Smashed.
Seared.
Served in 90 seconds.
Format Burger is a single-window smash-burger counter on Queen East. One griddle, three burgers, a ninety-second ticket from the moment the patty hits cast iron.
No app. No points. No secret sauce. Just three burgers done right.
How a 90-second burger happens.
We broke the counter down to three steps and cut the rest. What's left is a burger you can time with a stopwatch — and a counter that never asks you to download anything.
The ball hits the griddle.
A two-ounce ball of 80/20 Alberta chuck lands on 550°F cast iron and gets pressed flat with a heavy spatula. Edges lace. Maillard starts. Salt hits the raw side.
Flip, cheese, dome.
Single flip, American cheese goes on the seared side, a steel dome traps the steam. The brioche bun toasts in beef fat beside the patty — not on a separate warmer.
Build. Wrap. Hand off.
Butter lettuce, a single tomato slice, house pickle. Wrapped in wax paper and pushed across the counter by name. No buzzers, no number boards, no drive-thru voice.
One counter.
Queen East, Toronto.
Format Burger lives in a single 14-foot storefront two doors down from the King streetcar stop. The griddle's visible from the sidewalk. If the line looks long, give it eight minutes — the format moves.
Closed Mondays