Frankie's Bar & Cafe

Date Visited: Dinner on Saturday May 24, 2014
Company: Triple dinner date before seeing RENT at Lower Ossington Theatre

A group of 6 of us had tickets to see RENT in the Queen/Ossington area at 8PM and decided to meet up before hand to grab some dinner in the area. The theatre wasn't really in an area which we went to often so there were tons of new unfamiliar places to check out. We had originally planned to go to County General but it would have been a 2 hour wait, the place was very tiny! Closer to the intersection of the theatre, we saw Frankie's with a sign that claimed 'World's Best Burgers'. It didn't seem to be very full so we were seated immediately and got a large table in the back corner. 

We waited for the rest of the group to arrive while the waitress served us some waters. The place has a diner vibe but pretty modern decor. There aren't very many tables either but a few stools on the counter. They have a variety of beer on tap and seems like a decent not busy place to grab a drink. The waitress we had was very friendly but I spilled some of my water and asked for some napkins and she just wiped it away. There was so water on my pants I wanted to dry up but it wasn't much so I didn't ask again.

Their menu mostly focused on their Signature Burgers and had many different choices. I was debating between the Smokin' Hot Honey and the Aristotle Burger (like a Greek Burger) and I think I would have been happy with either as both were ordered at our table and looked great. I went for the Smokin' Hot Honey with Fries in the end. The burger had Jalapeno Havarti, Jalapenos, crunchy onions, bacon, letture, tomatoes, and smoked mayo. I actually didn't know that it had bacon as I usually never order burgers with bacon but it wasn't too overpowering. I also had to pick some of the Jalapenos off, a little too spicy for me but it was great once I did that. Their signature burgers are really well put together and creative. The patty very juicy and held really nicely together. The fries were pretty good but nothing too spectacular or memorable. Good place for a reasonably priced burger to fill you up!

They also had some board games behind the counter that you can play! We played some Connect Four to pass the time and didn't even notice how much time was passing by during our wait for food. 

Food: 3/5 - Not the best burgers ever but fresh ingredients, appealing meal, and reasonably priced.
Decor: 2/5 - Quite plain and not that much stands out.
Service: 2/5 - Nothing outstanding, she did her job.
Willingness to go back: 3.5/5 - If I was in the area I would definitely go again.
Overall: 2.5/5

Website: none

BnB (Burgers and Bistro)

Visited: Dinner on Friday May 3, 2013

Company: Party of 8 for +Stanley's weekend home from NYC.

I don't exactly remember where I found out about this restaurant... it just came up somehow while I was browsing for places to have dinner for +Stanley's 'return to Toronto' weekend. But the day before we were going, I was doing some research and I became a little bit skeptical about the restaurant. Mostly because it is situated inside a hotel, I was worried that it would just be overpriced, mediocre food. Either way, we headed to the Sheridan Hotel on Friday afternoon (after +Stanley got drunk after one beer) to find BnB. 

Even walking through the lobby of the hotel, we saw a wide range of people, from the super classy to average Joe's. We were somewhere in between varying in outfits from hoodies to business casual. The restaurant was definitely on the classy side, but that's pretty expected for the Sheridan Hotel.

I was debating getting a burger prior to dinner but they looked pretty good as they were being served to other customers. I decided to get the Chicken Burger Caprese, with a side of sweet potato fries. When we all got our burgers, I noticed that the toppings were all over the place, cheese covered half the burger while the red pepper was on the half. The actual chicken patty was definitely frozen prior and felt very processed, like something I could get from the grocery store. +Gisele pointed out that the burgers were also very charred, as the flames in the kitchen were very high. She also didn't enjoy how messy her Steak and Egg Burger was to eat, with the egg yolk running all over.I think the bun was the redeeming quality of the overall burgers, I really enjoyed the flavour and variety of seeds on it. However, +Will created his own burger and didn't like the bun he chose. I also tried his milk shake but found it extremely sweet. The creativity of the burgers were also enjoyable, there is a unique combination of toppings on each. I surprisingly thought the arugula added a lot to my burger... at least the toppings were fresh. +Brian's Bison Burger with the drunken cheddar was an interesting looking meal to say the least. The sweet potato fries were average at best but +Alex's Chipotle Mayo really added a nice spicy kick to them. 

I was lucky to find a 20% off coupon online for this place so i was pretty happy with that. We paid $20 each for our meals. But my prediction prior was fairly accurate, the restaurant attempts to serve high class food and prices for the hotel crowd but falls short in crafting their food in the most important details.

Food: 2/5 - Nice toppings and bun but how can you mess up the main part of the burger

Decor: 2/5 - 'Hotel class', fancy but not my crowd

Service: 2.5/5 - Not the fastest, but might have to do with our party size

Likeliness to go back: 0.5/5 - No desire

Overall: 2/5

Website: http://www.bnbtoronto.com/