Burger Wisconsin has been around for yonks! As a discerning young 13-year-old I remember being disappointed after a family trip to the Burger Wisconsin Gisborne store – maybe Gizzy was a bad franchise or maybe it was just the bad ass mood swings of puberty, but the impression stuck and I hadn’t been back in 13 years.

A few weeks ago I decided to give Burger Wisconsin a second chance and I have to admit, it exceeded expectation – but that wasn’t going to be hard after my 13-year boycott.

I order Beef Avocado Bacon Burger for a precise $12.40 and banana milkshake for $4.90, bringing the total to just over $17.

First the burger: Burger Wis has come along way since 1999. They’ve up’ed their game when it comes to the beef patty and I was pleasantly surprised by the decent sized, prime beef offering which filled the bun suitably, was flavoursome, moist and well cooked.

As the name suggests, this burger featured delicious middle bacon and fresh avocado, as well as salad, mayo and relish. It was nice…

But nothing really gave the burger an edge. It was decent, but it wasn’t great. When spending $12.40 at a specialist burger joint there is an expectation that you will get something special. The very standard Beef Avocado Bacon Burger lacked personality and charisma – it was effectively the burger equivalent of Don Brash.

The Beef Avocado Bacon Burger personified

On a more positive note, the banana milkshake was the real deal and a redeeming factor in the overall Burger Wisconsin experience. What made it good? The perfect mix of flavouring, ice cream and milk generated a milkshake at optimum viscosity. The only way this milkshake could have been better would have been to put it in one of those sweet ‘longest drink in town’ cups with the giraffe on it. For those who haven’t seen them, the giraffe’s neck highlights the height of the cup – genious!

Service was good but the Mt Eden and Remuera stores only open from 5pm, so if you are after a Burger Wis burger for lunch you’ll have to go to the Ponsonby store, which is open from 11.30am.

All in all Burger Wisconsin was adequate. It wasn’t bad. But it lacked the mojo and charisma expected of a burger joint in its price bracket.

Overall rating: 6/10

• Location: 6
• Value: 5
• Service: 7
• Quality: 7
• Environment: 6
• X-Factor: 5

Burger Wisconsin Locations