TORONTO — No burger topping or flavour combination is off limits at the Oakville, Ont.-based Works Gourmet Burger Bistro, which hosted a media lunch to showcase new limited-time offerings and announce recent expansion plans.
In recent months, corporate chef Shane Kennedy has introduced other limited-time menus based on trending flavours, such as a bacon-focused menu, which included a salted-caramel bacon shake. But, until January, beer is the theme of The Works’ newest promotion, Cooking with Beer, which includes recipes made with Moosehead, Barking Squirrel and more. “Only at The Works can guests now have a beer and eat it, too,” said Bruce Miller, chief marketing and development officer and co-owner of The Works. “It’s a fun promotion, which features the ingredients Canadians love best, in combinations that will never be found anywhere but The Works.”
Three beer-infused burgers grace the new menu, including the Barking At My Cow, featuring Barking Squirrel beer-braised onions, jack cheese and crispy bacon on a fresh-grilled beef patty, topped with Barking Squirrel beer barbecue sauce ($15.31). Other specialties include the Knotty Pretzel appetizer with three hot-baked pretzels topped with sea salt and served with Moosehead beer cheddar dip ($9.91).
The menu is not the only thing that’s evolving. In the past two years, The Works has doubled the number of its locations in Canada. With 25 units in Ontario and one in St. John’s, N.L., the team has turned its attention to the Greater Toronto Area. Although the company’s been receiving a lot of international interest from the U.S. to Russia, there’s still room to grow in Ontario before expanding elsewhere.
Last week, The Works opened a new unit in Kitchener, Ont., which coincided with a special ‘donate-what-you-want’ fundraiser to raise money for the Special Olympics Ontario Kitchener-Waterloo. It also introduced the unit’s locally inspired burgers, such as the Cops & Rangers burger topped with red peppers, Gouda cheese, bacon and mayo.
