Bloor West Village has been going through a bit of a make-over in the last few years. This past summer, we had Payless Shoes close (I always wondered what it was doing in our hood) and a Laura Secord shop close (now that was sad, great ice cream) and in their place a new restaurant opened its doors called The Works. The Works is a burger restaurant, but not like any restaurant you’ve seen, they specialize in burgers, high-end burgers. JT stopped by on his day off to have lunch in November and had a good experience so last Sunday we thought we’d another go.
The restaurant is not huge, but it was hopping at the strange hour of 3pm on a Sunday. I guess we were not the only one’s lunching at that hour! It’s decorated in warehouse grunge and it’s quite cool.; corrugated metal on walls, some graffiti, copper plumbing pipe made into cool linear art. The menu is burgers, burgers and more burgers. They offer • Ground Beef • Whole Chicken Breast • Lean Ground Turkey • Gourmet Veggie • Portobello Mushroom Cap • and Lean Domestic Elk (3.39 upgrade). The menu is laid out in steps, so that Step One is selecting your burger, then you choose the venue you would like the burger presented in, with a variety of toppings or if you wish, a salad topped with a burger. I didn’t see a custom burger option but with the variety of choices offered there are plenty so likely there would be no problem in finding something that will satisfy you. The menu is very Toronto centric which is also quite cool and they change the names depending on the city they service (for example, there is the Bloor West Village – grilled eggplant, ripe tomato, red onion & curry mayo 12.93 or the Distillery District – danish blue cheese, walnut chunks & a smattering of dijon-haze sauce 12.91). The burgers are not cheap, but then they are pretty gourmet, and the toppings are not skimpy so you are getting some good value for your dollar.
As I mentioned we arrived at around 3pm on a Sunday afternoon and it was packed. Fortunately, we only had to wait a couple of minutes for them to clean off the table. We were seated with menus and left to peruse for over 10 minutes before a server came by. Even the host came by and asked if we had been seen by someone. Now in all fairness, this was only their second week open, so they may have some hickups to smooth over even though there seemed to be plenty of servers on the floor for the number of people (it’s not a huge place). We placed our orders for drinks and our meals and the drinks came out in a reasonable time, albeit the water took a while. The server warned us that the food will take at least 20 minutes because they make everything fresh. It would have been nice if they had provided some kind of snack (like in Mexican restaurants they give you home made tortilla chips with salsa, or Thai places give you shrimp chips with peanut sauce) since the wait for the food was so long. But they didn’t. We’ll have to keep that in mind if there is a next time as we were pretty hungry.
JT had enjoyed the Elk burger on his previous visit so we both decided to give it another try. It’s not easy to share dishes here because they serve them on galvanized metal trays without cutlery for the most part (my salad came with a fork, I had to ask for a knife). The non-alcholic drinks are served in glass measuring cups (I found it a bit awkward to drink out of the larger glass, so you had to drink with the straw provided). JT ordered the Elk Burger with the Distillery District topping (danish blue cheese, walnut chunks & a smattering of dijon-haze sauce 12.91), I also ordered the Elk but I decided to go with the Waldork Salad (leafy spring mix, red onion, julienned beets, ripe avocado, walnuts, grilled pear then topping it all with some crumbly blue cheese 14.97). Both were quite generous portions with generous toppings, and all in all I was rather satisfied with my selection. I was however, disappointed in my burger which was a tad overdone and quite dry. Apparently they had asked JT how he’d like his burger on his previous visit, but they failed to ask us this time. When I enjoy a house-made burger, I rather like a more rounded burger than a flat patty, because it’s house made, ground on site, you need not be as concerned over having it cooked to death. My patty was flat, dry and over cooked. JT said his was a little less overdone. But two tables from us, the gentleman couldn’t eat his burger because it was too pink. It would have been nice to be asked. Normally I would have sent it back, but frankly I wasn’t prepared to wait another 20 minutes.
Would I go again? Good question. I’m not a big burger eater, so my answer would have to be no, but that’s not to say I wouldn’t recommend it for the burger lovers out there. But I suggest you wait for a couple of weeks so they can work out their kinks!
Overall rating of The Works (in my opinion): Decor 4/5, service 2/5, food 2.5/5, Value 3.5/5, Noise: 2.5/5 (1 being very noisy, and 5 being very quiet).
Disclaimer: We purchased our meal for full price and my opinions just that, my opinions.
I enjoyed Sexy burger there couple of times and i loved it. I think one should not give a negative feedback with only one visit. Should try it one more time .
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Thank you for your comment; you have a point however, my experience was not good enough to try again.
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The Works opened a couple of blocks away from me on the Danforth earlier this year and Kevin and I have been a couple of times for their veggie burgers. We like the fact that they even have veggie patties (some burger places don’t) and that there are so many topping choices. I tried one similar to the one you tried with avocado, but with jalapeño peppers and now when we make veggie burgers at home, that’s my go-to topping: avocado (for the taste and the cheese-like texture), pickles and hot peppers. It’s amazing.
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It’s nice to know that their veggie burger is good, I’ve tried some real losers! I love avocado on almost anything. Thanks for your comment Michaela
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I’m not a big burger eater either, but every now and then (usually about once a year) I get a craving for a good juicy burger. I’m going to remember this place if the craving hits and we happen to be visiting Toronto again. 🙂
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There are several locations and I’m sure by the time you visit they will have the kinks all ironed out. But JT swears by the beef burger at Bestellen!
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Service can spoil even the best restaurant in the world. I prefer excellent service and decent food than excellent food and poor service. Elk burger sounds incredible though!
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I remember that you’ve said that before, Sissi, it’s so true.
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Mm, I like the sound of the elk burger, but sorry it didn’t turn out as you’d hoped. I can see a corner of the tray you were talking about in the photo there… definitely looks like a unique bit of dining kit 😀
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We’ll give it another chance, after all two weeks is hardly enough time to really figure things out. I’m sure it will be very nice eventually.
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This burger joint sounds like the Meatball Shop in NYC. Next time you visit NYC you should try it out. Only meatballs served.
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Hmmm meatball shop, now that sounds interesting, Norma. I’ll have to put that on my list next time we’re on NYC.
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Here is the link to the meatball shop http://www.themeatballshop.com/
Read about the 2 guys who started the business. I went to the Stanton Street location. It is small. You will want to go off hours, like early/late lunch or early dinner. You can do take out but dining there is an experience.
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Thanks Norma, sounds like a fun lunch!
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We have a street in Calgary (17th) that lost a bunch of shops in the recession and almost all of them have reopened as restaurants. It seem people might not purchase items, but they still like to go out to eat as a treat. I hope this burger joint sorts things out, it would be great for you to have another place to go now and then. We have some awesome ones, Clive Burger is the newest place to go.. early in the morning after all the bars shut down! xx
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I’ve been on that street Barbara, we ate at a place which was just so so. I’m sure the Works will work out their issues and it will be a Good Friday night place eventually.
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We’ve had a few “burger joints” open of late and to mixed reviews, too. Could it be, as you kindly say, Eva, that they’re just working out a few kinks, or, is the restaurant seriously flawed? I enjoy a good burger — met a friend for one this afternoon, in fact — and will give the place a 2nd chance. I just won’t be in any hurry to grant it. I must say, though, the toppings on your burgers sound really tasty and the fact that they’re “not skimpy” is a point in this restaurant’s favor.
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So true John the toppings really made it. We’ll give them another chance in a few months; I hope your experience wasn’t too bad.
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That’s the thing about the Works – it’s *always* packed and it doesn’t seem to matter what day of the week or what hour of the day – I wonder, is it all staged? ;-). I admit to having the occasional mild (heehee) craving for the Works (those sweet potato fries…mmm….) – are you in Bloor West Eva? I thought you were in Cabbagetown for some reason.
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Hi Kelly, yes we’re in Bloor West, we went on a few neighbourhood tours in cabbage town. I go enjoy a good burger do we’ll likely give them another chance. Is there one in Ottawa?
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Yes, there are a few Works locations in Ottawa including one right around the corner from us – always packed!!
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Elk, how interesting! I wish I weren’t such a burger lover but I love them and if I lived closeby I’d be tempted to try it 🙂 But a dry patty, that’s the worst filling for a burger!
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That’s true Lorraine, we’ll give then a couple of months to iron out the kinks and give them another try.
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It sounds like it could be a really fun place to go for a casual night out as I’m sure it has a really good vibe and the way you order your burger sounds interesting. It’s a shame about the wait and the dried out patty though – it’s not that hard to cook a meat patty! One thing you’ll never see on a menu here is elk. But I guess you don’t have kangaroo on your menus in Toronto! xx
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I can’t say that I’ve ever seen kangaroo on any menu in Toronto, Charlie. We’ll give this place another chance in a couple of months when they’ve had some time to iron out the kinks.
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This reminds me very much of a local place here called Farm Burger, though I haven’t had a bad burger there. The prices of these handmade specialty burgers are surely not cheap, and so I can appreciate how disappointed you must have been to get one that was dry and overcooked. Truly this restaurant needs to revisit their service and ordering training.
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Yes indeed Betsy, we’ll give them another chance for sure.
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How disappointing, Eva. When they’re charging those kinds of prices for gourmet burgers, they should train their servers to ask the customers how they want them served. And even though I’m patient when a place is busy, servers are hopping and there’s a wait to have your order placed, when it’s NOT … there’s no excuse.
It’s even worse when you’re going in by yourself, which I’ve done, and been left hanging in the wind.
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Thanks for your comment Maria, it seems that they’ve got some growing to do; perhaps we’ll wait another couple of months and give them another chance.
There is no excuse for leaving a single diner on their own. There is a restaurant in NYC who sends over a glass of bubbly to any woman dining alone!
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I love burgers, but I certainly wouldn’t be thrilled with an over cooked or pink one on my plate! If I’m going to indulge, I’d want it perfect 🙂
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That’s exactly what I thought too Liz.
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Sorry your meal didn’t turn out like you hoped it would. I guess that with Elk being so lean, it would be best to order it medium rare so that it wouldn’t end up being dry.
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Thanks Karen.
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