Delux Burger Bar- 9682 142 st.

Delux Burger Bar was one of the first places I put on the list when I started the Yeg Burger Odyssey, so it’s a bit of a travesty that I’ve taken this long to check it out. It’s not like I haven’t had a burger at Delux before, mind you- I actually had one while filming the Burger Wars- Edmonton episode in the winter (allegedly airing on CMT in July)- but I couldn’t do my review then due to multiple camera’s being shoved in my face at any given moment.

I will tell you, however, that the Kobe Stack burger we were served for the show was pretty darned good. So obviously that’s the burger I decided to review for the Odyssey, right?

Actually, no.

Why?

You may recall near the beginning of the Odyssey I reviewed a burger that rang in at over $20 (including side), and the response I got was that the high price tag made it a burger that a lot of you wouldn’t try. Though it was a pretty good burger, I’m inclined to agree about the high cost. For me, when a humble burger starts getting into the $20 and up price range, I start looking at other things on the menu or going somewhere else. Since the Kobe Stack rings in at $20 for the burger alone (no sides), it’s just not something I’d order regularly, so I went with the burger that my fiscally responsible self would order on any given dinner date, The Delux.

The Delux is a 7 oz patty, blue cheese, caramelized onions, portobello mushrooms, bacon, and chipotle mayo.

Meat-  The patty was nice and juicy, with a good texture. There was a good flavour from the grilled meat, and it was seasoned nicely. I had actually stopped coming to Delux a few years ago because I got a number of grossly over-spiced patties in a row that I would be burping up for a day afterwards, so I was happy that issue wasn’t still happening. Things were looking pretty good until the first bite of gristle. Then the second. Then the third. I don’t know about you, but having to spit out gristle in 3 bites in a row seriously hampers my ability to enjoy an otherwise good patty. To be fair, I’ve probably had half a dozen Delux burgers in the past and I don’t recall getting gristle before, so I’m disappointed in that turn of events.

Bun– The bun was ok. It was kind of grilled, I guess, if you like things done half-assed. Check out the picture below to see what I mean. It was fresh and soft, though it did start to crumble a bit under the weight of the burger and toppings though. This made it a bit of a challenge to keep from falling completely apart.

Toppings– The chipotle mayo is my favourite topping on the burger, but unfortunately there was little to none there, so I had to add it myself from the side we got with the onion rings. The creamy texture with the little bit of heat works well on the burger, as well as for dipping fries and onion rings in. It’s delicious. The dominant flavour on this burger however is the blue cheese. I worry when I see blue cheese on a burger that it will completely overpower all the other flavours, rendering their existence completely irrelevant. That happened a bit here, with Robyn finding it too much, and I thought it was on the edge of being too much. So let’s just say that if you love blue cheese, you’ll love it. If you just like a bit, it’ll be too much for you. The portobello mushroom was thick sliced, totally opposite of the slice and a half of bacon, which was quite thin and crispy. They tasted good, but since the tomato was also cut quite thick (actually only one end was thick and tapered off at the other end), trying to keep things stacked and held together required some effort. Finishing up the toppings list is the caramelized onions, which were done well and added some nice richness. I’ll take caramelized onion over raw any day, thank you very much.

Stella Artois Onion Rings at Delux

Of all the potential issues I could have anticipated at Delux, finding so much gristle in the meat was not one I was expecting to encounter. That’s easily my biggest concern, but there were some other, pretty easy-to-fix, issues as well. I thought the overall flavours were good, but little things like having to rebuild my burger because the tomato is cut like a wedge (causing all the toppings to slide off one another and make a mess), the bacon and onions being all on one side of the burger, while the mushroom was on the other side, and the half grilling of the bun, really start to take away from the overall experience. After all, If I wanted to rebuild my dinner myself at the table, I may as well just make dinner at home. Right?

All in all, The Delux is an o.k. burger, aside from the gristle and the careless execution. If you’re someone who doesn’t blink an eye at a $20 burger though, the Kobe Stack is probably a better choice.

Side note– You can add a half order of fries, onion rings, or sweet potato fries for $3.50. We chose a full order of the Stella Artois battered onion rings for $7.50 instead. The rings were good, but $7.50 for what amounted to maybe about a dozen onion rings seems overpriced to me.

Cost- $12.50 for The Delux on it’s own.

Local- 1820- 99 st. (In the South Common Shopping Complex)

In the interest of full disclosure, I admit I was personally hoping that there would be no suggestions for good burgers in the South Common shopping complex. In my opinion, that complex is the single worst place on Earth. It couldn’t be less organized to navigate if it was designed by Jackson Pollock. But noooooo, a bunch of you just HAD to suggest that Local has a worthy burger, and demanded I check it out.

Recently I packed up my traffic stress ball, and headed out to see why you guys are making such a fuss about the burgers at Local.

Being that Local is owned by the Joey’s Restaurant chain, I figured it would be a good pairing with this weeks other burger from Delux, which is part of the Century Hospitality chain of restaurants here in Edmonton. To add a second layer of commonality, the burger I decided on at Local is coincidentally named The Deluxe! It’s got smoked bacon, aged cheddar, lettuce, tomato, onion, mustard, and mayo.

Meat–  The patty is unquestionably smaller than the one at Delux, but makes up for it with better flavour. There was an ever so slight hint of pink left in the meat, which was great, and was still very juicy. It was loosely packed, but held together well. The patty was nicely seared on the outside too, so there was no shortage of meaty flavour.

Bun– The bun is described as a “rustic seeded bun”, and was nice and soft. It was griddled perfectly, and they managed to actually get the entire cut surface crispy, unlike this weeks other bun. It’s a good bun.

Toppings–  The pickles are obviously house made, and provided  a subtle acidity and crunch. I don’t often comment much about pickles, but the lightly brined ones here were pretty good. The leaf lettuce was bright green and fresh, and the tomato was ripe. Nothing to complain about there, although Robyn found it to be way too much lettuce. Personally, I like to take half the lettuce off and dip it into the side of truffle lemon mayo we got with our sweet potato fries anyways, so it was good for me. There was raw onion on top, but it was sliced thinly so it wasn’t overpowering. I’d still prefer caramelized, but at least it wasn’t a giant thick slice. There was aged white cheddar on the burger too, which was good but I wish there was a little more. You know me, more cheese is always a good thing. There was 2 large slices of bacon, and it was cooked nice and evenly.

The Deluxe Burger at Local

I hate to say it, but this burger really was worth driving for, even if it does mean going to South Common. The things that were good about this burger were really good, and the the minor slip-ups were just that… minor. The little details were done with care too, which I appreciate.

Side note-  We paid the extra buck to upgrade to sweet potato fries, and it was well worth it. They came with the aforementioned side of truffle lemon mayo, which was freaking outstanding. Seriously, one of the best condiments I’ve had in Edmonton. I’d eat that stuff with a spoon. I’ve had a grilled lemon aioli on my to-do list for a while now, so after tasting this I have to get on it.

Cost- $15.00 with fries- $1.00 to upgrade to sweet potato fries.

Heading into this weeks Yeg Burger Odyssey I would have predicted a victory for Delux Burger Bar, but the burger I’ve been craving to have again is the one at Local.

It’s nice to be surprised now and again, even if it means I’ll be driving to South Common more often.