Ontario burger chain to close down another Toronto restaurant location

An Ontario burger chain that’s been on quite the roller coaster recently just confirmed that one Toronto location will be closing down.

The past few months have been full of ups and downs for London, Ont.-based vegan fast food chain, Odd Burger.

The chain, founded in 2014, has opened a slew of new restaurants across Canada over the past year, including an inaugural location in Vancouver and Edmonton (with another on the way).

With great expansion comes great difficulties, on the other hand, and locations in Toronto have, seemingly, borne no small amount of challenges.

Earlier this spring, a long-awaited location on Broadview went up for lease despite never actually opening after years of developmental issues, which came just months after the company scrapped their plans for a major U.S. expansion amid political tensions.

Now, the chain’s Scarborough location at 4549 Kingston Rd. has been stirring up concern, as the doors of the location remain locked and the restaurant has been marked as “Temporarily Closed” on Google for weeks, leading some Odd Burger fans to worry whether it would soon be shutting permanently.

Luckily, a representative from Odd Burger confirmed in a statement to Dished Toronto that the closure of the Scarborough location is a temporary one, though its reopening date remains up in the air.

“Our location in Scarborough is temporarily closed due to issues with our franchisee there,” they said. “We are working on resolving, but don’t yet have an ETA on when it will reopen.”

Scarborough isn’t the only neighbourhood at risk of losing their beloved Odd Burger location. When “For Lease” signs went up at the Little Italy location, patrons immediately took notice, and concern about the future of the chain only rose further.

In a statement to Dished Toronto, a representative from Odd Burger confirmed that, yes, the “For Lease” signs mean exactly what you think they do — the location will be closing down for good.

“Our lease at our College Street location is up, and we are not renewing it due to a number of factors related to the building,” the representative tells Dished Toronto.

That said, they’ve still got possession of the location at 492 College St. through to the end of September, and the representative confirms that they plan to continue slinging plant-based patties and “ChickUn” there until the bitter end.

Despite its challenges, Odd Burger has seen a nearly equal number of victories, though.

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Over the past handful of years, Odd Burger has expanded to 18 locations across Canada, on top of two food trucks in Calgary and Vancouver, and, earlier this spring, the chain partnered with 7-Eleven to begin selling a curated selection of plant-based fast food favourites at 500 locations across Canada.

So, while, come September, Toronto will be down one Odd Burger location, with another location hanging in the balance, there’s more opportunity than ever to sink your teeth into an Odd Burger of your own.

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