Who Makes the Best Burger in Southern ontario?

The Tartan in Simcoe used to make the best burger anywhere. It closed a few years ago but there are places around that still make great burgers. I would exclude the obvious fast food burger joints from the list. Looking for something tasty and unique... like the Tartan used to be. Any suggestions....?

I know of one place that used to be soooooooo good for burgers......but not there anymore. It was called McCleans and it was in the mall part of the old Woolco in Woodstock, anyone remember that place?

WENDYS

bah Wendy's is too hit and miss to qualify as are most fast food joints (exept Harvy's IMO)
But I would say that Willie burg is tastey, Steve's Place in Paris is good (simple but good) as the Imperial in Brantford (a BIG burg)
I also make a fine burg from scratch

I agree with Wendy's being hit and miss. I do enjoy the Susan Burger at Harvey's and love home made burgers with Benedictine blue cheese in the centre or crumbled and slightly melted. Hmmm hmmmm good!

I did not like Harvey's in the past (the meat was too salty and seasoned)...but I was impressed with their Angus burger last week. Very good! And select your own variety of toppings.

We also like Hewitt's Dairy near Hagersville. Their burgers are handmade from scratch.

cking wrote:

We also like Hewitt's Dairy near Hagersville. Their burgers are handmade from scratch.
And what could be better than having one of their delicious ice cream cones for dessert? LOL

they are now gone, but Dallas used to make the most memorable burgers - big, thick, and seasoned with (I believe) dill

Give Jim's in Simcoe a try. Delicious and priced right.

...you'll have to ask me in about 20 years...I haven't tried them all yet, but I'm working on it.

And the best one so far is.....?

COMAX wrote:

...you'll have to ask me in about 20 years...I haven't tried them all yet, but I'm working on it.

I like the coops in port rowan, i like harveys once and a while, and for some odd reason like many others I eat alot of piggybacks from andy's corners outside langton. There is also a little chip wagon in tillsonburg beside the mufler man I think it is, just down the road from tim hortons off highway 3, it used to have a killer burger. But the greatest burger I have ever had was in north carolina at a golf course, I would drive to north carolina again just to eat it, it was massive, big thick wad of melted cheese, fresh everyday angus beef from a farm down the road rounded into one huge patty, fresh cut bacon from a pig farmer down the road and all the fixings, man on mannnnnn what a damn burger.

Other than that I have a pretty cool recipe for burgers that taste awsome, takes a little work but its worth it, i do it when we have a family get together.

The Burger Bar


4 pounds ground brisket from local butcher, or just regular ground beef, trick is have it ground fresh at a butcher day or or day before party
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 thin slices Swiss cheese
8 hamburger buns, split

Preheat a large cast-iron skillet to medium hot or BBQ. Take a few paper towels and fold them several times to make a thick square. Blot a small amount of oil on the paper towel and carefully and quickly wipe the hot skillet to make a nonstick surface, if on bbq wipe grill with olive oil or any oil so there is no stickage.

Season the ground meat in a bowl with salt and pepper. Give it about 3 turns in the bowl with your hands or a big spoon and it's done. Shape into 8 patties. When the skillet is hot, put the burgers on the bbq or skillet and cook 4 minutes on the first side and 5 for the second side for rare; 7 minutes per side for medium, adding the cheese during the final minute or 2 to melt. Remove the burgers to a plate. Rub the skillet with the folded paper towel again to clean it. Then toast the buns cut side down for about 1 minute, just to mark them. Serve the hamburgers in the buns with the accompaniments below.


Sauteed Mushrooms:
Saute 2 pounds thickly sliced mushrooms in 1/2 cup olive oil with 3-4 sliced garlic cloves and 2 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves over super-high heat until nicely browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in a couple of drops fresh lemon juice to brighten the flavor.

Caramelized Onions:
Heat 4 tablespoons unsalted butter with 4 tablespoons olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add 4 onions, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook slowly until well caramelized, 15 to 20 minutes.

Tomatoes with Sea Salt and Chives:
Thickly slice 3-4 pounds red and yellow beefsteak tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with sea salt and 1 bunch chopped fresh chives.

Bacon with Rosemary:
Lay out 1lb pound sliced bacon on a baking sheet or two and dont overlap, strip leaves from 2 sprig rosemary and throw them on top with lots of cracked black pepper and roast at 400 degrees F until the bacon is crisp, about 10 minutes.

Herbed Horseradish Mayonnaise: Make a day in advance if you want to cut some time day of party
Stir together 2 cup mayonnaise, 2 tablespoon prepared horseradish, 1/2 cup freshly minced herbs such as parsley, basil, chives or scallion, 4 tablespoons olive oil, a little squeeze of lemon juice, and salt and pepper.

Place all the fixings on a big platter with the mayo mixture in a bowl in the middle of the tray and let everyone build their own burger, tastes best if you use everything on the burger.

Guaranteed one of the best burgers you ever tasted, cut all recipe ingridents in half if you just want 4 burgers

We were talking about this at the hairdressers about 2 months ago. I haven't tryed one yet but everyone agreed the best burger in Norfolk is at Yin's in Waterford! Who knew? The best in Simcoe (besides the Tartan) was the Dairy Queen! For some reason they've stopped selling hot food, only ice cream products now.

beat me to it! I was just going to say Yins in Waterford makes a GREAT hamburger!

Skully! Set up a burger shack! And be a millionaire! You won't NEED tobacco!
Yum! Yum! What great ideas!

cking wrote:

Skully! Set up a burger shack! And be a millionaire! You won't NEED tobacco!
Yum! Yum! What great ideas!

Im all honesty I have thought about it alot, I love cookin for some odd reaosn lol, I have a long list of recipes I was going to start something with but I just dont have the money right now to buy a business. plus cooking for your family and yourself is a little different than cooking for hundreds of people lol.

I almost bought andys outside langton last year, just didnt have the funds, oh well

Admiral Sub in Brantford has the best burgers and they are huge, almost a pound of meat and they are homemade. If you get cheese and bacon, you get 12 slices of peameal and 6 slices of cheese. It is a heart attack on a bun but it is good.

pattip wrote:

We were talking about this at the hairdressers about 2 months ago. I haven't tryed one yet but everyone agreed the best burger in Norfolk is at Yin's in Waterford! Who knew? The best in Simcoe (besides the Tartan) was the Dairy Queen! For some reason they've stopped selling hot food, only ice cream products now.

I agree 100% with you..their burgers were definately the best and we were sad to see them stop serving hot food.

I loved Dairy Queen burgers. Sucks that they don't make them anymore.

"they are now gone, but Dallas used to make the most memorable burgers - big, thick, and seasoned with (I believe) dill"
now if you had only seen the kitchen in that place (not to mention Careys) I used to deliver beer to all the bars around and the kitchens in those 2 places.... first time I saw it, never ate there again...as well as a few other places lol

o, don't tell me that!!! I also loved their Mediterranean chicken with penne noodles

well, that probably goes a fair way in explaining why they are no longer there

I will tell you about another disappointment, and this is off thread. We went to The Barrel a couple of nites ago, and this has always been our favourite restaurant in the area for both quality and service. That nite, the food was mediocre and the service was very lame. I won't write them off at this point because we have been most loyal customers for many years - I hope this was just a blip, for an otherwise fine place.

Have to agree about Dallas, first time I ate there food was COLD, and waitress really didn't think that was her problem. Second time (had gift certicate or wouldn't have gone) I got food poisoning! Wasn't sorry to see it go.

We were there probably a dozen times or more. Food was always great till the last year or so where things went downhill.

...greasy floors, open food containers in coolers, moldy beer keg taps (the part that attaches to the keg itself) old dirty mop on chopping block..
it's a shame because those two places had the potential to do well, just laziness on their parts

Ahem......and now back to the best hamburgers in Southern Ontario. A great recipe and so far Jim's and Yins of Waterford are in the lead..... and a great recipe for homemade burgers too.