Burger 'n' Fries

I get a number of ads in the mail that have coupons on them for restaurants all over Ottawa.  I'll be honest, most of them are for Italian food.  I have always assumed that places that do that either have a waning base of regulars or are new and trying to build a list of regular clientele.  Either way, when I come across a place that doesn't have an Italian name or a huge plate of pasta on the ad, I take notice.  Once such ad was in the last bunch we got, for Vera's Burger Shack Express.  Their deal was buy 1, get 1 free on burgers...I of course forgot my coupon running out the door to get their before 5:30....lol....but it was the effort that counts right?  Of course right!

 They share a storefront with a meat and deli place called The Butchery.  I am familiar with them because they are the closest place in the Kanata area where I can get my andouille sausage for my homemade Jambalaya.  The sausage is excellent by the way...  It is important to note that this particular Vera's IS an "express".  I looked at Vera's menu online before I went and had my heart set on onion rings and an organic beef burger...neither of which are available at this Vera's because it IS an express.  It wasn't the end of my world, but I had to reevaluate my "game plan" after I showed up.

It is pretty self explanatory here, you walk in and grab a little clipboard, write your name on it, what you want and hand it over.  They cook, you grab a seat and wait for your name to be called.  When they call you, you pay, grab your grub and chow down.  I was liking that way of ordering because it kept a lot of mistakes out of the mix...pretty much all of them, except "first timer" stuff like ordering TWO large fries.  Oops...

 While we were waiting for our stuff my Mister chased the Sprout around and I explored the deli and meat section.  This place wasn't very large, so there aren't too many things to see as far as the eating area.  What you see is what you get.  For a place with "express" in the title..this is perfectly acceptable to me.

 
 There wasn't too long of a wait for the food we showed at about 5pm which seems to be the sweet spot in Ottawa for getting your order in before the dinner rush starts.  I, however, couldn't believe my eyes when we went to the counter and saw the fries...when they say "large" they mean GINORMOUS.  There were at least 3 cups of french fries in that sucker.  My Mister took one look them all and said "Why did you order two?"  If you've ever been to McDonald's and had 3 people that liked french fries...you know why I ordered 2 larges for 3 people.  At Vera's there is NO need for this!  1 large is plenty for 3 people.  Totally!

Huge Boat of Fries...AKA "Large Fries"

My Burger

 I think I had them put everything but the kitchen sink...and ketchup...on mine.  It was FABULOUSSSS!  The meat was tender and juicy, cooked perfectly all my veggies were crisp and I loved the snap that the banana peppers added to my burger.  It was so big I could barely fit it into my mouth, to most people this would be a complaint...but I don't care about things like that.  It is all about taste!  I really loved my burger, the Sprout was diggin his chicken fingers...and between the 3 of us we BARELY made a dent in those 2 large orders of fries.  It was a good meal, we got it fast, it wasn't too expensive and the staff were very kind.  It started getting busy at 5:30 and the Sprout got antsy, so we headed home.  If you are in Bells Corners and jonesin' for a burger and fries head over to Vera's Express...they'll fix ya up!