2013 Burger Week Special

March 21-27, 2013 was declared Halifax Burger Week by Halifax's Alternative Weekly, The Coast (and a brewery called Hop City that I've never heard of). In total, 21 local restaurants participated - eight offering a $5 special, with the other 13 offering a special that included a donation to Feed Nova Scotia.

Although it coincided with the final week of my office's Biggest Loser weight-loss challenge, I simply couldn't resist taking advantage of some of these deals. And by "some" I mean "one-third of". Aside from peanut butter, I think it's safe to say that hamburgers are my biggest weakness.

Thursday, March 21
Burger #1: I made a bee-line to the Chickenburger at the Dalhousie Student Union Building to tackle their mighty $5 old-fashioned triple cheeseburger. No messing around here, it was a serious burger! It took a hell of a long time to cook up, but it was worth every second. My only complaint was that other than the steamed bun, beef and cheese, there wasn't anything else on the burger. I jumped at the chance to add some of their spicy salsa, but such a thin layer was applied that it was barely noticeable. Aside from that, definitely an excellent eat!

Burger #2: I wasn't kidding, I am bananas for burgers, and went for the deuce that evening at Darrell's. This time, I went for the $5 Nova Scotia lamb burger served up Moroccan style, which featured curried mayo, spinach, fried onions and...as hinted earlier, banana, on a chewy bianco roll. Not gonna lie, I was still pretty stuffed from lunch, so I really didn't mind that it took forever to be served (lamb apparently takes six minutes longer than a burger to cook up). In fact, I was served about 10 minutes after my friends, which ordinarily would have been cause for rage, but the waiter insisted on comping the burger, which I could only finish half of anyway. Not because it wasn't good, but rather because I was full! Anyway, it was certainly unique (banana on a burger?), but very tasty, and the other half was a great lunch a couple of days later. Back to my food weaknesses, it turned out that Darrell's made their infamous Peanut Butter Burger a $5 special. Yum.

Friday, March 22
Burger #3: After two burgers in one day, I had serious meat sweats overnight, but the urge to tackle another burger persisted the next day as I was on a lunchtime stroll down to the library. I decided to place a take-out order at Your Father's Moustache, where there special was your standard burger platter (burger, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle), but it also came with fries. For five bucks. When I got back, it was neatly packed up for me, complete with a fork, napkins, and plenty of condiments, and the take-out carton was seriously heavy - borderline two pounds, I'd say. The burger itself was nothing special - it tasted kinda like it came straight out of the freezer, and the fries were a little mushy, but at five bucks, the value for the money was tremendous.

Saturday, March 23
Burger #4: My wife and I planned on going skating on the Oval, which to me sounded like a perfect excuse to pick up a burger first. Despite having lived around the corner from it for numerous months, I never bothered to stop by Bearly's while I lived downtown. I now regret this decision. Their $5 special was their Texas Burger - locally produced steer beef, jalapenos, cheddar cheese (none of that processed crap, onion rings and salsa, AND fries. Even better value than the 'Stache special and considerably more tasty. In a way, I'd describe it as "light," which is a weird way to describe ground beef, but it was hearty yet didn't sit like a rock in my stomach. I left there full but not stuffed, and perfectly able to function during the one lap of the oval I was able to complete before they shut 'er down due to poor ice conditions.

Sunday, March 24
No burger today, though I'll admit that I was seriously tempted!

Monday, March 25
Burger #5: Couldn't resist the urge to try another $5 special, so I called Ace Burger on my way out of work and placed a take-out order. Their Deluxe featured grass-fed beef, back bacon, cheddar cheese, frizzled onions and dijonaise, and I could barely get in the door before taking a bite. Again, I was far from disappointed. The quality of the meat was excellent, and totally made the burger. There really isn't much else to say - there's a reason why Ace ran out of meat numerous times over the span of Burger Week!

Tuesday, March 26
Burger #6: Being the last day of Burger Week, I was sure that I had consumed my last special, but my wife needed to run an errand on the way home, and by the time we were done, we were both pretty hungry. We eyed the canteen at Costco, but a simple "Flip Burger?" was all I needed to ask to change our course. This was the first non-$5 special that I tried, but in actuality, their Crunch special was only $6 burger, with $1 going to the aforementioned Feed Nova Scotia. The Crunch was comparable to the Deluxe at Ace, but with Oulton's beef, grilled tomato, lettuce, horseradish mayo and a couple of their signature "flip chips" - and we asked them to add pickles, too. It was very good, but would have become great had it featured a little avocado.

Wednesday, March 27
Burger #7: Wait a minute, you mean there's one more day of Burger Week? For some reason, I had it in my head that it was only six days, not seven. Nope. My wife had an event after work, leaving me on my own. "I probably won't have another burger tonight,"  I said. "I'm going to try not to." "Yeah, right, that's EXACTLY what you're going to do and you know it!" She knows me too well - my willpower it no match for the temptation of a good burger. After work, I placed a quick call to The Argyle and sped down to pick up their Southwest Burger - also $6, with a $1 donation to Feed Nova Scotia. And am I ever glad I did! Oulton's beef, guacamole, smoked bacon, jalapenos, crispy onions, lettuce, tomato and spicy Monterey Jack cheese. In a way, it was like a compilation of every other burger I'd tried over the course of Burger Week, with guacamole. It was huge. It was messy. It was awesome.

Final Rankings:
#1: The Argyle
#2: Bearly's
#3: Darrell's
#4: Ace Burger
#5: Flip Burger
#6: The Chickenburger
#7: Your Father's Moustache

So, yeah, I ate seven burgers in the past seven days. And I don't regret a single one. Here's hoping that Burger Week comes back again next year, so that I can give'r all over again! Thanks to all of this year's Burger Week participants, and to The Coast and Hop City for putting it on. If I may make a humble suggestion: As much as $5 burger deals ruled, I'd like to see $10 combos next year (burger, fries and a pop) with a small donation to Feed Nova Scotia.

Anyway, before I sign off, I'd like to send some serious props to the near-100 people who have started following @hfxfoodreviews on Twitter during the course of Burger Week, and to our 900+ existing Followers. Thanks to all of you, we're on the cusp of surpassing the 1,000 Follower mark, which is far more than I ever expected from our little review site! After our snub in The Coast's Best of Food poll, approaching this milestone really means a lot to us. As a way of expressing our gratitude, we'll be announcing a special giveaway contest to our Twitter followers as soon as we cross the magic threshold...stay tuned!