Review of Licks Homeburger – Scarborough

I remember the days when Licks used to be a quasi-50′s and 60′s style diner, complete with singing waiters.  Imagine my surprise when we walked into the new and improved Licks store concept in Scarborough (where Morningside Mall used to be at Mornigside and Kingston Rd)!  Goodbye kitschy 50′s and 60′s decor, hello booths and calming wood paneling.

Find out if the change in decor translated into a change in food quality and print out a coupon for a cheaper Licks kids combo meal.  Also see and discover where you can buy the largest commercially available hamburger in the world!

Details:  Lick’s Homeburgers & Ice Cream‎, 4543 Kingston Road, Scarborough ON, 416-287-9300‎, www.lickshomeburgers.com

Ambience:  No more jukebox music blaring in the background.  Now you have chestnut furnishings, comfy booths and LCD screens for menus.  Luckily, it still feels comfortable and inviting for families.

Kids Stuff:  Given that its still an upscale, fast food restaurant, you don’t really need anything to keep the kids busy.  You order your food, you watch them decorate your burger then you sit down and eat.  They used to have a mini-meal box that the kids combo would come in, not sure if they do anymore.  However, they still have an online coupon for buy one kids meal, get the second at 1/2 off.

Kids Food:  Definitely a change for the better as the kids (parents?) can switch the fries for fruit!  There’s a little fruit bar where the choices are grapes, cantaloupe and something else that I can’t recall so the kids can select the ingredients for their own fruit cocktail.  While the main staple is still either a hot dog or hamburger (with chicken nuggets on standby), they also offer either milk or juice.

They also have a family meal deal which is of value if your family can (wants to) eat all the food in the deal.  For us, it was just too much so we ordered from the menu.

Parents Food:  The burgers are still delicious with some interesting topping choices now on the menu!  Here’s an online coupon for $1.00 off your burger.  However, Clean Mom didn’t think the Tzatziki option was worth the extra $0.99 cost.

Coolest Thing About Restaurant:  Better kids meal selection.  Consistent quality of hamburgers.

Worst Thing About Restaurant:  Lost novelty of the decor.

World’s largest commercially available hamburger:

According to the Guinness World Records, the largest commercially available hamburger can be purchased in Southgate Michigan, USA at Mallie’s Sports Bar & Grill.  This 185.6 lb monstrosity broke the record on May 30, 2009 and can be purchased for a mere $499 USD!

They also have a challenge out.  If your 30 person team can eat the full burger with all its toppings in 1 hour or less, the burger is free!  Of course, pre-payment is required…

Overall Experience:  Even though the diner theme is gone, the burgers remain juicy and the kids food choices have improved.  We fed the family for $25 (tax included) and were full afterwards so we’re not complaining at all.

Rating: 3.0 stars out of 5

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3. Review of South St. Burger Co. – Ajax