Let’s talk about the best Canadian combination that has ever existed, potatoes, cheese and gravy!  If you want to feel like you’re eating a healthy salad when you order a poutine, we call is a potato salad with gravy vinaigrette and cheese.  There are many factors that go into a great poutine and I’m sure not everyone is going to agree with me on where to get a great one, but if you haven’t tried the ones on this list, give them a try and let me know what you think!

Let’s start with what I like in a poutine, it needs to have a beefy gravy, I don’t like one made with chicken gravy, the fries need to be fresh cut and cheese needs to be real cheese curds!  I also like some additional toppings on a poutine, not always, a traditional one is good too, but most of the ones I dream about on this list have some kind of fun topping or modification

Crazy Canuck

141 Ontario St N, Kitchener  or 845 Weber St, Waterloo 

The poutine at Crazy Canuck is at the top of my list for a reason!  The portion size is great, their gravy is perfect, and they have nice crispy fresh cut fries!  I order the Montreal smoked meat one, real Quebec style, now they do include some sauerkraut and some kind of mustard, I opt not to have those and just enjoy their traditional poutine with the smoked meat.  They also seem to fry up the meat a little, so it’s nice and warm and has crispy edges, it’s the poutine of my dreams!

Big Fat Pita

85 King St W - Kitchener

I know that it sound strange to enjoy a poutine from a pita place, but they offer much more than pitas stuffed with more chicken and shawarma than you can handle!  They also make a very nice and rich beef gravy atop of fresh cut fries and fresh cheese curds.  Their traditional poutine is good, but if you order it with bacon on top, he puts on so much bacon crumble that you can’t even see the fries!  That’s a huge win on splurge day!

Smoke’s Poutinerie

255 King St N – Waterloo

Smokes is exactly what you would expect them to be, they specialize in poutines and they do a great job at it.  They do offer different types of gravy, so if you want to get a meat free gravy, smokes is your place!  Their main gravy is a chicken base, which is why it’s no on the top of my list, but their homemade gravy recipe is delicious.  Smoke’s offers the most topping options of any poutine place on this list, and my favourite is the philly steak.  I find adding the philly beef to the poutine makes up for the missing beef gravy. 

Hemlock St Burger Bar

251 Hemlock St – Waterloo

For me what makes the Hemlock St Burger bar poutine so special is their fries!  They make a bomb fry to go with their burger on their own but turn those fries into a poutine and you’re making magic!  If you want to up your game even more, put some poutine right on that burger, it’s a match made in heaven!   They also offer the crispiest of the bacon, and as some of you know, I like my bacon SUPER crispy and Hemlock St Burger bar provides just that!

Classic Chip Truck locations

I’ll do a post later in the summer about the different chip trucks around town, but for now, I’ll list the chip trucks or little permanent huts where you can get fresh cut fries with beef gravy and squeaky cheese curds, let me know which of these is your favourite

David’s Fries – 36 Lancaster St W

Manitou Takeout -  808 Courtland Ave E

Wesley’s – 2067 Victoria St N