MITZI'S SISTER: 1554 Queen Street West - (416) 532-2570

Jess in front!  Smokers in the back.

I know, I know.  It's Mitzi's Sister.  Did I really start a blog so I could be writing a review of a very popular place to eat, drink, see music, etc.  Not really.  I started this blog to try out the places I would never go on my own.  But please, let me explain….

Ok.  So my best friend Tristen (AKA Papercrown) just got a job in Washington D.C. as a web developer at this legendary company called Development Seed.  I was feeling sad and nostalgic and I offered to drive him to DC.  He told me he didn't have much stuff, which he didn't, but I forgot to take into account that I had a really small car.  So we spent about three hours in the freezing cold trying to stuff my Subaru Impreza hatchback with more stuff than it could handle.  I was getting stressssssed!  I imagined having to drive 11 hours with no back or side windows.  I mean the fucking car has enough of a blind spot but now I was gonna have to drive 11 hours with the whole thing as one big blind spot!  And understandable, Tristen was getting stressed which was transferring over to me very quickly.

I finally got home at around 8:30pm to the warm hugs of my fiance Jess.  There was nothing to eat in the house so we decided to go out for a bite.  She looked at me in that "I know you're stressed and I'm going to make sure you get anything and everything you want" kind of way and asked "What do you want to eat?  We can go anywhere you want!  Anywhere at all".

My Beautiful Burger

Without missing a step. 

BURGER!

Oh the burger!  That wonderful glorious meat sandwich that always shows up just when you most need it.  Its kind of like a GST cheque in that way.  What is it about a burger that just transports you back to a time when you didn't have to drive a Subaru Blindspot 11 hours to Washington with a stressed out best friend.  Oh god, bless you Burger!  You never seem to let me down.  Your warmth, your slightly offbeat humour (aka: mustard and pickles!), I will always love you.  And I seriously mean that.  Burger, if you ever ordered me to sacrifice my first-born son, I probably wouldn't do it but I would give it some solid consideration.

"Let's go to Mitzi's Sister.  It's really close and I'm feeling like a burger."

"Ok!  You got it."

Mitzi's Sister is a always wonderful place for dinner.  It's especially wonderful when there isn't a band playing and you can actually have a conversation.  Well...it's sometimes wonderful with a band playing but the acts that play are really hit and miss.  We had been here many times before for drinks, nachos, and wings - all of which are great.  However this is the first time we went for a meal meal, not just a finger foods meal.

So I ordered the burger.  ;)  Cheeseburger to be exact.  I got it with fries and a coke.  Jess ordered the chicken tacos with a house salad. 

Jess' Chicken Tacos

My burger came with a mix of sweet potato and regular fries which I didn't ask for but was a welcome surprise!  On my burger was some melted cheddar cheese, caramelized onions, pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, ketchup, mustard, relish, and LOVE with a capital L-O-V-E!!!  Maybe it was all the labour, the cold air, the stress, the annoyance, my still frozen hands, but whatever it was I seriously haven't stopped thinking about that burger.  I'm pretty sure if I went there under normal circumstances it wouldn't be as great as it was at that moment, but man what a beautiful fucking moment.  Every bite was better than the last.  Same with the fries!!!  Ok, I'm getting too excited here.

Jess also loved her Chicken tacos and the salad.  Hers came dressed with mango, onions, and red pepper with guacamole on the side and the salad was dressed in a slightly sweet vinaigrette.  I tried a few bites and liked it but, I'm sorry to say, I was still knee deep in burger country.  It's hard to wrap you palate around anything else when your still have residual mustard hangin' around, if you know what I mean.  But regardless of what I thought, Jess loved it and finished off her whole plate with little help from me.

So whats the lesson from this.  Restaurants are not just about the food you eat but the circumstance of your visit.  Has it been a good day, a stressful day, a busy day, and slow-ass day?  Is it raining?  Snowing?  Did you just get in a fight with someone?  Did you just watch Gaspar Noe's new movie Enter The Void? (you should, its great)  Because all these things inform and subsequently transform your dinner.  Just like in comedy, timing is everything.  And sometimes there is no substitute for food that feels like the hug from an overweight French Canadian woman (you should also see Léolo, its really great).

Rating:  4