Photo courtesy Jared Davidson.
Post by Apartment613 contributor and native Hintonburger (Hintonburgite? Hintonbourgeois?) Jared Davidson.
Hintonburg is quickly becoming the foodie capital of Ottawa. And while its culinary core is still its western border at Holland and Wellington, the effect seems to be spreading further eastwards – just as construction crews work to improve the look of the area, specifically the less hip, more auto-salesy stretch of Wellington near Fairmont Ave.
One vanguard of the area’s evolution, The Hintonburger, is in the business of socially-conscious fast food, They offer locally-produced burgers – with names like The Armstrong that pay homage to the neighbourhood’s streets – at a good price. Their beef comes from O’Brien Farms, which is 52 clicks from Parliament Hill and which focuses on both providing animal comfort and avoiding artificial hormones. The Hintonburger also gets their veggies from right down the street at the Parkdale Market. All of the food is handmade, including the fries.
It’s not unusual for places featuring locally-produced food to be rather expensive, but The Hintonburger’s prices are decent. Their cheapest burger is $4.50, with tax. It doesn’t come with fries, but those can – and should – be added fairly cheaply ($1.75 for the smallest). The fries are soft, flavourful and entirely potato-like. They’re great for dipping in the available tubs of mustard, ketchup or mayo. Yes, The Hintonburger is mayonnaise friendly. All said, the meal certainly won’t murder your wallet.
(I should mention here that the only method of payment available is cash. So bring some.)
The burger itself is delicious. The patty’s fat level is just right: not too much, but also not completely dry. There are plenty of toppings to choose from, and they all taste fresh; The Hintonburger even lets you throw some Sriracha on there, a boon to hot sauce lovers everywhere. While the bun can get a bit soggy, not being heavy enough to withstand the ridiculous amount of toppings available, it’s barely a problem when the ingredients are this good. Overall, the result is a solid burger experience.
The Hintonburger offers a local, handmade, delicious burger for a good price. The staff are friendly and fast, catering those looking for cheap alternatives to fast food from a chain or who just want a decent meal.
*Editor’s note: The opening of The Hintonburger isn’t the only bit of exciting foodie news along the neighbourhood’s eastern fringe! Ottawa catering company Dish is also moving into the area. And a pizza joint apparently – according to the license application in the window – called “Tennessy Willem Oven Wood Burning Pizza” is taking over the former Melrose Grocery. I would assume that’s a typo, unless the American playwright has a Dutch cousin I’m not familiar with.
The Hintonburger isn’t bad for what it is. I’m personally more excited about Dish’s new digs.
But, what really throws me, more than the Tennessy Willem typo, is that the pizza place is marketing itself as Wood Burning Pizza, rather than a wood burning oven…
Living a block away I’ll add that they make their “Pogo’s” in-house and my 2 year old loved it! I was a ‘tad’ disappointed that they’re serving up the smaller variety of hot-dog for sale though (I like JUMBO hot dogs and would expect that from a restaurant). Their onion rings were also tasty, crisp batter and dippable just like the fries.
I also had the poutine, the gravy was tasty (not too sweet) and they used proper curds.
I’d like to think that, given a chance, they’ll tweak and improve a bit over time – so I have no problem going back fairly regularly when the need for a burger and fries.
Hah, that’s what I get for pointing out other people’s typos: I get bad grammar karma and make them myself.
The place is indeed currently billed as “Wood Burning Pizza” rather than an “Oven Burning Pizza,” which I wrote. Although as Caitlin points out, the “Wood Burning” should probably refer to the oven, unless the pizza is so hot it can literally ignite forest fires.
I can recommend that you cultivate Peter, the owner of “Bonkers”, for a real treat. He is a phenomenal Italian chef who took over Bonkers to get out of the grind of working for others. When asked nicely in advance, he can create a masterpiece of the Italian kind for you.
Hintonburger is great.
Poutine could be a new contender for best in town.
Thank you for the support, we DISHers are thrilled with our move to Hintonburg! Keep your fingers crossed for a DISH patio next year…
(For the record, our new neighbour ‘Tennessy Willem’ is the combined names of the owners offspring.)
Hintonburger was great, just went there for the first time this evening.
I visited the Hintonburger this evening and I must say that I was very delighted by this quaint atmosphere. The people working there are lovely and delightful. The chefs and server have a very warm approach. Hopefully, as it becomes more and more popular, it will keep this home away from home feel.
That being said, it would be very interesting to serve some healthier food product choices than deep fried (French Fries, Poutine, Pogos and the such which I understand are the staple of such restaurants). Maybe the following could be added so as to distinguish itself from other restaurants: grilled fresh local vegetables (zucchini, carrots, celery, tomatoes, etc) served in a French Fry box (add your own salt and pepper to taste), and maybe some added beverage choices like Orangina or San Pellegrino. This would be a great accompaniment to local burgers in my mind.
glad that we have our own version of a casse-croute on this side of the bridge but this has been going on on the other side forever. why was there never any foodie hype for them all these years? there are a handful of options like this in gatineau which beat hintonburger in taste and match it in quality as well. also you can’t deny the french and their ‘fry’ making abilities either. my fries at hintonburger were soggy. overall i gives this place a 6/10. Like Kaitlin said, isn’t bad for what it is.