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!!!”. ^_^;;;

(For today’s post, see below/previous post)

I just wanted to drop this quick post, courtesy of the amount of food related news I found yesterday. The first one is related to a restaurant in the US that really honour its name. And what is the name? The Heart Attack Grill… Check this video in YouTube.

What is “funnier” is that rather being worried about what is being served, they are more concerned about how the waitresses are “dressed”:

I think I will draw the line there… However, at least the owner is honest about what is being served.

On other news, earlier this month, Gigi of Ho Yummy wrote a post about a restaurant in the UK where you can pay the meal at your own discretion. It seems that concept has started to spread, according to this article. Well, that concept just arrived in Canada… Check here. In the case this link is blocked to Canadian IPs only, please check here.

If you haven’t heard this name, I will not blame you. I am aware of it because of my Computer Science background. But, regardless, I will highly recommend you watch this video in YouTube or, in the event you can’t access/view those videos, read the transcript (part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4).