The abridged history of the Northrop Frye McDonald’s
Alumni who attended the school before 2019 will remember well the convenience and deliciousness associated with the Northrop Frye McDonald’s. Sequestered in the basement of the concrete building, the beloved fast food joint was a cornerstone of the Vic community, doing a roaring trade with students and providing quick, hot meals between classes. Since 2019, however, the combination of COVID-19, an unfortunate grease fire in January, and an ongoing legal dispute between Victoria College and the McDonald’s franchise has left its doors shuttered.
While new students will need to make their way to Yonge Street for their Junior Chicken fix, the five-year anniversary of its closing deserves commemoration with a timeline highlighting the highs and lows of everyone’s favourite business: the Northrop Frye McDonald’s.
1971: “Frye’s Fries” opens, a precursor to Ned’s Cafe and Caffiends. Owned and operated by Victoria College, the burgers and fries stand becomes a popular spot for students to grab a bite between classes.
1983: Following popular neoliberal tendencies, Vic decides to sell off the restaurant, which is eventually acquired by McDonald’s, re-opening for business in December of that year. First-year philosophy student Mike Landry is hired to work the cash register.
1984: Landry earns his first employee of the month award in January, winning 11 consecutive awards—a record that remains unbroken at that location. Temp fry cook Gaspare Newsom is brought in that November, and the two commence a rivalry after Newsom receives the award in December.
1986: Landry is promoted to assistant manager during his third year at Victoria College; Newsom is fired upon suspicion of providing free meals to theology TAs at Emmanuel College. “Plategate” scandal is widely reported on by The Strand.
1988: Landry graduates and is made manager of the McDonald’s with widespread approval.
1993: Margaret Atwood stops by and orders a McDouble, becoming the first celebrity to be added to the Wall of Fame.
2003: Videos purportedly showing the “Ghost of Northrop Frye” stealing fries afterhours show up on student Vicky Lewandowski’s MySpace page. Mike Landry sets up cameras to catch the perpetrator, but no one is ever found. The fry stealing continues until Loretto College nuns are called in to intervene.
2011: Then-professor Rhonda McEwen visits the McDonald’s for the first time, calls it a “spiritual experience,” and widely cites this event as the catalyst for her seeking presidency of Victoria College.
2017: Calls to replace the McDonald’s with a Chipotle result in small protests outside Northrop Frye; a minor scuffle ensues between fry cook Jack Carinci and protest leader Sarah Barath. They would be married in Emmanuel College chapel in 2018, fully catered by the McDonald’s in which they had their first date. Mike Landry officiates.
2019: Damage from a grease fire temporarily closes the McDonald’s, the closure extended by subsequent COVID-19 measures.
2021: Gary Bynum, owner of the location, sues Mike Landry for negligence. Victoria College intervenes on his behalf with a countersuit. The original lawsuit against Landry is dropped.
2024: Victoria V. Landry is still on the docket, and has not yet been heard in Ontario Courts. Landry is promoted to vice president of McDonald’s Canada.