Zax: 4.3/5

Cheese Burger $3.75  - Score: 4.4

Fatboy Burger $4.25 - Score: 4.7

Bacon Burger - add $1.25 - Score: 3.9

Chili Burger $4.75 - Not evaluated

  

  

1184 Portage Ave

 

Zax makes a great burger at a great price! None of the BurgerClub had been to Zax before and after a little digging we realized it was the latest in a long line of burger joints at the corner of Portage and Wall; most recently Wall Street Burger and before that a Burger Factory. The restaurant is bright and clean and quite comfortable. We got there a little early and it was a good thing too because by the time we finished it had filled up. Much like Daly Burger, Zax is counter service and you get your burger wrapped in foil. They took orders quickly and realized we were a group so made sure the cook knew. The service was very fast - everyone got what they ordered and we received our food all at once. The only incident was one FatBoy came without tomato - but when Brett took his muffin top .. er bun top .. to the cook he piled tomato on it and all was well.

As always, I had a bacon double cheeseburger. I can’t believe I’m saying this - but it was too much meat! The beef patties were free-range-hand-squished, thick and dense. They were thoroughly cooked - so not overly juicy (it wasn’t a messy burger) - but had great flavour. The bacon burgers came with four - yes four - slices of perfectly fried bacon. There was bacon sticking out of my bun all over the place! This really contrasted the bacon burgers we had last week at Johnny G’s that only came with 1/2 slice of bacon. I really liked the chili sauce and you could taste it. If you’re not a fan of chili they’ll make you a burger without it. The only deficiency in the burger was the cheese - I really couldn’t taste it and didn’t realize until I looked at the picture that there was a slice hidden between the patties. This was only a compliant with people that had double burgers - diners that had a single burger said the flavour balance was great. The bun suffered a little from being steamed and then wrapped in foil. It was perfectly sized to the burger though, and Karen noticed that when she got down to the last thimble sized morsel of burger, it still had a little bun and condiments on either side. Good to the last bite! Nelson didn’t finish his and Brett had eyes for Nelson's pickle.

 

Maybe it was the disappointing fries at Johnny G’s last week, but this week only one diner ordered fries. They were served in a Styrofoam take-way container with the fork impaled in the lid. Perfect presentation :) "Oh my chili cheese fries would taste good that way my friend!" - Brett

I pass out rating slips at BurgerClub and the back is for free form comments. They’re little 2” x 2” pieces of paper and someone asked why I don’t make them bigger. “It’s because I have to type in all your comments!” So now the challenge is to see how much one can write on four square inches. This week Dani managed 125 words, 506 characters (630 including spaces). Next week she gets the one square inch rating slip :p