Johnny G's - McDermot: 3.8/5

Bacon Burger $10.45  - Score: 3.8

Cheese Burger $9.95  - Score: 3.4

Fatboy Burger $9.45 - Score: 3.9

Mushroom Burger $10.45 - Score: 4.6

All burgers come as a platter with fries or a salad




177 McDermot Ave








I usually refer to UrbanSpoon when researching our next BurgerClub contender and Johnny G’s had the worst reviews I’d ever read. It was like people were going out of their way to tell the world just how bad it was. Well, it wasn’t that bad. We were greeted right away and moved around some tables so all ten of us could sit comfortably together. The hostess (owner?) met us with a smile and our waitress took our orders and brought us drinks quickly. Most places we’ve been to are counter service so it was a treat to be seated at real tables with real cutlery. Johnny G’s was at the higher end of the burger price range though. The food seemed a little slow coming out, but it pretty much all came out at once so maybe they were just trying to serve us all together. The burgers only come as a platter with either fries or a salad and were served “bun open”.


Bacon Burger - the Rockabilly



When the plates were set down three things happened at once. Some burgers had a full slice of red onion on top and some only had one thin ring so there was a flurry of activity as diners redistributed the onions more equitably. Most BurgerClubbers went for the “Rockabilly” which is Johnny G’s bacon burger and which the menu proudly proclaims comes “crowned with two slices of bacon”. Well, they all had one stubby slice of bacon (1/2 a slice really) so people felt shorted. The waitress said that’s the way it was supposed to be. Now I don’t know about you, but I would think the bacon should feature pretty prominently on a bacon burger. You pay extra for it. This also brought into question whether they should really be called “Johnny’s Honest Burgers." Most people ordered fries and the third thing that happened was there were a bunch of exclamations that “the fries are cold!” One diner’s fries were “tepid” so I guess hers were closer to the heat lamp.



Cheese Burger - Johnny Says Cheese



The menu stated the burgers were “freshly lean ground beef” which I’m sure was true before they were factory pressed, frozen and put in boxes. The patties were thick and juicy – there was definitely a lot of meat – but didn’t have any real flavour like you get when a restaurant makes the patties and blends in their own secret seasoning recipe. I had a Rockabilly and the see-through slice of Mozzarella cheese looked like a postage stamp in the center of the burger. I sure couldn’t taste it. The burgers didn’t come with any condiments – no chili sauce or anything else for that matter. It was supposed to come with “burger sauce” but I didn’t find any. I guess if you’re familiar with Johnny G’s you would know this and ask for ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise and relish but we weren’t and the waitress didn’t offer up anything. There was a bottle of ketchup on the table for the fries. It was a strange looking bottle so my recommendation was to "Just squeeze it until something happens." My bun was large, doughy and cold. How hard is it to warm up the bun? There was a nice large slice of tomato and some shredded yellow lettuce on the bun. All in all, the burger reminded me of a large family fall picnic with uncle Fester cooking burgers out of a large Costco sized box of prefabbed patties, and a bag of buns sitting on the cold picnic table nearby. It wasn’t a bad burger, it just wasn’t good. It was large and filling though. One dainty diner set the tone with her comment "I don't know if I can fit this in my mouth."

(Magic) Mushroom Burger

I opted for the salad and was offered a variety of choices (tossed, Greek or Caesar) and a choice of dressing which was nice. However, my house salad came with an overabundance of large chunks of celery – including those 3” wide yellowy-white bits near the base – and large chunky slices of green pepper.

A couple of diners opted for Poutine which they said was yummy. “Brett was impressed with my ability to only eat the gravy + cheese off my poutine, but then again Brett is impressed with everything I do!”

We try and include an educational element in BurgerClub as well and this week I learned that hot yoga makes you turn purple and get all drippy. Also Jo-Ann suffers from CFS…no…yeah…never mind. Maybe it was CFR … There was also something going on between Brett and Russ’ monkey but thankfully I was at the other end of the table. Nelson so admired Jo-Ann’s nails that he’s getting his done Tuesday.

Great Burger & Fry Co (closed): 3.7/5

Bacon Burger $3.42  - Score: 3.6

Cheese Burger $2.75  - Score: 3.4

Fatboy Burger $2.88 - Score: 3.9

290 Henderson Highway

I’ve read many favourable reviews for the Great Burger & Fry Co (GBF) but this was my first visit. In a nutshell – GBF is good and cheap! It seems most of the good burger joints are counter service or take-out only. GBF is counter service with all the ambience of a recycled donut shop. So far we’ve only received table service at Original Georges.The booths were comfortable and roomy enough and all eight of us were able to sit together.  The GBF cash register-person took our orders quickly, but apparently their grill can only handle one or two burgers at a time so our burgers came out in a parade - still pretty quick though. Like Daly Burger, there were no plates for dine-in and you had to eat off the foil and paper wrapper. Word of BurgerClub is spreading and this week we were joined by two visiting burger dignitaries - AngelFreak and CaptainConquest. There are 100’s of people clamoring to get into to BurgerClub so we’ve had to limit the team to people with funny names.

Bacon-Double Cheeseburger

I had my usual Bacon-Double-Cheeseburger and quite enjoyed it. I’m having a hard time being critical of the burgers we’re evaluating - I really like eating hamburgers and feel bad saying anything mean about them. The BurgerClub started with some of Winnipeg’s best burger joints, so maybe we'll visit one of the big-four burger chains to be reminded of what a low-end burger tastes like.

 
The GBF meat patties were big and free formed (visions of “free-range” burgers came to mind), well spiced and juicy. The ground beef texture was nice and evident, but the burger was soft and a little fall-aparty. People that like their burger well done might find it a little undercooked for their tastes. There was some variation in chili - it was the first thing I tasted when I bit into my burger but another diner didn’t get enough. There was one slice of bacon (other places we’ve visited have put two on the double burger) so bacon flavour did not dominate. There was one decently thick slice of processed cheddar cheese that tasted pretty good. The bun seemed a little underpowered for the job and broke apart for some. “Soft & messy” and “Nice and crispy on the outside, juicy sweet on the inside” were both used to describe the burgering experience. Burger is now a verb.



Cheeseburger Platter

Some other comments were that the fries were quite stubby in stature and the milkshake was very small. The Fatboy’s were a bit messy (not messy enough according to one diner) and the cheeseburger was quite plain. The restaurant charges an Interac fee and they don’t take credit cards so cash is king at GBF!

Luigi’s Restaurant: 4.4/5

The Luigi Burger

Bacon Burger $3.95  - Score: 4.4

Cheese Burger $3.75  - Score: 4.6

Luigi Burger $6.95 - Score: 4.3

Add $3.00 for fries, slaw & a drink.

1497 Erin St



Luigi’s Restaurant is a well kept secret. You might drive right past it in if you weren’t looking for it even though it’s been there for 40 years. The menu spreads across two walls; there are two hot specials with Luigi himself ready to serve, or you can order off the menu from Maria. The specials include a selection of desserts. It's counter service, but it’s  delivered to your table with a smile. The dining area has two halves. One is brightly lit with Formica tables and wobbly chairs, the other is an elegant dining room with comfy padded seats. The service was great and both Luigi and Maria came out to see us several times.

The Luigi Burger: Shock & Awe

I’ve classified the flagship Luigi Burger as a “Fat Boy” in order to compare its score to others, but really it’s in a league of its own. The Luigi is a force to be contended with and the presentation had a "shock & awe" factor. It’s a double 1/4 lb burger with bacon, mozzarella & cheddar cheese, onion rings & red onions and as well as lettuce, tomato, pickles and all the usual toppings. It easily stands 6” tall. The toothpick isn’t decorative, it’s structural.



Bacon-Double Cheeseburger



I had my usual bacon double cheeseburger. It was notably inexpensive at $4.80. Usually I get it with no onions, but one look at Maria and I forgot all about my special order.  Was I ever glad I did because it came with fried onions (my favourite). The beef patties were thick and juicy - they appeared to be prefabed and didn’t have a lot of seasoning but were quite tasty. There were two thick, meaty slices of bacon, plenty of cheese and it came on a sesame seed bun (as opposed to the plain bun with the Luigi). The bun was grilled - an extra fried treat. The burger was excellently sloppy!



Getting Full ...

Some of the other lunch comments were: “There was lots of everything”, “ They were almost perfect fries” and  “The first burp was yummy”.



Cheeseburger and Fries

Usually we’re quite a boisterous group, but today it was a boys club and we were very quiet and well behaved. I took the opportunity of being unsupervised and added a front and back shot of a knitted burger girl to the BurgerClub blog. I think she adds some style to Burger Club.

All done!



Daly Burgers - Corydon: 3.7/5

Bacon Burger $5.15  - Score: 4.6

Cheese Burger $3.95  - Score: 3.2

Chili Burger $6.25 - Not evaluated

Fat Boy $4.95 - Score: 3.7

Add $2.95 for a small fries.

619 Corydon Ave

Daly Burgers on Corydon doesn’t take reservations but we had no problem sliding around tables so eight of us could sit together. It’s counter service and the menu’s pretty straightforward so it didn’t take us long to order. The staff were all smiles and the food came quickly, but all on two trays put down for us to sort out. There were no plates so we ate off the wrappers off the table - it’s a diner.

Deluxe Cheeseburger

Once again most of the crew had some variation of a Fatboy (called “Deluxe” at Daly Burgers), a couple of diners had a cheeseburger and I had a bacon double cheeseburger.

The meat patties were hand formed and large, seasoned nicely and juicy. Like Original Georges, they weren’t too dense or soft - they were just right. The chili sauce had some nice zing to it and the flavour came though, although one diner said there could have been more chili. There was also lots of cheese - a small complaint about the Original Georges burger.



Bacon-Double Cheeseburger

I had a double burger, as did another diner, and we both agreed the burger to bun ratio was correct. People having single burgers said there was too much bun. One diner was left holding a large piece of empty bun after getting about 2/3 of the way through.



Lotsa Meat!

 The bacon cheeseburger didn’t come with lettuce or tomato (and rightly so) and I ordered it without pickles or onions. It was all about the burger and I really enjoyed the flavour. My bacon-double cheeseburger was not at all a sloppy burger but the deluxe were a bit messier. The lettuce and tomato on the deluxe burgers were “fresh and large”.



If you order gravy it comes in a Styrofoam coffee cup - lots of it. As one diner put it, the gravy was so thick it was almost sliceable.

We’re already famous in our own eyes and a female diner (we’ll call her Esther) had a signed 8 x 10 glossy photo of herself for a male diner (we’ll call him Brett). Table space was at a premium so glossy Esther ended up spending lunch face down in Brett’s lap. Interestingly though, whenever she fell off, she landed face up.

All done

Original George's Burgers & Subs: 3.9/5





Bacon Burger $5.99  - Score: 5

Cheese Burger $4.25  - Score: 3.9

Chili Burger $6.69 - Not evaluated

Fat Boy $4.99 - Score: 3.7

Greek Burger $5.99 - Score: 4.5

Add $3 for a platter with fries.

1141 St Marys Rd

Georges doesn’t take reservations, but when 10 of us showed up for lunch, they were very quick to put tables together and sit us in the sunny front part of the restaurant. To say the service was great is an understatement – the staff was very friendly, fast and attentive the whole time we were there. The food came quickly, and we were all served together. Portions were large and the price quite reasonable. The only complaint was the tables were different heights so two people had to be very careful where they put their drinks. I have to apologize for the photos – every one’s out of focus – I guess I was just so excited about having a burger. I’ll do better next time.

Now to the burgers!

Bacon Double Cheeseburger

I had the bacon double cheese burger and *loved* it. I admit I’ve been looking forward to the Burger Club kick-off at Georges, and  was positively salivating for a burger so that may have contributed to my enjoyment, but it really was a good burger. The burger patties were hand squished and a good size. They’d been cooked on a hot grill so were seared nicely on the outside but still juicy on the inside. The bacon was real bacon and not over done. I liked the balance of toppings and enjoyed the chili sauce. Perhaps because it was already a big burger, they didn’t over do it with the shredded lettuce. If it was lacking for anything, the thin slice of processed cheese was pretty much lost in the burger. The bun was warm, had a crust, but wasn’t hard, was big enough to do the job, but most importantly, it held together to the last bite! It was a bit sloppy (as a good burger is supposed to be), but I didn’t need a shower afterwards.

Fatboy with Greek Salad

Most of the crew had the Fat Boy. The burgers were piled high with shredded lettuce (too much for some), and as with the bacon burger, you had to look for the cheese slice. Perhaps because the burgers are handmade, there was some variation in size. Some thought it a little too salty and a bit over cooked. There was some discussion over whether the bun had been fried. I didn’t think so, but it was definitely served warm so maybe it did spend some time on the grill. Overall a good burger!

The fries are good and there were lots of them. The shakes are heavenly. One diner substituted a Greek salad for fries and said it was awesome with lots of Feta and crisp, fresh lettuce.

Greek Burger

Cheeseburger



Fatboy with fries



Heavenly Banana Milkshake





All done



Week 2 of Burger Club will be at Daly Burgers. Stayed tuned for the next report!



Help us find Winnipeg’s Best Burger!

Comment here if you have a restaurant suggestion for Winnipeg’s Best Burger. The Burger Club isn’t looking for a “good” burger, a “novelty” burger, or some hippy “meatless” burger, - we’re looking for Winnipeg’s very *best* beef burger! We’re going to start with this fairly well established Top 10 of Winnipeg Burgers, but we’re prepared to eat burgers all year if we have to in our quest for the best!

• Dairy Delight
• Daly Burgers
• Dari-Whip
• Great Burger & Fry Co
• Johnnys
• Luigis
• Mrs. Mike's
• Original Georges
• Red Top Diner
• VJ's