Burger Review #8: Hero Burger

Photo by Andrew Hockridge

Date visited: February 3, 2015  
Location: Sherway Gardens (Permanently Closed)
BurgerTours Rating: 5.3/10

Taste	Messiness	Price	Venue	Pluses
Good	Some Drip	$6-$10	Fast Food	Veggie, Gluten Free

Website

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Drew's Review

The Heavy Hitter/Photo by Andrew Hockridge

Hero Burgers is a fairly popular fast food burger chain with several locations across Canada. It offers all kinds of creations from its self-titled “Hero Signature burger” to the “Blue Moon”, which is a combination of blue cheese and mushrooms. Some of their creations are quite far-fetched and some may even get you to believe Hero Burgers was a gourmet-type burger joint. Well, you my friend are wrong. Hero Burgers’ burgers are huge; massive, even. Their burgers aren’t just for the weak of heart. And after coming to the conclusion that I probably wasn’t going to be able to eat for a week after consuming a Hero Burger, I decided to say goodbye to my liver and indulge.

Mark and I were on a shopping trip out in the west end and we travelled to Sherway Gardens for the day. Once we got there, we took a look at the food court and found Hero Burgers, nestled in the corner and attracting our eyes, our stomachs and our wallets. We made it an exception so that this was going to be the only fast food burger joint we review – for now. And that’s not to say fast food joints don’t offer quality burgers, it’s just that we rather give someone’s local business a shout out rather than a well-known commercialized burger chain.

So as soon as we saw Hero Burgers’ logo, we headed over and stood, looking at the menu, reading over what sounded appealing and what inexplicably gross. For me, I don’t understand the whole eggs-on-burgers deal and am usually turned off every time I walk by a Hero Burgers location and I see the Egg Burger on a huge poster in the window. Let’s keep eggs separate from burgers, please? Anyways, I got the Heavy Hitter, because you’re either going to go big or go home. I got a side order of fries and a chocolate milkshake, just to shake it up a little.

Within minutes, our orders were ready. I unwrapped the foil on my burger and the Heavy Hitter was more like a Designated Hitter; huge and ready to hit it out of the ballpark. This was it. This was going to go down in burger history, I thought, as the best fast-food chain burger I could eat. I took my first bite, and my taste buds went haywire. A couple of more bites and I was already feeling stuffed. The onions and tomatoes, along with the melted cheese form a type of combination that most burger joints tend to overlook. But it was a taste I’ll remember for the future to try and avoid. It was also topped with a sesame/poppy seed bun and filled with the signature Hero Burger sauce. All of which giving me one colossus mess called a burger.

Overall, I admire what Hero Burgers offers and enjoy all their remarkable creations, but if I had to measure it on taste, it lacks what other competitors provide. It may be the structure of the burger, or the general taste of the meat, but the Heavy Hitter didn’t really hit home for me. And that’s just my opinion. We really didn’t think Hero Burgers would make it into our BurgerTour burger review but it is after all a burger joint and we are after all a burger blog, so what the hell. If it is after all just a juicy, meat-filled burger, with loads of toppings, and are willing to give up quality over taste, you found the right place. Just remember to bring a big appetite.

4.6/10

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Mark's Review

This visit to Hero Burger was not planned. It was rather...a spontaneous decision. Travelling all the way to Sherway Gardens in Mississauga from the east end got us a little peckish for food, so we decided to head straight to the food court. I was planning on just getting a Big Mac combo from McDonald’s until we saw Hero Burger right above us going up the stairs. And then we said, “What the heck”.

This was my second visit to Hero Burger. I think the last time was four years ago when they opened a franchise at UofT Scarborough. It was a little pricey for me at the time, but now that it’s 2015, and seeing that Andrew has never eaten at Hero Burger, I found this to be the right opportunity. 

We were probably standing round, staring at the menu board for over five minutes that the person waiting to take our order got tired and went to the back. Our bad. But he came back out almost immediately when we were ready to place our order. I got the Turkey Burger combo. It was an additional $3.90 which included a side of Ultimate Fries, and your choice of fountain drink. You also have a choice of toppings and sauces at no extra charge. I topped off my burger with ketchup, sliced pickles, relish, tomato, and honey Dijon. 

Taking my first bite I was fairly disappointed that it lacked a depth of flavour. The Turkey patty was good, but not what I was expecting. I found that it wasn’t properly seasoned. The toppings that I added on top did help give it some kick, but the honey Dijon sort of overpowered the flavours of the burger as a whole. 

It was a satisfying taste, overall, but was not up to par from other burger joints we’ve visited. Even though my first experience at Hero Burger a while back was quite decent, it’s not a place that I would often go to grab a burger. But if I were stuck in a food court and saw Hero Burger in the corner of my eye then you may just find me waiting in line.

6.0/10