Red Boot Drive-In (closed): 3.2/5

Fatboy $5.10 - Score: 3.4

Cheeseburger $4.25 - Score: 2.9

Bacon Burger $6.10 - Score: 3.6

Chili Burger $5.95 - Score: not rated

1866 Ness Ave

“Nice picnic tables and buns.” Perhaps because they’re both round? Those were the nicest comments about today’s burger.

Burger Club had a big turn-out with 15 diners eating under the sun today. There were a few brand new burger reviewers, and several newbies representing the under 18 demographic.

The Red Boot, like all the burger shacks we’ve been to so far, has a vestibule across the front with a door at either end for efficient flow though ordering. Inside, there are two windows for ordering and pickup. It’s a fairly big space and has some nice stools while you wait for your burger to be prepared. Dani commented “Was impressed that they served our food in the same order that we ordered our food.” We managed to stall the system a bit though when showing up with 15 people at once.



Big Boot

We needed some of the burger choices explained, like the “Jims, Boot and Canada”. Even so, a good portion of the orders were messed up despite the order taker appearing to take notes and clarify modifications. For mine, I asked for no pickles and onions (which is how it came) and no lettuce and tomato (which I got anyways). I’m not complaining - it still tasted good - it just made an already messy burger even sloppier. There were a couple of minor incidents though - one diner who really doesn’t like cheese found it on their burger, but noticed and a replacement was quickly prepared. Another mistake was more serious though - Russ asked for bacon and when he sat down to enjoy his much anticipated burger, found the bacon absent. Russ was very sad. This is the first burger shack offering bacon so he was really looking forward to it. Some other diners that ordered single burgers received doubles.

Bacon Double Cheeseburger

The prevailing comment about the burgers was how messy they were. There was also some discussion about what the “distracting taste was” and the consensus seemed to be curry in the chili sauce. Brett though it “Tasted of cinnamon (and elderberries)”. There was some variation (as there always is) on how the burger tasted. Some enjoyed it, thought it was good sized and tasty, and loved the patties - which were thin but juicy. A couple of the burger club apprentices weren’t terribly impressed though. Neither was their mom. Other comments were that the burger itself was “just okay” and the bun was the best part. For me, there was lots of very tasty bacon on my burger. Another diner experienced structural issues when his burger fell apart 3/4 way through eating it. The bun was pretty fresh, soft and not too bunny - it didn't break apart. It got pretty soggy though from the chili though.

After bunless Brett’s incident last week with finding a bun hiding in his chili, he decided it was “Easier to peel off my own buns.” Nelson observed that Brett “pulled a Mr. Pitt”.

  

Frings

Dani had a banana shake which she said was really good and had chunks of banana in it. It meant that “Dani had to suck really hard on the banana” though. For some reason this observation made it on to several of the diner’s review slips.

Dairy-Wip: 4.1/5

Fatboy $6.00 - Score: 4.3

Cheeseburger $5.00: 3.9

Chiliburger in a Bowl $6.25: 4.0



383 Marion St





Brett was hiding his pickle



The question has been answered: Dairi-Wip beats Mrs. Mikes for the tastiest burger shack in St Boniface! BurgerClub are committed and a sunny +44 humidex day wasn’t about to keep us from our burger quest. It’s a take-out shack and there were two nice clean picnic tables to dine at - but they were in the full sun sheltered from any breeze. Cary actually jumped up when he sat down on the bench because it was so hot. Even Tina said “Sitting in the hot sun was a little warmer than I prefer” and she’s normally comfortable on the surface of Mercury.



Single Fatboy


There’s a nice roomy vestibule to come into when ordering your burger. The service was prompt and friendly with the order and pickup windows inside. The price was a little high - $6.00 for a Fat Boy - but it was a good sized and filling burger. There was a misunderstanding over one order - bunless-Brett thought the “Chili Burger in a Bowl” would be carb free but as he dug down he encountered bun. He built a little chili covered bun mountain beside him. The owner gave him a brand new bowl sans-bun at no charge. It looked really good but the bottom gave out and there was a chili stain when Brett was done. 

Double Cheeseburger Covered in Chili

 I had the double cheese-burger - it was really good. Apparently you can’t get bacon at a burger shack - at least none we’ve been too so far - which saddens me greatly. The unevenly shaped patties were hand formed, thick and very tasty - fried hot with a crispy crust. The patty was firm-just-right. If there was any filler, it wasn't much. The chili was very tasty. The tomatoes were nice and ripe. The sesame seed bun was soft and held together to the end. It wasn't any thicker than it needed to be and had a nice glaze lending to its chili-proof-iness. Nelson observed the “Burger stayed together for the entire devouring session.” The foil wrapper was quite functional and made a good solar reflector. The burger had a reasonable amount of messiness, really, the minimum required for a burger shack. Stan commented “A toasted bun is the only thing that could have improved my cheeseburger.” Cary responded “We all had toasty buns from the picnic benches in the blazing sun.”


Diners in +44 Humidex


We were all somewhat delirious from sitting in the hot sun, and Brett had this to say on his comment slip “Chili drenched bun mountain waterslides.” I don’t know what it means but I think it’s important. We also learned that “Pamplemousse is French for grapefruit!!!” This was after Cary noticed the beer store across the parking lot and went and got a 4-pack of tasty beverages for the table to share. About the same time Tina saw someone coming out of the back door of the Marion Hotel and said “Hey - I’ve been there!” Why she recognized the back of the hotel and not the front was a topic of great discussion.