The exact count does not matter seriously, more than a few dirty, smelling of ancient ketchup, trays piled high near the front entrance is way more than enough. Since the place is not that large, I don't' know …it holds 50 people, -perhaps? Anyhow, the place was not crowded at a quarter to 8pm on a Friday night (for a supposedly well loved burger place, that in itself sticks out like that proverbial sore thumb), so I have no idea why there were what appeared to be hundreds and hundreds of trays up front. And the trays there were stacks of dirty plastic cafeteria-type trays everywhere. For example: the greasy finger and hand print smeared front door, and the rough-looking staff standing up front wearing stained, overly-worn aprons that were in desperate need of laundering. Upon walking in, I immediately noticed how dirty everything looked. Golden Star, located just a few blocks north across the Toronto city line on Yonge St., on the Markham side of Thornhill, ON. I really wanted to love this place, but I don’t. I was certain I was going to be delighted by this Golden Star, but I was wrong. There aren’t too many of these places left.”īy Restaurantica12 JI was certain I was going to be delighted by this. “As far as our decor, a lot of our regulars don’t want us to renovate they want to keep that old nostalgic feel and look to it,” Justin says. And that’s the way this burger joint’s customers like it. The restaurant’s dining hall was built in 1979, but aside from that, a quick look around reveals that not much has changed since the early days. I guess in the sixties that was pretty popular.” “That’s why it’s called Golden Star Drive-In. “They used to call it a drive-in because you would literally drive in, order your food and go eat in the car,” says Justin. In those days, Golden Star was a four-table diner. “This place came up for sale, there was an opportunity, and 52 years later, here we are at Yonge and Doncaster!”

“My grandfather, my father and my uncle decided to go into the restaurant business,” Justin explains. That’s when Justin Doria’s grandfather, Frank, made the move from employee at a popular hot dog chain to restaurant owner.

Golden star restaurant hours