I'm always surprised at how much people love Lick's. I mean, sure, it's decent far as far as the fast-food set is concerned (and when compared to the charbroiled hockey pucks at Harvey's, it's damn near heavenly). But I am still puzzled because it is both mediocre and pricey.
I think a big part of it is the fact that I know a lot of vegetarians. And as someone who has gamely bought the Nature Burger both in store and in the frozen grocery store variety, I do freely admit that's a tasty veggie burger. But overall I'm not sure that I like Lick's enough to go again unless someone specially requests it.
For one thing, this particular location is brutally slow. I have gone in at close to peak times and slower times of day, and either way it feels like you are waiting for an eternity. You can take a seat and wait for your name to be called but overall I feel like they are trying to squeeze past the fast-food style in terms of overhead but with longer preparation times. Also, as I mentioned the price - any given sandwich combo is going to round out to about ten bucks. Hot dogs are around $4, a crime when there's a perfectly good vendor across the street selling them for 2.50.
The poutine is so-so, the burgers and veggie burgers are decent as I mentioned. The "taters and cream" is about as good as it sounds...a little overkill on the toppings, and fries that can't really hold up to the deluge. I haven't had the pleasure of trying Lick's ice cream but it seems popular with the kids.