Mrs. Mike's, Winnipeg - A One Man Food Fight

The King Burger, not related to Burger King

Burgers can be found in pretty much any town, anywhere in the world. I have tried all kinds, from your basic, terrible fast food style, all the way up to some very expensive, premium burgers from places that maybe take themselves a little too seriously. It's the flavour, price and presentation variation from one location to another which keeps the burger concept interesting. So when I found out that Winnipeg, Manitoba is the home of the 'Fatboy Burger', I had to see for myself how this little city had made it's mark in burger history.

A fatboy burger consists of one or more meat patties, long slices of pickle, chilli, lots of mayo and salad, all squeezed into a burger designed to be too large to actually fit into your mouth properly, without squeezing, dismantling, or othewise making a huge mess. That's right, these things are specifically intended to be messy when eaten. Considering I usually end up filthy after a meal anyway, I thought this would be my chance to fit in with the other patrons for once.


And so after a little research, we honed in on Mrs. Mike's, one of Winnipeg's most famous purveyors of the fatboy. Open since 1969, and recently named in a list of Canada's top 8 burger joints, we approached with some reasonably high expectations. Located in a small, freestanding weatherboard shack next to a carpark, it became clear that the great reputation didn't come from any superficial bells or whistles.

We ordered The Kingburger, a chili burger and some fries with chili as well. We took a seat at the stained and sagging wooden picnic tables arranged and chained up along the side wall. There was a quaint, minimalist vibe to the place, but before we had time to admire the alfresco atmosphere any further, our meal was ready.

What a sight. The kingburger sat there in all it's lazy glory, buns yawning open to reveal the thick beef patties and copious quantities of sauce and salad. I knew it would be a challenge to eat the thing, but approached it with the same abandon as a child fingerpainting or playing in the mud. I knew my table and shirt were about to become a disaster zone, so I made peace with that fact and dived in. The meat was very, very good by burger standards. It was thick, charred a little on the outside and very juicy all the way through. It helped that the patties were swimming a small ocean of sauce soaked salad. Between the decent beef patties and the flavourful chili it all tasted a little like a hearty meatloaf. I mean, there was just so much meat.

The V.J. Special, from V.J.'s Drive Inn.

And then the mess started. By way of controlling the gravity and slipperiness of the filling, the buns were about as useful as a riot cop armed with a feather duster. It didn't take long for the sauce to infiltrate the bun, and then dissolve it altogether, merging it with the rest of the burger to create some kind of beef based amoeba blob. Despite the horrible description, it was very tasty throughout the entire ordeal. It wasn't the best burger in the world, but it was a damn fine dish in it's own respect. I thought a burger with that much meat needed cheese, and the salad could have been a little fresher.
Later during my time in Winnipeg I discovered another little drive in diner called V.J.'s Drive Inn, which served a similar fatboy burger with cheese and slightly better salad. Both burgers were great, but I'm a sucker for cheese, so personally I preferred the V.J. Special to the Kingburger from Mrs. Mike's.

This is a chili burger... apparently.

Ahh, THERE it is!

But that's not the whole story. Next up was the chili burger. I don't know what you might picture when you think of a chili burger, but I guarantee you don't visualize the meaty mass I was presented with. Mrs. Mike's take a simple enough burger consisting of a thick patty and pickles on a bun, and forcibly jam it down into a takeaway bucket barely large enough to contain it. Then comes the chili, poured into the bucket, right on top of the burger, creating something that looks like a thick soup with a fork stuck into it. The chili slowly melted away at the submerged buns, which could then be dredged from the bucket and enjoyed. The patty was a little more difficult to prize from the package, but considering I was already wearing half a king burger I reasoned that I was already a mess anyway, so what did I have left to lose? It was a sloppy, salty, spicy few minutes before our forks hit the bottom of the tub.

By then my shirt looked like Uma Thurman's jumpsuit from Kill Bill; desperately in need of a washroom. Unfortunately there are no washrooms at Mrs. Mike's, so we had to make do with the dry napkins, which didn't do much to remove the red stains from underneath our fingernails or faces.

Delicious. I'd give that burger a Crazy 88 out of 100.

Lastly were the chili fries, served the same way as their chilli burger brother - Just a pile of fries in a tub, immersed in the boiling hot liquid chili. The fries were the standard frozen shoestring kind, and nothing more than a carbo-licious vehicle for the chili, which we knew by then was just lovely.

RECOMMENDED

 Mrs. Mike's are doing some good work in Winnipeg. They are boldly preparing something as enormous as the King burger or as bizarre as the chili burger, and have been doing so for almost 50 years. Daring to be different, and staying different earns them high praise in my book. I suggest that anyone passing through or living in Winnipeg should track down this humble little red shack, and try a burger unlike anything you've had before. Just be sure to wear old clothes so you are ready for the food stains.


The bill (for 2):
1 x King Burger - CA$7.50
1 x Chili Burger - CA$6.75
1 x Fries & Chili - CA$5.75
2 x Cans of Soft Drink - CA$3.20
TOTAL: CA$23.20 (Approx. US$22.50)

Restaurant address: 286 Tache Ave Winnipeg, MB R2H 2A2
Website: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mrs-Mikes/165786516814009

for exact locations of all reviewed restaurants, take a look at our map.