On It Burgers takes out the title for Australia’s favourite summer restaurant
There’s a reason why this classic burger joint has been crowned Australia’s most popular eatery — and it’s all in the buns.
Nothing like a tasty, oversized burger oozing with American cheese — and it’s even better when you don’t have to get off your couch to try one.
That’s what makes this classic roadside burger joint, On It Burgers in “Little Saigon” so popular, it’s just nabbed the title as Australia’s favourite summer restaurant.
Known for its unique, oversized burger offering including black, squid ink buns, On it Burgers pumps out about 350 to 400 of its 13 different burgers a week — and all of that’s from online orders alone.
Back in 2017, it won Menulog’s Best Burgers category nationally — and this year they’ve taken out the most popular eatery in their biannual Summer Restaurant Awards series.
It was based on order numbers, ratings and customer satisfaction.
General manager Adam Manks told news.com.au that given the massive competition for burger eateries, this win came as a huge surprise.
“Yes, were very shocked. There’s just so much competition — we have gone from 45 competitors in our trade area to more than 100 in our small 9km radius since we launched in 2016,” Mr Manks said.
The store, which is located in an old KFC site, was set up as a pilot in January 2015.
It was no doubt an ambitious project to launch a gourmet American-style burger joint in one of the city’s most saturated burger areas — but, the risk has clearly paid off.
Mr Manks said customers particularly appreciate the freshness of the burgers, which are even delivered hot to peoples’ homes.
He said everything is made in-house from their sauces, shakes, fries and buns.
And they even go as far as deep-frying 1000 onion rings a week.
“We take extra pride using premium ingredients with 100 per cent grain fed beef,” Mr Manks said.
Due to its rapid success, they were forced to add delivery with Menulog when they launched four years ago and have also had to add a drive-through purely to keep up with delivery demands.
“In times when it’s really busy, I would jump in a car and personally do the deliveries,” Mr Manks said.
“Not that we don’t make mistakes, but it’s that we try and go above and beyond to rectify any mistakes we do make, that I believe our customers appreciate.”
Out of their 13 gourmet American-inspired burgers — with some smoky and some spicy — Mr Manks said their most popular is the signature On it Burger — made with their housemate smoky sauce, grass fed prime beef, American cheese lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and onion.
But when it comes to the instagramable items, it’s their unique and colourful milkshake offering — and of course, their squid ink burger — with a handcrumbed free range chicken fillet.
“Customers also love our flavoured fries from housemate barbecue, truffle and parmesan and rosemary and thyme,” Mr Manks said.
Some of their other customer favourites include the Bacon Jammy burger with slathers of bacon jam, to the Chilli Cheese burger with melted cheddar and hot chips to the vegetarian Fun G burger, with panko crusted cheese filled Portobello mushroom.
With the likes of Truffled Parmesan and Devil’s Dust as add-ons, On It Burgers has continued to become a hot spot for Melburnian foodies.
It’s is located at 930 Burwood Hwy, Ferntree Gully in Melbourne.
TRENDS
This season, Menulog looked at top trending dishes to reveal the most popular across Australia. From Summer Coolers to Sausage Rolls, these restaurants took out the top spot when it came to favourite summer feeds:
- The Best Late-Night Kebab — Middle Eastern restaurant, Bentleigh Kebabs in Bentleigh, Melbourne
- The Best Summer Cooler — Local ice-creamery Cold Rock, in Lilydale, Victoria
- The Best Dumplings — Surprisingly a local Fish and Chip store in South Melbourne, McIvor Road Fish & Chips
- The Best Bowl — Japanese restaurant, Salon De Sushi in South Melbourne, particularly known for their Poke Chirashi Bowl
- Sausage Roll — Local cafe, Tally Kitchen based in South Melbourne
- The Best Vegan Dish — Vegan restaurant, Loving Hut based in Northcote, Melbourne
- The Best Meal Deal — Renowned pizza joint, Manoosh Pizzeria, Enmore, Sydney