No Vampires

“Welcome to the only establishment in Windsor and surrounding area that isn't afraid to use garlic to spice things up.” Says Buddy Miloyovich, owner of Bubi’s Awesome Eats in Windsor. His “House of garlic and pleasure.” I can now tell you from first hand experience, if you love garlic and/or are not a vampire, Bubi’s is the place for you.

Armed with an array of frozen yogurt recipes and a garlic fervor, in 1984 he set up shop in his grandmother’s (Bubi’s) house. The business grew as did the menu. Eventually expanding out of the old house. As it sits today, Bubi’s is a full sized bar and grill serving the Windsor area and in particular UW. An eclectic mix of burgers and other foods fill out a menu that “Reads like a book.”

Buddy Milyovich seems like quite the character. Excessive in his compulsions he also has a real zeal for the silly. A look at the menu will tell you that or you can just look at the “Catch-Up” (Ingredients: Red Stuff, Detroit River Water, Gum) bottle on the table. Buddy implausibly passes it off as his own, though it’s so obviously not. Give it a read, things like “Quality Questionable” and “Picked by underpaid Mexican’s. Viva la Free Trade” are printed on it. BTW, it’s Hunts Ketchup that’s actually in the bottle.

Bubi’s sits just steps away from the university and two blocks from the Detroit River. Directly across from the Joe Louis Arena. A stroll down to the rivers edge reveals, perhaps, the best view of Detroit. You can also sit and watch the ships go by in the summer months. For those not familiar with the Great Lakes region, ships from all over the globe venture inland on these mammoth waterways. But I digress.

Inside Bubi’s is set up somewhat like a house. There’s a large party room, much like a rec room and several smaller rooms. There’s of course even a kitchen and bathrooms. There’s a really nice bar and plenty of TV’s for all you sporting pleasures. The bulk of the staff are young, eager and either students or grads of the university. Put that together with Buddy’s sense of humour and you have a really nice, laid back setting.

I was aware of a great burger place in Windsor from various message boards over the years but unless I was reading it at the time, I would forget the name. Eventually I put it on my “To do” list but since we rarely stop there it was pretty much an after though. Then I see John Catucci and the You Gotta Eat Here team pay visit and I realize, this is a place we need to make an effort to visit. We were staying over night in Windsor and decided that this would be the time. So let’s have a look at how they did.

I guess the first thing to do is tell you about the Bubi’s Sauce. This Balkan condiment for kabobs is available for just about anything on the menu. Make no mistake, this stuff is powerful. If there was ever such a thing as “too garlicky” this sauce probably stops on it’s door step. It’s fantastic. Mayonnaise based with some seasonings, anchovies, capers and onions but just about everything is relegated to the role of “Extra.” They add depth but there’s absolutely no doubt who the star is.

In the appetizer department a good bet is the Pizza Crusts. Really just bread sticks, the ones we ordered came with cheese, pepperoni and mushrooms. Sides of marinara and Bubi’s sauce accompany as well. On their own the crusts are nice. Dolled up with pizza fixin’s they’re even better. When you take all the toppings and the two sauces all together they’re excellent. Even the next day Mrs. Sippi was commenting on how much she loved them. A nice, albeit huge, way to start things off.

You can “Dillon” your fries which is to say, add garlic parmesan. The wedge fries themselves are nice but the adornment is really great. A wisp of garlic (compared to the sauce anyway) and nice parm really give some life to the ordinary potato.

You can substitute soup for the fries with you meal and on this day the soup du jour was Potato Cheddar. Home made it was really nice. It was a bit on the delicate side. We both had hoped for a more assertive cheddar taste and as such were a bit disappointed. That said, it was a nice, warm bowl of soup on a cold, wintery night. So no complaint there.

As much as anything, Bubi’s is about burgers. Their standard size is 1/3 lb. but you can “Bubi size” your burger up to 2/3 lb. You can build your own from the ground up or opt for one of the preordained selections. Not for the faint of heart (or the intellegent) you can also attempt the Bunda’s Big V8 Challenge. Both of us chose option 2 though.
Mrs. Sippi had the Truck Driv’n Bubi’s (lettuce, tomato, mayo, bacon, slice cheese) and she said it was good but not great.
I kinda got the same feeling from my Philly (cream cheese, grilled red & green peppers & onions, shaved philly steak). The burger itself had really good beef flavour and, oddly enough, I enjoyed every bite more and more. Not sure why my first bite wasn’t all that impressive (maybe I built it up in my head too much) but the more I ate, the more I thought, this really is a good burger. So it wasn’t the awe inspiring burger event I’d hoped for but a good solid burger is always welcome.

So there you have it folks, some good pub fare in a nice casual atmosphere.

You can find Bubi’s at 620 University Ave. W. in Windsor, Ontario.

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You can also find them on the web and facebook.



Well that’s all for now folks, we’ll catch ya later in the food court.

Davwud