Carl’s Jr. has entered the Toronto burger war, opening two locations here in recent weeks in a bold Canadian expansion bid by the California-based chain. TO’s first Carl’s Jr. launched at Yonge and St. Clair on March 21; this week, another one opened at the site of the old HMV at 272 Queen St W. Here’s a shot of Carl’s Jr. parent company CKE Restaurants Holdings SVP Michael Woida taking a celebratory first bite at the Queen store with operator 6Points Food Services managing partner Kent Graber and CKE Canada GM Jeff Branton.

Excited staff at the Queen shop, which is open 24/7 with a 20-plus-flavour shake bar. 6Points signed a deal with CKE to develop and operate 30 Carl's Jr. in the next six years in the GTA, London, Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph and Hamilton, among others. The 1431 Yonge and Queen locations are 6Points’ third and fourth; they’ve also opened in Waterloo and Guelph. Behar Group Realty leasing director Sari Samarah, who repped the landlord for Carl’s Jr.’s first two spaces in TO (a market CKE says has “huge growth potential”), notes the chain snagged spots with “great exposure” in “highly dense, high-traffic locations."