A burger battle could soon be brewing just north of Yonge and Bloor. McDonald’s is moving into a heritage storefront at 826 Yonge St, opposite the Toronto Reference Library, while Shake Shack is set to open just a short walk south on Yonge.
The new McDonald’s site was previously home to a Pizza Pizza and now forms part of the restored retail frontage at the base of the Eight Cumberland development. We don’t have an exact date for when the Golden Arches will arrive (although a few eagle-eyed Redditors have spotted a Coming Soon sign), but the new location could be entering one of the city’s most interesting burger matchups!
Just a few steps away, at 765 Yonge St, Shake Shack is preparing to open its own Yonge and Bloor location this fall. The new outpost is taking over a heritage building that was home to the Albert Britnell Bookshop for 80 years before later becoming a Starbucks.
So, with two fast food behemoths within a short walk of each other, we decided to look at who wins on price, and there’s one surprise right out of the gate: when it comes to a Big Mac vs. a single ShackBurger, both will set you back about $8.79.
Shake Shack’s crinkle-cut fries are $4.79, bringing a ShackBurger and fries to $13.58 before a drink. Add a $6.49 shake and the total hits $20.07 before tax and delivery fees. McDonald’s, meanwhile, has locked its McValue Meals at $5 through 2026, with a McDouble, Junior Chicken or Chicken Snack Wrap served with small fries and a small fountain drink.
Other prices are pretty close. A McChicken costs about $8.59 compared with $9.79 for a Chicken Shack, while 10 McNuggets and 10 Shake Shack chicken bites are both about $11.99. For dessert, a regular Oreo McFlurry is $6.39, while Shake Shack’s shakes are $6.49.
And yes, we know that delivery and in-store prices can vary, but if you’re anything like some Toronto Redditors, there are much deeper matters to consider, like whether these new locations will be geared more toward walk-up and takeout or dining in.
“Maybe rude of me but I kinda hope walk-up/take-out – keeps things cleaner, streamlined, and I can’t name a single McDonald’s that’s actually enjoyable to dine-in at,” one user wrote in a local thread, while another added, “The most enjoyable ones are the least busiest ones.”
And then there’s the matter of quantity. McDonald’s is hardly a newcomer to Toronto, with dozens of locations already scattered across the city, and some think there are just too many. “Who said we needed more McD’s?” one Redditor said, listing several other locations in the area, while another quipped, “3 of them within 200 meters.”
Others wondered if Shake Shack is opening too many restaurants too fast. There are already five Toronto locations, making the Yonge-Bloor outpost its sixth. “I was craving a shake walking down King Street one day, and the new one in the King/Portland area was dead with about 4 people eating in and no lineup to order,” one user wrote, although a few had their own theories as to why fast-food chains tend to cluster along the same corridor. “It’s usually tourists or people that think walking a couple of extra blocks is too far. I know a friend who’s like this.”
If fast food isn’t your thing, Toronto has a new secret burger omakase (and all you have to do is DM to get in).
