The owners of CARŌCLUB open their newest store in Edwardstown, with the thing that gave them their start: quality burgs.
Before the sando craze took over Adelaide, the meal of the moment was the humble but hearty burger.
“There was definitely a period there where burgers were everywhere,” says Tim Attiwill, part owner of CARŌCLUB.
“Everyone was doing them and everyone thought they could open a burger shop.”
So, once you’ve weathered the storm of the trend cycle, how do you make sure your burger joint withstands the test of time?
For Tim and his CARŌCLUB co-owners, Kyle Mclean and Kain Slotegraaf, it’s about quality and care.
“We really put a focus on trying to make as much of what we put out in our burgers in house, whether it’s our sauces through to the pickles, the crumbs, everything,” Tim says.
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Most CARŌCLUB staff are trained chefs, including co-owner Kain who has cooked with world-leading restaurant Noma, Adelaide’s Bread and Bone and more.
“I guess it was having that like experienced chef touch in something [like a burger] that probably hadn’t really been considered that special previously,” Tim says.
“Kain in particular is a bit of a wizard and I think he makes everything taste delicious.”
The humble burger done right
Kyle and Tim are no slackers in the kitchen either, having made it to the semi-finals of My Kitchen Rules in 2017.
“Our goal was to not be eliminated first really…we sunk our teeth into it and gave it all we could spending every minute practicing in the kitchen and learning how to cook.”
CARŌCLUB’s latest venture is a new restaurant located at Edwardstown, marking their second permanent location after Bowden’s Plant 3, after the success of their food trucks.
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Tim says their trio felt the demand for a permanent location because customers were constantly asking them where they were based whenever they’d pop up in the truck.
“We kind of got a cult following for a few of our burgers, like our chicken burger in particular started becoming really popular, and we kind of knew we were onto a good thing,” Tim says.
“Whether we’re doing a Spin Off festival for 14,000 people or a wedding service with 50 people, we wanted to produce the same quality of food.
“I think that’s where our reputation in the truck kind of started.”
The new Edwardstown digs
While you can expect the same quality experience if you drop into their new Edwardstown location or their Bowden store, the trio plan to introduce different specials that suit the vibe of that spot.
Bowden is set up as a larger-scale restaurant within Bowden Cellars, which calls for different dishes – like the current lamb ragu offering, proving their meat-loving talents extend beyond burgers.
But for Edwardstown? Think quick service and seriously good comfort food classics: fried chicken, burrito bowls and of course, the signature burgers.
Yummm
Crowd-favourites include the OG fried chicken burger and the barbecue bacon cheeseburger which has an orange smoked hickory barbecue sauce.
As for your veggo or vegan mates? The fried Shimeji mushroom burger is Tim’s pick.
“It’s probably something that we’ve never seen done before or done well,” he says.
“Quite often [vegetarians and vegans] are an afterthought on a menu and obviously in the last kind of five to 10 years that has been a huge shift into that space so we wanted to create a burger that was delicious for them as well.”
Find CARŌCLUB at 930 South Road, Edwardstown, connect with them on Instagram.
