Wally’s Burgers
Wally’s Burgers
Concession stand in Cates Park
North Vancouver, BC
Last year, Wally’s Burger, an iconic restaurant in Kingsway closed its doors. In the same vein as Save-on-Meats burger shop, it had some neon signs and, while I did not go until a couple of days before it closed, it had its share of faithful customers. After all, it was cheap, it was tasty, it was a place where you could gather with other people. As per this article, the rights to the name and trademark were purchased and, its location in Cates Park in North Vancouver, most likely be the first among many future Wally’s. While any future locations might (or might not) open, the question was rather, does it live to expectations? Only one way to find out… Go and have a burger!
If memory serves me right, the core menu has not changed, rather it seems they added some items (like the sweet potato fries) – you can check their full menu here. While I do remember some of the name of the burgers (as it had the word “wagon” in it), I did not remember the description of each one. That proved to be a challenge and had to spend some time asking about each one of the burgers. Oh, well… In the end, I made my order and started to look around and snap some pictures.
Your typical concession stand in the parks…
Cates Park overlooking Burrard Inlet.
I couldn’t help myself snap this picture.
After I received my order, sat down and started to snap my pictures, I noticed a small group at the other end – one of them carrying a Canon dSLR with a wide-angle lens. While I have met some of the local food bloggers in a recent gathering, for some odd reason, I had an idea of whom he was. It was confirmed when he gave his name to the cashier (as they would be calling you for your order). That blogger was Kevin from 604 Foodtography! And, as per his post on this visit, he recognized me the same way! ^_^;;;
I had the combo burger which is a beef patty and a hot dog. “To be safe”, I added mushroom for an additional loonie. For the side, I had the sweet potato fries, which comes with a roasted pepper dip. One thing you will notice is that it does not have the “usual” lettuce and tomato. No, it is not because I did not order them, rather, these do NOT come by default! Good thing or bad? Anyway, the burger itself was… lacking. I don’t think I tasted anything; in fact, it felt quite generic. Usually, sauteed mushrooms would salvage almost any burger but it did not seem to work in this case. Probably because there isn’t really much of it to begin with? While it was slightly charred, that did not bothered me. What “saved” the experience a bit was the fries. While they were even fried to the point of being crunchy, it kept some of its sweet taste. And the dip really complemented the fries. Hey, the combo was so good I didn’t even need the mustard!
Overall, I must say that I am not impress in any way, specially given there are so many good burger shops around, at the same price, if not cheaper. While I do understand they ought to charge a bit more due to them being a concession (if memory serves me right, the ones from the original Wally’s location were cheaper), I would at least expect something worth the cash I forked. In this case, it did not deliver. Let me put it bluntly: despite I went to the original location only once, the one I had was at least slightly memorable (probably because they were closing?). Here, it was an experience I could easily overlook. So, while some people like me would try it once for nostalgia or other similar reason(s), it will fall into the category of “fool me once…”.
Anyway, after that burger, I went down the beach to try to take some interesting pictures. Hope you enjoy them!
The blank “spots” are not spots but rather droplets of water from the splashing waves.
Can you see the two small crabs?
This is not from the beach, rather near the parking lot. It was there, alone, looking at me, almost saying “take a picture of me!!!”. ^_^;;;
So much to say. Beautiful pictures as always. I’ve never seen sweet potato fries look so crispy (the whole lack of starch thing). And, I totally thought you ordered a hot dog ’starter’ when that first burger picture showed up! Love it.
There’s actually a picture of me in one of my posts, the one about Absinthe @ Mortons.
It wasn’t my wide, I’ve forced myself to start using my 28-75 instead now, as wide just doesn’t work well for food pictures all the time.
We can talk nerdy camera gear stuff at the dinner later this month.
Those yam fries look like so crisssspy, like they were left in the fryer too long…I was guilty of doing that at White Spot before haha!
Back to Burger Burger I go, I crave theirs. Mmmmmm yum.
Burger Burger. Yum! I still can’t believe how cheap they are!
Raidar, it would have been really odd to order a hot dog in a burger shop, won’t it? ^_^
Kevin, I am opinionated with my camera gear but, at the end of the day, it is a matter of preference. From afar, I thought that was a wide, I guess my eyes are starting to wear out a little bit… (and from my opinonated line of though) I see nothing wrong on “forcing” your self to use a lens. Once you are used to it, you will barely notice any “limitations” from the lens. Taking myself as an example, heck, it is a prime lens! (translation: it does NOT zoom). But, regardless, I think it would be more interesting to talk about food, hehehehehe.
Sherman, hmmmm…. Burgeerr…
That’s quite a big change for Wally’s from Vancouver Kingsway to North Van. Nice photos! I’ll have to go try their food one day.
For me Wally’s is much different from the rest.
If someone claims the burgers to be authentic, they are giving you the wrong information. No one has bought my business; if the burgers they sell are similar, it still does not mean they are the same. I simply do not want this new joint to disaopoint my old Wally’s customers who have loved the unique, unforgettable taste for many many years.
However, it’s quite rash to be estimating the flavor on the new menu as “good” or “bad”. If someone says the taste is the same as the original Wally’s, then I suppose that every burger is only a burger-nothing more or less.
Connor / Wally’s Burgers
Connor, welcome! As per my post, the rights to the name and trademark were purchased and, its location in Cates Park in North Vancouver, most likely be the first among many future Wally’s – this in turn is based on an article by CityFood (click here for that article). It boils down to this question: Is this statement true? If it is, unfortunately, they can claim they are authentic…
But, regardless if it is true or not, I think most food bloggers have agreed that this place is not even a shadow of the previous Wally’s; again, from my post: despite I went to the original location only once, the one I had was at least slightly memorable… Here, it was an experience I could easily overlook.
Hi, Kimho
The name sounds like Korean to me.
I ever met some people who were intereted(they said)’Wally’s’ before, but they wanted to take it for free. Whatever those people say, it’s typical business tactic. Surely, I have no connection with those people. And we don’t need to judge them. Kimho, why don’t you make Burger at home? Do you know the burger(this type of food) came from Mongolian? And someone ever asked me where is the ham in the hamburger?
I’m just here to say that they opened in the strip mall by Killarney market in Vancouver. The taste of the burger I had (especially the fixin’s) was the same but the bun could be fresher. Hope they get it right because whether they know it or not they got a gold mine on their hands. I can see a few of these little stores around in Vancouver in the next little while.
The Blogger Baron
Ryan, thanks for letting us know. I will try to drop by sometime soon to compare notes.
You’re welcome Kim. I hope they have it right when you go. All this business needs is a little web presence too. Wallysburgers.com is taken but parked – I hope THEY have it because I know the old Wally’s has a history that people from all over the country know about and I bet they’d like to know what’s up with their favourite burger joint.
The Blogger Baron