The man behind the famed Beatbox Kitchen, Taco Truck and All Day Donuts brings Melbourne another stellar eatery. It’s called Juanita Peaches and it’s a little bit of East L.A in Brunswick. For the last couple of months it’s been mainly a fried chicken joint, but there’s a Cheese Burger on the menu now that should get peoples’ attention. Why wasn’t it on the menu from the get-go? It just wasn’t ready yet. Raph Rashid has been perfecting this burger for the last 5 years. He wanted to create a cheese burger that you’d keep coming back to, something you don’t feel like you need a python-like jaw to eat, something with the perfect balance of bread to meat. One of the things that took the longest to craft was the bun. Raph calls it a Boogie Bun, and it’s like a potato bun made love to a brioche – solid but spongey. When you order, you’ll see the guys place the buns in a giant steamer, along with the cheese on the top bun creating the signature “Up-Cheese”. He also minces his own Victoria Grass Fed beef, meaning that from top to bottom it’s all Raph’s Cheese Burger. It comes with 120gm Grass Fed beef patty, double cheese, mustard, onions, pickle all on a Boogie Bun. You can order extras like an extra patty or chilli peppers, but the chef recommends keeping it as is.

There’s a lot going on along Gertrude St, so when opening a new venue you’d want to offer something pretty great. Not having sampled everything, we can’t comment on that, but there is choice. And it’s available (almost) all day. Behind the people pleasing operation is Anthony Brem, owner of Collingwood’s famed Bluebird Espresso. So he knows what works for the area and what doesn’t. That’s why you probably find such a large selection of feel good food, alcoholic beverages and gourmet sans-gluten dishes. It feels pretty laid back in there. There are sultry paintings on the walls with plenty of booth action, as well as some outdoor space for the smokers and friends of smokers who like them enough to withstand the bitter ice that is a Melbourne morning. To keep you warm though, you can grab a coffee with some Za’atar eggs that come with chickpea chips, burnt eggplant, sumac yoghurt and pomegranate or, just wait ’til 10am and you’ll get in on the burger. It’s just the second Juicy Lucy we’ve seen in Melbourne, so this was the only thing we had on our minds when ordering. The burger comes out on a brioche bun with a Wagyu patty stuffed with Jalapeno spiked Monterrey Jack, mustard, ketchup, pickles, iceberg lettuce and fries.

On the inside, you’re on the outside and when you’re on the outside you’re still outside. Well you’re on a balcony. If that’s not too confusing for you, it basically means that when you head upstairs of what was once a Chinese Restaurant (there’s still remnants on the exterior facade), you’ll come face to face with the park benches and caravan inspired decor of Grand Trailer Park Taverna. It’s run by a one guy who owns a nightclub called Pawn&Co and another who owns a suburban family/burger friendly restaurant, Dandenong Pavillion. Together they’re burger fanatics, churning out 9 or so different burgers along with spiked milkshakes and waffles. This place is a hashtag paradise; rich in both concept and loaded American comfort food that’ll see your Instagram notifications swell as soon as you apply that last filter. Apart from a few classic styles they offer other burgers with mac & cheese inside them, another with beef patties covered in lamb and truffle mayo and then of course a mushroom burger for the lightweights. We took our place at a park bench and wanted to go for an East Coast inspired classic: the KSA that came on a brioche bun with a beef patty, American cheddar, tomato, butter lettuce, special sauce and American mustard.

There’s not much to look at along the Huntingdale rd strip. That’s because it’s really just mix of shops, factories and a whole lot of Monash Students off to Uni. But for a place that’s all about hamburgers and feel good food, that’s just the kind of place you’d want to be, servicing your hungry workers and hungover students. Opening in 2014, Burgled prides itself on being a Sports Bar, inviting all to watch “the game”, enjoy a beer or two and of course try one of their many burgers. They’ve chosen a bit of an “around the world” theme to create their namesakes. You could try something from Japan which is a panko crumbed chicken patty or something from the Middle East which uses a falafel patty and babaganoush. I took a seat outside on a warm Sunday and was pretty taken with the American Style “Gettysburger” they had created. It came with a beef patty, lettuce, tomato, caramelised onion, pickles, mustard, aioli, cheese and ketchup.

If you’re a Southsider, there’s a good chance you’ve never been to this end of Johnson St. That’s because there really hasn’t been much reason to go, unless you’re an old school Collingwood fan or a junkie (or both). Nowadays the “other side” of Johnston St is picking up and it’s mostly to do with Dr Morse. The renovations took about a year but they’ve worked their way from a little coffee dispensary to a full blown bar and eatery. Big glass windows greet you as you walk straight past the bar into their oversized beer garden (straight to another bar). They’re pretty proud of their food and drink so you’ll always see some little brewer taking over their taps for a weekend or a pig on the spit as a bit of a treat for the locals. What excited us was their Weekend Menu, which slightly differs and is made a little more straight up and down to their every day dinner haul, offering an all day breakky and stuff like Fried chicken & kimchi sandwiches. We managed to grab a beer and their Classic Beef Burger that came with a beef patty, lettuce, tomato, cheese, mustard and pickles on a brioche bun.