The WORKS Craft Burgers & Beer — Restaurant in Barrie

This is my second time returning to this restaurant after the turnover of new management. I hate to have to write this review, but we honestly will not be returning to this location any longer and will only be getting our food from the Newmarket location— which is a complete different experience than that of what I had tonight. My boyfriend and I just finished our Valentine’s Day meal, and we would say the restaurant was at less than half capacity. Our server was Crystal, who was absolutely amazing and was the only reason our experience was tolerable. It is important to mention that there was only ONE server (Crystal) who was left to handle all of the tables. She is amazing because she handled them all with ease and more importantly, with a smile on her face. We understand that today is a busy day for all, so we didn’t protest much when our burger took nearly 35 minutes to come out. However, we began to get upset when we both had an extremely strong burnt and charcoal taste from our burgers. The burnt taste was so overwhelming that it ruined the overall taste of the burger. Once we neared the end of our burger, I decided to take it apart and noticed that the entire under half of my burger was burnt to a crisp. This not only ruined our taste buds, but it also left an uneasy feeling in our stomach as the extremely burnt burger did not sit well with us at all. It is extremely sad to see what such an amazing restaurant (that we have been attending for years) has turned into with the change of management. Until there is a drastic change, we will continue to give our money and business to the Newmarket location despite the 45...

I dont normally review, but I had to share this. Our visit was back in February. We have been going to this location for years for our anniversary. In previous years, everything was great. The food was great, the service was great, the atmosphere etc. This year , it was a total 180°. As our anniversary is on Valentine's Day, the restaurant was always packed. When we went this year there was only one other couple there. We waited at the door for a few minutes. As the hostess proceeded to stand there and talk. When she finished her conversation and came to get us, she sat us right next to the bathroom. There was a very bad "septic" smell in the air. And it's not like, oh, I have a sensitive nose, and there was a slight smell. No, It was very pungent. So why would she sit a customer who's going to eat, right next to the bathroom where there's a very strong odor of the septic variety? I couldn't stand sitting next to the bathroom with that smell emanating from it, let alone eat with that hanging in the air. So my husband moved us to the very back where the smell was better. But still lingered a little. In previous visits, the food was amazing. I always left with a doggy bag because I was just so full that I couldn't finish it all. This visit, I couldn't finish it all, but it wasn't because of the portion size. It was because of the burger. It was so overdone and sub-par. The bacon was burnt and tastless. So my dog got an extra big portion this time. Also, they got my side wrong. We will not be back and have found a new place for our...

We went there Wednesday Sept.17 2025... Unfortunately things are going downhill for this place, Wednesday Dinnertime place was EMPTY, beer glasses were super dirty, so was the pitcher. We mentioned it & they brought out 2 different glasses not quite as dirty. Jeez, then he didn't want to accept the gift card I had until I paid the full amount first?? That's odd... The gf ordered a Tom Green chicken burger 🍔, had to run to the washroom immediately afterwards. We really liked this place before & been here about 25x, but unfortunately I don't think we'll be coming back...😬 The only thing redeeming of this place is the excellent patio in the back... I hope they can turn this place around.

So, this review was back in 2020...

The burgers are so excellent! 😃 Decent size, so much flavour, so many types & styles of burger to choose from, we keep choosing the cheese filled pattie option for a $2 upgrade & that vegetable creamy dip beach house sauce for the kettle chips & fries is out of this world!, decent beer 🍻 selection... Love the bogo coupon, otherwise I would consider it a little too expensive to come in more often. The servers were incredible, very accommodating, friendly. Looking forward to summer & when the street patio is open. 🙂👌. We will be back again.

Update: Every time we've been there, about 10x now, it has consistently been absolutely incredible...