazelton) to investigate further, and was sad to find that it appeared to be an across-the-board drop. Things like this happen sometimes in the 'quick-service' (ugh) industry, especially during expansions - different suppliers, new corporate contracts or whatever, etc. I suppose one could call 'em up and try to find out whether or not this occurred, but I can't be bothered - it doesn't matter much, because either way there seems to be growing consensus that it ain't so great at the moment.
