The Works

First time coming here for lunch.
It’s a great location, the interior is well lit and of course their food was delicious.
If you’re craving for a juicy fatty burger with different flavours, the works is awesome.
I ordered the SK8R burger which has peanut butter in it. It actually went really well together. So delicious. Price is fair, food is fresh and fast.
I’ll be coming back for lunch again next week!
Yummy

I had a great time when I went to the works. It was my first time eating at this joint. Even though I’m not a huge burger person I decided to check this place out. I really liked how they give their drinks in the measuring cup. The atmosphere was nice, the decorations were awesome. The server was really nice he explained all the items on the menu. I decided to get a grills gone wild veggie burger with fries. The avocado was the best part!
Will def visit other joints in Toronto

We’ve been to The Works a few times now, so it’s about time I got around to reviewing one of the best burger spots in Guelph.
First of all — I’m a total sucker for branding, and it’s impossible to pass by The Works without catching a glimpse of their signature style. With all the bright yellow construction décor, nuts and bolts everywhere, and the oversized measuring-​cup water glasses — it can feel a little like you’re eating in a kid’s toy box.
Somehow, this isn’t a bad thing. It’s a pretty sleek toy box, and the atmosphere is still clean and modern — I just feel a bit like Buzz Lightyear every time we eat inside.
The menu is pretty extensive for your standard burger joint: starters (try the fried pickles or O-​ring tower), sandwiches, salads, poutine (four ways), and a variety of slushies and hand-​scooped shakes.
And then, there are the burgers.

The majority of the menu is geared towards the burger selection. This location has 9 choices of «burger» patties (Canadian beef, chicken breast, crispy chicken, ground turkey, veggie, a portobello cap, cheese-​stuffed beef, bacon & beef, and elk). Occasionally, they’ll have an additional patty on their special menu (which changes frequently). We’ve now tried the original beef, ground turkey, veggie, cheese-​stuffed beef, bison, and elk.
Once you’ve picked your protein, you can move on to selecting your bread and one of the many topping creations (somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 – 50?) or design your own.
We enjoy reading through the list of topping choices and their punny names, like the Nacho Libre (crunchy tri-​coloured corn tortillas with 4 shredded cheeses, sour cream, salsa & green onions), The Hipster (caramelized onions, avocado & havarti cheese), the Crappy Tire (grilled pineapple ring, sweet & spicy sauce & brie cheese [Canadian Tire dollars accepted]), and the Notorious P.I.G. (Chipotle ketchup, caramelized onions, havarti, & bacon), but we usually end up going with a trusty favorite like the the Dead Ringer (smoked beef brisket, smokey BBQ sauce, jack cheese & an O-​ring) or creating our own.
You can upgrade your side to poutine for a charge of about $ 2 or $ 3, and it’s totally worth it in my opinion. I fell in love with their poutine as soon as I heard they had vegetarian gravy. After that, I’ve never looked back (although the house-​made chips are also pretty good).
As for the veggie burger, it’s hands down the best veggie burger that I’ve had in Guelph, and probably in my top 5 anywhere and everywhere else. The sides and the schtick are great — but it’s the veggie burger that keeps me coming back. Unlike your typical dry or overly artistic veggie burger creations, this one is what I want out of a veggie burger: great taste with a consistency that doesn’t distract from the toppings or the rest of my meal. I don’t know why this is so hard to achieve for so many, but The Works has it down.
The meaty-​side of the menu is also solid: beef, bison, elk — all with some great toppings on fresh bread. My partner prefers his burgers on the medium rare side, but the kitchen will cook to medium-​well at the rarest because the patties aren’t made in house — so keep that in mind for your true burger aficionados. The cook time also means you’ll be waiting about 20 – 30 minutes for your food, so if you’re hungry make sure to order ASAP.
As some others have mentioned, The Works isn’t much of a hangout spot and parking can be difficult, but if you’re already downtown it’s a short walk to or from anything. It can also get pretty cold in the winter if you’re seated near the coveted window seat, so keep that in mind if the host walks you in that direction. We sat in the «upstairs» on our last visit and I was freezing all the way through dinner.
We’ve never had any complaints about the service, and although The Works can tilt its way to the pricey side of a late lunch or dinner, it’s still a good bet for us when a burger craving strikes. So, if you’re in search of some meats (or veggies) on bread — give The Works a try. They’ll take your tastebuds to infinity and beyond!

I’ve been to The Works a few times, and I have always left satisfied. I was last there this Wednesday and decided to try one of the summer specials: Up Beer Creek With A Bacon Paddle (you gotta love these names). The burger came out, fully dressed with beer battered bacon, a slice of gouda, barbecue sauce, lettuce, and caramelized red onions (of which I’m not usually a fan, but they were tasty). Of course, with the slippery toppings on top, it did get a little tricky to keep hold, but I managed. Very good burger. On the side, I had their die-​cut chips with some peanut butter for dipping… sounds weird, but a server at the Burlington location recommended I try it and I’m hooked now. My dining companion had a «Chicken Fight Club» sandwich (a chicken club) with «Spicy Bold Slaw» (coleslaw prepared with a bit of jalapeño juice, according to our server). She had a big lunch so she didn’t finish her slaw, but she very much enjoyed it. Both of us were too full to partake in dessert, though.
The Works isn’t for everyone, but a burger fan would be well advised to check it out. They’ve got fifty or so ways you can have your burger dressed, or you can choose your own toppings as well. I would recommend coming here with an adventurous spirit, and the desire to try something new: I did when I ordered a SK8R Boy once, thinking peanut butter on a burger sounded weird, but it really worked nicely, and is probably one of my favourites when I drop by. Downsides? Being located downtown Guelph, parking is rare; I’d recommend not eating until you’re over-​full, as the hike back to your car could be uncomfortable. Also, as much as I like dining with windows open to the street, it makes more sense in an area quieter than downtown Guelph.

For a burger place it was good food… fantastic selection of burgers for everyone from the obscure bison burger to the veggie burger for my meat free friend
Ordering is a little confusing but by the third time around its a little easier I tend to tell the staff what I am looking for on my burger rather then going with their pre-​selected combos. Frankly I do find that very overwhelming
The beverages in a measuring cup is cool
If you have room for dessert (I never do but my teenager does) the selection is the tried and true faves .no fancy smancy but there’s nothing wrong with that

Wow amazing burgers. Have not tried anything but beef and chicken, but they have some exotic meats also. Love the quality of meat and delicious variety of flavours. Try something different, you will love it!

I like the burgers here a lot. Honestly, it’s definitely one of the best veggie burgers I’ve tasted (especially around Guleph). I have a friend who’s trying to go meat-​free and is having a hard time with bland, dry veggie burgers, so we took him here to try a delicious one.
We had the crispy dills as an appetizer with their STELLAR beachouse sauce. I would definitely recommend these!
The service was good; our server was attentive and checked back often.
HOWEVER, the night we were there, it was raining, HARD. Part way through our meal, the celling started POURING water on us! It was all we could do to grab out drinks get out of the way! The server relocated us to the next table over.
Then another server came along and the two of them proceeded to put a container under the water leak and talk about how inconvenient it is for them that the ventilation system ALWAYS leaks when it rains! NOW, if they KNEW the ventilation system leaks when it rains, and they KNEW it was raining, WHY did they seat us at the table under the ventilation system, when there were plenty of other free tables in the restaurant?
I mean, seriously, I understand if it was a first time event, but clearly it’s a problem that they have there and it seems like a very bad decision to sit customers directly under a major leak when you KNOW at some point that leak is going to open up and pour down water. And it wasn’t just a little bit of water either!
AND the container that they used to catch the water was TERRIBLE. It was long and shallow, so the water drips kept bouncing out of it and splashing us anyway, because we were only seated at the next table over. We ended up using the bowl from our crispy dills to prop the container up on an angle when the server wasn’t looking, to direct the splashing away from us.
So yes, I’ll go back and eat more of their delicious veggie burgers.. .but make sure you ask for a table NOT UNDER THE VENTILATION ducts when it’s raining!

Great their menu is specialized for burger lovers :)! The milkshakes are great too, the restaurant can get a bit pricey but worth it!

Tried The Works in downtown Guelph for the first time tonight. So many cool gourmet burgers to choose from! Decided on the Cracker Jack– peppercorn crust, banana peppers, jack cheese and hot sauce– on the side — so you can just give it a bit of heat — or as much as you like. The burger tasted great, really enjoyed it. And the onion rings were awesome too, they cost a little extra as a side. My friend had the nacho libre burger and really liked it. Service friendly as well. Cool look to the place too.

Good service in a nice atmosphere with nice people. My quest for perfect burgerdom however is denied by their refusal to go beneath a medium well. Please, if I want to risk my life in a medium or rare burger, let me live dangerously .
Great offering of toppings at relatively good (compared with local roadhouses) pricing. Love the character and the pop glasses being huge Pyrex measuring cups … But if you’re going to base your business on burgers, there’s only so far medium well is going to get you. True artistry begins at rare.

Based on reviews, I decided to check out this place while I was in town. While I wasn’t unhappy with my meal, the food wasn’t good enough to merit a return visit.
We arrived at dinner time on a weekend, and were promptly received and taken to a seat. Our hostess came by quickly thereafter and brought drinks and menus. We ended up ordering a Tower-​o-​Rings, a beef Growler Five-​O, and a chicken Peppercorn Broiler.
The Rings were ok: they were hot and large, though the breading lacked much seasoning. Our dips included a chipotle mayo and a curry mayo: the latter was excellent, whereas the former was mediocre at best. For the price I wouldn’t recommend buying this item from the menu; choose a different starter instead.
The Growler Five-​O was incredibly tasty and the meat was well done. Unfortunately, the BBQ sauce is on the top of the burger along with the other toppings. This meant that a great deal of the onions and other toppings just slid off the burger and onto the plate. Very disappointing.
The Peppercorn Broiler was good, but far from excellent. The chicken was perfectly cooked and it was well-​crusted with peppercorns. I really like peppercorns, so this was fine by me! However, the peppercorns entirely overpowered the rest of the toppings; the gouda cheese and bacon didn’t even serve as accents against the taste of the peppercorns. This was disappointing: why is the bacon and gouda even there if they can’t be appreciably tasted? The chips that came with the Broiler were often soggy and lacked much taste without a dose of the tzatziki mayo that I ordered as a dip.
On the whole, I wouldn’t say that we had a bad experience at The Works. But I also wouldn’t say that we had particularly good food, and there are better restaurants like the Woolwich Arms that are within just a few minutes walking distance. Given the choice again, I’m heading to the Wooly; the food I had at the Works doesn’t merit a return visit.

I’ve been to The Works couple of times. I still go back. For readers, please make sure to order well-​done burger, if you mind about the burger come pink-​ish. They do have that info on the menu regarding cooking temperature and burger appearing medium-​rare. I always emphasize well-​done burger. And yes, quite a wait time for food to be served. If you are hungry, I don’t recommend. I love this place so far.

Stumbled across the works online somehow, and thought wow, look at the weird burgers… gotta try it out! The selection was huge, and they have everything.
Your drinks come in big measuring cups, they have pretty awesome milkshakes and floats! They also serve beer and coolers as well.
They tell you upfront that it takes 20 minutes to cook the burgers, so its always a bit of a wait.
We’ve tried two appetizers, the tower o’rings — delicious, and they have many dipping sauces as well! Ask for the most popular ones (I can’t recall the names at the moment).
Burgers are to die for, something for everyone, my dad (sometimes a health freak) ordered a veggie greek goddess burger, with a salad, he loved it.
My mom got the malibu meltdown (which I plan on trying sometime) she loved all the cheeses!
I tried the crappy tire — they even accept canadian tire money! it was delicious and not too spicy, one of my favourites with fries… oh and the fries are delicious.
My fiancé tried smokey mountain… they really do have something for everyone.
Definitely one of the best burger places I’ve ever been to. They definitely are the gourmet burger experience.

Trying out the new menu items!

Claims to be a «Gourmet Burger» experience. Harvey’s is better. Dry, over topped, helpless wait-​staff and long delays in our food with a nearly empty dining room. Don’t bother.