Location: 821 The Queensway, Etobicoke
Website: https://elijahsautomatic.com/
I was actually quite excited to try Elijah’s Automatic, the newest venture from Shant Mardirosian of Burger’s Priest fame. It’s been a while, but when Burger’s Priest first opened and had just the one location on the east end, it was something special. Their burgers were upsettingly good. Basically perfect. That’s not to mention the fact that they pretty much single-handedly ushered in the smashed burger trend that swept through the GTA over the last decade or so.
A new burger place from the brains behind that operation? Yeah, that’s exciting.
Smartly, Elijah’s Automatic isn’t making the griddled burgers you can get at roughly a billion other burger joints in the city; they’re grilling them. It’s kinda funny that, pre-Burger’s Priest, it was hard to find a non-fast-food burger that wasn’t grilled. Now it seems like a delightful change of pace.
I ordered the Automatic with Cheese (“Two flame broiled beef patties with cheddar cheese, pickle, charred onion, mustard and ketchup”) and the beef fat fries.
It’s a solid burger. And when they say it’s grilled, it’s grilled. The smoky, charred flavour is actually a bit overwhelming. I think this style of burger might be better suited to one big patty rather than two smaller ones, which would provide a better balance between the flavour of the beef and the flavour from the grill.
It’s a shame; this article says they’re using dry-aged ribeye fat to give the burgers more flavour, but you’d never know. All you can taste is the grill.
That’s not an unsatisfying flavour, of course. I enjoyed it. My burger blog is basically defunct at this point, but if I were reviewing this there, I’d give it a solid three out of four. It’s slightly on the dry side and probably a bit too finely ground, but it’s quite pleasant. It’s more along the lines of a fast food burger on a good day than something you should go out of your way for, but it’s a tasty burger.
As for the fries, they’re battered, which isn’t my favourite style of fry, but for what they are, they’re very good.
Michael Eats 