Grindhouse Burger Bar

I’ve tried this place a few times. Eveytime I go back I figure, they make eveything from scratch its organic, it has to be good. Everytime I go I think” NEVER COME BACK AGAIN” and I live next door. The chairs at the bar are way too low compared to the bar, the burgers are nothing great (especially when compared to Big Smoke down the street), I hate their home made ketchup.
Really do me a favor don’t go, and hopefully a decent restaurant will open there after this one closes.

Sometimes I read reviews and it’s like yada yada yada just get on with the review, don’t really care how you got to the place or why. So here we go, straight to the point as I can get:
— Ordered «The Big Grind**», server recommended we take it as «medium» so we did
— Poutine and onion rings as sides. HUGE. definitely share. Poutine was great. Good cheese and gravy ratio. Onions rings were kinda over-​cooked and hurt the top of my mouth everytime I bit into one
— Burger was a bit salty, kinda over-​powered the taste they were trying to achieve. Did not taste like the well-​known burger
— Burger was also RAW. Did not notice until I got towards the middle, guess I was that hungry! Told the bus/​server girl, she smirked and gave us a speech on why the place is called Grindhouse (they make their own burgers), and said next time we want a well-​done burger then we should ask for well done. Showed her the meat and the texture and it was definitely raw, she rolled her eyes. I know what a medium burger looks like, it ain’t my firs time at the rodeo, darling. (both mine and bf’s were raw)
— Bartender/​Manager comes by and says they will comp the entire meal, including my bf’s beer.
— We left a tip, I hope the bartender/​manager collected it, not smirky-​face bus/​server girl.
**which by it’s description was supposed to resemble a well-​known burger (Beef Patty, Special Sauce, Lettuce, Cheese, Onion, and pickle…)

Special «Karaōke Munchie Menu» for @JasonRolland #LoserKaraoke
The top line of this review reflects what I am writing this review about. Also, note that the 3 out of 5 Stars is more reflective of the karaōke show and the ambiance of the place as opposed to the Karaōke Munchie Menu itself. All in all, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the 2 items I have had on the Munchie Menu.
— Bag O’ Popcorn: For $ 2 you most definitely get your money’s worth! They give you a brown paper bag* full of popcorn which is quite a nice sized portion for the money. However, much as I love my popcorn I think they way, way overdo it on the butter. Every time I grabbed a handful my palm was literally shiny with the grease afterward. The popcorn is pretty tasty, no doubt, as well as being a great value but I’d advise you tell them to ease off on the butter.
*like the kind we used to bring our lunches to school in when we got too old/​cool for lunch boxes.
— Classic Nachos: For your $ 10 you get pretty much standard run of the mill nachos with cheese melted on them — according to the menu it’s mozzarella & cheddar cheese — but with one important, and unfortunate, difference… the jalapenos they give you on the side are not hot. In fact, the jalapenos are more sweet than hot which was very disappointing for me. As well, the salsa wasn’t quite thick enough to really be able to scoop it up with the nachos (maybe I should have tried a pour over?) and they didn’t give any sour cream alongside which would have been very welcome. On the side plate they give where they put the jalapenos and salsa there was something else but I am not sure what it was, didn’t try them. I’m going to upload a picture of the dish so maybe someone else can figure it out — or just ask them next time I’m in there and edit this later.
— House Pretzels: I have not tried the pretzel but have seen others who’ve ordered them. They are your standard giant soft pretzel and if I recall correctly you get one of them (not two as the plural in the name may imply).
All in all, if it’s 11:30 at night and I’m at Grindhouse for some Karaōke then it is very appreciated that they have something to nibble on (because the regular menu is not available that late). With a little work, the offerings will be truly awesome.

Dry and chard. That’s how i’d describe my burger.
Pass.

I hate having to write bad reviews, but after my 2^nd very negative experience Grindhouse Burger Bar left me with no choice. To justify this rating let me explain what happened on my visits there:
1^st visit I went as part of a large group for a Tweetup hosted by Grindhouse themselves. I had very minimal expectations because I knew nothing about the place other than another food blogger telling me they didn’t really like the place. Regardless, I think burgers are a personal thing so I decided to give it a try. I ended up having «The Wild Boar» ($ 12) which sounded really good on paper «House Minced with Hazelnuts and Sage, Apple and Onion Chutney, Roasted Garlic Goat Cheese and Baby Arugula.» Unfortunately what I received was an extremely charred patty (apparently this is Grindhouse «thing») which was overcooked, dry and unappetizing. When I asked other people who attended the event how their burgers were they all seemed to echo the same thing, burned, dry and overcooked. The best thing I had that night was probably the onion rings which were quite tasty. Regardless I probably would have given them a 3-​star rating but then it came time to pay the bill. Apparently someone had sat at our table before we got there and ordered some things and the waitress did not keep track of them so we were about $ 20 short on our bill because we could not track down who had ordered 2 beers (note I had been ordering all my beers at the bar and the bartender was aware of this). I told the waitress we had no idea who ordered them and she said something along the lines of ‘well they were at your table at some point so you need to pay for them”. At this point I was already contributing $ 25 for my $ 12 burger because some others hadn’t left much and I wanted to make sure she got a tip. Instead of just wiping this small amount off of our $ 200+ tab, she continued to argue with me and pointed me out to the bartender/​owner like I was a bad guy or something. After a lot of hassle they eventually took these drinks off the bill but it didn’t go without plenty of rude glares from this server for the rest of the night. I decided I would not post anything about this incident though out of respect for the person who had organized the dinner doing their social media.
2^nd visit. Last night I returned to Grindhouse for another event to raise awareness for a gift box type company after being invited by the owner of the company. I skipped food this time (for reasons stated on my first visit) and was just having drinks. I did happen to try one of my friend’s onion rings though and unlike last time these were WAY overcooked and rock hard. As it was Thursday night there was a big NFL game on TV to decide the fate of the Philidelphia Eagles season which they were showing on one of the TVs. Suddenly during the 3^rd quarter the owner of the bar decides to change the channel to the same thing on the TV right beside it as they are going to be doing some Karaōke event. My girlfriend very politely asks the owner if he could put the one TV back on for the last part of the football game. His response to her is «Tonight is Karaōke night. If you want to watch football you should go to another bar». Dumbfounded she returns to the table and everyone is in shock that someone could be so rude. There was still another perfectly good TV beside that could be used for Karaōke so I don’t think the request was out of line. Also the front row of their bar was filled with guys all there watching the same game (how oblivious can you be!). He agrees to put the game back on for a bit until the MC returns which is met with a round of applause by the guys at the bar. At this point though we had no interest in giving them anymore of our business and left.
I will not be returning to Grindhouse anymore as they have no sense of customer service and can’t even make a half decent burger!

3.5 stars really.
On a bit of a burger crawl. Have walked past Grindhouse too many times not to stop in.
Love the rock theme, love that they are a bar, love that Stone Temple Pilots were on when I walked in (102.1 The Edge was playing).
The server/​bartender was fantastic, made sure to greet me from afar even though he was dealing with another table. He did this everytime, but most of the time he knew the people walking in. Guess they’ve established a number of regulars. And why not? Every bar’s got them.
I went for the Signature on Whole Wheat bun, medium well. In fact, I was caught off guard when he asked me how I’d like it cooked. Can’t say I’ve ever been asked that in Canada, at least not in Ontario.
It was a good burger. It was a week ago, but as I write this, I only have a faint memory of what it even looked like. That can’t be good.
I’m going back, need to try it again. They just got a great review in the Sunday Sun. Maybe I’ll need to reserve now.
Regardless, great option for King Street and looking forward to actually partying there some night.
Dining tip: don’t sit at the bar. Bar stools aren’t the right proportion to the bar top. Difficult for eating.

A very solid gourmet burger joint.
For a place with a name like «Grindhouse», it’s a little bit precious: lemon in the water, all condiments made in-​house, black truffle salsa. Still, one man’s precious is another’s attention to detail, and Grindhouse really does have a good thing cooking.
Their burgers are sized right, prepared expertly, and while bespoke is always an option, the menu has some strong contenders. I’m a big fan of the Aussie burger (kangaroo meat, pickled beets, fried egg) and the Black and Blue (with beautifully flavourful Shropshire blue cheese). The fries are decent, but the panko crusted onion rings steal the show. Huge, crisp, lots of flavour.
The liquor selection is a bit anemic, but the bartenders know what to do with it. Their taps bias quite hoppy, but within that bias the choices are great ones.
Pro-​tip: Kangaroo meat.
Pro-​tip: Share the onion rings.
Pro-​tip: Boneshaker is 7%+

Spent the week in Toronto for business and went here for dinner.
Have to say the reviews of this place are perplexing. They uniformly complain about the long wait times, bad service, and over-​priced food. many reviews offset this with kudos for the food itself.
Not my experience at all. I found the service to be fast, extremely friendly (the waitress was extremely flirty with this American quantitative analyst; made me feel pretty groovy). Furthermore, the food was wonderful. A little pricey? Yes, but I’m only too happy to pay a premium for great food.
The Big Grind: A
This is a phenomenal burger. Extremely tasty with nice charbroiling marks and flavor. The ratio of meat to everything else was very, very, very good. Not too much meat and not too little. Lettuce, tomato and onions were fresh and vibrant. Cheese was sharp cheddar. Groovy!
Poutine: A
This was my first poutine. Canadians are very proud of this food. I will never eat it again because I want to live to a ripe old age, but I was in heaven eating it.
Well, that’s my food review for this place. Both of my food stuffs were A, so that means this place is as good as it gets as far as I’m concerned. How anyone can say the food is tasteless is beyond me. Weird. Personally? I thought this place was fantastic!

A good, solid burger that will fill you up. A tad on the pricey side, however. Their schtick is they don’t serve «junk», as the waiter called it. So that means only organic sodas, homemade sauces, etc. They do make all of their own ketchup mustard, pickles, and sell them as well. Some of their sauces are spectacular. I also really enjoy their fries, here.
They also do special events, I think, as I have seen karaōke for a birthday party in here as well as watched a UFC.

I must admit that I had no expectations when I first dined at the Grindhouse Burger Bar. It was 6:30 pm and I was looking for a quick bite to eat close to my buddy’s apartment — this place happened to be right around the corner.
The fries and mustard were great, but those are the only positive things I can say about the Grindhouse. First, I’d like to say that service was really slow here. Now on to the food. I ordered the BIG BOY after seeing that that size of a regular burger was not that much bigger than your standard McDonald’s cheeseburger. Sorry, but the BIG BOY isn’t big at all, and at $ 10 it’s more expensive than other well-​established gourmet burger joints in the city. Not value for money in my opinion. The burger itself is not bad. I believe it would have tasted better if the burger and bun were not burnt to a crisp. I guess there was a misunderstanding when I said I wanted mine well done.
So what do I think of the Grindhouse Burger Bar? It’s an OK place and I would not object to giving it another shot; however, it would not be my first choice to dine the next time I’m craving a burger.

I am in love…
How do I know? I paid $ 22 for a burger lunch and am absolutely ok with it.
Grindhouse is serious carnivore territory.
The first thing to stand out, though, was my drink. I went for my usual diet cola and I got, «Sorry we don’t have anything with aspartame.» In fact, you shouldn’t go there expecting to get your go-​to big brand soft drink at all. Well, well, well I better go for something really interesting then. Boylan’s Birch Beer — a root beer drink, sweetened with cane sugar, with pure vanilla extract and only one preservative (sodium benzoate, typically used in soft drinks and other acidic preserves). Their amazing dedication to fresh and natural ingredients obviously did not end there.
All of the ingredients are local and fresh, the burger meat comes from naturally raised livestock and is Genetically Modified Organism, hormone and antibiotic-​free. You will not find anything that has refined sugars, or artificial sweeteners (hence the lack of Coca-​Cola and Pepsi on the premises). They literally prepare everything in-​house. The buns are made there and they also make the ketchup and mustard themselves, right in the back kitchen. The «fresh and never frozen» attitude is not good enough here; if you’re going to do it, do it right.
Their burger creations are unique and creative; a turkey burger with black truffles and cranberries, yes they do have a veggie burger and it’s soy-​free and, my choice, the black and blue burger are just a few of the menu items. I was presented with a Cajun spiced beef patty smothered in blue cheese sauce and cooked only to medium, with a side of onion rings (who was I kidding with that diet cola anyway).
If you can be sure of the meat quality, requesting a burger cooked less than well-​done will give you much more flavour and a better texture. On my first bite there was an immediate rush of barbecue charcoal flavour emanating from the patty; it tasted like summertime. The blue cheese sauce was mild and, considering the Cajun description, it was spiced, not spicy. The onion rings were huge and somehow satisfyingly greasy but unbelievably crispy.
I actually don’t often talk about presentation because, frankly, it’s all about the taste for me. I have eaten enough beautiful yet disappointing and ugly yet amazing dishes to spend much time considering plating. However, the simple beauty of this burger and onion rings dish was lovely — just a white plate and a burger, without a toothpicked-​pickle piercing the bun. Lovely.
Much like my University professors, I hesitate to give out a «perfect» score and I can’t on good conscious say that this was the very best burger in the city, but — a big but — they gave me something pretty darn close to the best burger around and the attention paid to good, fresh and healthful ingredients truly impressed me.
Their name might be harsh and gory, but you’ll find burger-​fare inside that is gentle and kind to you and your body.

Went on a Sunday and was surprised to find out… they were closed … *sigh* They offer gluten-​free buns/​breads for their burgers which is handy for those of us with a gluten intolerance.
Also, if you want something different, go for the mouth watering flavourful Wild Boar burger topped with their own garlic goat cheese, arugula, apple onion chutney and hazelnuts mixed into the meat! A definite change from a beef burger with cheese and bland condiments!
Don’t be a chicken… try Boar!

** 3.5 stars **
Before last night, I had no idea this place existed (despite the fact this small-​but-​sleek resto has been open for about a year)!
I like the fact Grindhouse chooses to make its items in-​house, and that its burgers are hormone– and antibiotic-​free. In a world full of Angry Burgers and Double Downs, it’s a welcome option.
The service was excellent. Our wait staff let us know when our orders were close to being ready, even when they were being plated.
I opted for the bison burger. It was cooked well, but it was a tad bit dry. It also could have been warmer. The Shropshire Blue cheese — along with the home-​made mustard I spread on my bun — added just enough tanginess and zing to my burger to keep my tastebuds interested.
I also got my introduction to the onion rings. While I’m usually up for a food challenge, by the time I got through my burger, it was almost too much — I barely ate half of them.
Overall, it was quite decent. But perhaps I needed to try one of the beef burgers to have been truly wowed.

Another work-​time lunch destination that needed to be tried. Well, I had the kangaroo burger. crazy! comes with a fried egg on top. Not bad, but I wouldn’t fork out $ 15 for it again. and pretty gluttonous.
Another notable thing about this place is the ketchup. They put some anise in it or something. You may love it, but more likely, you’ll just hate it and want real ketchup.

This is a surprising fancy burger spot on King St W. It doesn’t look very big from the outside, it fact I thought it was more of a take out place the first time I went in. I was pleasantly surprised to find how big it is and that they were playing late 90s hip hop.
I think it’s very cool idea to make everything in house, from the burgers, buns, fries to the ketchup, mustard and pickles (and gravy). The food is good, and the servers are nice.

I liked everything about this place, from their desire to produce healthier food, serve regional products and offer something different (home made ketchup).
Liked everything but the actual food. It just didn’t wow me taste-​wise, which is what you want when paying a bit extra for a specialized joint. For some reason the basic burger had a slightly metallic taste — kind of like you might get if you over charred meat on propane (though mine was cooked to medium). I’m not sure if the flavor was coming from the meat or the toppings or the fries/​homemade ketchup (or a combination thereof)… it just didn’t seem to meld into a unified, memorable meat/​potato medley.
For some reason the reviews tend to be either ho-​hum or Lady Ga Ga lust, so I guess it’ll be either a place you love or one that’ll end up being a one night stand. For me, I probably wouldn’t return to grab those buns.

Yet-​another-​addition to the growing list of burger-​slingers hawking ground meats in our fair city. A few steps away from the Restaurants Row on King West, Grindhouse is a snazzy little joint. With an interior palette reminiscent of ze German flag, the burger joint features an exposed brick wall, slick booths, and cork-​top tables. Wunderbar!
I ordered the Big Boy Bison burger with onion rings. Though I ordered it medium, the burger was a bit too dry. The onion rings were off the hook (!), and I would order them again in half a second. I will join the chorus and mention that it is a bit expensive here, but the food was decent and the service top notch. I’ll try it again.
Obligatory Title Pun: Come to be wined and GRIND.
Menu Readability: Tasteful sans-​serif. Lots of white space.
Need to mention: No patio. Just two tables for two near the very front of the restaurant by the wide open front door. Grab them quick!
What this place teaches me about myself: I’d sooner wear an onion ring than a gold one.

Another one of Toronto’s gourmet burger joints!
As part of a pub crawl, we stopped here for some solid sustenance.
The venue itself is nice, it was very quiet on a Thursday night.
They have an assortment of burgers available… beef, bison, turkey, veggie… and an option for whole wheat buns.
And for an additional $ 9 you can get your burger topped with foie gras!
I had the turkey burger with black truffles and cranberry ($ 10).
It was alright, but charred black on the outside.
Actually, I couldn’t really taste the truffles or the cranberry.
Also, the burgers aren’t that large. I finished my burger in about two minutes. For a $ 10 burger, I expect to be full.
The onion rings weren’t bad.
Not super huge and a bit overly salty.
It’s an okay place if you are in the area.
But really, I would make the short trek over to Craft burger.

***3.5 Stars***
Ate here last night. Fairly quiet earlier in the evening. Maybe it was b/​c I was baked, but really enjoyed the food.
Let me start with the beers on hand: Fantastic. Brooklyn Brewery ‘s Black Chocolate Stout? Yes please! Num num num.
Onion rings were battered differently than your usual ring — crunchier than normal, but it lacked a little in flavour. The dip helped it along.
Poutine was ordered but a plague of locusts must have found it, because I got half a fry with some gravy. If it was a plate of fries and gravy, I’d say I loved it. But it wasn’t, so I can’t tell you how it tasted.
The Bison Burger cooked rare was dead brilliant. Flavourful… the foie gras on top made it a greasy mess to eat, but turned the burger into one of my favourites burgs to eat in a while.
I would try this place again eventually.

If I had read the reviews here before I went, it would have definitely saved me both money and a lackluster burger adventure.
I love burgers! Especially a nice, thick, juicy BEEFY burger. I don’t know what I tasted, but I did find myself thinking as I was stubbornly chewing on it, «Why am I still eating this… all this wasted calories on something that I really don’t like and can’t identify???» So I put down the last bite just so I would feel better. Bleh. That’s all I have to say. BLEH! The super nice server gave us the whole lecture on how everything is local, made in-​house and all feel-​good. I still don’t feel good about the burger though — pricy, tasteless burgers where the tomato and lettuce were just as bland. Didn’t like the bun either. I don’t know how to describe the whole wheat bun other than it’s everything that I don’t like about bread even though it’s not stale. Sigh.
We also had a pulled-​pork sandwich which was marginally better. Just that hint of sweetness, but nothing to be wowed about. The focaccia bread that the meat came sandwiched between was amazing though — super soft and delicious. Don’t get the poutine! Ack! I had about 2 fries drenched in gravy goodness and cheese curds and almost gagged. It was spicy and oily in all the wrong ways. It left me wondering if my tastebuds were wacky that day or whether this is actually considered good fries by any means. How does one mess up fries?
The few highlights from the visit was the alcoholic Peeler apple cider. Very light and dangerous at summer bbqs — it’s so refreshing and drinkable like apple juice that it’s way too easy to have more than enough! The service was great — the server was very helpful and accommodating. The décor and atmosphere was very nice.
Taken all together — there are just so many more worthy burger bars to visit in this city. I miss my Johnny’s Hamburgers and after this lackluster experience, I’m definitely running uptown for some proper burgers!