Romer's Burger Bar - Vancouver

Burgers = good. It's one of the simple lessons in life. <3 Boif and I were invited by a friend to try out this restaurant. Although I've never heard of it before, my friend had only heard great things about this restaurant and I was eager to try their burgers.

Their decor incorporated a lot of dark colors and had minimal lighting to give diners a more intimate feeling when eating. Overall the bar had a very "industrial diner" feel to it, with exposed beams, sheet metal, and exposed brick walls with some quirky juxtapositions: cozy red leather seating, large booth seats, and a warm open kitchen. Romer's also has a large bar area that was pretty popular for diners who were waiting for a table to open up. The service was good, the waitresses are all very pretty, and they are quite friendly. However Romer's was incredibly busy when we were there, which meant that the waitress didn't come by to refill our water glasses often. =( 

Romer's has made their own tasteful additions to the classic burger with some gourmet ingredients. Unfortunately, the burgers do not come with any sides...if you want fries you have to order them separately. 

Make no mistake though, Romer's is definitely a burger joint and there isn't much else to the menu than burgers. It's a veritable burger heaven. There are burgers for essentially every dietary creed and need: gluten intolerant, pescatarian, vegetarian etc. Unfortunately, most of us that night were meat eaters...so most of the burgers below are of the meaty kind. As said before the burgers don't come with any sides and honestly, I was a bit disappointed with that. The presentation is very clean, but burgers actually look quite lonely on the big plate without any sides. Especially for people with large appetites, I would venture to say that one burger might not be enough for a whole meal. As for a general statement for all the burgers, the patties are moist, hold together, and are incredibly beefy. 

This is heaven on a bun, otherwise known as the {Port and Stilton Burger}. This is the burger that I ordered for myself and let me tell you: Purple Onions + Blue Cheese = loveeeeeeeeeeeee. I am a blue cheese fanatic. I won't try to hide my love of strong,smelly cheeses or mold growing upon mold. The combination of the tart blue cheese with the sweet purple onion was perfection, a simple yet frank duet of flavors in my mouth. The "runny-ness" level of the juices from the caramelized onions and the melted cheese don't make it too difficult to eat. Sometimes a fork and a knife are necessary, but generally you can eat this burger pretty comfortably with your hands. I highly recommend this burger. 

This is the Man's Man Burger, the burger that the boif ordered for himself...very appropriately of course. =P He's very manly (ooh la la!). I was lucky enough to taste some of his burger before he gobbled it down for himself. The tastes are very traditional: salty bacon, moist beefy patty, fresh tomatoes, and sharp cheese, but they all harmonize well together. I especially liked the textural element of the crunchy onion strings against the softer elements within the burger.Very delicious, whether you're male or female.  

This beauty is the magic mushroom burger. The burger is incredibly creamy due to the boursin cheese and the sauteed onions, but the arugula cuts through all the richness with its bitter bite. A friend of mine ordered this burger, so I only got a couple of bites, but the outstanding flavor I got from the burger was cream. It was very rich and somewhat difficult to eat the amount of liquid runoff that came from the boursin cheese and the mushrooms made the bun incredibly soggy. Fork and knife definitely needed! 

However there is one grievance that the whole table had to share with Romer's. The fries. =( I can appreciate the fact that Romer's chefs hand cut and make the fries from fresh potatoes, but on that particular night the execution was a bit sloppy. As we had a six person party at the table, we all decided to order two types of fries: poutine and seasalt.

As a Californian, I have never tasted genuine poutine before. All the other guests at the table, native Canadians with poutine in their hearts, were really excited to introduce the Canadian delicacy to the boif and I. Even the waitress assured us that at Romer's they used real cheese curds to create authentic poutine. However, when the above dish was delivered to our table I think everyone was a bit disappointed. The fries were cold, the curds were not melted and the gravy was sparse. I think a friend of mine even remarked that when he bit into the cheese curds the center was still very cold. =( I'm still trying to find a "authentic poutine" place on the west coast. If anyone has any suggestions, please give a shout! I might just have to go to the Eastern side of Canada to finally figure out what's what. ><

As for the sea salt fries...they were just sub par. Two words I would use to describe them would simply be: cold and flaccid. Usually with "fresh" fries, unless you double fry them, are pretty soft. However, if they're delivered cold they just taste unappetizing and soggy. =(

All in all, I would definitely go back to Romer's for the burgers and I'm willing to give them a second try on the fries. =) I encourage you all to try them out! ^__^ Thanks for coming!

+ Love

Kid Friendly: Yes and No (They do offer a kids menu, but the choices and vibe makes the restaurant seem dedicated to more mature diners)
Price: $$$ out of $$$$$
Repeatability: Yes!


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Feb 11, 2013,
I went back recently for their lunch service and the burgers were a bit dry, while their new "chickpea pancake" wasn't very good at all. I posted a photo on instagram: here!

Red Onion Review

I have always been an omnivore. Being more fearless than my female classmates, I am not squeamish about handling raw chicken, beef, lamb, and really any sort of animal carcass. Gruesome I know, but I honestly enjoy helping my mom and dad out in the kitchen...and never really have had the urge to become a vegetarian.

At the grill.

This being said, a couple of weeks ago I was craving a good burger. You know the kind of burger that's juicy, savory, fresh, and tasty. Fortunately, my mom and dad were in the same meat eater mood that I was in. However, seeing that we had just moved to a new city we had no idea where to go to satiate our burger hunger. Fortunately, I remembered a friend mentioning that he loved the burgers at Red Onion and thus I suggested it to my family. At that, the three of us were off on our burger quest.

After an epic, epic ten minute drive, we arrived at our destination in the very late afternoon. I think there's a parking lot at the back, but we left Freddie, our prius, out on the curb.

Walking into Red Onion the decor and the ambiance strikes you as very casual. Definitely a jeans and t-shirt burger place, although some executives in suits do show up for lunch. ;) Don't let them scare you! Red onion is very kid friendly, and their menu is simple and sweet. They stick to the things they do best: burgers, hot dogs and fries. Vegetarians! Don't fret, they do have veg options in the form of salads, veggie burgers, and veggie hot dogs. The waitress will be more than happy to recommend you one of their dishes or help you out if you're in a taste dilemma.

Our waitress was always attentive and very friendly. She really made us feel at home at the Red Onion. So sweet! After perusing the menu, dad ordered a Red Onion Hamburger without cheese, mom ordered a Red Onion All Beef Kosher Style Dog, and I ordered a Red Onion Hamburger with cheddar cheese. Then because we're crazy, we all shared a basket of fries. Although they offer chili as a dish and have cheese, they do not make Chili Cheese Fries. I was sad.

The burgers and hot dogs came fairly quickly, and I think we were pleased with the results of our quest. The burger was juicy, the vegetables were fresh, and the bun was not overly processed. The burger comes with a never frozen patty (according to the menu), sautéed red onion, lettuce, tomato, and their own special mustard sauce. 

Sloppy. Just how I like it! 

However, I did make the mistake of wanting cheddar cheese on my burger instead of mozzarella...it ended up overpowering my burger. After a few bites I could no longer taste the amalgamated flavors that make burgers so lovely, instead it was just the sharp bite of the cheddar. My dad, who went cheese-less, thoroughly enjoyed his burger and was chowing down continuously throughout lunch. As a small side note to all you cheese lovers, they do charge $1.50 for the addition of cheese to anything. 

My mom loved her hot dog and finished it long before my dad and I finished off our burgers. In fairness to her, her hot dog was fairly smaller in size than our burgers. The hot dog was a char broiled kosher hot dog paired with lettuce, sautéed onions, tomatoes all snuggled in their specialty made hot dog bun. Very meaty and very satisfying. When I stole a bite from my mother's hot dog, there was that distinct crisp snap that comes with eating a delicious meaty, flavorful, savory, beefy hot dog.

The fries were...unmemorable to me. I'm not a soggy fries sort of gal, and these fries were were not as crispy as I would have liked. However, I take my hat off to the Red Onion because they hand cut their French fries and make them fresh to order. 

Definitely a repeatable meal and lovely restaurant. Since it's so close to home for me I feel that my family will be coming here more often...if we're ever in that burger craving mood again. We were all perfected sated by the end of the meal and our meat cravings vanquished! The restaurant even gave a us a complimentary red onion with our check, very cute! However, during a lunch service for three people the check totaled to was a little above $40 dollars. A bit of a shock if I remember.

I still encourage you all to give Red Onion a try! It was enough to sate our burger craving, but we're still on a quest for a burger that knocks all the other burgers out of the park. However, for now, I think we're sated with the Red Onion.

Thanks for Coming!
Price: $$$
Kid Friendly: Yes
Repeatability: Yes


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