Even though I'm chronologically 39 (yikes!)-years-old and feeling more and more my age every day, in my mind there are tons of times I still feel like a kid.  Like how I still laugh at toilet humour.  Or how I still love all those gross-out movies like (don't judge me) Jackass and The Hangover.  And of course, when I see such movies, I always eat the junkiest but most delicious snack ever: Popcorn with layered butter with a package of peanut m&m's tossed in the bag.  It's my belief that if you're gonna treat yourself, you might as well go all in.

One of my favourite guilty pleasures are hot dogs. But it's not that easy to get a great, high quality dog in this city...unless you go to Fancy Franks, Toronto's newest gourmet hot-doggery.

When I first heard about Fancy Franks, I immediately did my online research to find out why this place was getting so much buzz.  After all, it's only hot dogs, right?

Wrong.

This ain't your usual street meat joint.  Fancy Franks has tons of different kinds of dogs on the menu, ranging from the the basic Frank to Franks with PB & J, with all of them having one thing in common: an all-natural, hand-twisted dog topped with locally sourced ingredients, like the Silverstein's buns that are baked daily in neighbouring Kensington Market. In addition to the dogs, they also serve  fresh-cut fries (my kids got a kick out of watching them slice them up), made-to-order doughnuts, and salads.  Order the fries & doughnuts, skip the salad...that's not what you're here for.

 As we headed down to the restaurant, my son was a little apprehensive because he's not a big hot dog fan and there's not much more on the menu. But when we got there and he saw the menu, his problem changed: he couldn't decide which one to get.  The staff told us the Franks Got Seoul (Korean BBQ style) is their best seller with Frankie Goes to Buffalo (Spicy chicken wings) a close second.  He finally decided on the Frank's Coney Island (chili dog).  Rounding out our order was the Frank & Beans (hubby), Fancy 90210 (daughter), and Frankie Goes to Buffalo (moi). We had planned on ordering each dog as part of a combo-with drink and fries-but once we saw the size of them, we decided instead to share one order of fries. And even with my bottomless-pit of a teenager, it was plenty.

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 Everything was delicious.  I can honestly say that it was, without a doubt, the best hot dog I've had in a long time.  It was definitely worth it.  As for my son the self-proclaimed hot dog hater?  Well, he cleaned his plate...and asked when we could come back again. 

 Even though we were stuffed, we just had to try their made-to-order doughnuts.  I'm glad we did.  They were light and crispy and not to sweet; the perfect ending to an awesome meal.

 And you know what makes good food taste even better?  The atmosphere.  The staff was beyond friendly, it was clean and spacious and the super-long family style table made it feel warm and relaxed. 

 Overall, I would definitely have to say that Fancy Franks is a winner in our books: for under $50, we got a great meal and had a super-time.

Moral of the story?  If you're looking for a cool place to eat over March Break...or any other time, head down to Fancy Franks. 

Fancy Franks

326 College St.

Open 7 Days a week 'till 11 (and 1 on the weekends!)

This post was not sponsored nor was I compensated. I was given a complementary meal for review purposes only.