Not every great restaurant story starts in a kitchen. Hayden’s Cheesesteaks started at a funeral.
Max Solomons, a full-time corporate lawyer with zero professional cooking experience, grew up travelling to Philadelphia with his father, Hayden, a die-hard Philadelphia Eagles fan. Every trip ended the same way: with a cheesesteak, usually from Angelo’s Pizzeria, the South Philly spot famous for swapping out Cheez Whiz for Cooper Sharp. Hayden passed away in 2020, and it wasn’t until a friend asked Max where to get a good cheesesteak in Toronto — and he drew a total blank — that the idea for Hayden’s Cheesesteaks was born.
The mission was deceptively simple: build a Toronto institution worthy enough to please Philly natives, in a city that, as Max points out, has excellent burgers, pizza, and bars, but strangely no signature cheesesteak spot. With help from his sister, mother, and wife, Max spent months testing prototypes — somewhere north of 50 by his own count — before landing on the current build: seeded baguette from Circles and Squares bakery, Castello Tickler sharp cheese standing in for Cooper Sharp, AAA beef chuck, and three hours of caramelized onions to cut through the richness.
The response has been immediate. Hayden’s first pop-up in November 2025 sold 200 sandwiches in a matter of hours; the next one sold 300. Since then, the business has popped up at spots including Brunswick Bierworks and Golden Horseshoe BBQ, building a devoted following through scarcity and word of mouth alone — there’s still no permanent storefront.
Max is now the father of a 12-week-old son named, fittingly, Hayden. Long-term, he’s hoping for a brick-and-mortar location, though by his own admission, he won’t feel like he’s truly made it until Hayden’s opens a spot in Philadelphia itself, in front of the toughest cheesesteak judges there are.
Craving a cheesesteak with a genuine backstory? Follow Hayden’s Cheesesteaks on Instagram to catch the next pop-up before it sells out.