Big Smoke Burger

Fast Casual Burger Restaurantsbigsmokeburger.com

Big Smoke Burger is a Canadian fast-casual franchise chain, founded in Toronto in 2007 and now a division of MTY Franchising Inc., serving flame-grilled gourmet burgers made with 100% Canadian beef, fresh-cut fries, poutines, milkshakes, and catering across locations in Ontario, Alberta, and Manitoba.

Company typePrivate
Founded2007
HeadquartersBurlington, Canada
Headcount—
GTM typeB2C
OfferingServices

What Big Smoke Burger does

Big Smoke Burger is a Canadian fast-casual restaurant brand founded in 2007 in Toronto, Ontario, that operates as a division of MTY Franchising Inc. The brand centers its offering on flame-grilled gourmet burgers made with 100% Canadian beef, fresh-cut fries cooked in trans fat-free canola oil, house-made sauces, hand-spun milkshakes, premium poutines, and a kids menu, with explicit vegetarian and halal options to broaden addressable demand. Its product portfolio spans a signature "Big Smoke Originals" line (e.g., Smokey Cheddar Bacon, The Beast, Nashville Hot Chicken), traditional classics, premium poutines, sides, beverages, and event catering; a customer loyalty program called Smoke Stack Club sits alongside these. Distribution is entirely franchise-based under MTY Franchising Inc.'s development infrastructure, with locations across Ontario, Alberta, and Manitoba (including Toronto, Burlington, Calgary, Winnipeg, Barrie, Kingston, Niagara, and Woodbine Casino Mississauga); the franchise page is hosted on the parent mtyfranchising.com site.

The company runs a unit-pricing revenue model in which franchisees sell menu items at point-of-sale to walk-in, takeout, online-order, and catering customers, with no proprietary technology stack or app disclosed beyond a website, online ordering funnel, and organic social presence on Instagram and Facebook. Pricing is not publicly published in detail (a $11.99 slider is the only sample observed), and the company is privately held as a non-reporting operating division of MTY, meaning no direct revenue or headcount data is disclosed. Customer concentration is structurally low given a high-volume consumer transaction base, while the principal strategic dependencies are the MTY franchise umbrella, geographic concentration in Ontario, and brand-level differentiation built on Canadian-sourced beef and flame-grilled preparation rather than technology or scale.

Big Smoke Burger firmographics

Firmographics

Name: Big Smoke Burger
Legal name: Big Smoke Burger
Website: https://bigsmokeburger.com
Company type: Private
Founded year: 2007
Operating status: Operating
Short description: Big Smoke Burger is a Canadian fast-casual franchise chain, founded in Toronto in 2007 and now a division of MTY Franchising Inc., serving flame-grilled gourmet burgers made with 100% Canadian beef, fresh-cut fries, poutines, milkshakes, and catering across locations in Ontario, Alberta, and Manitoba.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

Big Smoke Burger industry classification

Industry

Product category: Fast Casual Burger Restaurants
SIC: Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)
akta.pro primary industry: Burger Fast Casual (THAFABAA)

Keywords

Gourmet burger restaurant
Fast casual dining
Canadian beef burgers
Franchise restaurant chain
Burger catering services

Where Big Smoke Burger is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Burlington
HQ country: Canada
HQ region: North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

Big Smoke Burger business model

Business model

GTM type: B2C
Offering type: Services
Cost components: Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

Restaurant Sales (Franchise): Revenue is generated through franchise restaurant locations selling burgers, fries, milkshakes, and other menu items directly to consumers. Each franchise location sells food and beverages at point of sale.

Pricing tiers

Model	Billing	Price
Unit Pricing	Pay-as-you-go	Individual menu items priced at point of sale

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Big Smoke Burger product offering

Product offering

Core offering

Big Smoke Burger operates a fast-casual restaurant chain selling flame-grilled gourmet burgers made with 100% Canadian beef, alongside fresh-cut fries, premium poutines, hand-spun milkshakes, and beverages. The company sells its menu through company-branded and franchised dine-in/takeout locations across Canadian provinces, complemented by an event catering service and a customer loyalty program called Smoke Stack Club.

Product overview

Big Smoke Burger is a single-brand restaurant chain offering a unified fast-casual dining experience centered on gourmet flame-grilled burgers. The product portfolio includes Big Smoke Originals (signature gourmet burgers like Smokey Cheddar Bacon, The Beast, and Nashville Hot Chicken), Classics (traditional burger options), Premium Poutines (gourmet poutine variations), Sides (fresh-cut fries, onion rings), hand-spun Milkshakes, and a Kids Menu. The offering is complemented by a catering service for events and a loyalty program called Smoke Stack Club. All items feature 100% Canadian beef, house-made sauces, and premium toppings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

Big Smoke Originals
Classics
Premium Poutines
Sides
Milkshakes
Drinks
Bigs For Kids
Catering
Smoke Stack Club

Companies that use Big Smoke Burger

Customer profile

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Big Smoke Burger technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Big Smoke Burger partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

MTY Franchising Inc.coreOthersBig Smoke Burger is a division of MTY Franchising Inc., a major franchising company. The parent company handles franchise development and support for the Big Smoke Burger brand. The franchising page is hosted on mtyfranchising.com.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Big Smoke Burger competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Direct peers

The Works Gourmet Burger Bistro: Canadian gourmet burger casual-dining chain with extensive customizable burger menu. Closely comparable on gourmet-burger positioning, customization model, and Canadian market focus.
Five Guys: U.S.-founded gourmet burger chain with established Canadian footprint. Closely comparable to Big Smoke Burger on made-to-order flame-grilled positioning, premium beef, fresh-cut fries, and a fast-casual service model.
Shake Shack: Premium fast-casual burger chain known for made-to-order burgers, crinkle-cut fries, and shakes. Highly comparable in culinary positioning and 'gourmet burger QSR' category placement.
Harvey's: Canadian burger chain under Recipe Unlimited, offering made-to-order burgers. Directly comparable in Canadian geography, made-to-order model, and casual dining price points.
A&W Canada: Long-established Canadian burger QSR with national footprint. Competes head-to-head in Canada on beef burgers, fries, and shakes, with stronger scale and brand awareness.
Burger Priest: Toronto-based gourmet burger quick-service concept. Comparable on Toronto market presence, premium beef sourcing, and gourmet small-menu positioning.
Fatburger: Multi-unit gourmet burger chain with Canadian franchise locations. Comparable in counter-service gourmet burger format and franchise-led expansion model.
Wahlburgers: Celebrity-branded gourmet burger casual-dining chain. Comparable in flame-grilled gourmet positioning and franchise-led expansion across North America.

Broad incumbents

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Brews: U.S. casual-dining chain specializing in gourmet burgers and brews. Comparable on gourmet burger positioning at a broader sit-down casual-dining price point.
MTY Food Group: Parent company of Big Smoke Burger and operator of 40+ restaurant brands across Canada. Relevant as the controlling franchisor that determines brand-level investment and expansion velocity.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Big Smoke Burger financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Big Smoke Burger leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Big Smoke Burger funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Big Smoke Burger M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Big Smoke Burger

What does Big Smoke Burger do?

Is Big Smoke Burger a public or private company?

Big Smoke Burger is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.

When was Big Smoke Burger founded?

Big Smoke Burger was founded in 2007.

Where is Big Smoke Burger based?

Big Smoke Burger is headquartered in Burlington, Canada, in the North America region.

How does Big Smoke Burger make money?

One revenue line is on record: restaurant Sales (Franchise).

Who are Big Smoke Burger's main competitors?

Direct peers on record are The Works Gourmet Burger Bistro, Five Guys, Shake Shack, Harvey's, A&W Canada, Burger Priest, Fatburger and Wahlburgers. Broad incumbents are Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Brews and MTY Food Group.

Does Big Smoke Burger have an API?

No public API is recorded for Big Smoke Burger.

What industry is Big Smoke Burger in?

Big Smoke Burger's product category is Fast Casual Burger Restaurants. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAFABAA, Burger Fast Casual. Its SIC code is 5810.