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