Natural Born Grillers named best burger place in the Limestone Coast

A burger joint serving up Aussie comfort food chucked in a bun has been named the Limestone Coast’s best. See what they’re grillin’ and the top five.

The menu of Mount Gambier’s favourite burger bar is packed with Australian classics chucked in a bun with a punny side of 80s and 90s pop culture.

After many years as a chef, Ben Hull wanted to give it a crack for himself opening the region’s first dedicated burger joint and now it’s been named best in the Limestone Coast.

Everything on the Natural Born Grillers’ menu has a quirky twist.

“It’s comfort food isn’t it really, and in a place that’s cold and wet for nine months a year, comfort food’s definitely popular,” Mr Hull said.

Natural Born Grillers owner and chef Ben Hull. Picture: Natural Born Grillers

“Things that you wouldn’t normally think would be in a burger we like to chuck it in a burger and see how it goes.

“We’ve done weird things like you know the parmi burger, butter chicken, something that everyone grew up eating butter chicken out of the Chicken Tonight jar and it was so popular.”

The joint takes it’s name from an 1980s Woody Harrelson film which Mr Hull describes as “pretty messed up but regardless it’s a cinematic masterpiece” and it’s location on Compton Street references the rap scene of the same era.

With burgers named Piggy Smalls, Julius Caesar and Deuce Pigalow, Mr Hull said the hardest thing was coming up with a creative play on words every week.

“It’s kind of kitschy and cringe but in a cool way,” he said.

The Paul Kelly special made the gravy with fried chicken and a potato cake. Picture: Natural Born Grillers

Natural Born Grillers celebrated the opening of Mount Gambier's Krispy Kreme factory with Krispy Dreme. Picture: Natural Born Grillers

“We’ve been here for three years and we’ve had a different special consecutively without missing out every single week, so you know that’s 160-odd different specials.

“So there’s 160 weird cringey names so I’m kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel.”

Mr Hull isn’t afraid to dally in current affairs and politics – the Lying Lockdown Pizza Burger – was a huge hit when the state emerged from Circuit Breaker.

“Clive Palmer is always in the news for the wrong reasons and when that parma for a farmer came about as a bit of an up yours to Clive Palmer with what he’s doing with if agriculture and infrastructure in Queensland, we had a we had a chicken parmi burger and called it the Clive Palmer,” he said.

The Lying Lockdown Pizza Burger had mozzarella, bacon, napoli sauce in a bacon and cheese roll. Picture: Natural Born Grillers.

Natural Born Grillers marked Australia Day with a Dame Edna – all the Aussie burger toppings in a ScRoll Queen Vegemite ScRoll. Picture: Natural Born Grillers

“It was hilarious because he didn’t really get that we were hanging the proverbial on him, and he actually from his social team got ahold of it and shared it on social media and it was weird.”

Mr Hull said the local response to Natural Born Grillers was humbling and overwhelming.

“The first 12 months were ridiculous and then the second 12 months were great, we kept growing and evolving as a business,” he said.

“Then Covid hit and we we’re just so lucky that our business was set up that kind of vibe already with takeaway and delivery and we just went crazy, it was really busy period.”

TOP FIVE LIMESTONE COAST BURGERS

1. Natural Born Grillers, Mount Gambier

2. The Burger Co, Robe

3. Edna’s Fish & Chip Takeaway, Southend

4. Nelson Kiosk & LPO, Nelson

5. Presto Eatery, Mount Gambier