Last Lick's locked

When the Iranian dude who owned the Lick's burger franchise on Spadina arrived to work one morning this week, he found his shop padlocked.

That wasn't exactly a surprise.

Denise Meehan built up a brand that had real cred in the already over-crowed burger field. She branched out into frozen burger patties in your local supermarket. She had it going on, big time!

Then it all went for a shit, and nobody knows why...

My Iranian friend saw the writing on the wall, and for the past few years his Lick's has been a Lick's in name only. He hasn't sent remittances to head office in years. In fact, there's rarely anyone in the head office to answer the phone, and the whereabouts of Denise have been a mystery for a long time.

So that's the last chapter of a great success story, although I heard after my last Lick's missive that there is in fact another Lick's still standing. If so, there is still the possibility of a Lick's revival.

In the meantime, I hear that the Iranian dude and his Jewish sidekick are planning a shawarma joint in the U of T neighbourhood.

Good luck and best wishes to both of them!

The last Lick's standing

Up until very recently, Lick's Burgers was an up-and-coming burger brand in the Toronto area. Founder Denise Meehan carved a niche for herself that promised to shake up a market dominated by you-know-who.

Then it all went down the shitter.

The last Lick's standing, so far as I know, is on the west side of Spadina near the University of Toronto. The proprietor is an affable Iranian expat, and his right-hand man is a youngish Jewish chick who balances her studies at U of T with full time employment at Lick's.

Talk about an odd couple!

Hoonan the Iranian went rogue on Denise Meehan a couple of years ago, when it became obvious that head office had gone rogue on him. He's still flying the Lick's flag, but due to legal considerations that may not last much longer.

But while it does, pop into the last Lick's standing and enjoy one of their old-school "homeburgers" while you can.