Loumi

Loumi is a fast-casual spot that’s rewriting the script on Mediterranean street food, with halloumi at the centre of the plate. Founded by childhood friends Karim Mahmoud and chef Amine Laabi, the Mile End counter takes a single ingredient—the salty, squeaky, grill-loving cheese—and turns it into something worth seeking out.

The menu pulls from Lebanese and Mediterranean traditions but doesn’t stick too closely to any one script. There’s a chicken burger stacked with coleslaw, spicy mayo, and a slab of crisped-up halloumi, a fully vegetarian Loumi burger that holds its own without trying to mimic meat, and a fattoush salad that went through more than 100 test runs before making the cut. Sides like fried potato croquettes, eggplant dumplings, and halloumi cheese sticks round things out, and the house-made lemonades—infused with flavours like raspberry-rose and peach-hibiscus—go beyond the usual.