When Blaze Pizza closed last year, a goodbye note in the window ended a decade at one of Toronto’s most coveted addresses. Ten years of pizza, and now there’s a new name on the sign.
Mary Brown’s Chicken moved in on June 23.
Canada’s largest Canadian-owned chicken QSR opened a flagship store inside The Tenor, the brand’s most prominent Toronto location to date, in partnership with former Blue Jays star José Bautista. The unit runs 2,428 square feet along the building’s Dundas Street East frontage, inside a complex that draws 28.5 million visitors a year and sits directly above TMU Station. Shake Shack has the corner. Mary Brown’s has the sign you actually stop to look at.
The sign reads “MB Chicken x José Bautista” in his handwritten signature across a wide black panel. Inside, a neon version of that autograph glows on a turf wall above two self-serve kiosks. Baseball-stitched tables. Vintage Blue Jays ticket stubs covering the walls. It is the kind of interior that tells you someone made a deliberate decision about what this space was supposed to feel like.
Karen Tam became President of MBI Brands in March, four months before this location opened. Her background is not QSR. She spent six years as an executive at Choice Hotels Canada and before that at Four Seasons Hotels. She approaches this location the way a hospitality executive approaches a flagship hotel property: not as a unit, but as a proof of concept for the entire brand.
“We see 2026 as a meaningful year for the brand, one where we want to show people what Mary Brown’s is truly capable of,” Tam said. “Not a reinvention, because we know what we do well and we’re committed to that. What we’re focused on is elevating the experience, reaching a broader audience, and demonstrating that a brand built on quality and hospitality can also be exciting and current.”
The Bautista relationship started as a marketing initiative three years ago and grew from there. Campaigns, a limited-time offering called José’s Double Deal, and enough genuine rapport that when this location came up, deepening the partnership made sense to both sides.
“Over the past few years I’ve had the chance to get to know the Mary Brown’s team and see firsthand how passionate they are about quality and community,” Bautista said. “Being part of this flagship opening at such an iconic Toronto location is exciting for me, and I’m looking forward to welcoming everyone into the store.”
“A location like this demands a different kind of thinking,” Tam said. “Everyone wants to be here, so the question becomes: how do you make the most of that opportunity? How do you give people a reason to walk in rather than walk past? Our relationship with José has grown into something genuine, and he was excited about being part of this specifically. That energy translated directly into how we approached the space.”
The Tenor context matters for anyone in the leasing business. The building counts Chipotle, Starbucks, Eggslut, Tim Hortons, Cineplex, Hard Rock, and Jack Astor’s among its tenants across 13 floors. It has direct PATH access, draws 45,000 students from Toronto Metropolitan University next door, and sits within five kilometres of 700,000 residents. The intersection sees more than 100,000 people daily.
Mary Brown’s has used its Spadina and Richmond location to test new ordering formats and digital tools. This location runs those same experiments at volume.
“A true flagship has to embody everything the brand represents,” Tam said. “Technology is a major focus for us going forward, and a flagship is where we begin introducing what that looks like. Our Spadina store has served that purpose at a smaller scale. This location allows us to do it with increased visibility and momentum. The goal is to use what we learn here to help drive decisions across the entire network.”
On the question of standing out at the busiest intersection in Canada, Tam does not hesitate.
“When they see that sign with José Bautista, it’s like, wow, I’ve got to go in there,” Tam said. “And then they look at the menu and they see what you have. We are so confident in our product that once people try it, they’re going to be pleasantly surprised and want to come back. It’s about getting that first-time Mary Brown’s customer into the store.”
“You’re never going to win on pricing. If you are, it’s just a race to the bottom,” she said. “You have to have something besides pricing to bring that customer back. Loyalty programs that are easy and very targeted, that remind the customer you’re there. Real estate on someone’s phone is hard to get these days. You need to be the app they actually want on their phone.”
MBI Brands also owns Fat Bastard Burrito, the Toronto-born chain it acquired in 2022, which now runs more than 95 locations across Ontario, Newfoundland, BC, and Alberta. Its first Western Canada unit opened in Langley in December 2024. The two brands share a Markham headquarters, and Tam confirmed the company has discussed putting both concepts under one roof.
“The consumer case is clear: two people, two different cravings, one stop,” she said. “We believe a co-located Mary Brown’s and Fat Bastard Burrito works. Finding the right location and the right moment to execute it properly is the piece we are working through.”
Mary Brown’s reached 300 Canadian locations earlier this year with a New Brunswick opening. The target is to keep growing. The next wave of units looks different from what built the network.
“We do not need to anchor every new location around a full dining room,” Tam said. “There are cities, towns, and specific sites across Canada where a more compact format performs just as strongly. That means looking seriously at non-traditional spaces: stadiums, transit hubs, malls, mixed-use developments. The goal is to be where our guests already are. In fact, our next scheduled opening in a few weeks will be at Toronto Pearson Airport in Terminal 3.”
Mary Brown’s has been in Canada since 1969, starting in a single Newfoundland location and spending 57 years building a reputation on fresh from scratch, hand-breaded chicken from Canadian ingredients. CEO and owner Gregory Roberts framed the milestone plainly.
“From our beginnings in Newfoundland more than five decades ago to opening a flagship restaurant at one of the busiest and most recognizable intersections in Canada, this is a proud moment for our brand,” Roberts said. “This location reflects how far Mary Brown’s has come while staying true to the quality, hospitality and Canadian roots that have defined us from the start.”
“You have to never forget your roots and what you were built on. Without the foundation, everything crumbles,” Tam said. “We talk about Newfoundland because we have such pride in it. That family feel, that welcoming feel. Anyone who has seen Come From Away will know what I’m talking about. We’re built on that culture, and that is what we want to instill in every single restaurant.”
For Tam, the Bautista partnership is the same idea applied outward. A brand that knows what it stands for, finding a partner who stands for the same things, and building something that reflects both.
“We see this as the beginning of something, not the end,” she said. “His values align closely with what we stand for, and we are absolutely open to exploring where this goes next.”
Dustin Fuhs is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of 6ix Retail, Toronto’s premier source for retail and hospitality industry news. As the former Editor-in-Chief of Retail Insider, Canada’s most-read retail trade publication, Dustin brings over two decades of expertise spanning retail, marketing, entertainment and hospitality sectors. His experience includes roles with industry giants such as The Walt Disney Company, The Hockey Hall of Fame, The Canadian Opera Company, Starbucks Canada and Blockbuster.
Recognized as a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert in 2024, 2025 and 2026, Dustin delivers insider perspectives on Toronto’s evolving retail landscape, from emerging brands to established players reshaping the city’s commercial districts.