Food Glorification

Look, Mom! I'm part of the media Hegemony.

The Works Gourmet Burger Bistro already has a reputation that precedes it. So when I say that I’m unexcited by the place, I don’t expect anyone reading to really pay me any mind. You can’t fight the Man, after all. Ironic, too. Especially for a place that hypnotically delivers a persona of society’s liminal degenerates. You know? The cool, laid back people that don’t get caught up in all that urbane ostentation? The kind of people that drink from Pyrex measuring cups and live in their parents’ sheds, listening to old Randy Newman? The admired burger eating Thureauvians who’ve attained personal autonomy by being ironic, or thinking they’re ironic and eating seemingly repulsive combinations that are not really bad. Well, The Works- as well as a little bit of the commodity fetish- makes you think you can too. It does it with its Brownfield, car-pot atmosphere; its visceral, oscillating menu of choices that make it a testament to the consumerist anxiety of too much choice. That is, it is as rhetorically transparent as glass. That is, everything on the menu could have easily been listed and customers could choose their toppings instead of having everything spoon fed to them. But what fun would some 6 burgers and 70 topping variations be? How else could the franchise pander with sophomoric highfalutin titles like ‘Limp Brisket’ and ‘Dare Ya Desserts,’ or the Othering and Orientalizing: ‘Sum Yung Guy’; let’s not forget “‘The Beat your meat’ Burger” for all those haggard masturbators who work up an appetite.

Crappy Tire. Crappy Burger.

Me? Well, as curious and intriguing as all the choices were, I opted for a tooth shattering, lung collapsing shake, blended with caramel, peanut butter, and Oreo cookie crumbs. With a consistency reminiscent of the glue we used to eat in our childhoods, but thicker, it was a wonder I drank as much as I did; too rich for the rocky road in my blood. And at the request of one herbaceous cohort, I opted for a meal as unfactory farmed as the place could manage:  a veggie burger with gluten free bun and sweet potato fries, transformed into what the menu aptly named, ‘The Crappy Tire.’ I can’t be more poignant than that in this instance. Set in front of me on what looked like an aluminum flowering pot- or trough- was a burger topped with a ring of pineapple, slice of balmy brie, whose odor rose generously to my nose, and a limp, flaccid, slice of lettuce, which I happily removed. The burger’s sweet and spicy sauce was nothing short of familiar, its sweetness overpowering and plumy, but nowhere near spicy at all. Sopping out, it eventually made the rubbery bun a slimy mess to eat. The pineapple was tender enough, and without any fibrous demure; and the brie? I can’t complain. But I can complain about the pliant demeanor of the paddy itself. A combination of parsley, onions and whatever other treacle is made to fashion a vegetarian paddy, it lacked the savoury notes I was looking for and made the whole thing a textural mess. The fries were okay; thinner than usual, but well suited to the stubborn nature of a yam’s creamy composure, making for a crunchy and smooth bite. 

Will I argue the price? No. Will I argue you don't want to pay for it? Yes. Because in a city that offers a lot of burgers and burger agency, I hope The Works isn’t depending on its franchise’s reputation, or quality control. But what does my opinion matter? I’m a 27 year old living with his mother.

The Works Gourmet Burger Bistro
(519) 885-6000
92 King Street South
Waterloo, Ontario

Everyday
11 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.

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