Burger Revolution - Round 1

Anyone who knows me is well aware that I don't have much good to say about the town I grew up in. Belleville, Ontario. It's small, there's not much to do, there's only 1 or 2 degrees of separation between anyone. Off the highway and surrounded by farm towns with three big hardware stores within 2km of each other - I kid you not. One of those kinds of places. Naturally, in the four years since I moved away, things have been built up and there's a few more things of interest (okay, there's this one thing and there's been talk about a Costco since I was in high school). It's still the same old nothing town, but it's starting to look a little nicer in parts and have better food.

On the food note, back in April (though I didn't learn about it until a couple weeks ago), Belleville got it's first bona fide burger joint, Burger Revolution. Holy hell is it ever good.

Not only is it aesthetically pleasing and they rock good tunes, but the burgers. Oh my god the burgers. Granted, I've only had the one so far, but it was godlike. I went there for breakfast (at 1pm) yesterday before heading back to Toronto after the joys of Thanksgiving weekend, got me The Propaganda, and split the Amnesty poutine with my mom.

This feat of gloriousness has caramelized onions, smoked cheese curds, bbq sauce, and deep fried pickle slices on a pretzel bun. The beef, produce, and cheese are all fresh and local - the benefit of being in such a random location, farms of every kind you could want are not hard to come by. Everything about this burger was phenomenal, and I probably could've just eaten the batter on the pickles and been content with that. On account of it being breakfast for me (it's usually at least 4 hours after waking up before I eat, this was only 2), and my not usually being able to eat large portions until evening (my body is weird), I didn't finish the last couple bites. These burgers are huge.

Having the poutine between me and my mom is the main reason I neglected to completely finish my burger. This thing was amazing. The Amnesty has bacon and pulled pork on top of the obvious curds, gravy, and fries. I've had poutine in several ways, including this choice of toppings at Smoke's here in Toronto, but this may be at the top of the list right now. BR's fries are fantastic to begin with, but when you put everything else on top of them... Holy hell. I don't know for sure if it was the pulled pork or the bacon (or maybe it was both), but something in the mix tasted exactly like hickory sticks. Such an incredibly amazing combination of sweet delicious meats on taters with cheese and gravy... What more could you ask for? Despite teaming up on nomming this, we didn't manage to finish it either. However, even after a two hour drive, another few hours in a fridge and a few minutes in the microwave, this thing was still delicious.

The goal is now to try everything on the menu, which should be interesting and a bit of a challenge at times given I don't particularly like blue or goat cheeses, and I can't handle spicy all that well, but oh well! Doesn't count as trying the menu if you ask them to alter it.

If you're ever in or driving past Belleville, I highly suggest stopping in at Burger Revolution. It's pretty easy to get to, just take the 543 exit (if you're on the 401) and shoot down North Front St. They're right beside Burger King, but don't give in to the cheap and quick of that place. Spend the extra couple bucks and wait for a bit to get an actual decent burger.

Burger Revolution's website.
Burger Revolution on facebook.