Eat with Sharon

Regrub has finally opened its doors to Edmonton and I was able to check out their launch during first week of opening. Previously, they were only located in Calgary and have since opened up a second location here on 104th street and Whyte Ave – right across the street from MEAT and The Next Act. Given their unique appeal, I think this location is perfect for them. They’re known for their creative milkshakes as well as their hand-crafted burgers.

My short review: very hip and aesthetically pleasing space, picture worthy food.. but nothing extraordinary. I’m sure there are many REGRUB lovers out there but I can’t say that I’ve become one.

As they recently opened, they seem to be a little busier, especially since their current opening hours are 4-10pm. I came around 5:00 and there was a line outside the door since it’s not a place where you sit down and order. Instead, you wait in line to order at the counter and the staff show you where to sit. They do provide guests with menus while in line though – perhaps to help speed up the process once you’re actually at the front of the line. Their interior is very industrial and artistic looking, featuring walls that you can also write on!

There’s quite a bit of seating in the restaurant – mostly booth seats or high table seating giving REGRUB a very casual feel.

There’s also a semi-open kitchen.. you can see your shakes being made at the front and the kitchen is viewable at the back as well.

So, here’s a breakdown of what we ordered:

The D Spot Shake ($7) is topped with an ice cream sandwich and chocolate cream. I heard mixed reviews about the shakes so I tried to play it safe with my order – you can’t go wrong with an ice cream sandwich, right? Right. I do like ice cream sandwiches so I didn’t think my shake was that bad. Not sure where the chocolate cream was though!

The Howbow Dah? Shake ($9) has Oreo ice cream and an Oreo peanut butter smore on top. This one looked really good as well and if I were to ever order a shake again, I’d probably try this one.

Last but not least, the Psycho Donut ($7) was finished off with a donut tower – 2 donuts and many, many sprinkles.

The milkshakes themselves are huge but quite plain. They tasted like vanilla although the flavour is very faint. For my group, we actually barely drank the milkshake – we mostly just ate whatever came on top of the shake and didn’t care for the actual drink since it was pretty plain. I had about a third of mine and I found it to taste better near the end of our meal as it became less liquidy and more thick and ‘shake’ like.

One thing I noticed was that the shake flavour is also the same for the majority of the ones on the menu, unless stated otherwise (i.e. red velvet infused) – it’s weird how they don’t list what flavour this regular shake actually is though. However, I give them major props for making fun and creative shakes. You are sure to have an very nice picture of these shakes if you order!

For food, we tried some sides and burgers.

For me, I kept it simple here too. I always seem to luck out when I try something ‘different’ with burgers so this time around, I went with the simplest burger on the menu – the Recession Burger ($7).

According to the menu, it has “4 oz Alberta grassfed beef, cheddar cheese, crispy romaine lettuce, tomato + spicy dirty ketchup”. I thought the burger was good but there wasn’t anything special about it that would make me crave for it again.

My friends ordered the Cheeseworld and the Pickle Grad. The Cheeseworld ($13) contained “grilled cheese buns, 6 oz. Alberta grassfed beef, cheddar cheese, romaine lettuce, tomatoes + cheeky sauce”. This burger was massive and was literally made up of two grilled cheeses and a burger patty. It seemed like kind of a let down though because the cheese was not melted and the burger was oozing with grease everytime there was a bite taken. I feel like it’d be a tough one on the stomach. Although it looks and sounds fantastic, my friend said she probably wouldn’t order it again due to how greasy it was.

The Pickle Grad ($8) was a simpler burger as well and contained “4 oz. Alberta grassfed beef, deep fried pickles, tomato mixed greens + bacon ranch”. I didn’t get a chance to try this one but my friend claimed that it was good!

We also gave the Onion Rings and Asiago Fries a try. These were the better dishes of the night and our table enjoyed these the most out of the meals. The Onion Rings ($9) came out on a tray and were paired with a maple syrup like sauce and then topped with parsley. The rings themselves were crispy and well seasoned.

The Asiago Fries came in two sizes – a regular ($6) and a large ($9). We ended up having two orders of this and I would definitely recommend getting a regular unless you’re sharing with a larger group of people.

The fries were kind of greasy but I wasn’t expecting them to be any sort of healthy since they were served with truffle oil and lot’s of cheese. They tasted good while they were hot but the tastiness of the dish seems to wear away as it cools down, which is a little disappointing.

Despite the mixed reviews I’ve seen, I still decided to visit and overall, I think that like any other local business – REGRUB is worth checking out if you can – go and try the milkshakes, see their cool space inside, snap some photos. However, for me … I don’t think it’s a place that I see myself returning to anytime soon. I think that for the time I stand waiting in line and whatnot, I’m better off going elsewhere to buy a burger with a little more ‘something’ to it. The milkshakes are cool, yes, but I’d rather buy one for a cheaper price and actually drink it lol. All in all, I think this is one of those places where you can definitely say you “did it for the ‘gram”.

REGRUB
8219 104 St, Edmonton