Hello fellow food lovers, I’d like to begin my next restaurant review with an ode to a classic, a North American favourite — nay, a staple — an icon of deliciousness. The hamburger. I love me a good hamburger, but there’s one thing I’ve never understood.

How can hamburgers be so wonderful and meatloaf be so … not? I mean they’re basically made with the same ingredients, are they not? It may be that I am biased against meatloaf, having had to eat my Mum’s which was imbedded with thick chunks of onion and covered in a heavy ketchup membrane. (Sorry Mum, I love you so much!)

My Mum could make many delicious dishes, with the exception of meatloaf. (Again, Mum I love you very much!) Nevertheless, a hamburger will always triumph over even the best meatloaf, in my opinion.

So today I was craving a burger, rather persistently in fact. At times I’ll admit I can be a path-of-least-resistance eater, so I’ll head to one fast-food joint or another. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but as I drove past each place without pulling in, I realized that a persistent burger craving requires a special burger.

I headed Kingsville-way to a place which Steve had previously pointed out that he’d like to try. Eat ‘Em Up Earl’s.

I found a parking spot right out front, which I interpreted as a good sign. I ordered in person and waited a brief 10 minutes for my food. The menu was almost exclusively burgers and fries, which surprised me a bit as you can quite literally get a burger anywhere. My curiosity was piqued. I started to suspect that this place could have some game.

I spent about $25 and ordered two cheeseburgers with customized toppings and a big ol’ poutine. You can spend more than that for fast food these days, so a fair priced, locally sourced, hormone-free burger ?! I’m all about it.

I couldn’t wait to get back home to eat with Steve, so I cranked the heat in my car (to keep the food warm) then opened my windows (to keep me cool) and sped home — of course driving the speed limit the whole way.

We got two good-sized cheeseburgers, one with Earl’s Burger Sauce, and one with garlic aioli, as the predominant sauces. I so appreciated the burger-to-topping-to-bun ratio, which for me, was exact.

The buns were fresh and soft like we all love, but the beef — oh, the beef! It was absolutely delicious. We took turns taking bites of each burger until they were gone. In fact we ate them standing up — so distracted were we by the deliciousness of the beef, it didn’t occur to us to sit down.

We then turned our attention to the poutine which was amply endowed with melting cheese curds and homemade gravy.

In a word, divine.

Well played Earl, you do indeed have game!

Overall, the burgers were awesome. Again, in case you missed it, super tasty beef, and more than a fair price. Thank you Eat ‘Em Up Earl’s in Kingsville for elevating a classic old favourite, without gouging my pocketbook.

Perhaps some day soon you will have a persistent burger craving. One that can only be sated by a special burger. In that event, I’d head to Eat ‘Em Up Earl’s.

Eat ‘Em Up Earl’s Address
7 Main Street East
Kingsville
Ontario
N9Y 1A1

Phone
(519) 733-6996

Website
Eat ‘Em Up Earl’s

Email
info@eatemupearls.com

Facebook
Eat ‘Em Up Earl’s

Instagram
eatemupearls

Photo credit: Jolene Carley and Steve’s hand