Former pizza spot Mista Boiga fully rebrands as Toronto burger shop

A former pizza kitchen on Geary Avenue is now all burgers. Mista Boiga opened Friday at 191 Geary Ave. in Toronto, taking over the old Big Trouble Pizza space after the pizzeria permanently closed on Jan. 31, ending an eight-year run.

The switch was not a sudden branding stunt. It grew out of work Eddie Chan and Mikey Pamaputera started back in 2019, when they were running a Big Trouble location at the Annex Hotel and management asked them to add a second menu item. They put on a single smash burger, and it proved popular enough to become part of the brand’s identity.

That burger identity survived the pandemic, but only in a limited way. When Big Trouble moved back to its original Chinatown space, the kitchen there was described as roughly 300 square feet and not equipped to handle burgers full time, so the burgers became a seasonal warm-month pop-up item instead of a permanent line item. For restaurant staff, that kind of setup means constant compromise: a menu that sells, but a kitchen that cannot support it every day without slowing down service.

Geary Avenue offered a bigger footprint, but not an easy conversion. Chan said the kitchen could handle pizza, yet turning it into a full burger operation would have required an exhaust, hood and return air, with the bill coming in at no less than $95,000. That kind of capital spend can decide whether a concept grows or stays stuck as a side project, especially in Toronto’s tight restaurant market where margins are thin and labor is already stretched.

Mista Boiga’s menu now makes the burger identity the whole business. The shop lists the Classic OG, Kwispy Wanch and Roast Lahoma, with burgers priced at $11 to $12 and combo meals running from $19.50 to $20.50. Posted hours are Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., with Monday closed.

The public response to Big Trouble’s closure and comeback was immediate, with longtime customers reacting emotionally on social media as the founders framed the move as the end of one chapter and the start of another. For operators, the message is clear: a full rebrand can be a smart reset when the old kitchen no longer fits the menu, but it only works when the new identity was already winning customers long before the sign came down.