Buzzworthy Toronto business serves up burgers like nothing you've seen before
A burgeoning Toronto business is single-handedly redefining what a burger can be with its one-of-a-kind take on the dish.
Burgers sure do get a lot of airtime in Toronto. From the smashburger craze to the thick-pattied burgers that are, seemingly, on the rise, if it involves a patty and buns, the city is here for it.
Turns out, even if the burger in question doesn’t have a patty or, really, buns, the city is still here for it. That’s the case, at least, for Poke Burgers.
Though the burger restaurant’s founders, Cesar Mandujano and Julian Tangarife Munoz, met while studying business in Toronto, the notion of a poke-inspired burger didn’t start as one they intended to monetize.
Rather, Munoz told Dished Toronto, the idea of putting poke between two crispy rice “buns” originated after the two spent a heated moment trying to decide whether to order poke or burgers for dinner one night.
“We said, ‘you know what, let’s do a combination of both,’ so we decided to put crab salad and salmon between two fried rice buns, and we enjoyed them so much that we needed to share that with the world,” Munoz explains.
Thus, Poke Burgers was born.
Operating on a strictly pick-up and delivery basis, Munoz and Mandujano set out to spread the word about their innovative new eats, which, at present, come in three different varieties: salmon, shrimp, and tuna, all of which come topped with crab salad, avocado, and a selection of sauces, and served between two crispy rice patties.
When the pair initially began creating their recipes, Munoz told Dished Toronto, everything was wrong: “the buns were too thick, the marinate wasn’t tasty enough,” but, eventually, a balance was struck.
“At the end, everything connected so easily. We had just a perfect, balanced Poke burger, something that you feel fulfilled but also fresh after eating,” says Munoz.
Suffice it to say, with an Instagram following that’s ballooned to over 8,000 since launching in July, that balance was struck, and people can’t get enough.
“Starting a business is always scary, but the response of people, friends and customer reviews has been an absolute motivation to continue,” Munoz told Dished Toronto.
In his mind, there are a lot of reasons as to why people are so gung-ho about the poke burgers, from the fact that it pushes the boundaries of what many think is possible when it comes to burgers to the sheer novelty of it all. But there’s one reason above all that he believes Poke Burgers hit different.
“It’s a product crafted with love, but also with thoughtfulness and care, and people can see that,” he explains.
“We feel proud about what we have achieved in such a short time and are excited about what’s to come with the help of the beautiful arising Poke-burger community!”
For such a young business, there are still plenty of kinks to iron out before he and Mandujano can even begin to think of the future of the business, Munoz told Dished. First up: get the business on delivery apps.
“Right now, we are working really hard to refine our ordering process through social media so people can order more easily,” he explains. The duo is on track to get Poke Burgers on the apps before the year is up.
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After that, the sky’s the limit.
“Opening a physical store and having food trucks around the GTA [our] biggest dream… and as two passionate people always looking to improve, along with the support of all the beautiful Poke-burger lover community we’ve been creating, we know that this is something Poke burgers is going to achieve sooner than later,” Munoz explains.
For now, you can try Poke Burgers for yourself by visiting its Instagram account.
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