The summer vacation had started. Nanzaro is eager to come with me for some groceries shopping because I promised to bring him to the newly opened Vera’s Burger Express in Aberdeen Mall in Richmond.
Although it is still early around 11:00AM, there is a short line up. Nanzaro told me that this location was a Burger King before Vera’s Burger Express took over. He sure has better memory than me.
For the opening of this location, Vera’s Burger Express advertised in the local newspaper by offering a $5 coupon. This offer expires on 30th June 2011.
Vera’s Burger seems to have won numerous awards for their burger as displayed on the banner at the store front.
Vera’s Burger Express has an opened kitchen where we can see the action going. Occasionally, we can see the flames from the grilling of the burger. This is what Nanzaro ordered, …
Nanzaro ordered a double Vera Burger. It was huge. The double Vera Burger costs $8.49. Fortunately, we have the $5 coupon.
Look at the thick patty. I took a bite and found it to be a bit too charred as I can taste a hint bitterness. But, Nanzaro just love it. He sure is a meat eater.
I just want a snack and went for the frings which is half fries and half onion rings. This is $5.99. I would say it’s not cheap. I like the onion ring which is very crispy and sweet. The fries are a bit disappointing as they are soft.
Actually, it was a Triple O’s prior to Vera’s opening there.
yeah, I was thinking the same thing – Triple O’s lol; and 5.99 is a bit steep for onion rings and soft fries!
I find Vera’s hit and miss. I have excellent burgers and some I didn’t want to finish. The daily deals are burger side and a drink for about $11. Sadly this is not much more than A&W these days.
a burger joint at aberdeen….the last place i’d go for a burger considering theres so many better options around. $5.99 for fries/onion rings is insane.
i don’t understand why prices of fast food/burger joints here are so expensive. for $8 or $9, i can have a nice full meal at a chinese restaurant or a combo meal at some other restaurant.
i go down to bellingham regularly and i usually visit the walmart near bellisfair. they have a macdonalds inside and i couldn’t believe the price difference down in the states and up here. you can get a 20pc mcnugget for about US$7.00. up here, a 10pc nugget is around C$7.00. a 10pc nugget meal up here is close to C$9 and we don’t have 20pc up here. when i was in bellingham, i ordered a 20pc mcnugget meal and it came with: 20pcs nugget, 2 medium drinks, 2 medium fries and it cost me just a little bit over US$10.
Prices for fast food (or “near” fast food like Dick’s, Bob’s Burgers & Brew, etc in western WA) and throughout US are generally much lower than Canada. Beef is more heavily subsidized and cheaper to distributors and downstream commercial retailers. Corn is also heavily subsidized (heavily used as feed for cows). And generally, fast food is cheaper overall, due to greater supplies and demand.
LR, have you seen Food Inc? The way the food producers (corn, etc) are subsidized is mind boggling. The whole food system is messed up…when fast food is far cheaper than fresh veggies. No wonder there’s an obesity epidemic!
Yeah I did, it was depressing. Esp. that Hispanic family who eats fast food on most days as they carpool the family to school & work, and fast food is cheaper for them to purchase then fresh foods. Sigh.
We just came back from a short stint down WA and OR. While enjoying dinner at a waterfront pub (tavern) in Olympia, we saw on the menu a $30 bacon cheeseburger (called “Barge Burger”) that’s 10″ diameter made of 5 of their regular cheeseburgers combined. OK so it’s supposed to be shared by many, but still, the sheer gluttony of it all ……..
Even the famed Cheesecake Factory has recently launched a line of lower-cal/lower-fat cheesecakes:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2011-07-29-chessecake-factory-lower-calorie-menu_n.htm
Maybe there’s hope after all.
It was an out of place whitespot before … it never had a chance against all the other great vendors at Aberdeen. Vera’s may actually pull it off though … Who is Vera anyways?
Who’s Vera ? See:
http://www.verasburgershack.com/about.html
I like Vera’s a lot, but rarely eat their food. I’m finding these days such huge burgers don’t go down well for me, not to mention the caloric hit. Now if only they started making mini sliders …………..
They do have sliders on their menu 🙂 at the Kid’s section but I am sure you can order it:
Sliders – bite-size burgers with cheddar, ketchup & Vera’s Sauce
http://www.verasburgershack.com/menus/menuDailyKids.html
Well hey ! …….. 😀
Thanks Winnie.
I worked at the triple os that was there before, and Whitespot head office decided to close it down cause business is SOOO BAD. Whitespot didn’t even need to pay rent and we were still losing money LOL. Its pretty much business suicide for a burger place to go there. If a big company like whitespot/starbucks bails out on aberdeen, what makes vera burger survive? They charge more than $8/burger and for combo’s the cheapest ones are like $12. Like Susan mention, their burgers are like charcoal-ed which turns alot of asians off. Asians are cheap and they come to Aberdeen to eat their chow mein and fried rice. It also doesn’t help a business when every 1 out of 5 customers tries to get free stuff like ketchup, napkins, forks, spoons, hot water from you without buying anything. In conclusion, I don’t see Vera lasting more than 2 years there. Thanks for reading! 😀
I don’t even think they will last one year! But I agree with you Bob, it will be tough for a burger joint in Aberdeen to make a go of it. Someone in Whitespot thought it would be profitable based on the success of their Triple O’s in Hong Kong. But in HK, Whitespot is considered unique. Not here though.
Given the growing number of Vera’s, their new Richmond outlet may be more strategic than we think:
http://www.verasburgershack.com/locations.html
Bob, was the space subsidized by Aberdeen or were you being tongue-in-cheek ? Sure, Vera’s might not be able to fully compete against other Asian vendors there, but I know next time I’m there I might just go to Vera’s for a change from the foodcourt’s mainstream-ness. Of course I’ll be getting those mini sliders ….. 🙂
Another fast food place. Sigh… I’ve been avoiding eating out, or eating unhealthy foods. I just wish Alberdeen offers more healthy choices, like a salad bar (with organic options). That would be cool!
Agree !
However, a salad bar vendor at an Asian foodcourt has as much chance of success as Sarah Palin winning the 2012 presidential election …… 😉
I agree that fast-food chains are charging an arm n leg. When a burger (Angus Third Pounder is almost $6 after tax) is almost the same price as or more than a 2-item combo @ some Asian food courts,
it’s not easy on the wallet anymore.
I know what you mean. The other day I had subway. A regular 6 inch sub with a drink and 2 cookies was over $9.00
I’ve tried a couple of Vera’s locations around town and find their burgers are hit & miss and they’re pricey too so I don’t bother eating there anymore.
There were hardly any customers when I was at Aberdeen one afternoon last week. This is reminiscent of the crowds of the previous burger tenant, Whitepot.
I enjoy Whitespot but that’s not what I went to Aberdeen for and sadly watched them struggle for a long time at that location. If Whitespot couldn’t make it there, Vera has balls to think it would could do better. Just sayin’…
Whoever is paying C$7 for 20 nuggets in the states is getting ripped off. I’m sure last time I was there in July 2011 last month it was $4.99 for 20. Also in Bellingham on Sundays you can get 50 nuggets for $9.99!!!!! But not sure how long that special will last. d:
Hi Emmy: I saw that 50 nuggets for $9.99 poster (with the pictures of nuggets stacked high) while in Bellingham too. Gosh, that is a steal. My boys wish we have that in Vancouver. Ben
50 nuggets!! Wow, does that come with a heart monitor?
I have eaten at both the White Spot and Vera’s at Aberdeen. So there might be other people like me who just somehow don’t feel like eating Chinese at Aberdeen. That said, I don’t think it will last long either.
Pricey, so I only bought the cheapest kind of burger. It was pretty good, but I felt the Granville location was tastier.