Matt’s Burger Lab Queen St W — Restaurant in Toronto

I want to start by saying I've been getting food from Matt's over the last two years, and the meal I'll mention later was not ordered by me, rather by my wife. I was always very satisfied with the food quality and service. I noticed, at some point in the last year or so, that the menu changed quite significantly. It was a surprise, and I'm not sure what the back story is there, but their new menu items were still decent, if not very differentiated from a place like burger's priest.

Most recently, it seems like something else has changed there, and not for the better. The service today was a little bit of a problem - not a big one, admittedly, but still, not quite right. When I arrived to pick up my wife's order, I was informed that the drink she wanted wasn't available at that time. Now, if they're out of an item, that's all well and good; as it happened, we were able to come up with a substitution that worked. Still, what wasn't cool was that the food order was already packed and stapled, complete with a substituted can of pop just arbitrarily picked by someone at the restaurant, rationalized by an after-the-fact explanation that the original drink order wasn't available, and this one was of equivalent value. I very nearly walked out with this unwanted drink, having been told that a refund or discount to compensate for the unavailable drink wasn't possible.

I don't know how much of this is technically the restaurant's responsibility; my wife actually placed the order through the Ritual app, so it wasn't a direct order. Still, some refunding or discounting should have been offered, and it's hard to accept that the restaurant couldn't have prevented this by informing third party food ordering services of any current unavailable items, so that they aren't inadvertently ordered. Maybe I'm making too much of this, but for a business, just leaving the customer to deal with a problem like this, not taking responsibility but just dreaming up an unsolicited solution without any communication, seems...

For most of my life when I go out to get a burger, I go to the usual spots, A&W, McDonald's, Wendy's, ect, and the odd time, I've tried something new (including a few different places in the last year), it's generally nothing special, more spicy has been a common trend as of late due to the influx of people from different countries including India, which prefer spicy foods, but typically, I've come to find that a burger is a burger is a burger.

That said, this place was a refreshing surprise! I had the Slam with cheese, and paid a bit extra to get the mushrooms (sauteed) on there, and the first thing I noticed when I got it was the presentation. It was.. Well, I've posted a picture. Basically the kind of thing that you expect to get in a fancy restaurant. And yes, it tastes just as good as it looks, if not better. I demolished that burger, and had no regrets. Oh, the one thing I noticed, real meat, none of that frozen patty stuff that most places do.

And the lady that took my order, Irem(apologies if I got it wrong, I entered it in my phone to remember, but auto-correct changed it to something else) she was very friendly and sociable, and talked to me about her native country of Turkey and the scenic natural landscapes.

Overall it was a very delightful experience.

A couple of side notes.

A: This place should look into getting a proper dot on Google maps. I was only able to find it on here because I looked up the specific name, but when zooming in on the building on Google maps, it is not there to touch/click on.

B: To Irem, if she happens to read this, I would highly recommend to get ChatGPT. It is an AI(artificial intelligence) chat app for your phone, with a vast array of knowledge on just about everything, and as an added bonus, it understands every language. It could answer any question you may have about Toronto, or...

In the Ancient world, philosophers had a unique process to decide whether an idea was good. They discussed the idea drunk and then they discussed it sober. I have applied this tried-and-true process to the burgers at Matt's Burger Lab. I have eaten burgers there drunk and I have eaten burgers there sober. These burgers pass the Ancient world test with flying colours. Not only do these burgers taste delicious, but they are also not too greasy and don't leave you filled with regrets an hour later. The meat is soft and savoury. Buns are 10/10. Toppings are fresh and tasty. As if it weren't enough, Matt's Burger Lab offers daily deals that are just absolute bargains. Whoever decides the pricing should be running the Canadian economy. Additionally, the staff is very friendly and helpful in making decisions. They are my personal consultants when I struggle over what to decide because everything looks delicious. Finally, Matt's Burger Lab has great opening hours, which is why I was able to run the Ancient world test. Overall, I love giving my money to Matt's Burger Lab and this fine establishment is one of these places that make free-market capitalism so glorious. Very rarely do I feel so strongly about a burger place, but Matt's Burger Lab deserves everyone's...