Canadian Fast Food Chains We'd Love To See In The US

While hundreds of different fast food restaurants chains have exponentially grown and then saturated the large United States dining landscape, the choices have grown a bit stale in recent years. There aren't all that many different options available for a cheaply priced meal designed to be eaten quickly on the premises or in one's car or at a location of their choosing. 

While the quality, price, and presentation may vary, American fast food can be almost entirely categorized into a few boxes: hamburger-shilling clones of McDonald's and Burger King, pizza, Mexican-inspired cuisine, fried chicken, American-style Chinese food, and baked goods with coffee à la Starbucks. Fast food in the U.S. needs an injection of novelty and newness. Where can those new ideas come from? Let's look slightly northward, to Canada.

Canada is a giant and complex country that's like the U.S. in that it's a melting pot of many cultures. That diversity has allowed certain niche cuisines to develop alongside Canadian-born favorites. Canada is just right there, enjoying its many domestic fast food chains that it really should consider sharing with the rest of the world. Here are some of the most popular, dominant, and tasty fast food chains that you can only find in Canada — but which we'd love to see expand into the United States someday.

Hardee's and Carl's Jr. have different names, but they're the same company serving basically the same food. In Canada, however, there are a few Carl's Jr. outlets but no Hardee's, owing to a trademark issue with a well-established and immensely popular Canadian fast food burger chain. The first Harvey's opened in the Richmond Hill area of Toronto in 1959, and it has since grown into a chain of 291 locations, covering over 160 cities and nearly every province of Canada.

Harvey's, so proud of its Canadian heritage that a maple leaf is used instead of an apostrophe in its packaging, boasts a menu built around burgers and proudly Canadian foods. Its milkshakes are made from completely domestic dairy, and its flame-grilled burgers are built from sustainable Angus-style beef cattle raised entirely in Canada. One other feature that gives it an edge over the competition, and is likely responsible for it winning an Ipsos Reid survey to name the best-tasting burger in Canada: an expansive array of condiments, toppings, vegetables, and hot sauces to make for an almost infinitely customizable sandwich. Some standout elements of Harvey's include its long pickle strips (characteristic of many Canadians restaurants) and Harv sauce as well as the fact that in-store, its employees build your order in front of you, like at Chipotle or Subway. And because Harvey's is so quintessentially Canadian, its menu has a whole section of poutine, that very Canadian dish consisting of fries topped with cheese curds and gravy. Harvey's sells the classic iteration of poutine as well as versions that utilize bacon and buffalo-style chicken.

With the exception of Ohio's chain Skyline, where the Cincinnati chili is a variant of Greek bolognese, there's a dearth of national fast food companies in the U.S. serving Greek or Mediterranean food. That could all change if one of Canada's most popular fast food chains, Opa! of Greece, were to ever expand southward. Since its launch as a single restaurant in Calgary in 1998, Opa! of Greece is the quickest-spreading fast food chain in Canada, with more than 100 outlets from coast to coast occupying strip malls and growing by a rate of 15 to 20 new eateries a year. There's presently only one in the U.S., and it's in the food court of the Mall of America in Minnesota. A second American location in Las Vegas closed.

The chain of Greek-Canadian restaurants offers an expansive menu populated with many traditional and familiar favorites from Europe, including spiced and roasted vegetable platters, pita wraps, shrimp skewers, calamari, seasoned rice, Greek salad, spanakopita, hummus, and baklava. There's a gap in the market for a Greek fast food restaurant, and Opa! of Greece has the diverse and tasty menu to fill it.

Pizza is well-represented in the world of American takeout food, with Domino's and California Pizza Kitchen among the best pizza chains in the U.S. But the beauty of pizza is that most of the chains are different enough to stand apart from one another, representing different styles and quality levels. Those looking for a slice or a whole pie in the U.S. can sample New York, Chicago, Detroit, and California styles, among others — and they ought to be able to get an idea of what Canadian pizza is all about. Perhaps no other eatery represents Canadian fast food pizza quite like Pizza Pizza. Since opening for business in 1967, it's grown to over 800 no-frills pizza parlors across the country.

Making food solely for pickup and delivery, Pizza Pizza's standard pizza comes on a crust of medium to moderate thickness, which is then topped with cheese produced entirely in Canada. When ordering, you can always go for Italian-style pizza sauce, but when in Pizza Pizza, one might as well order one of its unique blends, like hot honey-infused marinara, creamy garlic, buffalo style, pesto, or butter chicken, a treasured Indian-inspired dish in Canada. Pizza Pizza doesn't just sell pizza, either — what makes it truly special is its selection of foods not often found on the menus at American pizza chains, including tater tots, poutine swimming in cheese or popcorn chicken, jalapeño poppers, curly fries, and fried cauliflower. Pizza Pizza also has a varied selection of stromboli and panzerotti as well as chicken and vegan sandwiches.

It's quite possible that compared to all of the American bagels, the Montreal bagel is the superior bagel style. Developed in the late 19th century in the Jewish community of Quebec's largest city, a Montreal bagel differs from the one known to most Americans. The wood-fired baked good is honey-sweetened and made with malt and egg. The result is a bagel that's crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. It's noticeably smaller and made with a larger hole than American bagels, too. They're also traditionally coated in poppy seeds or sesame seeds, and both of those are among the 15 different bagel flavors sold by the Old Bagel House.

With locations throughout Ontario, in Mississauga, Dundas, and London, the Old Bagel House keeps the Montreal tradition alive. Apart from miniature bagels by the piece or in larger quantities, the Old Bagel House's menu consists primarily of the distinctly Canadian baked good, available in styles ranging from plain to multigrain to pumpernickel to pretzel to coconut to chocolate chip. Toppings and bagel sandwiches are on offer, too, and Old Bagel House making a go of things in the United States would represent a flavorful and striking alternative to the handful of American bagel chains sporting all-too-familiar options.

There's nothing outwardly Swiss about Swiss Chalet, one of Canada's most omnipresent restaurants. Back in 1954, the founder wanted to emulate a Swiss style of chicken preparation, which involves spit-roasting them over an open fire. That idea evolved into a full-fledged restaurant developed entirely in Canada, catering to and forming local tastes. Swiss Chalet has always focused on rotisserie chicken served alongside its Signature Chalet Dipping Sauce, a gently spicy and sort of sweet brown gravy that also goes well with Swiss Chalet's skin-on french fries. But the chain is very meat- and meal-centric, serving combos and platters fit for one, two, or more, piled high with chicken wings, chicken tenders, and slabs of barbecue ribs.

While slightly more upscale than most fast food and priced just a tad above that of a burger joint, Swiss Chalet has long catered to takeout customers as well as those dining inside, with distinct menus for both options. It's like a Canadian version of Boston Market. While the knife-and-fork meals are Swiss Chalet's specialty, the signature sandwiches are worth a shot and could be a good entry point for those who prefer American fast food. For instance, there's the Southern Canuck, which melds American-style barbecue sauce, cheddar cheese, bacon, and slaw with Canadian rotisserie chicken and Signature Chalet Dipping Sauce. This place really loves its gravy, and so do the customers who regularly patronize the nearly 200 locations.

With Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips almost completely gone, and far fewer Long John Silver's outlets than there were a couple of decades ago, there exists an underserved market in the United States for fast food fish. There's a need for a chain that emulates the traditional English pub-style fried fish filet served with some thick-cut French-fried potatoes, coleslaw, and tartar sauce. C-Lovers Fish and Chips, an emerging chain in Western Canada with a dozen restaurants in the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, could fill that particular niche.

C-Lovers sells seafood that's tasty, sustainable, and affordable. The food has a classic English sensibility, as the fish is coated in a lightweight, golden brown coating, and customers can get a basket with fries (or "chips") flanking cod, haddock, halibut, salmon, prawns, or oysters. They can also order those seafoods on a bun as a burger and pair it with chowder, gravy, or some mushy peas. Should C-Lovers ever sail into American cities, it would introduce some Canadian sensibilities into American fast food as well as some English traditions. And unlike other fish restaurants past or present, C-Lovers isn't shy with the all-you-can-eat option, offering that meal upgrade plus bottomless soda at all of its dine-in locations. And nothing appeals to Americans like all-you-can-eat deals.

While Triple O's has only been slinging gigantic and meaty burgers and thick and creamy milkshakes since the early 1990s, those very menu items have been feeding Canadians for almost a century. After selling hot dogs and peanuts from his car, Nat Bailey created the first White Spot, a drive-in restaurant, in 1928. Dozens more opened up around the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, serving tens of thousands of customers a day.

By the late 1990s, the drive-in was viewed as a restaurant format on the decline, and White Spot's owners responded by spinning off a new chain, Triple O's. Offering both dine-in and carry-out options, Triple O's makes burgers and more that evoke the drive-in style of its predecessor but with more modern twists to meet changing customer standards. Around 70 burger-based Triple O's operate in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. The restuarant's sandwiches are garnished with Triple "O" sauce, top-shelf bacon, a thin slice of pickle on top, and real cheddar cheese made in Canada. Domestic dairy is also used on Triple O's aggressively and generously flavored milkshakes, with standouts including the cookies and cream and chocolate espresso varieties.

After making a comeback, Tim Hortons remains the most omnipresent place in Canada to get coffee and donuts. But it's not the only place in Canada for a quick pick-me-up in the form of caffeine and sugar. One of its chief competitors, albeit operating about 1% as many locations as the U.S.-braving Tim Hortons, is the Toronto-area chain Coffee Time. Like Tim Hortons, with its wide selection of hot and cold beverages, Coffee Time keeps it simple, selling only coffee, sweetened cappuccino-style drinks, hot and flavored iced teas, and a number of smoothies. Coffee Time could even compete with Starbucks with its line of Chilla drinks — coffee-based cold and blended beverages heavy on the chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and sugary sauce drizzles.

Like a hybrid of American chains Dunkin Donuts and Panera Bread, Coffee Time has a substantial menu of bakery items. Muffins, gigantic cookies, and fruity biscuits (what Americans would call a scone) are standout choices alongside, of course, donuts. For later in the day, Coffee Time sells ciabatta sandwiches and more inspired international entrees: Jamaican-style stuffed patty sandwiches, Greek spanakopita, British sausage rolls, and Indian samosas.

The distinctive Canadian fast food poutine originated in Quebec in the 1950s. It's the foundational menu item for Ashton, formerly Chez Ashton. The restaurant chain operates more than 20 outlets, almost all of them in and around Quebec City.

While Ashton's claims to serve the best poutine in all of Canada are definitely up for debate, what can't be denied is that the chain sells a lot of poutine in a lot of different varieties. The restaurant's Authentic Poutine consists of the usual blend of fries, gravy, and cheese curds, while other versions add toppings like sliced sausage, ground beef, chicken, green peas, and bacon. Each of these menu options is a meal unto itself, or it can be eaten on the side with another Canada-specific Ashton specialty: burgers slathered in gravy. Ashton also offers a line of hot dogs, another menu item sorely missing in American fast food chains. Utilizing some of the best, most reliable hot dog toppings, Ashton's composed sausages-on-buns involve ingredients like a spicy house sauce, white cheese slices, and fiery ketchup. Ashton's poutine alone is reason enough to wish it would come stateside, but the burgers, hot dogs, and roast beef sandwiches only make the chain more attractive to American stomachs.

The U.S. sandwich scene is pretty crowded already with the likes of Subway, Jersey Mike's Subs, and Jimmy John's battling for sandwich dominance. But if there's any universally beloved food, it's a big sandwich with stacks of meats and cheeses piled high on soft bread rolls. There's room for one more chain that knows how to make a generously packed hoagie — and that spot could be occupied by Canadian sandwich leader Mr. Sub.

Beginning life as Mr. Submarine in Toronto in 1968, Mr. Sub spread throughout Canada throughout the 1970s and beyond, once the only significant national sandwich chain in the country. Mr Sub responded to competitors by expanding its menu — seven sandwiches became nearly 20, and salads and desserts showed up, too. The chain offers the standard sub sandwich fare as well as premium offerings like a loaded club, Louisiana pepper chicken, steak and cheese, and meatball subs. Also, Mr. Sub has what no other sandwich company in either Canada or the U.S. has: a special transformative condiment called Mr. Sub '68 Sauce. It's sort of like Italian dressing, but tangier, sweeter, and a little spicier.

This classic-style drive-in or burger stand comes with a few twists that elevate it past all the other competition from the mid-20th century that have long since faded away. An institution in Calgary since the first one opened back in 1962, Peters' Drive-In causes daily lunchtime traffic jams as tremendously long lines of cars and customers on foot patiently waiting for one of the restaurant's signature items. In its more than 60 years in business, Peters' has expanded only a little, opening up two more locations in Alberta, in the cities of Edmonton and Red Deer.

Peters' Drive-In sells burgers made from beef cattle raised entirely in Canada. Peters' Drive-In makes near-perfect burgers and it makes them quickly, thanks to an efficient and small menu. They've got single, double, and triple cheeseburgers, veggie burgers, hot dogs, fries, onion rings, and poutine, and that's basically it. The iconic burgers pair well with a milkshake, which are available in about 30 flavors. On hot days, one Peters' Drive-In location may sell as many as 4,000 of those shakes. The chain also sells sundaes.

In the United States, A&W is slowly fading away. Considered to be among the first fast food chains — it started franchising root beer stands in 1926 — there aren't nearly as many A&W restaurants in the U.S. as there once were. It's a different story up north. A completely independent and separate company (as of 1972) with a largely different menu, the Canadian A&W is worth crossing the border for.

With more than 1,000 restaurants in over 500 cities, A&W is the second-largest burger chain in Canada, trailing only McDonald's. Central to A&W Canada's burger offerings is the Burger Family. Long since phased out of the American A&W menu, it's a size system that includes the Baby Burger, Teen Burger, Mama Burger, Papa Burger, and Grandpa Burger. A&W Canada also offers burger variants not often elsewhere, such as the Masala Veggie Burger (made with a crispy paneer patty and topped with spicy piri piri sauce) and mozzarella available as an alternative to American cheese. The A&W Canada breakfast menu is also unique, including numerous wraps, pancakes, spicy chicken sandwiches, and the All-Canadian Special, a hybrid of the Full English and traditional Canadian breakfast that comes with eggs, bacon, toast, sausage, hash browns, and sliced tomatoes. Other unique menu items include churros, turnovers, and, of course, big mugs of A&W root beer.