Big Smoke Burger is originally from Toronto and their location at 500 West Broadway is their first Western Canada restaurant. They have already expanded with a second location at SFU since opening in July last year. I had been curious about Big Smoke Burger ever since I heard about them giving free burgers on their grand opening day. I had made it to their eatery that day but left after seeing the massive line-up. Last week, my husband and I visited Big Smoke Burger had lunch there for the first time.
Big Smoke Burger Menu
The menu at Big Smoke Burger is fairly simple. They offer classic burgers (plain beef, cheese, bacon cheese, organic beef, veggie, chicken and lamb). Signature burgers include the Big Smoke Burger, Crazy Burger, Blazing Pineapple, Jerk Chicken, and Blue Burger. Their Signature burgers include more gourmet offerings compared to other burger joints like Vera’s Burger Shack and Fat Burger. For example, some interesting signature varieties are the Jerk Chicken with jerk marinated boneless chicken breast and the Blazing Pineapple burger with grilled sweet pineapple, BBQ sauce, and mayo banana peppers. You can upgrade your Signature Burger patty to a veggie patty, organic beef, chicken breast or fresh lamb for a few dollars more.
All the burgers come in a 6 oz and some are also available in 4 oz. Choice of sides include the standard hand-cut fries, onion rings, poutine and salad. A 6 oz burger is about $7 – $9 but you can easily spend $15 when you combo it up with a side and a drink, for example.
According to the Big Smoke Burger website, their beef, chicken and lamb are delivered *fresh* daily rather than being prepared from frozen. Fries are freshly hand-cut daily and milkshakes are made to order using real milk and ice cream.
Trendy Eatery
I found the interior of Big Smoke Burger to be more modern and hip compared to Vera’s Burger and Fat Burger. There is one large communal high-top table and a few other counter tables.
What I Tried
My husband I shared one combo as both of us were just mildly hungry. Still, our combo came out to be around $17 including taxes: a 6 oz Spicy Burger ($7.89), poutine combo (+$5.69) and strawberry milkshake ($+2).
The 6 oz spicy burger ($7.89) came with honey-balsamic caramelized onions, house-made adobo, and chipotle mayo. I made it a combo with their new craft poutine which had house-made sauteed mushrooms, rosemary-garlic mayo, cheese curds, hand-cut fries, with rich hot gravy ($5.69). The hand-crafted strawberry milkshake was a $2 add-on.
The burger definitely had enough spice to tickle the taste buds. All Big Smoke Burgers are served medium rare and ours was very juicy.
The poutine was surprisingly good with decent amount of mushrooms, gravy and cheese curds. I was happy that it was not very dry like what I had experienced at other burger places serving poutine.
The strawberry milkshake is made in-house and is definitely a step up from the very artificial flavour of McDonald’s version. I found it to be wonderfully creamy.
Service
The service at Big Smoke Burger was also much better than Vera’s and Fat Burger. The staff seemed really relaxed and friendly and they deliver the food to your table. I also noticed that there were quite a few staff working in the kitchen. This is a contrast to some Vera’s Burgers location where it is just one-person taking the orders and preparing the food.
Overall Impression of Big Smoke Burger
In terms of atmosphere, food quality and taste, I would have to say that Big Smoke Burger is better than Vera’s Burger Shack and Fat Burger. I would be interested in trying other Signature burgers and onion rings next time. I would revisit Big Smoke Burger again if I were looking for a gourmet burger at a fast casual restaurant. Rating: 3.5/5