After a lot of hype surrounding what some are saying is Toronto’s best restaurant, I decided it was time to go visit County General for myself. The County General is located at 936 Queen St. W in Toronto. I arrived with my brother around 6:30pm since County General does not take reservations and I had heard it can be difficult to get a table. They were full when we got there but said it would be about a 15 minute wait, no problem.

County General Exterior

The restaurant itself is very small and only has table seating for about 18 people plus around 8 seats at the bar. There is a window into what looks like a very cozy kitchen at the back of the bar where I could see at least 3 people working.

Inside County General

The menu itself is sandwich focused with a couple of meals meant for sharing, such as fried chicken two ways ($36). I had heard good things about the fried chicken but my brother wasn’t in the mood for sharing so we went with a couple of choices from the sandwich menu. I decided on the Fried Chicken Thigh Sandwich (Buttermilk Chicken, Milk Bun, Avocado Chutney Coriander, Green Onion – $12) with a single deviled egg ($1.50) to start, while my brother opted for their 6oz County Burger (Milk Bun, Mustard, Mayonnaise, Pickle – $12) with cheese (+$2) and peameal bacon (+$2). Both came with a side option of fries or salad. My brother went with the fries, and I the salad.

Deviled Egg ($1.50)

Fried Chicken Thigh Sandwich w/ Salad ($12)

Close-up Fried Chicken Sandwich

I first started with the deviled egg which was just OK. It didn’t really have much flavour. When the sandwich arrived my first thoughts were, “where is the rest of it?” I was presented with what would be called a slider (dinner roll) by most restaurants with 2 chicken thighs in between. Fortunately, I wasn’t super hungry so this seemed like it would be enough. The salad was quite heavy on the dressing but was tasty, but very basic. The chicken sandwich had some nice flavor to it but fell apart after the first few bites and became very difficult to eat since the chicken was stacked so high on a tiny bun. By the end of the meal I was still hungry which was disappointing considering I wasn’t even that hungry to begin the meal. It was more of a tease than an actual meal.

6oz County Burger Fully Loaded ($16)

My brother on the other hand said he really enjoyed his burger, which was slightly bigger than my sandwich. He said he was not a big eater so this was a good size portion for him. I tried a couple of his fries which were very good and they had a nice homemade ketchup-like dipping sauce with the dish which had some great flavor too.

SERVICE

The service was good overall. Our waitress was friendly but did take some time to check in on how we were doing or if we needed any drinks. This could because I was having water (which I know servers hate), but I didn’t feel like anything else and wasn’t a fan of any of the beers on their drink list.

VALUE

This is where I struggled a lot with County General. I don’t mind paying good money for really good food, but I felt they were overcharging a bit for what you actually got. The food was tasty, but nothing that really blew me away nor anything I would expect from a place people are saying could be one of Toronto’s best restaurants. If I went there hungry, it would probably take 2-3 sandwiches to fill me up, and there is no way I am paying up to $36 for a sandwich dinner. Chicken thighs are super cheap so their food cost on this dish can’t be much more than $2, which means quite a mark-up if this is true. I would much rather go to Tavolino before heading back here if I am in the mood for a sandwich to be perfectly honest.

Here is a copy of the County General Menu (dinner) at the time of my review if you are interested:

D I N N E R

OVERALL

County General didn’t live up to the hype for me, but maybe it was just a case of the things that I ordered. I would consider going back to try something else on their menu (probably the fried chicken for 2), but am also in no rush to do so. The quality of the food is good compared to a lot of places though so I can’t score them too low. I just don’t think this is the place for me, and I was really disappointed about this as I really love their concept.

SCORE: 6.5/10

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