1210 Peel
Montreal, Quebec
Metro: Bonaventure, Peel
Train: Gare Centrale, Lucien L’Allier
Bus: STM 15, 24, 36, 74, 75, 107, 150, 178, 410, 420, 427, 430, 435, 715, 747, AMT Terminus Centre-ville
Visit: May 24, 2012
http://www.mcleanspub.com/
Ask anyone who has been around for a long time, it’s not easy. To gain any kind of longevity, you have to be doing something right. In Montreal, there are those iconic places that you can easily rattle off the top of your head. For the last 20 years, one of those places was McLean’s Pub.
576 Victoria
St-Lambert, Quebec
Train: St-Lambert
Bus: RTL 1, 6, 55, 106
Visit: May 17, 2012
http://www.restaurantkapetan.com/
For the second burger in a row, I find myself in the South Shore of Montreal. Like many of the places I’ve been doing on my native shore, they all hold some semblance of nostalgia for me. This particular stretch of Victoria, in the downtown core of St-Lambert, is where all the town’s activity takes place. For me, it’s a street that’s been part of my morning commute during my 2 years in cegep. Over that time, little did I know that there was a restaurant, one called Kapetan.
9395 Leduc, suite 5
Brossard, Quebec
Bus: RTL 14, 35, 135
Visit: May 10, 2012
http://laurochs.com/
One of the most important things for me in this Burger Search is trying to find places close to home. The South Shore of Montreal doesn’t quite have the quality, signature places that the island does. It might be the case when it comes to restaurants, but when it comes to shopping, that’s a whole other story. Quartier Dix30 opened back in 2006. Since then, it has grown exponentially and has become the face of Brossard. What’s the most important commercial sector of Brossard without the possibility of a burger? That’s what I wanted to find out.
6795 Jarry E.
Montreal, Quebec
Bus: STM 33, 44, 193
Visit: May 1, 2012
http://www.hawgsdeli.com/
The one thing I’ve stated time and time again was my disappointment with potential Burger Search locations in the eastern part of the island of Montreal. After 142 burgers, I’ve only really found 1 real burger that was worthy enough to join all the others that came before it. The burger at Hawgs Deli was another attempt to find a place in the east that would be worth the long trek. Hawgs has a lot going against it, but it does have a lot helping it as well.
As time progresses, things keep on moving. That can’t be more true for the Great Burger Search. April 2012 saw the first ever vegan burger attempt by yours truly. While it did leave me wanting more, it did open the door to other non-beef burgers. So, in a little bit of an announcement for the start of Season 4, you’ll see the following: for burgers 160, 170, 180, and 190, they’ll be of the non-traditional variety (veggie, fish, chicken, and mini-burgers).
1196 Peel
Montreal, Quebec
Metro: Bonaventure, Peel
Train: Gare Centrale, Lucien L’Allier
Bus: STM 15, 24, 36, 74, 75, 107, 150, 178, 410, 420, 427, 430, 435, 715, 747, AMT Terminus Centre-ville
Visit: April 17, 2012
http://www.peelpubmontreal.com/
Downtown Montreal has a lot to choose from. If you’re anything like me, the sheer amount of choices will leave you for a tizzy. Despite that, for no matter what you’re craving, there’s something for you. One of the central parts of the downtown core is Peel, a street that can probably lay claim to the busiest pedestrian intersections in the entire city of Montreal. Just as busy as it can be walking-wise, you’ll find an also crowded restaurant scene.
286 Notre-Dame O.
Montreal, Quebec
Metro: Square-Victoria, Place d’Armes
Bus: STM 14, 36, 55, 61, 75, 129, 168, 715
Visit: April 3, 2012
When I see other blogs and media outlets over-hyping a restaurant, I tend to stay away. For me, it’s more a case of not getting lost in the many voices all saying the same thing. That’s the case with this restaurant. Lately, nearly everyone has been talking or featuring Le Gros Jambon. I wasn’t about to get lost in that shuffle, but something powerful drew me in. You know me by now, if there’s something really worth trying, I just had to be there.
March was a really huge month for Mr. Lew’s Great Burger Search. As they say, actions speak louder than words and that’s exactly what I set out to do. The first thing that was done was the complete overhaul of what the GBS used to look like and what it looks like now. I’ll admit, the first design was out of convenience. The design I chose met all the needs of the GBS going forward. Even though all I had to do was choose a new theme, it wasn’t an easy process, as it took me hours to do. Tweaking it wasn’t any easier. So, I hope you like the way the blog looks like now, because I won’t be changing it for a long time to come.
I’m looking to revamp the ‘About Mr. Lew’ link on the blog and for that, I am looking for questions to answer. I’m not sure if I’m just going to have a FAQ page or something else. I have a few other ideas that include:
1. Question of the Week
2. 5 Questions
So, your input is always important for me. You can send me questions at all times at mr.lew@hotmail.com or you can click the Burger Questions/Feedback link at the top of this page.
Now that I’ve redone the look of the blog and acquired the domain address, you can always suggest new features that you’d like to see.
Burgers are for everyone. Thank you.
-Mr. Lew
901 Jean-Talon O.
Montreal, Quebec
Train: Parc
Metro: Parc, Acadie
Bus: STM 16, 80, 92, 93, 179, 435, 935
Visit: March 22, 2012
Say what you want about Parc-Extension, but there’s one thing you can’t really deny, there are a lot of restaurants. They may range in quality, but you have quite the choice. It isn’t all just centered in one main style of cuisine, but in many various different types. For my purposes, I like to find burgers in as many different areas as I can. This particular stretch of Jean-Talon gave me another meaningful addition to my culinary resume.
2525 de Salaberry
Montreal, Quebec
Bus: STM 164, 180
Visit: March 21, 2012
Do you ever have those days where you’re 100% sure of exactly what will happen? Well, on this day, I thought it would be a day like any other. I brought my normal lunch to my place of employment and enjoyed it like I normally do. It was about an hour after that where I was about to be shown that the Great Burger Search can happen at any time during my normal hum drum day.
3237 Des Sources
Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Quebec
Bus: STM 208, 209, 215, 225, 409, 475
Visit: March 15, 2012
http://www.delfriscos.ca/
In the last few weeks, I’ve been thinking how I haven’t had much pizza in 2012 or even in the latter half of 2011. Growing up, pizza has been just an important part of my childhood, just as the ever popular burger. The fact that I’ve been doing things lately that have tapped into my past has propelled me in the thinking that pizza must be something that I had to eat soon. When the opportunity came up and the stars aligned on this nice March evening, I couldn’t pass up the chance to go out west to D.D.O. and have Del Friscos’ pizza.
6202 Chemin de Chambly
St-Hubert, Quebec
Bus: RTL 5, 9, 42, 50, 60, 88, 142, T20
Visit: March 6, 2012
http://www.jay-cs.com/
Lately, I’ve been going around and covering a lot of locations that had a place in my past. This place is no different. On a day where I had to run many errands, this fit perfectly in my plans. Plus, it’s really nice to not have to leave the South Shore to have a burger, for once. Jay C’s is located deep in St-Hubert, on the cusp of commercial territory and a highly residential neighborhood. Much more than being close to home for me, it’s also closer to another point in Mr. Lew’s past.
The second month of the year brought a really big change to Mr. Lew’s Great Burger Search. In the first of my three major projects, I finally got a hold on a proper website address. Instead of having to remember the whole Tumblr URL, you only have to remember one simple name. www.mrlewburger.com That address was chosen because it matches my Twitter handle and seemed like the easiest to remember. I think we all know what the second major blog project I have is, but that won’t come until well into 2012. So, I’m sorry for those of you who despise the color orange, you’ll have to tough it out for a little while longer.
UPDATE: The last few lines of the introduction are no longer valid because as of March 3rd, the design of the blog has changed, thus putting an end to the second major project for the Great Burger Search.
Once again, for the second time in 2012, I bring to you a short recap of my February:
1. Atlas Pizza
The first burger of the month was held at a place where you wouldn’t normally think did burgers. What really surprised me the most was that the burger was comparable to a lot of the better ones I had in recent times. That’s something you wouldn’t expect out of a place that has the word ‘pizza’ in its name.
1378 Notre-Dame O.
Montreal, Quebec
Metro: Lucien-L’Allier
Bus: STM 36, 57, 107, 178, 410, 420, 430, 715
Visit: February 29, 2012
http://griffintowncafe.com/
You’ve probably heard of my latest location a lot in the last few months and years. The Griffintown is one of those Montreal brunch hot-spots that people just flock to get into. I, on the other hand, have other very valid reasons to show up to the Griffintown Cafe. This place has been on my radar ever since I started my Burger Search. I’ve been waiting for the right moment and on this 2012 edition of Leap Day, it has finally arrived.
