Burger Review #36: Woody's Burgers

Photo by Mark Avila

Date Visited: March 27, 2018
Location: Long Branch 
BurgerTours Rating: 8.7/10

Taste	Messiness	Price	Venue	Pluses
Excellent	Messy	$11-$15	Restaurant, Bar	Patio, Liquor

Website
 

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Drew's Review

Photo by Andrew Hockridge

South Etobicoke has a long history as a destination to grab an old-school burger with all the classic fixings. These days, the restaurants serving up unique burgers are greater than ever and include made in-house premium beef and custom meat blends, and a variety of grilling techniques, including the use of Canadian hardwood.

One of those places is Woody’s, a small place just off of Brown’s Line in Etobicoke. Woody’s has been serving up burgers since 2009 – before the major burger craze hit the GTA. And it may have been around for a while, but Woody’s is still cooking up a storm in the present day and its burgers are more reflective of Toronto’s old burger scene than what we’ve got now.

They’ve got a small seating area, and a fairly large patio for when the weather’s nice. They sell a number of different types of burgers (turkey, chicken, bison, etc), including a bunch of customized burgers with names like Coronary, Tokyo, and California.

When we entered the joint in the early evening in March, we were a little surprised to see how small it was. Very limited seating so if it's busy, takeout might be best. They advertise a twenty-minute wait for their burgers, and they weren’t kidding. “We’re not fast food,” the menu boasts, “we’re good food.” Umm… I guess?

Boom Burger/Photo by Andrew Hockridge

We both placed our orders, was given a pager that would go off when our orders were ready and sat down. I wasn’t looking at the time, but I’m pretty sure it was about twenty minutes before the pager lit up and started vibrating. We turned in the pagers and went to go request our toppings from behind the glass. I went with the Boom Burger topped with pulled pork, jalapeño, smoked gouda, fried onions, chipotle mayo and smoked ketchup. As a combo with a milkshake and fries, it came out to about $15.

The burger wasn’t bad. It’s a meatloaf burger and they definitely aren’t shy with the seasonings. There’s zero beefy flavour here; most of flavour came from the pulled pork which was a nice addition to this type of burger. The beef itself was lacking in flavour but had a nice texture that was devoid of the sausage-like chewiness that some meatloaf burgers tend to have. The well-done burger also retained a decent amount of juiciness, even if it wasn’t exactly the juiciest burger I’ve had.

Golden French Fries/Photo by Andrew Hockridge

As for the fries, they were a tad under-cooked and dry, but were otherwise pretty tasty. They had some kind of seasoned salt on them, which was sparingly applied (unlike, say, at Five Guys) and which definitely complimented the fries quite well. It's no surprise considering how they're made. Everything, from the burgers to the salad dressing is made in-house at Woody's daily. No Processed ingredients are used. In fact, their meat comes from local farm raised cattle and each 7oz burger is hand pressed daily. But what makes Woody's truly distinctive is the use of wood burning grills.

Overall, Woody’s has amazing, great-tasting burgers and many options for customization. It’s a fairly small place so come prepared to wait. Come with an appetite as the burgers and toppings are large. The prices are also reflective of all the stuff you put on your burger which is definitely much better than any chain burger joint. It's a shame that Woody's is about a quarter of the way to Hamilton, because if they were closer to downtown, these guys would give Stockyards and the Burger's Priest a run for their money.

What are you waiting for?

8.4/10

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Mark's Review

Photo by Andrew Hockridge

It’s been a long while since we’ve been back to the west end of Toronto for a BurgerTour. We’re happy to be back and now tagging our 44th burger joint. For this tour, we visit Woody’s Burgers!

Located along Lakeshore at Long Branch, Woody’s specializes in grilling their burgers over Canadian hardwood, a distinctive taste that gives their burgers flavour and character. They pride themselves in using locally raised meat that are pressed in house daily, and guarantee premium quality and dining experience.

Woody’s has a broad menu ranging from the Classic Beef Burger to specialty burgers that are inspired from ingredients and flavours from around the world. Browsing through their menu as soon as we walked in, it wasn’t long before I made my decision.

Tokyo Beef Burger/Photo by Mark Avila

I opted for the Tokyo Beef Burger. It’s layered with pickled ginger, wasabi mayo, sautéed onions, and topped with my choice of additional pickles and red onions.

My initial first bite was met with the strong punch of the wasabi mayo. It definitely gave me that small taste of Japan, followed by the sautéed onions to ease the heat, and finally the pickled ginger to mellow out those strong flavours in my mouth. It was an interesting combination of heat, sweetness, and light tanginess that created a uniform taste of a burger inspired by flavours from East Asia. The beef patty was grilled close to perfection, good texture, and the smokiness from the grill was prevalent in almost every bite.

Overall, it was an excellent experience. From the food to the service, Woody’s is definitely a new favourite. So, if you ever find yourself in Etobicoke looking for a quick, yet satisfying meal, then Woody’s is the place to go!

9/10