Fresh Burger Woodbine & Steeles — Restaurant in Toronto

Let me start by saying I'm a big fan of Fresh Burger. Ever since the first store popped up in Richmond Hill (2013), I was thrilled that we had a decent burger joint, and bonus, they weren't trying to rip us off like the other chains that will remain unnamed. =p I think I still visit the original store more than I do this one - which is less than 5 min from my house.

Their overall quality, excellent. Value for money, also quite good. Like another franchise, they don't skimp on the fries, and you always end up satisfying your burger craving.

However, my recent experience with this specific location, during a BOGO event, doesn't warrant the praise the Leslie location gets. I've actually been here about a handful of times since it opened, and this last time was the last straw. I think I'm going to have to drive up to Leslie from now on.

I ordered online, and it said my order would be ready in about 15 minutes. No problem, I get there early. I see a few UberEats picks up ahead of me, and there's a line of about 6 people as I walk in. All good, I wait patiently by the counter (where there's a sign for online order pickups) waiting for them to call out orders numbers.

Unfortunately, this location seems to be lacking in some departments... or maybe the captain of the ship just wasn't running things because they just seemed a little disorganized. The person running cash seemed to be doing their best, but the others seemed to be skulking around, working as slowly as they could. It's the dinner rush, I get it, you're busy. When I worked fast food the dinner rush was the most fun, we were running on all cylinders and the time flew by!

My order ended up on the counter, incomplete. I didn't know it was my order at the time, I waited a few minutes, 2 other people picked up their orders. Eventually, I just checked the bag, yup, it was mine... just needed the drinks. I didn't want to be that pushy customer, so I just sat back, waited to see what would happen. Another few minutes went by, and so I became the greasy wheel. Excuse me... no response.

Eventually, I spoke up a bit louder to ask for help. Showed my phone to confirm that was my order. One of the employees acknowledge, got me my drinks (though they did run out of Coke - guess no one was restocking the fridge), and as they were returning to their station they mumbled that it was busy.

Got home, and here's why this one off review of this franchise under performed. The slow service I can live with, especially while you're running a BOGO event. IMO, if you're going to do that, just have extra hands on deck, especially during a dinner rush.

However, the issue was the burgers weren't done properly, and the kicker, the top bun on all 3 burgers we ordered seemed like the bread was stale (I don't think they actually were, but something was definitely off), overdone on the griddle/toaster or something. There was a hard, dry crunch to them unlike any other time I've ever eaten here. I've probably had Fresh Burger over 50 times by now, and this is the worst it's ever been. I'd say they are 99% bang on, never a complaint, but this one time, these specific circumstances broke the perfect game.

I had an improper order at another location before, and they told me to just pop on in and they'll give me free food later. Gotta love the...

I’ve had some amazing burger but these are not them. I had the 4oz burger in its default dressing and in all honesty I thought I was eating a Wendy’s classic single which is about the same price.

This place sell grilled burgers but mine looked similar to smashburger, with flat edges and a good crispy outside. After reading several reviews that’s not what it’s supposed to look like. Mine was over cooked and a little dry, not juicy at all. You can see in my photos the burger almost looks burnt.

The flavour falls short, way short of the mark like it’s missing something. I added salt, pepper and garlic powder to one burger and it completely transformed it. Even the special sauce was lacking, like they hardly put any on, I could not even taste it. The burger I got with mayo was so much better. I also got a 6oz prime burger with extra toppings and it was delicious, I mean really good. The burgers need ketchup, mustard, mayo and onions. I get it now, why they sell doubles, the burger is lost in the bun the hamburgers burgers would be better as doubles so you get more meat flavour.

The fries are so hyped up but I found them to be just OK. I’ve had better. The cali fries fell short, just too sweet. It wasn’t for me.

Over all I would like to give it more stars but this location might be a victim of its own success. They were swamped with a minimal crowd during Covid so I can’t imagine if they were really busy. I saw an orders get screwed up and service was slow. They are polite and nice but swamped, new location syndrome. There is potential for greatness here but not yet. It’s a good burger, just not amazing. I can 100% guarantee most of the people giving 5 stars and raving reviews could not tell one of these burgers from a Wendy’s classic single. I was hoping to be blown away, but it’s very average.

Edit: I changed my review from 3 to 2 stars after reading other reviews with I can guarantee many are fake or...

I have a 1h lunch break at work When I ordered my combo, the staff said it was backed up and would take 20 minutes. Gives me good enough time to finish my lunch before going to work so I agreed to pay and wait.

I ended up getting my food almost an hour after ordering leaving me no time to sit down and eat. I would suggest to anyone who has a timed lunch break to avoid this place at lunch rush hour as you might end up having to eat on your walk back to the office.

It is unacceptable to trick customers into thinking they will get their food in 20 minutes but end up taking more than double the time. If they didn't mean to be deceitful, then they were just purely unprofessional. How could you not be able to provide a more accurate time estimate, knowing how many orders you have to fill in front of them? By the time it got to my 20 minute mark, there were plenty other customers in front of me complaining that they had been waiting over a half hour. By then it was too late by then to get my money back and go somewhere else.

This place completey disregard and disrespect for...