where jess ate

I was always under the impression that W Burger Bar was a take-out burger joint, so on my first visit here, I was surprised to see that it was an actual bar! Mike and I arrived at a good time, as we only had a five minute wait before we were seated. Soon afterwards, a group had formed by the door waiting for seats.

What I like about eating at burger joints is that they don’t leave me with much choice as to what I’m going to order, so that really helps my indecisiveness! I went with the pure burger – hormone and antibiotic free, fresh from the farm ground beef ($6.99). You have a choice of the burger being served on a regular or whole wheat bun, or even lettuce for those of you who are watching your waistline. You can also choose to have your patty cooked char grilled or flat top style. I went with my burger served on a regular bun and cooked char grilled. What I love about W Burger Bar is that they have a large assortment of complimentary toppings and sauces. I hate places that charge you an arm and a leg for each extra topping and/or condiment. On my burger added swiss cheese, red onions, sautéed onions, pickles, alfalfa sprouts, chipotle ketchup and garlic mayo to my burger. The only additional topping I ordered which cost extra was the cheese ($1.50). Other toppings which cost extra include:

• A fried egg, bacon and roasted red peppers ($1.25 each)
• Avocado or a Portobello mushroom ($2.50 each)

I really enjoyed my burger. The patty was nice and moist; nothing worse than a dry, overcooked patty. As for the taste of the patty itself, I’m not sure I can really comment on this as my burger had a lot of the chipotle ketchup and garlic mayo. But the combination of everything really worked!  Mike also ordered the pure burger, but added bacon ($1.25) and onions while getting it all on a whole wheat bun (to be “healthy” he says…). He also enjoyed his.

I also ordered a side of fresh cut fries ($2.99). I loved these! They were the perfect thickness (I prefer my fries to be a little thinner) and were perfectly crispy. I recommend getting a side of the garlic mayo for the fries, but beware, because the stuff is extremely addictive. I went through 2 servings of it! Mike went with a side of panko breaded onion rings ($3.99). According to him, the onion rings here are the best, and I agree wholeheartedly. The rings were cut very big, so the serving only came with a few onion rings, but they were all really tasty.

As a warning, the restaurant gets extremely loud when it’s full of people. We found it difficult hearing each other even though we weren’t sitting very far apart. It really didn’t help either that the tables were placed really close together. Despite this, the food was definitely a hit. Since this initial visit, I’ve been back several times and I’ve always had a positive experience!

At a glance:

• Located conveniently at Yonge and College
• Large assortment of complimentary toppings and condiments
• Delicious burgers, fries and onion rings
• The restaurant can get pretty loud so it may be difficult trying to hold a conversation