A Burger at The Works

As my Maritime holiday continues, so does my quest for new beautiful sandwich and travel experiences!  

After a brief stop (delay) in Montreal, the holidays were spent visiting family in Fredericton and catching up with some old friends in Halifax. 

I have never traveled to this part of Canada before and a few things need to be stated right off the top:

1. I have never seen more beautiful and picturesque winter landscapes than those of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. 
2. The people– especially our dear family and old friends, plus the new ones we’ve met – are such kind, funny and wonderful people.
3. The food is absolutely incredible.

Today’s adventure brought all these statements together in the fun atmosphere, great company and absolutely amazing burgers at The Works Gourmet Burger Bistro in beautiful Halifax, Nova Scotia.

What?! Burgers?! Isn’t this a sandwich blog?!

This menu is incredible!

Absolutely.   I declare the burger to be a full-blooded member of the sandwich family. If you ever visit The Works, you will understand. 

Our friend took us there for lunch and it did not disappoint. They serve their beverages in measuring cups and their menu consists of over forty different burger and topping combinations with witty names like Born to Brie Wild (mushrooms, brie and bacon) and Son of a Beech (avocado, beechhouse sauce, sundried tomato and feta).  (The blogger in me definitely loved the burger names and when I told our server that I write a food blog, she gave me one of the brown paper menus as a souvenir!)  You even get to pick what your patty is made of: 100% Canadian beef, chicken breast, ground turkey, Portobello mushroom cap, or Gourmet Veggie.  You can even get Elk.  

Elk!  So Canadian!!

The Tower-O-Rings, with my Root Beer in
a measuring glass

Needless to say, it took a while for us to narrow down what to order.  While we agonized over the menu, we enjoyed the Tower-O-Rings, the best, most crispy and golden onion rings I’ve ever had.  I finally decided on the Nacho Libre Burger, which consisted of red, gold and blue tortilla chips, 5 kinds of cheese (!), sour cream, salsa and onions, with a side of fries, naturally.

It was the most beautiful burger I’ve ever seen with the colourful tortilla chips, huge dollop of sour cream and did I mention it had 5 different kinds of cheese??  Amazing!  I actually had to roll up my sweater sleeves to eat it.  The whole wheat bun was soft and fresh for each bite of burger patty, chips, salsa and 5 different kinds of cheese.  It was drippy and slightly messy but you just have to know that attempting to eat a burger that full isn’t going to be neat and tidy.  The fries also deserve credit for being the right combination of warm and crispy and topped with some malt vinegar, just the right side for that most delicious burger.

The Nacho Libre: a beautiful burger and definitely not a Jack Black movie.

My two dining partners were also thrilled with their respective choices: the Cracker Jack (peppercorn crust, banana peppers, jack cheese and ‘hotter than hell sauce’) and the Pony Express (horseradish, cream cheese, hot sauce, cheddar and tomato), both served with the Spicy Die-Cut Chips (I stole a few and they were great!).  We devoured our burgers in our comfortable booth, while the classic rock songs of Tom Cochrane and Rush played in the background and shared the great conversations that occur when old friends catch up in a beautiful old city, over a delicious meal.  Simply being with them, my husband and my dear old friend from university, in that fun and friendly place, (with excellent service, I might add) laughing and stuffing our faces, was more than just a meal.  It was an experience. 

And did I finish my Nacho Libre Burger?  Nope! 

But this time, I blame the onion rings.

Planning a trip to Eastern Canada? Make sure to check out The Works Gourmet Burger Bistro!