“Burgers are a competitive market now,” Hello Harry The Burger Joint operations manager Jason Borg tells The Forager, “but we’re trying to be different to what everyone else is doing.

“This was actually Burger Theory two weeks ago,” he adds, while looking at the freshly painted walls of Hello Harry’s new Union Street burger bar, which opens today.

“But we like to stand out, and we’re show-offs, and that’s why we’re different.”

Burger Theory, which started out as a food truck and was a pioneer of the local premium burger scene, closed its flagship shop in Union Street last month but continues to run an outlet at Flinders University.

Borg is confident Hello Harry can be successful in the location. He describes the fresh interior as funky and alternative – graffiti art on the walls and unlacquered wooden counters at the service area give it a raw feel – and says the eatery’s food is thoughtful and fresh.

“Our menu is designed so everything is fresh and it tastes fresh and all the burger combinations work.

“The sauces, the relishes and everything like that is all made here, and our onion rings are made fresh, our mini-fries are made fresh and the only thing that we buy in frozen is the sweet potato and the chips.

“Everything else is made in-house… and people like that.”

Hello Harry plated up its first burger in Maroochydore, Queensland, in 2014 and now has 10 burger bars across the country – including one in Jetty Road, Glenelg, which opened in 2017.  Borg envisions that by the end of the year there will be 18 Hello Harry stores around Australia.

The franchise’s menu leans towards American fast food with an Australian twist, with 26 burgers ranging from $11 to $24 in price, and including pulled-meat and vegetarian options. It also offers burgers “minus the bun” and sides such as Greek loaded sweet potato fries and zucchini fries.

“When I first started off as the Hello Harry chef there was only 11 burgers, so I kind of figured people stopped coming because they lost interest and had a lack of variety,” says Borg.

“I added more and increased the extra sides.

“But people that like lots of meat should go for the Fat Bastard or the Dirty Harry, and the Middle Eastern chickpea is good for vegans, or the mushroom burger.”

The new Hello Harry outlet will be open from 11am to 9pm daily, and will also serve SA wine and craft beer.