blogTO
Burlington, Ontario, may not be expressly known for its beaches, but one snack shack that's flown largely under the radar of Toronto residents is worth the road trip alone. Though it opened in the summer of 2022, Dunky's Beach Shack on Burlington Beach saw an unprecedented surge in business after a 2025 video found its way onto the social feeds of people across Ontario. Ever since then, founder Shawn Dunk tells blogTO, business at the beach shack has been booming, even if the majority of Toronto residents still have no idea it exists. Now they do. Dunk and his family — his wife and his sons, ages 18 and 14 — are Burlington residents who spent a large portion of the COVID-19 lockdown at Burlington Beach. "The only thing we were able to do was go to the Burlington Beach, and there was this building that sat empty and I know it used to be it used to be an old concession stand, so we were like, 'Someone's got to open that up,' so we dove into it, trying to find a way in, didn't have much luck, and then one day we broke through and they opened it up for tender, and we won the bid," Dunk explains. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dunkys (@dunkys.beach.shack) Though Dunk spent most of his life working in kitchens, from sports bars to fine dining, opening a burger joint was unfamiliar ground for him and the family. Nevertheless, Dunk tells blogTO, there was a big gap in the Burlington smash burger market, and the Dunk family was determined to fill it. It's a good thing they did, too, because Burlington beachgoers were evidently hungry for them. Though Dunk describes the early days of business at Dunky's as "slow going," word of mouth is a powerful tool, and, slowly but surely, Dunky's Beach Shack became a local legend. It also helps that Dunk, a volunteer hockey coach in the winter months, only employs local youth — largely players he's coached — to work at the shack. Oh, and that the shack serves burgers, poutine and other fast-food classics that would be at home among the best of them. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dunkys (@dunkys.beach.shack) When the viral video hit, it exposed even more Ontario residents to Dunky's, resulting in a surge in business that, Dunk tells blogTO, has continued into the 2026 season. But beyond the satisfaction of running a restaurant that people love eating at, being able to do it with his family has been the greatest reward, he notes. "The most important part is the family; that's what it's all about. I worked in this industry my whole life, and I used to barely see my family. I would just be busy working at restaurants for other people, so this helps combine my worlds into one," he explains, adding with a laugh, "and it helps teach my kids how to actually work." At Dunky's Beach Shack, you can find a full suite of beach-friendly bites, like the house special Dunky's Burger, smash tacos (a beautifully bastardized combination of smash burgers and tacos), poutine and hot dogs, all made from scratch, in-house. Except for buns and onion rings, everything is naturally gluten-free, too. Nothing beats a summer road trip — except for, maybe, a really good burger — and, if you ask the scores of Burlington residents who have already adopted Dunky's Beach Shack as a part of their warm-weather traditions, they'll tell you that this one is well worth the drive. Dunky's Beach Shack is located at 1086 Lakeshore Rd. in Burlington.
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