queen spadina mcdonalds toronto

Someone put a heritage plaque outside Toronto's most notorious McDonald's

The lore of the city's most iconic — some would say sketchiest — McDonald's location deepens, as someone has put up a mock-heritage plaque.

You'd have to live under a rock (or not in Toronto, I guess,) to have never heard of the legendary agent of chaos that is the Queen and Spadina McDonald's.

Located directly on the northwest corner of the equally chaotic Queen and Spadina intersection, the restaurant has been the subject of relentless memes since, well, forever.

The latest news from the fabled fast food joint — mercifully not a stabbing or all-out brawl this time — comes in the form of a heritage plaque that mysteriously appeared outside of the location with a hilarious description of the restaurant's legacy.

mcdonalds queen spadina

The plaque mysteriously appeared outside of the restaurant at 160 Spadina. Photo by Emma LeMay.

The plaque begins ordinarily enough, stating that "the McDonald's corporation commissioned the architecture firm Gordon & Harold to design one of the franchise's most iconic locations [on] October 13, 1972."

The building that originally inhabited the corner, an early movie theatre and later bargain store, was actually demolished in 1972 for the McDonald's location to be built — but that's about where the factual element of the plaque ends.

"Bringing hamburgers, drunk 17 year olds, uber eats delivery people, police presence, and illicit activity into one beautiful melting pot of culture," the plaque goes on to read. Actually, that sounds factual too.

"It has been likened to the 'Berghain of the West,'" the plaque reads, referencing an infamously debaucherous Berlin night club, "and the 'Viper Room of the North' ... because I think I saw someone die there once."

No one has yet to come forward claiming responsibility for the prank, and the lore deepens as a staff member at the restaurant tells blogTO that the plaque merely appeared there one day. No one saw who did it.

It should be noted, though, that the handiwork of this prankster and quasi-historian closely resembles that of another mock-heritage plaque that can be found at 390 Montrose Ave.

queen spadina mcdonalds toronto

The fake heritage plaque at 390 Montrose Ave. Photo by The Toronto Recursive History Project of Toronto's Recursive History.

The plaque, which appeared in 2018, is claimed by an entity known as The Toronto Recursive History Project of Toronto's Recursive History, who have yet to claim responsibility for any other plaques in the city.

Is the plaque at 160 Spadina the latest work by the original creator? Or was the new prankster inspired by the Montrose plaque? We may never know, but I think it's high time that the Queen and Spadina McDonald's was celebrated for its legacy in the city — good or bad.

Lead photo by

Emma LeMay


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