burgershakeclub

Feb 03 2016

Reviews

DY’s Lancaster’s Bust, Ricky’s Lust

The title pretty much speaks for itself here folks….

I took a hard hit choosing Lancaster’s bacon cheddar cheese burger, but had a decent comeback with Ricky’s All Day Grill chocolate milkshake.

In the end I did fall short but I am fighting hard to keep a second place finish in this ‘reservation’ round.

To clarify, Lancaster’s accepts reservations online and they will even put your name on the table to show that it is reserved for you…I didn’t do that, but they can. It was lunch, you don’t really need to make a reservation!

Burger – 32.33 (Mikey’s rating was 27….wouldn’t have mattered too much anyways)

Bun tasted good, but nothing extraordinary. Patty tasted alright but was too small for the bun it came in. The cheese was very good, but not distracting enough from the other burger qualities. Bacon on the burger was good, but it was diced and mixed with onions. Two of us didn’t mind this, but one member (mentioned above) wouldn’t stand for this monstrosity and that was that. Burger was a bust!

Shake – 41.67

I was not feeling very great leaving the burger section where I got destroyed, but Ricky’s All Day Grill changed that for me in about 5-7 minutes! I think that our server could see the defeat in my face and she knew that if she didn’t make the best damn shake of her life, than that poor sucker out there might end it!!!!

I tell ya, this girl came through in a huge way! She brought out 3 chocolate shakes in tall, glass diner-like glasses topped with whipped cream. Then she brought out three large tin cups with the remainder of our shakes in them. Not to mention, long spoons so you can get ALL the way to the bottom of the cup!!! It was a shake lover’s dream, and this guy didn’t want to wake up!

Though it may not have been enough to overtake JC’s Keg round, it was a great shake experience that I am glad we came across and were able to share with all of you!!!

Tagged Lancasters

Jan 15 2016

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Reviews

You Fancy Huh? – The Reservation Round – JC at The Keg

Simple. Restaurant must be one that will ‘take a reservation’

Burger: Keg Burger served at lunchtime at the North Keg

Is that really North, I mean its trying to be North but still a little scared to cross Dewdney.

It was a little odd to not order a pint of beer and some appetizers and almost adulterous to not order the prime rib. Mikey was squirming in his seat, as it was like taking a kid in a candy shop only to buy a gift card.

The burger did not disappoint. Bun so soft and lightly buttered, meat thick and juicy and the size was just perfect. As usual Danny Y got it loaded, I held the tomato and Mikey went for bacon, cheese and ketchup ONLY. I wanted more bacon, but was otherwise quite impressed. None of us were distracted by the attractive servers or hostess, come to think of it I don’t think any of us even noticed.

Check the scores, the burger will be tough to beat.

The shake on the other hand…

Shake: The Keg makes a shake. Seriously…kind of.

The shake is a kids menu item, but there is a little known secret that us adult types can still order one and they will make it a little bigger. You don’t get crayons though, thats where they save the money.

It came out with great presentation (whipped cream, cherry and chocolate shavings in a parfait cup), but really lacked chocolate flavour. It was thick and ice cold (brain freeze was a common ailment) but again, lacked chocolate flavour. I would suggest they add it to the menu, but put some chocolate syrup in with the chocolate ice cream when they prepare this ever so delicate beverage.

Shake scores got hammered, I’m guessing its quite hit and miss but Mikey actually said he would go back and order another burger over a steak!

Cheers

Making love to a straw

Scores:

Burger Shake
JC 44 34
Mikey 42.5 36
Danny Y 41.5 36.5

Burger Avg: 42.67
Shake Avg: 35.5

Overall Avg: 78.17

Tagged Fancy Huh?, Keg, Reservation Round

Nov 20 2015

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Reviews

Mikeys Bistro Burger and Marble Mouth

I went out on a limb this week and decided to think outside the box and go to the Breakfast Bistro in the east end “Burger at a breakfast joint” is not something you would typically hear from the Burger Shake Club.

My celebrity guest was none other than everyone’s favourite Roughrider Ryan Smith……er….. Ryan Dressler ……..dammit, Weston Dressler!
Weston has known for some time he would be my guest of honour as we have shared many delicious burgers over the years and I wanted to do him the honour of joining us for lunch.
Once seated, our witty banter was at an all- time high between the founding fathers but Dressler was lost in thought as he visually assaulted the breakfast menu and dessert cooler.
We all chose the “Bistro Burger” ( only burger on the menu) and ordered it to our individual specifications as it comes adorned with red onions, avocado, and other veggies and sauces I can’t pronounce.
Once it arrived with fresh thick bacon on the side to eat separately or add to the burger, pretzel buns (imported from France) and patties infused with Pork we all got down to business.
The hand- made patties have a unique taste and are not your typical burger but delicious all the same. Everyone enjoyed the burgers and raved about the pretzel bun. The only time it was difficult to enjoy the burger was when Danny Y wouldn’t stop giggling like a school girl because Premier Brad Wall now follows him on Twitter.
Jason did his best to corral his ketchup and burger juices but inevitably spilled it on his dress shirt and personalized Danny Y BS Club place mat (soon to be sold online for $3.99). It was a daring choice but also a successful choice as the burger ratings were favourable:

Burger Avg Score: 39.75/50

With a good start to our day and a belly full of burger we took a quick trip around the corner to Marble Slab Creamery.

As we entered we became excited as the décor looked as though Strawberry Shortcake and Willy Wonka had married and started an interior decorating business. The place looked like an ice cream paradise.
By this point the burger had awoken Dressler from his mid –day fog and he was vibrant and ready to tackle a milkshake.
The choices at the Marble Slab were abundant and JC and I went with a chocolate, cookie dough concoction while Danny Y and Dressler went another route. We were all very excited watching the process of our shakes being created but that excitement quickly vanished as we were handed our shakes, not in cold metal tins, and watched as the shake tried to spill over the side of the cup and join the burger juices on JC’s dress shirt.
Right then and there I knew I had made the wrong choice. The Shakes were flavoured liquid. No thickness, no extras and it left a “chalky” aftertaste. I knew I was in for a ratings nightmare when I looked into Danny Y’s sky blue eyes and saw nothing but disappointment. I have never felt so ashamed in my life.
Letting down the human hoover of milkshakes was heartbreaking.
Dressler tried to keep a positive outlook but it was too far gone. JC, as of being dropped off from lunch had still not finished his shake and protested he would, but I knew it was a hollow promise. By far one of the most disappointing shakes we have had to this point:

Milkshake Avg score: 28.5/50

Cumulative Avg Score with Celebrity Ranking: 71.7%

The Milkshake made it so I had no chance to win this round and in fact came last by a large margin.
Thanks again to our celebrities: Mr. Brad Wall, Mr. Dan Farthing and Mr. Dressler , you were all worthy of our BS Club lunches.
Congratulations to Mr. Clermont for winning the Celebrity Round
Next round is his choice, will it be the home round, redemption round, mission impossible round or some other creation of JC’s.

Stay tuned to find out.

Tagged Breakfast Bistro, Celebrity Round, Marble Slab Creamery, Weston Dressler

Nov 03 2015

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Reviews

Colter’s Dad at Nicky’s Cafe

Rewind to 2006:

Heard at a pre-teen birthday party in Swift Current:

“Craig! Mark! Sweet that you guys could make it up to my party!” – Colter

“Dude, we wouldn’t miss it for the world” – Craig

“Yeah.” – Mark

“Ok, so lets just go over the plan again before we smash this piñata and destroy some cupcakes: Our Dads are super lame, and getting on our nerves so we will get them involved in running the province to keep them busy while Colter can continue slapping the bass and Mark and I can keep shredding powder and macking babes, hopefully landing an MTV gig.” – Craig

“Yeah.” – Mark

“Technically I don’t ‘slap the bass’, I’m more of a cross between Jonny Cash and…” – Colter

“PINATA TIME!!!” – Craig

“Yeah.” – Mark

And thats how it came to be. Brad Wall and Don McMorris were thrust to the forefront of Saskatchewan politics, which eventually led us to the historical day proclaimed by Colter’s Dad as:

“THE BEST WORK LUNCH EVER. HANDS DOWN!” – Brad Wall, November 2nd, 2015

We invited Mark and Craig’s Dad as well, but measures of Provincial Security forbid the two men to eat the same food, in the same building, at the same time. Understandable.

Mikey and I picked Colter’s Dad up from the Leg and Danny Y met us at Nicky’s to secure prime seating. When we arrived, Colter’s Dad couldn’t quite place where he knew Danny Y from, but we have a photo in the blog that may help jog his memory. (The former PM must have been a big BS Club fan as well)

On to the Burgers and Shakes. We hit up Nicky’s Cafe and everyone under the age of 50 ordered Nickys famous “Nicky’s Jumbo Burger”:

nicky’s jumbo burger
14.95
open wide. the big burger for the really big appetites. this is an awesome double-meat, double-cheese, special sauce, lettuce, tomato, fried onions, pickle, on a toasted sesame-seed bun.

Colter’s Dad looked at it, talked about it, wanted it and made a choice with his head instead of his stomach. He let the impending “Question and Answer” session at the Leg factor into his decision to take a more conservative approach to his order. A wise forward thinking and responsible choice, but had he been more liberal with his schedule that day, I’m sure he would have chosen the jumbo. Instead he picked:

the natural burger
11.95
a burger purist’s burger. a perfect, secretly seasoned patty, charbroiled to perfection & placed open-faced atop a lightly buttered, toasted sesame-seed bun. served with tomato slices, fresh lettuce, dill pickles & fried onions naturally.

Mikey ordered his burger NDP as always (No Damn Pickles) and asked for the 1000 island sauce to be left off his bun. The server was obviously star struck by Danny Y in his super-extra-medium T-shirt and brought Mikeys burger with the sauce. Mikey turned full ‘Champ’ and almost lost it, but I quickly asked her to bring a new bottom bun. Crisis averted. She advised Mikey that his bun would be right out as it was just being toasted. It came, but wasn’t toasted an unfulfilled promise that wasn’t well received at the table but I chalk it up again to Danny Ys painted on shirt and dreamy eyes.

Burgers were delicious and scored strong:

Burger Avg: 39.5/50

It was now time to Shake things up:

The Founding Fathers all went with chocolate while Colter’s Dad kept in line with his ‘Purist’ theme and opted for vanilla:

The shakes came out in a frosty tin, with the straw standing firm in the thick milkshakes. This was the Holy Grail of shakes and would have secured out of this world scores if there were more options or toppings. Regardless, the size, thickness and taste were all scored very high by all of our judges, leaving us with a formidable tally:

Shake Avg: 45.5/50

Finally, we judged our celebrity. Colter’s Dad was well dressed, personable and somewhat fanatical about the club. Although he kept referring to himself as an ‘Honorary Member’ (a title that had not been formally bestowed upon him), he was a fine Celebrity Guest as his score reflected:

Celebrity Avg: 45.67/50

This leaves JC in the lead with Mikey left to go:

Cumulative Avg Score for Burger Shake: 85/100

Cumulative Avg with Celebrity ranking: 87%

Tagged Brad Wall, Burger, Celebrity Round, Colter Wall, Craig McMorris, Don McMorris, Mark McMorris, Nicky's, Shake

Nov 01 2015

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Reviews

Celebrity Round – FATBURGER

NOT JEFF FAIRHOLM

My celebrity is a former Saskatchewan Roughrider, current head strength and conditioning coach of the Roughies and owner/CEO of Level 10 Fitness Inc. in Regina, none other than Dan ‘glass cutter hands’ Farthing!!!

I chose to take this CFL legend to Fatburger because I’ve heard great things about this burger establishment and I myself have never had a Fatburger.

Let me tell you, neither the burger nor the celebrity were a disappointment!

All 4 of us chose XXL Fatburger. Our Celebrity dressed his up a little, where the 3 of us just went with meat and cheese! First off, this burger was right off the grill as it was still steaming hot when they served it to us. The abundance of cheese was melted to perfection and burger itself was extremely tasty!

The scores in the end showed that we were all on the same page, as the burger’s average score was 39.5/50!

The owner of Fatburger happened to be in the store at the time, and as the other 2 members of BSC are repeat visitors and local celebrities themselves, we were treated with an order of mini donuts and caramel dipping sauce! And let me tell you, those were AWESOME!!! If you’re going in for the burger, stay for the mini donuts and take the rest of the caramel sauce home!

On to the shake….

Our celebrity went with the vanilla, and the three of us did a chocolate shake this time. Once again, nobody was disappointed with their selection. The shake was rich, thick and topped with whipped cream! With the shake being as thick as it was, you can really take your time enjoying the rich flavour for a longer period of time.

The shakes here scored an average of 39.88/50!

Fatburger had an overall rating of 79.38

My celebrity was also scored and received an average score of 38.67/50

Tagged Celebrity Round

Sep 28 2015

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Reviews

Winner Winner – Burger Dinner

Burger Shake
JC 36 47

Dan 38 46

Mike 36 43

Avg 36.7 45.3

Total Cumulative Avg: 82/100
WINNER!!!!

Review:

I had been sweating over my decision the last 2 weeks trying to decide where to go. Having the collective weight of this fine city’s desire for delicious burgers and shakes on our shoulders can be stressful. I also only want the best for my co-founding compatriots.
I had finally decided to go with a full court press of Dairy Queen burger and shake (thanks to the gentle urging of my understanding wife)
We arrived at Dairy Queen and during our lunch hour we basically had lunch with a show. Rambling Dave all but made love to his car in the Esso car wash parking lot for the better part of an hour as we ate our meal

Our burger choice was the ½ pound bacon cheeseburger.
The burger overall was pretty good. The bun was average and the burger was a little dry but after the discovery of 2 different types of cheese by Danny Y we realized the burger was definitely above average.
Jason being worried about his numerous upcoming medical procedures failed to find 2 cheeses on his burger which put him in a huff. Technically he was not huffing as his deviated septum would not allow such an action so he settled for a snort.

Avg Score: 36.7/50

We went for another go around through the drive thru of DQ just as Ramblin Dave was cleaning out the keyhole to his trunk across the parking lot.
The shake choices were limited to the basic 3 with another 3 or 4 choices on top which was more than enough for us. We all chose our go to, Chocolate and with uncertainty in my voice requested extra thick which was met from the angelic drive thru voice with a resounding “Of course!”
Once up to the window we were offered the choice of whip cream and a cherry which was a nice personal touch on the part of the DQ shake mistress.
After getting our shakes we pulled back into the same spot to again watch Dave caress his G5 with the care a parent would wash a newborn baby.
We were not only thrilled with the taste of our shakes but the thickness was off the charts!
Our straws could barely handle the suction. The shakes stayed cold and thick longer than we could have hoped for.
Not only was the DQ shake the best drive thru round shake it is near the top for all shakes consumed to this point in our long and eventful journey
Overall the Dairy Queen meal was enjoyable with the shake being absolutely fantastic.
“It’s not fast food , it’s fan food” as our Yoda of milkshakes Danny Y whispered into his straw as he entered his own world of ice cream delirium.

Shake Avg: 45.3/50

Overall cumulative score 82/100

Stay tuned next week to see what round and establishment we visit!!

Tagged DoubleDriveThru, DQ

Sep 14 2015

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Reviews

Baconator – I’ll be back…with a Burger King shake

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

That is why I took my kids on a reconnaisance mission to test out a few drive thru burgers and shakes before the main event. Call it the preseason for BS Double Drive thru, call it research and development or call it lazy parenting when dad has to feed the kids: All descriptions are accurate. No matter what you call it though, it stacked up to a big win on game day.

Burger: Baconator from Wendys

Always hot, always fresh and always 2 patties and lots of applewood smoked bacon. Its a can’t miss when you want a good burger from the drive through. It is my favourite fast food burger, so I knew what I was getting myself into and hoped my fellow founding members of BS would share the same sentiment.

Nailed it.

It was perfect. Best Baconator I have ever had, which led me to circle the top score taste (#10) while still reeling in the euphoria of beef, cheese and bacon. This led to a debate, quite heated actually, in reaching the penultimate score for taste when judging a burger. The score of ’10’ leaves no room for improvement, no hope for untasted burgers the world over. I agreed with the very passionate and loud Mikey, and edited my taste score to 9.25.

I also plan to get a tattoo on my arse with a picture of Wendy herself, holding a Baconator and wearing a hat that simply says ’10’. That way, when I’ve tasted my last drive thru burger and none have topped the mighty Baconator, then Mike can pucker up and give Dave Thomas’s daughter a big wet kiss.

Burger Score average: 37.5/50

Shake: Burger King Large Milkshake

4 solid flavours to chose from. Vanilla, strawberry, chocolate and OREO. I loved the chocolate shake during my research phase, but I cracked under pressure on game day. We all went with OREO. Very good shake: Thick, whipped topping, large OREO chunks. It beats most shakes and definitely most OREO versions. My own decision to not go with chocolate hurt my score. Danny Y barely came up for air, he may have actually gotten his milkshake pregnant in hopes of having little baby milkshakes later in the day (milkshakes don’t carry for a full 39 week term like humans, but this is a blog not a science class). Mikey complained at random about the taste of vanilla and blah, blah, blah until finally letting the sour taste of the almost perfect 10 debacle leave his bitter mouth to enjoy the masterful OREO shake like the rest of us.

Shake score average: 40.3/50

Notable: Mikey is a jerk. Danny Y left a mess in my backseat. Burger King marrying Wendy just makes sense – beat it Ronald.

Quotable: “Your state of mind clearly is not allowing you to make proper judgements right now” – Mikey on whether my mind was on BS Club or a pending vasectomy

“You can’t just slip into the quote that you might be getting snipped!” – Me after reading what I just wrote

TOTAL and RECAP:

Burger Avg: 37.5

Shake Avg: 40.3

Cumulative Round: 77.8/100

Wendy can’t resist the King. Have it your way!

Tagged Baconator, Burger King Shake, DoubleDriveThru, JC's Pick, Wendys

Sep 09 2015

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Reviews

DANNY Y’S SELECTION – CARLS’S JR.

After a LONG 2 month hiatus, the Burger Shake Club is back is full swing. As I was the first round ‘Landslide” winner, it was my pick to start the second round. Not only do I get to pick the destination, but i get to pick the style of round.

The second round is a ‘double drive thru’ round. This round allows the selector to choose the drive thru for the burger and the same or different drive thru for the shake. Just a brilliant round!!

There wasn’t much surprise for the location of the burger, as Carl’s Jr. is new to our fair city. The boys were pretty stoked anyways! All three of us went with the Super bacon cheeseburger, which entails a 1/2 lb beef patty, bacon, cheese and any toppings you want….or don’t want! (i’ll come back to this)

The burger faired pretty well, comparing against the burgers from the first round. Being a fast food burger it held its own but was not outstanding by any means. The best part of the burger in our eyes was the bun! They really nailed that!!

Using a little misdirection, I attempted to fool my teammates thinking that we were going else where for the shakes, but i pulled right back into the drive thru to see what Carl’s shakes had on the first round. Once again, all three of us went with the same flavour….Oreo cookie!

“I got this round”, i said to myself! You can’t screw up Oreo anything.

I was proved wrong, in a big way! Other than the Oreo cookie pieces being great, the rest of the shake was a huge disappointment! There were ice chunks being sucked up the straws, the consistency of the shake was runny and thin and the milk tasted as ‘worse than sour breast milk’ !!!

I suggested this place after having it once hungover, and I think I’ll keep it as a Sunday afternoon stop on the list!!

Burger scored 35/50

Shake scores 27.3/50

Total 62.3/100

The one bright spot, other than the bun, was the lady at the drive thru window! She was fantastic on the intercom, and did not mess up any of our (my teammates) requests! Those two are probably the most picky eaters when it comes to toppings on their burgers. After about 7 different changes during the ordering process, the drive thru lady nailed the order on the read back!

Tagged Carls, DoubleDriveThru

Jun 29 2015

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Reviews

Danny Y’s Selection – Coney Island Cafe

Well folks, the first round is complete and the all the votes are in….Coney Island Cafe is the winner!

With a burger score of:

41.3/50

With a shake score of:

44.3/50

These are the highest scores of the opening round in both categories.

All three of us once again had the bacon cheese burger, done to our liking (Mikey’s still moo-ing) and they were fantastic.

“Not sure if this is ketchup or blood, but I’m happy either way”! Mikey says as he laughs and gets ready to inhale his last morcel of burger.

Bun wasn’t too big and didn’t get soggy from the juicyness of the burger and extras. Bacon volume was suffice and didn’t take over from the taste of the burger itself, just added to the overall great taste of the burger.

The three of us all went different directions on the shakes this time, and neither of those directions steered us wrong!! JC went with chocolate mint, Mikey had the chocolate chip cookie dough and Iwas handcuffed (explained shorly) and chose the butter pecan.

First off, the shakes were served in an “old school” metal cup, which was frosted on the outside! Secondly, they were so thick that the straw stood staright up! And finally, they were topped off with a little dollop of whipped cream!

However, one of the daily specials was cookies and cream and I was pumped for that, but they were out of product! This does make it sound like a success, but YOU NEED TO ERASE THAT OFF YOUR BOARD MAN!! I’m a bit of a “cookies and cream slut” when it comes to ice cream products, so that was tough to take……I never did let that hurt my score though.

We treated oursleves to one of the Coney Island Cafe poutines as well, just because that is what they are famous for. We chose to go with the ‘Elvis Prestley’ poutine and it was defintely unique. It is a regula poutine topped with chopped up bacon, but within the gravy is melted peanut butter. To a PB fan (Mikey) this is heaven, but the peanut butter does take control of the overall flavour so if you’re not a huge fan, I’d go another direction….and they have a lot of concoctions to choose from, so EXPLORE and ENJOY!!

We Highly recommend this establishment if you want a fantastic burger and shake!

And if you want to live a little on the wild side, they seem to be able to do that as well!!!

Tagged Coney Island, Inaugural Round

Jun 22 2015

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Reviews

Mercury Grill and Cafe

Mikey’s selection: Mercury Grill and Cafe

Last week’s burger shake club selection was the Mercury Grill and Cafe. The establishment has the classic diner look and feel to it so it was only natural that we ended up there early on our quest for the ultimate burger and shake

The atmosphere was good and the wait staff was friendly and efficient.

The bacon cheeseburger was the selection of all three judges and it performed pretty well in the ratings getting an average score of 37.3 out of 50

The bacon was delicious, the bun was top shelf but the burger was a little small and while it was tasty I believe all 3 of us had higher expectations. After finishing our burgers and fries we moved onto the Shakes

The offering was limited to the classic chocolate/vanilla/strawberry but once we heard the shakes were served in the “old school” metal cups there was more than a little excitement amongst the 3 of us.

Once served, metal tins and all, we were disappointed as the chocolate shakes we selected were quite runny and very little in the way of ice cream thickness. The milkshakes had a nice taste to them but the lack of ice cream coupled with the “watery” consistency was more than disappointing.

The average milkshake score amongst the 3 of us was 30.7 out of 50.

Reviews

Burger 37.3/50

Milkshake 30.7/50

Cumulative avg score 68/100

Stay tuned for next week’s selection and reviews on our pursuit for burger and shake enlightenment!

Tagged Inaugural Round, Mercury

	Scott Tresek on Winner Winner – Burger…
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The Burger and Shake Club – Regina Chapter est. 2015