The Reeb House Burger Review – Port Colborne, ON
The Reeb House Burger Review – Port Colborne, ON
The Reeb House on Highway 3 in Port Colborne is a local staple, known for beach volleyball, cold beer and great wings. Lots of people told me to try the burger, so I did. The Gold Medal Burger scored a 5.2, landing at #129 out of 140 on my Gold Medal Burger rankings.
My order
A hamburger with lettuce, onion and pickle only, for $12.42. It came in something new for the quest: a little pizza box. Interesting packaging.
What's inside
A big patty that looked homemade at first glance, diced onions in all different shapes and sizes, and a pickle spear. Right away I flagged the pickle distribution, since a spear doesn't spread across the burger. The bun was a toasted sesame seed bun, which Robyn and I pegged as a grocery store bun. Then my call on the patty: backyard burger. One bite, everybody knows the rules.
First bite
It's not bad. But a backyard burger is a backyard burger, and I hadn't even gotten close to the pickle spear yet. So I took a timeout to talk to all of you directly. Every day I get somewhere between five and fifty messages telling me where to go for burgers, and the Reeb House came up a lot. My request: only recommend a place if you yourself have had a Gold Medal Burger there. Not the bacon double cheeseburger with Monterey Jack and special sauce. The plain burger with lettuce, onion and pickle, because that's what tells you what's really going on.
The breakdown
- Bun: Toasted sesame seed, grocery store style.
- Patty: Big, but a backyard burger, the kind you could make at home.
- Onions: Diced in random shapes and sizes.
- Pickle: A single spear, which means poor pickle distribution.
- Value: $12.42, fair for a pub but not for a backyard patty.
My verdict
When I drive by the Reeb House, I think cold beers and chicken wings, and that's still the right call. I'm thrilled they rebuilt after the fire years ago, and I love the spot, including the giant beer glass art out front. But the Gold Medal Burger is a backyard patty with a pickle spear on a grocery store bun. Load it with toppings and you might make some happenings. Strip it down and it's a 5.2. Great spot, great beer, great wings. Burger, not so much.
Find The Reeb House
Port Colborne, ON
