Restaurants
Burger Brats
Burger Brats is situated between John and Duncan on Adelaide Street, fittingly sandwiched between Hooters and Crocodile Rock. The rock 'n' roll style street sign with kitschy photos of massive burgers got me excited about gorging on some serious burgers. It has a promising exterior and walking down the stairs to the basement, I expected to find a cheap burger joint with an extra flare. Instead I found a tacky, dingy basement with chipped, buttery mustard yellow walls with wood paneling. While it seems a reasonable amount of effort has gone in to the signage, both inside and out, the rest of the decor received zero thought unless "out-of-business-Chinese-buffet" is a style inspiration.
My best friend Allie and I stood at the board slightly bewildered, trying to choose among a myriad of options. Each burger has a theme with matching font and drawings attached; it's a fun touch to the menu but would probably come across better on a blackboard, rather than the white dry-erase board.
I decided to try the locally named Adelaide burger ($7.99 - top photo) with a side of yam fries. (The burger patty was perfectly cooked and juicy while slightly charred on the outside. The bun was exceptionally soft and didn't overpower the never-frozen burger patty. It came sauced up with a sweet maple syrup barbeque glaze and garlic mayo, a savory-sweet combo that certainly didn't need any extra ketchup.
Apparently it comes with goat cheese but I didn't detect any, even when I opened it up to look inside. The lettuce and tomato appeared to be "locally sourced" straight from a nearby Subway restaurant. The sparse shreds of iceberg lettuce were watery and nearly colourless as was the slice of tomato. The actual burger and the bun were quite delicious, but the pitiful quality of the vegetables and M.I.A goat-cheese were disappointing.
Allie went for a mushroom melt ($6.99) with a veggie patty and a Boylan's black cherry soda ($3.50). The mushroom melt was served on two sad pieces of cheap sandwich bread and overall looks and tastes like something you could make better at home yourself. There was a barely adequate amount of sauteed mushrooms with a sprinkling of onions and a factory-bought veggie patty.
We were looking forward to the yam fries ($4) which come with a side of mayo. It was a healthy serving but the fries were mushy and flavorless and the whole bottom layer were tiny bits of black burnt ends.
A couple of days later, I was in the mood for a burger and fries again, so I gave them another shot. The perky and friendly cashier working there the first time, was replaced by a different cashier who may or may not have been dealing with a serious hangover and was having trouble keeping the orders of the four other customers straight. I ordered the chicken 'sandwich' on a whole wheat bun ($6.99) with fries and a vanilla milkshake ($7 extra for the combo).
I was starving and luckily the food only took about 6 or 7 minutes to come out, held by a staffer looking aimlessly around the nearly empty restaurant and calling out an order number I had not been given. I recognized my order, quickly flagged her down and started picking at my fries while I waited for my milkshake straw.
The fries were cut thick with the potato skins still on, but were lacking flavour and were mushy like the yam fries.
The "hand-shaken" milkshake was generously portioned and quite satisfying. The chicken was tender and flavorful, while the whole wheat bun was again warm, soft and not too big; the veggies made no improvements.
Burger Brats pride themselves on their never-frozen burgers, which are indeed a savory delight, but the cheap veggies have no business being beside their delicious patties. Similarly, the dowdy decor and radio commercials piping through the cheap sound-system, with a few Nickleback and Sum 41 songs thrown in, makes paying nearly $17 for a burger, fries and a milkshake, a little painful.
Open Mon-Thurs 11am-10pm, Friday 11am-4am, Saturday 12pm-4am, Sunday closed
All burgers available with veggie patty
Discussion
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The end result was a burger that I wished never ended. Well cooked, not over sauced, not soggy or overkilled with condiments, but a well rounded, flavor filled burger.
I WILL BE BACK SON!
PS. Free refills, and 100% beef no filler? Sounds like a win to me.
The toppings look terrible in the pictures. Any burger place worth paying top dollar at will know better which leads me to conclude this isn't worth paying top dollar. Thanks for the heads up.
it's like martiniboys.com all over again!
and how come the story is dated may 27 but there are comments from april on it?
I'll stick to fast food than this place. Not good enough for the price I paid.
Even paying half of the actual price, my friend and I concluded that it was not worth it. The burgers were tasteless, the sweet potato fries were not great, the place was smoky. We won't be going back. My prediction, this place will close in under 3 months tops
Travel to any major city in the world and marvel at the abundance of variety and culinary innovation. Then come back to Toronto and notice the sickening number of "gourmet" burger joints and cupcakeries. It's like every hick with a barbecue and easybake oven wants to make their mark on the world.
We're better then this Toronto.
Who will step up and satisfy our hunger appropriately?
Weeks later it wouldn't surprise me if either he's feeling the pinch or the staff he's hired isn't quite so enthusiastic about the product as he is. Or it could be the result of doing a group site coupon thing recently.
At this point, within the area, when we want something more than just a fast food burger we go to Grindhouse. Decent tap list and we've never had a disappointing meal there yet.
$5 to the first person who can find if/where there's any meat in the first photo; all I see is a mass of bread and a shard of lettuce.
(and sorry this comment had nothing really to do with Burger Brats.)
The location is great if you are into clubbing and the store was open late.
I'd have to disagree with the other comments about the fries, I thought mine were great. The beef was great! I'm not a big fan of toppings (in general) so I can't comment on the toppings they used.
On a side note... how dare you all bash a company that's seems to be trying their best. Not every restaurant is perfect which is why each one is unique. Instead of hiding behind a computer and saying mean things about this place, go to the restaurant and talk to the owner. If they listen to you then that should show you that they care.
Our food was great and I didn't mind the decor so much. It's not like I'm eating the walls. In fact, many places that receive top rating for food in this city are dilapidated, so it's a bit of an attack for no reason...
ANYWAY - great Adelaide Burger, I would recommend the place. The decor is in the works and will be more filled out soon. Keep in mind it's only 3 months old so it needs time to grow and learn. And it is. And it will.
Cheers!
Got an Adelaide & Regualar Cheeseburger, came all squished and nothing like the pictures. Meat fell apart really easily, just like the bun. Also ordered a side of poutine, it was meh.
And then the two of us got diarrhea for the rest of the night.
NEVER AGAIN.
The burgers are delicious, I often go in to have the adelaide, which the courteous staff suggested. I live in the area and often go during dinner hours, there is a cashier and the owner of the store working, both are friendly and approachable.
Over all I would rate it 4 stars.
and we did not need to know about your bowel movements, maggie.
And to "Jane" (or owner?) if it doesn't matter what the store looks like inside, why do the big burger chains all spend millions of dollars a year on designing, maintaining and renovating their decors? Even a small local shop needs to but an effort into their decor. People are not JUST going for a burger, they are going to sit down and they don't want to sit in a dump. Furthermore, people aren't into spending $10-$15 on a burger in a place that looks like it shouldn't be charging more than $5 for a burger. The whole premise that decor doesn't matter is ridiculous. Go to another restaurant/successful burger place sometime and you'll figure it out.