Original Joe's: 4.5/5


Fatboy (Sicilian) Burger $15.99 - Score: 4.7

Bacon Burger (Kona) $14.49 - Score: 4.1

Cheese Burger - Score: 4.6

Mushroom Burger - Score: 5.0

All burgers served as platters with choice of two sides

530 Kenaston Blvd

Dangling sausage, glazed buns and divas - oh my! This week BurgerClub visited our first chain restaurant - Original Joes. It was great and we have a tie for overall best burger after week 11. April commented “If this burger was a man, I would marry it.”

The first thing you notice about Original Joe’s is the “No Minors” sign. Already a point in their favour - burgers aren’t for kids. They don’t take reservations, but we got there early and had no problem sitting nine of us together comfortably. The servers were cheerful and quick and took the banter from our boisterous group well. The one downside to Original Joe’s is - it’s expensive! Burger platters range from $12-16. Scott stated “I'm quite certain it was not beef, but unicorn, or perhaps mermaid.”

One of the very anti-burger-modification diners had this to say “I had to plug my ears while diva Dani ordered the High Maintenance Burger.” This week we learned that Dani won’t handle a pickle. Original Joe’s does present a lot of options for burger toppings and sides to choose from, so there should be a burger configuration for everybody. It wasn’t too long before burger platters started coming out. Scott observed “Presentation of the Kona burger at Original Joe's seems to be saying something about the cook's OCD.” This was another point for OJ’s in my book - orderly food tastes better!

I had the Kona burger as well - which is OJ’s bacon burger - and it was delicious! “The pineapple, bacon, and bbq (teriyaki) sauce worked well together with the burger patty.” It was burned to perfection and there was lots of nicely cooked bacon. The bun was perfectly round - cooked in a little bun screen - and shellacked - it was shiny. Dani noted “I think I saw my reflection in it.” The tomato was nice 'n thick but not ripe. The bits of yellow lettuce on my bun top were sad.

The flagship burger is the Sicilian. In addition to the beef patty, it has a full Italian sausage split and draped over the burger. It had epicness! Russ couldn’t finish his - although in his defense he ordered extra bacon “just to make sure there was enough meat.” Nelson said “It was tasty. However with so much sausage it overpowered the delicious meat patty.” The Sicilian also has high comedic value. Try sitting around a table with a bunch of guys (none of the girls took on the Sicilian) eating a burger with dangling sausage and not crack any jokes. Kari noted that “Cary’s sausage was hanging out. Meanwhile Russ' sausages were dueling.”

A couple of diners had a cheeseburger, which was the entry level burger at OJ’s. Esther commented that it was “A little chintzy with the cheddar.”

There were ten sides to choose from. I had the mango pasta salad which would have been fine if they’d just called it pasta salad, but as it had no mangos in it I was disappointed. Scott stated “I was unable to find any mango, but there were entire peppercorns to munch on. Not pleasant.” The mixed green salad was quite nice and it came with your choice of two dressings - both of which were made with Balsamic vinegar. Diners that had the fries or poutine thought they were good.