Nostalgic Toronto burger chain back in business at an Ontario gas station

Lick's Homeburgers, a Toronto-grown but hitherto defunct hamburger chain, is officially back in business in a rural Ontario location.

Though true fans hankering for a taste of yesteryear could find their beloved Lick's burgers sizzling in the CNE Food Building during the Canadian National Exhibition, brick-and-mortar locations have been a thing of the past since spring 2026, when the last living branch closed its doors.

Founded in the heart of the Beaches in 1980, the burger restaurant gained a reputation for its charcoal-grilled burgers and boisterous interiors, where cooks would sing parodies of popular songs and squirt spirals of ketchup and mustard onto buttered buns.

By the mid-80s, the chain had expanded to a whopping 30 locations across Ontario, but when the 2008 financial crisis hit, it began eroding Lick's fleet, one by one. The last Toronto location shuttered in 2017, leaving a sole location in Parry Sound, which ultimately closed this past May.

For scores of Ontario residents who made memories eating the boisterous burgers, it marked the true end of an era — but, mercifully, not one that would last too long.

Lick's has officially returned to the province, with a new location recently opening its doors at Shawanaga First Nation Gas & Variety on Highway 69. Of course, this means that Toronto fans of the burger chain are in for a considerable road trip if they want to sink their teeth into a Lick's burger once more: it's a nearly 3-hour drive from the downtown core.

Still, there's a comfort in knowing that an old favourite from the past is still alive and well somewhere in the province, and, should you find yourself smacked with a sudden craving for Guk sauce somewhere along the road to Sudbury, you'll be in luck.

Does Lick's return to Ontario mean that it could make a comeback to Toronto? Only time will tell. It's more likely, though, that the city's residents will just have to wait until next year's CNE for a taste of the past.

Until then, you can find Lick's at  1 Tuckers Rd. E. in Shawanaga, Ont.