Elgin’s Backyard Burgers — Restaurant in St. Thomas

Tucked in the far corner of a tiny food court in a small-town mall is a pleasant surprise for your palate - one of the tastiest burgers in Southern Ontario.

I waived the mustard and ketchup to better evaluate the burger patty, and I didn't regret it. The meat is local ground chuck; it's beefy in the old sense of the word - meaty, richly flavoured, full of the savoury umami taste you never expect to find outside of your own backyard grill. You can customize the rest of the burger - I chose purple onions, a scatter of chopped lettuce, and a scoop of fresh bruschetta (amazing) - to your liking.

Whichever burger set you choose comes with your option of fries or rings. I had the kid's House Burger and went with the rings, which were real onion with a good batter. I do prefer them a little crispier, but that's a personal texture thing...you won't find anything to complain of as far as the flavor goes! My quick photo doesn't do the meal justice, because I wanted to start eating before anything got cold :)

The customer ahead of me ordered the Taters N Cream, and upon hearing the description I was convinced to add it to my order. I regretted it only because I could have made a meal out of that alone! Fresh fries loaded with sour cream, grated cheese, real bacon bits, and chopped green onions easily rival NYF. Scrumptious and generous.

Atmosphere gets 3/5 stars because, let's face it, it's a mall food court. This business deserves a more prominent location with comfortable chairs and real plates. As for the woman behind the counter, she gets 5 stars from me: outgoing, clear, friendly, knowledgeable about her food, and on a first-name basis with the locals also ordering.

If you're over forty and food doesn't taste as good as it used to, try a Backyard Burger and refresh your memories. If you're a young adult who grew up on fast-food, go make your tastebuds happy. Skip the yellow arches and enjoy a...

Gluten free bun option was available and the lady who served us was very clear about the possibility of cross contamination in the frier sharing onions rings with the fries and im very grateful for that. But we ate it anyways and we didnt get "glutened". I think its because the oil is kept clean, the fries were perfectly crispy and the oil didnt taste old or stale at all. Aside from that the burgers were phenominal, the brushetta as a topping option was a pleasent surprize and tasted freshly made too. Everything looked and tasted fresh honestly. Will definatly make note of stopping here whenever we are...

I arrived 10 minutes before they were closing and asked if I was too late.. the really nice lady working at the front was amazing and said they were still open and could feed me! She was so nice and had a big smile on her face- after a long day we all know that’s tough to do so I want to thank her for being a good human! I ordered a cheese burger that they dressed how I like it and the fries which were like chip truck fries but better! The food was REALLY good and the service made it even that much better! When I’m back in St. Thomas I’ll definitely stop by again, a little earlier...