Fresh Burger (Richmond Hill, On)

Tastes Good Like a Hamburger Should.

For Jacques Kavafian it was time to plot a different course in life. Having spent 28 years in the financial industry he was ready for a new challenge. Taking his love for food and most specifically hamburgers and fries he created Fresh Burger. In his words, "Many of them (nouveau burger joints) complicate the hamburger into various concoctions. We emphasize the taste of the hamburger itself. At Fresh Burger we promise to offer great tasting hamburgers done right." What a concept. A burger place that is focused on the platform (the burger) rather than the myriad of condiments/concoctions that drown out the fundamental building block on which they construct these monstrosities. But don't get me wrong, a well executed monstrosity is still a very tasty thing.


Kavafian is following a template used by Southwest Airlines. Founded on 4 basic tenets; Equipment (in this case the burger not an airplane), Price (make it as inexpensive as possible without cutting corners), Service (he's all about keeping the customer happy), and Simplicity (Keeping a small menu and concentrating on doing a few thing very well rather than a number of things poorly). Jacques is also taking cues from other successful companies as well. His house made burger sauce is inspired by that of the great In 'n Out chain based in California.

The store is quite small and the menu, as I pointed out, is even smaller.
As of now, you basically have two options, burgers and fries. There is some room to customize within those two options such as Poutine and single or double burgers but at the base, burgers and fries is all Fresh Burger does.

So let's get a look at those items shall we?? 

I will first point out that all cheeseburgers come with American cheese as a default. Upon request you can change up to Cheddar, Swiss or Provolone.

Double Cheeseburger: An excellent burger. Two 4 oz. ground sirloin patties, American cheese on a soft white bun. This is what it's all about. Simple and absolutely delicious. Sirloin isn't overly fatty but Jacques doesn't over cook them so they're still juicy enough and the flavour of the meat is nicely complemented by the cheese. Which also adds a nice creaminess. The bun provides little more than a way to get deliciousness to the mouth and soak up whatever juice does run out.
 
Prime Burger: A White Board special this is even better than the single or double. Made with USDA Prime Beef it's a little fattier and as such, juicier with that unctuousness that fat can give. Adding bacon and cheese just makes it that much better. It comes with tomato, lettuce, onion, pickle and secret sauce as a default and while I removed the rabbit food I stuck with the sauce and I'm glad I did. It's very good and lends a nice flavour component.
 
Fries: These are really good but nothing I would consider the best I've had. Fresh cut and nicely fried I think maybe they could've used a bit more salt but that's something you can easily add at the table. I like the size and they didn't come with a whole bunch of those crummy bits that you sometimes find when a place cuts 'em fresh.
 
Poutine: A decent representation of this classic Quebecois dish. Made with beef gravy as basically every place in the GTA does but the flavouring wasn't quite right. So all in all, I'd say that if you like poutine you'll probably like it but not love it. If you're one of those so called "connoisseurs" of the dish then you'll probably find enough to complain about and should probably steer clear. FWIW, my buddy Gus, an expat Montrealer gave them his approval.

So there you have it folks, quite possibly THE BEST burger in York Region and one of the better ones the GTA has to offer.

You can find Fresh Burger at 9206 Leslie St. in Richmond Hill, On.

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You can also find them on the web, facebook and Twitter.



Well that's all for now folks, we'll see ya next time in the food court.