What began as a cozy, independent burger shop founded by childhood friends has become one of Toronto’s most popular chains over the past nine years, and it shows few signs of slowing down.
Ask any die-hard Toronto smash burger fanatic which is their favourite, and there’s a fairly solid chance that, alongside competitors like Burger Drops and Matty’s Patties, they’ll say RUDY.
Not for nothing, but many of us agree.
So popular have RUDY’s burgers become in the nine years since the inaugural location of the burger shop opened in Little Italy, in fact, that the burger business now more closely resembles an empire, with co-founder and owner Luke McCann on a war path to spread the gospel of Toronto’s best smash burgers across the entire province.
That’s not to say that RUDY’s success in Toronto was instantaneous, though. In fact, Luke tells me that the rise to the top, so to speak, has actually been a slow and steady one.
The chain, founded by Luke and his long-time friend Chris Simpson, was first born in Little Italy in the spring of 2016.
Luke poses in front of RUDY’s original location on College.
“Our vision was simple: a small griddle burger shop (before anyone called them smash burgers) that focused on doing a few things exceptionally well,” Luke tells me. “We took the food seriously, but not ourselves, which is why we named it RUDY—a term we used growing up when someone at a party was acting like a jerk.”
If the so-called “Rudy” was really over the top, Chris and Luke would call them a “Rude Dude,” which became the name of their signature burger.
At the time, Luke says, RUDY was putting out a distinctly unique offering that few in the city (except for maybe Stockyards Smokehouse, he concedes,) were matching; but that didn’t necessarily lend itself to overnight success.
“It took a little while for people in the neighbourhood to catch on to what we served. We didn’t have the word ‘burger’ in our name,” Luke says.
But eventually, the word got out. Staff from surrounding restaurants and school kids alike began frequenting the burger joint, and by 2018, they had opened their second location on Duncan Street; “we were off to the races,” says Luke.
RUDY and their signature “Rude Dude” burger share a common namesake: jerks.
Off to the races, indeed: by the start of 2021, RUDY was operating 5 locations across the city, and Chris and Luke decided it was time to take a breather, until a devastating blow shook the chain’s very foundation.
“In the spring of 2022, my good friend and business partner, Chris Simpson, passed away unexpectedly,” Luke tells me. “It was a devastating loss, and for six months, I felt like I was moving in a fog. But I knew the best way to honor what we had built together was to keep pushing forward.”
For Luke, that meant continuing to carry out the vision for RUDY he and Chris had shared by expanding further. The chain opened their first franchise location in Maple, Ontario last summer, which was shortly followed up by another on Yonge, north of Lawrence, in September.
“We’re also opening in Barrie, Aurora and Burlington in the spring,” Luke adds, “and we have a few more in the pipeline.”
In the nine years since Luke and Chris set up shop at their cozy College Street location, RUDY’s impact on the city’s tastes has been undeniable; smash burgers are everywhere nowadays, but, in my humble opinion at least, few come close to RUDY’s.
In Luke’s opinion, RUDY’s simple-yet-effective approach is the secret to the brand’s popularity.
“I think it’s comfort food done right—simple, familiar, but executed with consistency. And that’s the key: consistency,” he tells me. “It sounds easy, but maintaining that standard is harder than it looks and always a work in progress.”
According to Luke, RUDY’s staff are a major secret behind the chain’s success.
Moreover, sticking close to the restaurant’s roots and refusing to sacrifice on quality has also been a core focus as RUDY continues to expand. They make many of their ingredients fresh, in-house, and “more importantly,” Luke says, have great people behind the griddle making it.
“I could not do it without all the wonderful people we have working with us,” Luke says.
The resolve Luke felt back in 2022, which prompted the chain’s immense growth in recent years, is still very much alive and well, and he tells me that the plan for the near future is to continue growing the business.
“Ontario is a big province. How many can we get to in 5 to 10 years?” Luke says. “It all depends on finding the right people. If you keep attracting the right people, you can keep growing.”
If the past nine years have been any indication, he should have no problem finding the “right people.”
RUDY at 619 College.
RUDY has Toronto locations at 619 College, 69 Duncan, 168 Eglinton East, 1466 The Queensway, 1330 Danforth and 3397 Yonge, as well as 9960 Dufferin in Maple.
