I have often thought, "if I was going to open a restaurant, how could I differentiate myself from all the others." I mean, there is nothing unique anymore. Everything is a copy from something else. If I was going to open a fast casual Mexican restaurant, I would go to Chipotle see how they do it. If I was going to open a burger joint, I would go visit The Counter, or Father's Office in Santa Monica, the originator of the Umami burger or The Burger Bar in Las Vegas. A burger is a burger right? How do you make something different that has been done millions of times before. The folks at Delirious Burger didn't ask themselves this question, nor do they care about the answer. 20 years ago, Hamburger Heaven in New York found a way to be different than the greek dineron the corner by serving a pseudo tomatoey salsa on their burger.
The decor is updated, modern, in a pseudo reclaimed wood kind of way. The menu board being a chalkboard is common but a nice touch. The color scheme works, albeit a little common.
So why would anyone come here for a hamburger and fries? In the simplest answer I can think of, because there isn't anywhere else in the area to get a burger and fries. There is nothing unique about this place. There is nothing special about this place. In fact, I am not delirious about this place. The burger is a basic diner burger. The portabella burger is fried? Why? Why wouldn't you take a portabella mushroom and grill it until it has a nice char and begins to caramelize so that its unique flavor is drawn out. I don't get it. Why not offer salmon burgers, or create a unique sauce that is distinctive and addictive like the McDonald's special sauce or the In-N-Out sauce. How do you open a restaurant and serve nothing different than the beer bellied neighbor cooks up on his grill, over Labor Day weekend?
If I was going to serve fries, I would fry them in duck fat, maybe shave a truffle over them, or create a dipping sauce reminiscent of Belgium pommes frites or Arctic Circle's fry sauce that is synonymous with Utah. Yet again, the fries are just ordinary. Even Five Guys serves cajun fries and offers free peanuts, which are better than the food you pay for.
I guess the answer to all of my questions comes from the newspaper, The Silhouette. The McMaster University student paper reviewed this restaurant and said about the fries "generous portion and cute to-go packaging." The portion was not generous, a Wendy's value fry is about the same size. The cute to go packaging was a foil pouch and a white paper lunch bag. If that is what impresses a community, than serving bland, plain, ordinary burgers and standard fries are spot on. You will enjoy much success in this part of Hamilton.
Final comment. The cash only policy is dated and silly. In a time when I can give the homeless man on the corner a handout via my iPhone and Bump, the idea of any business operating as "Cash Only" is the only unique thing about this place. Even the homeless guy had a Square reader on his iPhone. Maybe invest in Square, PayPal, Bump, Venmo or something like a bank account? read more